8 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Jury, 1901. 
TOBACCO. 
Since the last meeting of this Conference an experiment farm for 
tobacco has been established at Texas, and 93 acres of desirable leaf has been 
successfully grown, housed, and cured. ‘The varieties grown are those 
producing the favourite tobacco for the British and United States markets of 
the heavy pipe-smoking sorts. The results, so far, have been satisfactory. 
The industry is growing, and may be said to be ina fairly prosperous condition. 
White men are going more into the cultivation as they realise the value of the 
‘crop. New South Wales buyers have entered the market, and if the product 
proves satisfactory to them, and there is every reason to believe it will, the 
future of the industry is most promising. It is to be regretted that an interest 
has not been manifested in cigar tobacco, as under federation Sydney and 
Melbourne would give an outlet for considerable quantities, and at a fair price. 
‘These tobaccos can be grown on many of the alluvial soils north of Brisbane, 
below the Range, the crop being suitable for both the large and the small 
farmer. 
COFFEE. 
In view of the great demand for coffee, and of the suitability of a large 
portion of Queensland for its cultivation, nothing has been left undone to place 
’ the coffee-growing industry on a sound basis, and to bring before the growers 
the latest and most effective methods of production. For years the Depart- 
ment scattered broadcast the best literature on the subject, and in 1899 
appointed a most competent expert to give practical assistance and instruction 
to the planters, with the result that at present coffee-growing, though not con- 
ducted on a very extensive scale or in all the localities adapted for it, is one of 
the most prosperous of our industries. So favourable, indeed, is our seaboard 
from Rockhampton northward, so far as climate and soil are concerned, for the 
cultivation of coffee of the best kind, that Queensland within the next decade 
will be able to supply the coffee required for the whole population of the 
Australian Commonwealth. 
BUSINESS OF THE CONFERENCE. 
There are other objects of culture which have not yet attained the import- 
ance of those already mentioned, and which TI shall not refer to particularly, 
as I am anxious that we should proceed without further delay to the business 
for which we have assembled. The list of matters to be considered is a lengthy 
one, and time must be economised if we are to do justice to them. The subjects 
to be debated are, in the main, of the highest interest to the farming com- 
munity. That they will be treated with knowledge and skill, and that our 
deliberations will have satisfactory results, I have not the slightest doubt. The 
Department I have the honour of being entrusted with is largely an experi- 
mental and educative one. It is admitted that our staff of specialists has been 
judiciously chosen, and that each, in his own province, is of the greatest assist~ 
ance to the farmers. But, gentlemen, much as you may learn from our experts, 
the amount you may learn from one another is by no means inconsiderable, and 
I regard this Conference, properly conducted, as one of the best of all schools of 
mutual instruction and improvement. | 
At every meeting I shall be an attentive listener, for I am willing to learn | 
a great deal about agricultural problems from those whose worldly success 
depends on the completeness with which they solve them. In conclusion, you 
may be sure that the opinions you express on the questions to be discussed will 
be highly regarded by the Government and by the Department of which I am 
the Minister, should they at any time come before us for consideration or 
settlement. 
COMMITTEE OF RESOLUTIONS, &e. 
It was resolved, on the motion of Mr. P. McLman, that the following 
constitute a committee of resolutions :—Messrs. E. Denman (Mackay), A. 
Moffat (Harrisville), W. Deacon (Allora), T. de M. Murray-Prior (Maroon), 
Hon. Angus Gibson, M.L.C. (Bundaberg), ©. Atthow (Brisbane), W. 
a ae em ty) 
