386 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1902. 
rust ruins the wheat or dry weather the maize—the farmer has nothing to fall 
back upon. His time, money, and labour have all been expended upon a crop 
which fails him at the moment, perhaps, when his prospects of a good harvest 
were brightest. There are many crops which could and should be grown by 
Northern, Central, and Southern farmers, as a stand-by in case of the failure.of 
any one crop. Cotton, for instance, will stand such dry weather and yield a 
good crop as would destroy the maize crop. But I need not tell farmers what 
they already perfectly well know, what they are all agreed about, but what only 
the minority practise. Here we have a crop—cassava—which grows to 
perfection in the North and equally well in the far South. Its cultivation and 
preparation are, as I haye shown, exceedingly simple. Tapioca is a valuable 
article of conmerce. It is used all over the world. Brazil exports some 
£30,000 worth per annum. But to the Queensland farmer it isastranger. Its 
cultivation is looked upon in the light of an experiment, and farmers do not care 
to make experiments. But for that very reason the Department of Agriculture 
has established experiment farms, where the farmer may profit by both failures 
and successes. The production of the cassava plant has, however, long since 
passed the experimental stage. It has been proved that it will grow in this 
State on the whole seaboard as well as in Brazil or in the West Indies. 
What should hinder any farmer from growing 1, 2, or 5 acres of 
cassava ? 
What the total value of the export of manioc or tapioca from Brazil is 
to-day we are not in a position to say exactly, but one small State of that 
country—Para—exported, in 1901, 168,000 bushels. The price of tapioca in. 
the London market is 24d. per lb., and the production per acre is about equal 
to that of sweet potatoes in weight of tubers. 
Here, then, is one extra crop which might be grown with the certainty of 
a good market. 
The Divi-divi tree thrives well in the North. Such trees as I have seen at 
the State Nursery at Kamerunga, Cairns, are now loaded with ripening pods. 
Here, again, the South American States do a large trade. Barranguilla, 
in Columbia, exported last year 5,946 bags, valued at £2,271. There is very 
little trouble connected with the production of the Divi-divi. The trees might 
be planted as an avenue or on the borders. of the farm. For the former 
purpose they are admirably suited, as they form a dense shade, and the flowers , 
emit a most exquisite perfume. The gathering of the pods is simply done by 
sweeping a clear space beneath the trees and collecting them as they fall. 
There are several other crops, which we shall mention in future issues of 
the Journal, which could be grown by farmers without interfering with the 
pean crops of the farm, and which would bring in good money when all else 
ailed. 
TOBACCO—NOTES AND CLIPPINGS. 
By R. 8. NEVILL. 
In the following clippings from Lhe Weed on tobacco-growing, I would call 
attention to the stress laid upon the thorough preparation of the land before 
transplanting. In order to get the ground in the best condition it should be 
ploughed as soon as the crop is taken off, that it may get the benefit of the winter 
rains and frosts, and again broken deeply just before transplanting time. 
The United States Governmentis now engaged in some important investi- 
gations in connection with tobacco soils, and particular varieties of tobacco for a 
given soil, which may result in giving to growers some valuable information. 
The annual production of cigars in Cuba is from 250,000,000 to 
800,000,000, and in the United States from Cuban tobacco 500,000,000. 
It is said 95 per cent. of the cigars made in Cuba are controlled by a trust 
that is practically in English hands, and the tobacco lands are more or less 
also controlled by them. 
