1 Jory, 1901.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 91 
we can. Mr. Tryon states the best cane suffers most, and he could have added 
that the one least able to suffer is the principal victim. This is a big subject to 
deal with, however, within a five-minute limit, and, were I to give one quarter of 
the obstacles to successful cane culture, I might talk to the end of the session. 
Mr. L. G. Corrie (Brisbane): As one who has followed Mr. Tryon’s 
work ever since I came to Queensland, I should like to thank him for his paper. 
A. great deal of it was beyond me, but there was one hint thrown out which is 
an exceedingly important one, when the eyes of the canegrowers are looking 
towards the improvement of cane, and it was that in the seeking after a cane 
having a heavy sucrose content we would have to guard against the securing 
of one not suitable for commercial cultivation. Mr. Tryon has doubtless 
followed out what has been done in the West Indies in this connection. There 
are two ways by which it is hoped a cane will be arrived at which through its sugar 
content will solve the difficulty of the production of cane sugar in opposition to 
the production of bounty-fed beet sugar. One is by arriving at a cane of a 
higher sugar content through a seedling, and the other is by the selection of 
cane. It has been recognised that when you get through a seedling, what may 
be termed a “ sport” in connection with some well-known variety, it frequently 
shows, by analysis, a very high sugar content. But when you come to grow it 
you will perhaps find that you haye a cane that does not give a good yield, or 
nas some other undesirable characteristic. The lines, therefore, laid down in 
the West Indies in this connection should be a lesson, as Mr. Tryon points 
out, to those of us in Queensland who are following up the same investigation. 
A high sugar content is a most important consideration in a cane, but with it 
you must have other good and indispensable qualities. As one who is trying 
to do something in the direction of the improvement of sugar-cane varieties, I 
must say that I am glad to be in a position to be able to thank Mr. Tryon for 
his paper. 
er. Joun Frenpine (Blenheim): I think it is due to Mr. Tryon that I at 
least should express my approval of the work he has done. I have noticed always 
a certain amount of impatience when technical terms are used. As agriculturists, 
we develop a certain kind of impatience when anything is presented to us which 
is not quite clear. Perhaps some may think it is presumptuous in me saying 
anything on a subject pertaining to sugar, but I was once engaged in sugar in 
a small way, and, in fact, I believe I was on Oxley Creek when the first shipment 
of plants came to that district from Cleveland. I afterwards engaged in the 
industry myself, and remember a disease that appeared on the Brisbane River. 
It showed itself first in a variety that was called the Malabar. There were 
spots on the leaves which gave the disease the name of “rust.” Then the 
plants began to die off, so that ultimately we had to cast away that variety 
altogether. As to the value of the paper that has been read, we here cannot 
exactly estimate it. With regard to Mr. Tryon’s work in the State, I remember 
a great service once rendered by him to a fruitgrower. A gentleman had 
planted a great number of Japanese plums. He had spent a lot of money in 
the venture, but just when the fruit were about fit for gathering they began 
dropping from the trees. The man was almost demented, but Mr. Tryon came 
up and immediately detected, in the ground at the foot of the tree, the insect 
that was causing the trouble, with the ultimate result that a satisfactory 
solution was found for it. As regards cane culture, I feel sure that he will be 
able to do as good service for it as he has done for the fruitgrowing industry. 
Mr. H. Tryon: I must thank the audience for the patient way they 
listened to what I had to say. This is the first occasion on which I have 
attended an Agricultural Conference, and I did not exactly know the nature of 
the proceedings that were adopted at these gatherings. Otherwise I might 
spoken in possibly a less technical language. But I had to deal with a technical 
subject, and one had to use technical terms in dealing with it. With reference 
to technical terms generally, I find that those who are really interested in a 
subject will make it their business to understand the technical terms connected. 
with that subject. Of course, I must thank the gentlemen who have spoken 
