1 Joye, 1902.) QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 471. 
“At Mackay, Bowen, Rockhampton, and other places some areas are 
irrigated. Taken altogether, however, the irrigated lands of the State amount 
to less than 20,000 acres, andjbarely 7,000 acres of this area are under sugar. 
Let us instance the country of Belgium, the most thickly populated State 
‘of Europe. Arable land in this small country is greatly prized, and vast areas 
comparatively have been added to the agricultural lands by utilising the barren 
sand-dunes, such as we described and illustrated in the April issue of this 
Journal. 
In the Campine district of Belgium 2,281 hectares (5,4742 acres) of abso- 
lutely worthless drifting sand were sown and irrigated. These lands now 
produce 3,000 kilos (nearly 3 tons) of hay per hectare, worth 10 francs (8s.4d.) 
per 100 kilos (220 1b.) he value of the aftermath gives another £4 3s. 4d. 
per hectare, so that the total yield is 400 francs, or £16 per hectare of 22 acres. 
But we might multiply such examples to any extent. Suffice it to show what 
‘can and what ought to be done. 
The late Minister for Agriculture, the Hon. J. V. Chataway, clearly saw 
that, if our rural industries were to go ahead, something must be done in the 
way of assisting the farmers, and, as the sugar industry was practically the only 
one without an adviser, he looked round him and found a scientist in that 
‘branch of agriculture who had achieved some remarkable successes in doubling 
and trebling the best yields of cane and sugar per acre previously obtained in 
Hawaii. This was Dr. Maxwell, who, at the invitation of the Minister, and 
with the cordial co-operation of the cane-growers and mill-owners, after a 
provisional visit of inspection to our sugar districts, took up his residence 
amongst us, and at once began to investigate the state of the sugar industry, 
and to devise and advise means for materially increasing the output. 
Amongst other suggestions, he naturally included manuring and irriga- 
tion. He found, on examination of the sugar-growing districts, that much of 
_ the land under cane was situated favourably for irrigation, and he pointed out 
to the planters the natural advantages which lay within their reach. Many 
had already thought of this; many again planted their cane, and in dry weather 
prayed for rain—rain which for years had been lying at their feet unappreciated, 
but which most men had not the means to utilise ; whilst others had neither the 
energy nor the intelligence to put their own shoulders to the wheel, and after- 
«wards invoke the blessing of Jupiter on their labours. 
At Bundaberg there is a fine river called the Burnett, navigable from the 
sea to the town, a distance of 9 miles. For several miles above and below 
the town there are large and small sugar plantations, and several very fine 
sugar-mills of the latest pattern. For many years the planters grew splendid 
cane on the fertile soils watered by the winding Burnett. But they always 
depended on the rainfall. How often, in a dry season, must they have looked 
upon the deep, clear waters of the Burnett, and longed to be able to apply it in 
life-giving streams to their parched fields and stunted crops! Yet still they 
waited on the rain, and the Burnett flowed placidly by. 
Two years and a-half ago Dr. Maxwell arrived on the scene, and pointed 
out, inter alia, the splendid facilities offered by the Burnett River and by the 
favourable lie of the land for irrigating large areas. 
Amongst the many wealthy and enlightened planters of the district were 
the Messrs. Gibson Bros. and Howes, of Bingera plantation. These gentle- 
men had long thought of a scheme for irrigating on a large scale. 
Dr. Maxwell, on the occasion of his first visit to Queensland, addressed a large 
audience of planters, farmers, and others interested in the sugar industry at 
Bundaberg. The chair at that meeting was taken by the Hon. Angus Gibson, 
M.L.A. In introducing the Doctor, Mr. Gibson said that he had been in Dr. 
Maxwell’s company several times since his arrival amongst them, and he need 
hardly tell them how pleased he was to have those opportunities of conversing 
