1 Nov., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 335 
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Many people may question the advisability of going in for this fruit, but I 
may be allowed to point out that here, again, we are paying away money to 
other people and other countries for what we can grow ourselves. 
Every drop of olive oil, and a good deal that isn’t olive oil, that we use, is 
imported. (By-the-way, while speaking of oils, all the oils we use for any 
purpose, excepting say a limited quantity of neatsfoot and shark oil, are 
imported !) 
Every bottle of pickled olives on our tables or in our stores is imported. 
We use a fair amount of olive oil, but we ought to use a great deal more 
of it. It can be used in many ways and for a variety of purposes, and its 
value is enormous in relation to dieting and health. We use a few pickled 
olives, while, as a matter of fact, they ought to be on everyone’s table and in 
daily use. Their value is enormous also, besides which they are a delicious 
addition to one’s:bill of fare. Ordinarily, we see only the green pickled olive 
sold here, but let folks get a taste of ripe pickled olives, and they will want 
more and yet more. 
I believe I am safe in saying that nowhere in the world will olives do 
better than they are doing at our State farms on the Downs. 
Not only do they grow better than in most other places, but they come 
into bearing much sooner, and how they do bear! ‘The crop at the State farms 
this year was quite sufficient proof for anyone of what they can do. 
Jn America the value of the olive is fully recognised, and in California 
orchards of large area, even up to 1,200 and 1,400 acres, have been planted, and 
the business of both oil-extracting and olive-pickling is being pushed for all it 
is worth, and it is worth a good deal. The American growers are going for 
the world’s trade in addition to their own requirements, and I suppose any day 
we may expect to find their products in this line as in others in our Queensland 
stores. 
We have ample room, cheap land ; can grow the olive better than they can in 
California ; and, more than this, we want industries of this kind. Why not go 
for this P 
The peach is another fruit that could and should be grown in this country 
fam writing of, and for commercial purposes. 
Fresh peaches of a high type and quality are unknown in a great part of 
Queensland—that is, for table use. Dried and canned peaches, which form a 
considerable part of our imports of preserved fruits, are extensively used, and 
are purchased. with money which goes right out of the State. 
They come from the South and from America, and we do all we can to 
support the growers in these places and build up their industries for them. 
Why not support ourselves, and build up our own industries instead ? 
Here in this Central district we have the land, the water, and the climate 
that will grow a good peach to further orders. Much of the fruit could be 
packed fresh and sold for immediate use in towns all along the Western lines. 
Rockhampton and other coastal towns would use a lot, and drying and canning 
could be followed up to any extent. Surely there is something’ here worthy of 
careful attention! — 
Another fruit we import a great deal of, and yet do not use in sufficient 
quantities, and which is one of the most delicious on earth, is the fig. On this 
desert country we have almost ideal conditions for fig-growing, and there is no 
reason that I know of why they should not be grown in large quantities. The 
bulk of the product would have to be dried and packed, as figs in the fresh 
state cannot be sent any distance. But there is a big line of work open here, 
and it deserves every possible attention. 
What is more enjoyable in the way of preserves than fig jam? Yet how 
little we see of it. i 
A big demand has already sprung up for figs for jam-making, and away 
out on this country the product could be turned out by the ton. T would like 
to see the question of settling this country taken up properly. It meansa great 
deal for Queensland. It means close settlement; it means production and 
prosperity in the place of nothing, practically. 
