1 SeEpr., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 207 
BLIGHTED COFFEE. 
The following remarks which we take from the Journal of the Jamaica 
Agricultural Society, may be taken to heart by careless coffee-growers in 
Queensland, if there be such :— 
On a sample of “blighted” coffee sent in from the Hanover Branch, Mr. 
Cradwick reports :—‘‘I am only too familiar with the ‘blighted coffee’ sent _ 
me by you. The cause is chiefly ‘cussedness.’ The old wood is left on the 
trees until it becomes quite leafless, or rotten, nearly so, before the crop. The 
effort to produce a crop on such wood leads to the complete exhaustion of the 
wood; any few leaves that may have been on it drop off, so berries are left on, 
which immediately commence to blight, burn, or whatever name you like to 
apply. It is one of the most difficult things I have ever undertaken, the 
instilling into the minds of the people that after the wood has done its work 
it is worse than useless. If it bears, it bears bad coffee, and that bad coffee 
is produced at the expense of the other wood on the trees which would bear 
good coffee and more of it, if the older useless wood were cut off. Manuring, 
feeding the trees, will materially help to prevent blight, as blight is simply 
starvation.” [The remedy is plain: 1, a thorough pruning, and regular pruning 
atter every crop thereafter; 2, thinning out shade if too heavy; 3,a little 
stirring of the soil; and 4, a good thick sprinkling of wood-ash round the 
trees, besides any other manure that can be got.—Ed. J./.4.8.] 
CASSAVA. 
A rainfall of 14 inches per annum is sufficient to secure a heavy crop of 
cassava, as it is peculiarly drought-resisting and will flourish in arid regions as 
well asin themost humid. Thus the dry West of Queensland is just as suitable 
for the plant as the wet North. An acre of cassava is worth more than an acre 
of sugar-cane. The actual profit on feeding steers on cassava is nearly 50 per 
cent., on corn-fed steers it is 15 per cent.; and as to cost, it is two-thirds in 
fayour of cassava. By fattening beef on cassava a profit of 59°10 per cent. was 
made at the Florida Experimental Station. An acre producing 40 bushels of 
corn yields 1,187 lb. of starch; while an acre of cassava producing 6 tons would 
yield 2,400 Ib. of starch. ‘The latter contains 3 per cent. of sugar and 1°68 
er cent. of fibre. Corn contains ‘4 per cent. of sugar and 2°20 per cent. of 
bre. This fact points to a grand opening for glucose manufactories. Cassava 
can be successfully grown to produce an average of 9 tons of tubers per acre 
over the whole length and breadth of Queensland, and, with a certain quantity 
of fertilisers, the sandiest soils may be made productive of good cassava crops. 
TOBACCO NOTES AND CLIPPINGS. 
By R. S. NEVILL. 
The growing of tobacco under shade in the United States is increasing 
rapidly ; and Connecticut, by this new process, is now able to produce an 
exceedingly fine, thin, silky wrapper. Some leading manufacturers are now 
proposing to put out their finest brands of Cuban cigars covered with these 
wrappers. 
The report of the Census Bureau covering the tobacco industry in 1906 
shows the capital invested init was $124,089,871,%>5. This does not include 
the capital stock of the manufacturing concerns. There were 15,252 manufac- 
turing establishments, and the value of their output was $283,076,546,%5. 
The crop of 1900 in the United States was 868,163,275 lb., grown on 
1,101,483 acres of land, representing 308,317 farms. 
