430 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Junz, 1902. 
Cherry coffee loses in bulk 50 per cent., and in weight, between fermenting 
and drying to parchment, 75 per cent. From parchment to clean coffee the 
loss is 25 per cent., and in roasting 15 to 17 per cent. The cost of hulling 
amounts to about $d. per Ib. 
The yield of coffee from full-grown trees six or seven years old varies 
between 10 ewt. and 20 cwt. per acre. In the Cairns and Lower Russell, 
Kuranda, Mareeba, and Atherton districts, the yield has been from 6 ewt. to 
7 ewt., according to the age of the trees, and the degree of care bestowed 
upon them. This is sold at from 73d. to 1s. per lb. Mr. Newport took 
samples to Sydney and Melbourne, and these were valued by experts at 7d., 9d., 
10d., and 11d. per lb. Twenty-eight cwt. were sold at £94 per ton, being the 
crop from less than 700 trees.’ The average crop may be taken at 12 ewt., and 
the average price £80 per ton. This gives £48 per acre. The picking of 
a crop of 12 ewt. will amount to about 37s., and the hulling can be done for 
2d. per lb. 
It was supposed for some time that coffee left upon the tree until the hull 
had dried was valueless, and many tons of dried-up cherry have been allowed 
to go to waste. This has proved to be a mistake. Machines, such as are illus- 
trated in this issue of the Journal, deal specially with this class of cherry. 
They hull the dried berry and leave it in perfect marketable condition. When 
Iwas at Kuranda I saw a field of coffee being picked regardless of its over- 
ripe condition, and the owners reckoned to make from 6 cwt. to 8 ewt. of good 
marketable coffee. 
To sum up what I learned about the coffee industry, I was—not impressed; 
I have no impressions—convinced that the coffee industry in North Queens- 
land has come to stay. The kanaka may come or the kanaka may g0 ; his stay 
or departure will not affect the coffee-growers. They can get their crop picked 
without him. Any crops which, like coffee, will produce from £40 to £50 per 
acre, will not go to the wall. No difficulty has been experienced in selling the 
manufactured article. The Cairns coffee has, like that of the Buderim Moun- 
tain, made a name for itself for excellence which will, in the near future, go far 
to oust Ceylon Plantation, Java, and Mocha. Mocha can be produced in 
Queensland as well as in Arabia, Africa, or anywhere else. 
The Northern coffee men are unanimous in their expression of the opinion 
that the Department of Agriculture put the industry on a firm basis by the 
appointment of a coffee expert, and from all I could learn from them Mr. 
Newport has amply justified the action of the Department. 
I now come to the matter of rice cultivation. JI knew before I went to 
Cairns that the rice-growing industry in that district was languishing, if not 
absolutely dead. Two rice-mills have, however, been working up to the 
present. From what I could learn it would appear that banana-growing is 
more in favour with the Chinese, who were the principal rice-growers, owing 
to the more certain return to the continuous yield, and to the less amount of 
labour required in cultivation of the banana plant. I also heard that the rice 
lately grown was not of too good a quality. However that may be, the fact 
remains that the industry has declined to such an extent that the owners of 
one large rice-mill, fitted with all the latest appliances, and driven by steam- 
power, belonging to the Messrs. Clacherty Brothers, has been closed down, 
and the owners are prepared, if sufficient inducement is offered, to remove the 
plant to the Logan or Pimpama district, and purchase all the rice grown 
there at a price which will be an inducement to the Southern farmers to extend 
the area of their rice-fields. 
The price is from £8 to £9 per ton of paddy delivered at the mill. 
A fair crop of rice in the Logan district, given a good season, is 40 bushels 
of 60 lb. to the acre. This is equal to 160 lb. more than a ton, for which the 
farmers will be able to get £8 ; in addition to this the straw, according to Mr. 
F. W. Peek, is worth £6 per acre. Thus the average return of grain and 
straw amounts to £14 per acre for a six months’ crop. 
