February  1,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
107 
AGRICULTURE  IN  QUEENSLAND. 
We  live  in  a  tiny  island,  in  the  least  of  the  continents,  far  out  to 
the  N.W.,  and  yet  we  wield  such  a  power  and  possess  such  vast 
tracts  of  land  as  to  iofluence  the  whole  civilised  world.  Practically 
we  have  annihilated  time  and  space.  We  are  in  close  touch  with  all 
our  colonies,  and  there  are  few  families  who  have  not  sons  and 
daughters  in  all  places  of  our  dominion.  Tt  does  not  feel  so  much  like 
banishment  to  live  in  a  country  of  English-speaking  folk,  where  the 
manners  and  customs  are  like  those  at  home,  and  the  climatic  con¬ 
ditions  much  the  same.  The  ships  are  so  well  found,  and  the  voyage 
is  made  so  quickly,  that  people  think  no  more  of  a  run  to  Australia 
than  they  did  fifty  years  ago  of  one  to  America. 
We  have  just  been  reading  with  great  interest  some  accounts  of  the 
agricultural  situation  in  the  great  province  of  Queensland  that  were 
supplied  by  the  Agent-General  for  that  country.  Perhaps  we  migi  t 
suggest  that  the  reader  turns  to  the  Atlas,  he  will  then  see  how  vast 
a  province  this  is,  stretching  from  the  temperate  to  almost  the  torrid 
zone. 
Its  area  is  668,497  square  miles,  as  against  England  and  Wales 
with  only  58,186  square  miles,  so  there  is  no  lack  of  space  or  variety  of 
climate.  It  has  a  good  seaboard,  1500  or  1600  miles  of  South  Pacific, 
and  the  greater  half  northwards  of  the  Gulf  of  Carpenteria.  In  1891 
the  chief  exports  were  wool,  gold  and  sugar ;  it  is  now  developing  and 
opening  out  many  other  sources  of  revenue,  things  that  we  do  not  count 
as  among  our  agricultural  products. 
It  appears  that  Queensland,  like  other  parts  of  Australia,  is  subject 
to  long  and  excessive  droughts,  and  that  the  droughty  season  of  1898 
sadly  affected  the  pastures  and  caused  a  great  falling  off  in  the  export 
butter  trade.  This  butter  has  made  for  itself  a  name  and  place  in 
the  London  markets,  and  it  is  now  one  of  the  staple  industries  of 
Queensland.  The  farmers  are  quite  alive  to  the  situation,  and  are 
endeavouring  by  breeding  and  better  care  of  their  cattle  and  by  the  best 
of  dairy  management  to  secure  a  first-class  article.  Shipments  are 
made  fortnightly  to  Great  Britain.  In  1898  in  spite  of  the  droughty 
391  tons  were  for'warded  to  England,  and  it  is  expected  when  the 
estimates  of  1899  are  ready  that  it  will  be  found  that  something  like 
1000  tons  have  been  exported. 
Really  good  butter  will  always  command  a  good  price.  We  hear 
far  less  nowadays  of  butter  at  5d.  and  6d.  per  lb. ;  the  seasons  have 
not  altered,  but  the  management  has  altered — the  work  of  the 
travelling  dairy  school  is  beginning  to  tell. 
The  next  item  on  the  list  is  foreign  to  us.  We  do  not  cultivate 
the  plant  except  as  an  ornamental  and  sweet-scented  addition  to 
our  gardens,  or  as  a  personal  indulgence  of  doubtful  benefit.  The 
genial  warmth  of  Queensland  is  well  adapted  for  the  growth  of 
Tobacco,  which  generally  proves  a  paying  crop.  There  is  a  feeling  that 
the  soil  is  good  enough  to  produce  a  first-class  variety,  and  American 
factories  have  been  started  as  well  as  those  of  home  firms.  The 
Government  has  felt  the  time  was  ripe  for  the  employment  of  an 
expert  instructor  in  the  art  of  Tobacco  culture,  and  men  of  capital 
are  now  inclined  to  embark  in  the  undertaking.  It  appears  that  cigar 
Tobacco,  which  we  suppose  is  “  best  extra,”  can  be  grown  as  a 
remunerative  crop. 
