370 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Ocr., 1901. 
we have not heard that such has been the case in other experiments. We should 
be inclined to think that, even if the grass survived, there would be danger in 
allowing stock to graze on it, at least for some considerable time. 
Mr. Swanwick’s letter is as follows :— 
‘““T have been experimenting through the winter with Street’s White Ant 
Mixture, and I thought a few notes on results would be of interest to your 
readers. I used a weak solution—1 of the liquid preparation to 9 of 
water—and sprayed it on the plants I wished to destroy with a brass syringe. 
I find that the mixture is certain death to Svda retusa—that pest round 
Brisbane. The stronger the mixture the more quickly it kills, but 1 to 9 
acts quickly and surely. The plants begin to wither the day after spraying, 
and in a week to ten days they are dead to the very roots. I was afraid that 
the grass growing among the Siva retusa would perish also; but I find that this 
is not the case, as the grass is now beginning to grow Iluxuriantly, while the 
Sida retusa, where allowed to stand, is withered and black and dead. The 
Lantana plant perished even more quickly than the Sida retusa. With a little 
more experimenting, my back allotment (4-acre) will be clear. Wher ever 
the Sida retusa is killed, the grass begins to grow well. Again I tried the 
mixture—but in this case I made the strength 1 of the liquid to 4 of 
water—on a large patch of prickly pear (Cactus opuntia) growing on some 
vacant allotments nearly opposite my residence. Part of the patch one of m 
sons and I attacked with a hoe and heavy sticks, breaking some of the flattened 
joints. Another part of the patch I did not disturb. IJ then sprayed the 
whole patch with the stronger mixture I have mentioned, and the whole patch, 
some twenty-five yards round, is now withered, whitened, and dead owls 
should be cooped up when the mixture is being used, and for some time after ; 
but there is no doubt that the effect is simply wonderful. More persistent 
pests than prickly pear, Lantana, and Sida retusa can hardly be found, and 1 
have told you how the mixture deals with them. 
“P.S.—The Sida retusa was in many places 8 feet high, with stems near the 
ground from 1 inch to 3 inches in diameter.” 
MARKET GARDENING—WHAT AN ALLOTMENT MAY PRODUCE. 
About a year ago we gave the experience of an amateur gardener at Miltcn, 
near Brisbane, who supplied his household with plenty of vegetables all the 
year round on 12 perches of gravelly loam, about 1 foot deep, overlying a 
subsoil of stiff yellow clay. The Australian Field quotes from a statement by 
Dr. Andrew Wilson as to what the holder of an allotment at Brighton, 
England, succeeded in doing. The doctor said :— 
“T had an interesting chat with the holder of an allotment at Brighton. He 
secured his plot under the Act. and rents it from the Corporation of Brighton, 
who, in turn, pay the Marquis of Bristol a fair rent for the land. The important 
point which has been forced on my attention is not so much that an allotment 
pays itself hand over hand when it is properly cultivated, but that a successful 
plot may be tended by a man who is not a professional gardener, and who 
during the day is engaged in quite a different occupation. The holder in 
question tells me that he is on his land at 5 a.m., doing what is necessary, and 
is found at his ordinary avocation by 8 o'clock. Once the land has been 
brought into fair cultivation it requires no very great amount of labour to 
ensure fertile crops. It demands constant attention, of course; the tax on 
time and energy is not great. 
“Some of his figures will be read with interest by those who believe in the 
day of small holdings, and in the possibility of what would otherwise be waste 
land being made to yield a very handsome profit. In 1893 the holder began with 
50 rods of land. His expenses were £11 13s. 1d., and his receipts from sales 
of vegetables and flowers £30 2s. 7d. In 1894 the expenses were £11 3s. 3d, 
