I Dec., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 385 
1901, but the average yield rose from 19°20 to 21:96 bushels to the acre. The 
reduction in the area for grain was 10,991 acres. The greatest decrease was 
in the Allora district, where the area for 1901 was less than one-half of that for 
1900, the decrease being 5,878 acres. The imports of maize for the past three 
years have been :— 
Bushels. Value. 
1899 ... re .. 501,179 oer £89,256 
1900 .. ~ w. 247,449 vt 42,388 
1901 ... Be an  JByLOt er 23,307 
“ Sugar.—The sugar crop of 1901 was an improvement on the previous year, 
but did not come up to the returns of 1898. The figures for the four years 
are i— 
Acres Orushed. Average Yield of Sugar per Acre. 
1898 nex) a3 PEO ZIOO.L ae 1:99 
1899 arr ret) we =: 79,435 ns 155 
1900 =x) wf. xr 72,651 oo 1:28 
1901 Ren a Nt een Ch LGO, Roe 1:55 
“The total weight of cane crushed in 1901 was 1,180,091 tons, or an average 
of 15°10 tons to the acre. The weight otf cane required to make a ton of 
sugar was 9°76 tons. The number of factories in connection with the industry 
were :— 
Refineries ... 00 oti tee ne a an 
Sugar Manufactories atin om! vf sc an HY 
Crushing Mills only fon a: oom, 200 on 
60 
“The total weight of sugar was 120,858 tons. The quantity exported was 
81,024 tons for the sugar year, which ended on the 81st of May, 1902, and the 
estimated requirements for Queensland were 28,270 tons. The surplus of the 
operations of last season was 11,564 tons. The sugar content of the canes 
was not so high as in 1900, and it took on an average ‘59 tons more cane to 
make a ton of sugar. This was caused in the Central and Northern districts 
by the lateness of the rains, which did not fall until February ; the cane did 
not make growth, and was immature; in addition to which it was affected by 
frost, and its density consequently lowered. The Southern district produced a 
ton of sugar from 10:43 tons of cane, as compared with 10°77 tons in 1900. 
It is estimated that the annual consumption of sugar in the Commonwealth of 
Australia amounts to about 176,031 tons, so that with a return of normal 
seasons and the benefits of interstate freetrade there should be sufficient 
inducement for the extension of the area under sugar-cane, in order to obtain 
command of the sugar market in the Commonwealth. ‘The prospects for the 
season of 1902 are particularly good in the North, but the Central and South 
will show a considerable shortage, owing to the continuance of the drought. 
The output for the whole State may be less than in 1901. 
“ Frwit.—In the matter of fruits there are some in which Queensland is able 
to face the Southern markets without any risk of serious rivalry, notably 
bananas, pineapples, and mangoes. It is in the North that the cultivation of' 
the banana has been prosecuted upon lines beyond the wants of the local 
market; and it is by the North that practically the whole of the export trade 
in bananas is done. ‘he number of bunches produced in 1901 was 2,313,719, 
of which the Cairns district yielded 575,760 bunches and the Mourilyan district 
1,246,695 bunches. These added together are equal to 79 per cent. of the’ 
banana production of the whole State; and the area represented was 69 per. 
cent. of the area under bananas in Queensland. ‘It is in the Southern part of 
this State, on the other hand, that the pineapple is cultivated to the greatest 
extent. Of the 1,020 acres devoted to it, no fewer than 638 acres or more than’ 
