450 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Nov., 1901. 
STATEMENT showing the AcrEAGE of the UNpDERMENTIONED Crops during the YEARS 
1899 and 1900. 
ACREAGE, 
Crops. 
1899. 1900. 
Acres. Acres. 
Sugar-cane re 2 a oe s + 110,657 108,535 
Wheat, Grain... we AY irk. Tz 52,527 79,804 
Maize 5 ra is as ors a; 110,489 127,974 
Barley— ; 
Malting, Grain ne 18 Tr et 6,011 6,302 
Other y 1 re ia x: 1,463 1,231 
Oats = ax tie ‘ne Ke, 714 385 
Rice 55 a2 re es mie 319 271 
Tobacco es, rr wie 78 si", TA5 665 
All Other Crops ee “uh ts xr 137,821 132,780 
420,746 457,397 
The following table shows the number of acres under crops at the State 
Farms in 1899-1900 and in 1900-1901 :— 
ACREAGE UNDER CROP, 
Farms. _ 
1899-1900. 1900-1901. 
UY Acres. Acres, 
Westbrook ... A aa err. i” hed Ps 150 150 
Hermitage ... 333 #0 ae bey hen te 109 158 
Biggenden ... re aif a “ty! = It, 22 15 
Gindie ar on arr nee nee ep ef) 134 156 
Thanks to the efforts of the departmental experts, fruit-growing is being 
established on a more satisfactory basis; superior and more suitable varieties 
are being cultivated; insect and fungus pests are being encountered with the 
most effective remedies. In grapes the production increased from 8,230,627 
lb. in 1899 to 3,624,949 lb. in 1900; the area under bananas increased from 
5,802 acres to 6,215 acres; under oranges, from 2,324 acres to 2,882 acres ; 
under mangoes, from 245 acres to 411 acres; under strawberries, from 87 acres 
to 121 acres; under apples, from 132 acres to 238 acres. The export trade 
increased from £93,187 to £104,385. The Department has spared no effort to 
keep the local orchards free from pests, and to exclude all infected fruit and 
plants coming from abroad. ‘The officers whose business it is to perform this 
invidious work have done their duty fearlessly and well, and with very little 
friction, considering the extreme methods they have sometimes to adopt. The 
diseases noticed upon the fruit imported have been principally codlin moth, 
fruitfly, red scale, mussel scale, black brand, black spot, and San José seale. 
The codlin moth has been found in all consignments of apples from America 
and New South Wales, but in not one consignment of apples from Tasmania, 
This seems to indicate that in Tasmania a stricter watch is kept on fruit exports 
than in either America or New South Wales. It is gratifying to know that, 
owing to the stringent precautions taken with respect to imported grape- 
cuttings, Queensland has escaped so far a visitation from phylloxera. It is to 
be regretted, on the other hand, that no effective scheme for the extermination 
of another fruit-grower’s enemy—the flying-fox—has yet been devised. The 
trade by Wallangarra during the apple season required the services of an 
inspector in addition to the staff usually stationed there. The Northern export 
trade, which consists principally of bananas, has received considerable attention, 
The fruit exported has been of a better quality, but unless improved storage is 
given by the shipping companies the decline in the trade will soon commence. 
Many persons formerly engaged in banana-growing are now cultivating maize 
and other crops of general farming, the change being directly traceable to the 
loss on shipments. The Department interested itself with some beneficial 
results, but there is much room for improvement before the facilities are equal 
to those of the steamers in the Fiji trade. 
