1 Supr., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 189 
sons, he would throw up the farm, only he did not say so, and I did not press my 
inquiries further. It is wonderful what men will do for the sake of a principle. He 
has a beautiful farm, a comfortable home, rich land, and a good crop, and yet —— 
but I eschew politics. 
Mr. Petersen brought the matter before a meeting of the Cairns District 
United Farmers’ Association, and he was deputed to write as follows to the 
Department of Agriculture :— 
“T may state that the principal reason why the association took the 
matter up was because Mr. Boyd somewhat departed from the strict facts of 
the case in his article, and misrepresented my statements to him; therefore to 
justify the association in its action Iam requested to put the true facts of the 
case before you. 
“ When asked by Mr. Boyd how I thought the sugar industry would fare 
under the Federal Government, I said it would be the salvation of the small 
farmers, for the following reasons :—In the past, farmers with families entered 
into competition with farmers who had an unlimited supply of cheap 
labour ; consequently they had to pay their families at kanaka rates or else let 
them go off the farm to find other employment. Under the system inaugurated 
by the Federal laws, a farmer can give his own family a decent wage and create 
bond fide settlement by teaching his own family the best mode of cultivating 
the soil, and thus keeping up the supply of agriculturists who are at present 
mostly imported, and when they become extinct there would be none to follow 
in their footsteps, as the bulk of farm hands would be undesirable aliens if we 
continued under the old system. That is what I put before Mr. Boyd as my 
reasons, which, you will see, is rather different from what he writes. I may 
add that Mr. Boyd also errs in saying I told him I had nine sons to work my 
farm. As a matter of fact, at the time of his visit the four eldest were other- 
wise employed, two were attending school, one had just lett school, but was too 
young to do a man’s work, leaving me with two instead of nine, as averred. 
That is practically my ideas as put before Mr. Boyd, and for what reason he 
distorted them is best known to himself and those who favour the retention of 
the kanaka. I most strongly object to be misrepresented by Mr. Boyd or any- 
one else, and hope you will use your influence to put the true facts before the 
readers of the Journal, as I consider I am entitled to defend myself and the 
cause I support against all misrepresentation. 
“JT am, yours respectfully, 
“ Hambledon, 21-7-02.” “ Poerpr PETERSEN. 
OLD STUMPS.: 
To remove old stumps, a correspondent of the Country Gentleman gives 
the following :—‘‘ Get a 2-inch iron pipe, 8 feet long; have a steel point welded 
into one end of it. With a sledge hammer drive this under the stump as far as 
may be necessary. Drop half-a-stick of dynamite into the hole thus made, and 
tramp earth upon it until the hole is filled ; then light the fuse. The stump 
will be lifted entirely out of the ground with no earth adhering to it, so that it 
may be burned the next day.” 
Another correspondent, writing in regard to removing old stumps, 
recommends :—‘“ In the autumn bore an inch hole down into the centre of the 
stump 14 inches or 16 inches deep. Put a couple of ounces of saltpetre into this 
hole, fill with water, and plug up tight. In the spring take out the plug, pour 
into the hole about 3-gill of kerosene oil and light it. The stump will burn 
Brey slowly, without blazing, to the ends of the roots, leaving nothing but 
ashes.” 