We  have  heard  of  an  English  cigar  industry  where,  at  any  rate, 
the  outer  leaf  was  guileless  in  the  extreme.  We  believe  it  is  in  Sir 
John  Astley’s  life  that  he  makes  mention  of  seeing  some  industrious 
and  ingenious  people  busily  collecting  in  Bushy  Park  the  fallen  and 
perfect  Chestnut  leaves,  which  were  to  do  duty  in  the  manufacture  of 
high-class  cigars.  We  should  prefer  “pure”  Queensland  to  “home¬ 
grown”  Bushy. 
After  tobacco  comes  coffee,  quite  in  order,  and  we  should  hail  with 
pleasure  any  new  development  that  would  make  that  fragrant  drink 
cheaper.  Really  good  coffee  is  costly — that  is,  in  proportion  to  other 
drinks  of  a  like  nature.  • 
Tea  may  be  weak  and  void  of  sugar  and  cream,  and  yet  very 
drinkable.  Coffee  must  be  of  the  best,  strong,  and  with  flavour 
developed  by  pure  sugar  and  rich  cream.  It  is  dearer  per  pound  than 
good  tea,  and  so  much  more  is  required  to  make  a  palatable  drink.  It 
is  one  of  the  best  and  most  active  of  stimulants,  and  has  many  other 
excellent  medicinal  virtues. 
At  present  not  a  great  deal  of  Queensland  coffee  has  found  its  w^ay 
here.  What  has  come  has  been  much  appreciated,  showing  that  the 
culture  and  the  soil  are  both  right.  Government  has  appointed  a 
qualified  instructor.  The  home  consumption  is  so  great  that  that 
will  have  to  be  satisfied  first.  Wiil  it  be  labelled  “  finest  Australian 
Mocha,”  or  what  ?  We  think  there  is  a  future  before  these  Austia- 
lian  coffee  growers,  but  we  will  beg  them  never  even  to  experimenta¬ 
lise  in  chicory  growing.  It  is  the  chicory  that  gives  the  indigestion, 
not  the  pure  wholesome  coffee,  and  it  is  the  chicory  that  has  in  so 
many  instances  got  coffee  its  bad  name.  e  don’t  want  the  coffee 
of  commerce  in  smart  tins  or  packets,  we  want  the  real  thing,  and  if 
our  colony  can  send  it  we  venture  to  say  it  will  find  a  good  market. 
Still  the  breakfast  table— what  would  it  be  without  “  piggy  ?  ”  How 
good  on  a  cold  morning  is  the  sizzling  of  the  rashers  ;  how  delicious 
the  thin  red  and  white  slice  from  a  well  cured  well  boiled  ham.  M  e 
never  really  tire  of  pig  in  its  multifarious  forms.  It  ctmes  in  for  so 
many  dishes,  and  we  are  getting  a  w’ee  bit  sick  of  the  Chicago  variety. 
If  our  own  people  can  send  it  us  at  reasonable  price  and  good  quality, 
we  can  do  with  it.  Articles  of  daily  consumption  need  only  be  good 
to  find  ready  markets. 
These  cute  Australians  have  taken  advantage  of  the  troubles  in 
the  Phillipines,  and  have  practically  got  that  trade.  In  1896  export 
bacon  and  ham  amounted  to  £7904,  in  1898  to  £32,033.  Lard,  too,  is 
a  feature  of  the  trade,  though  we  have  no  statistics  given.  That,  too, 
is  a  need  in  every  household,  and  a  growing  need,  as  every  year 
sees  a  little  increase  in  the  quality  of  our  style  of  living.  Prosperity 
and  good  wages  are  doing  this.  The  table  of  to-day  is  a  very  different 
thing  from  the  table  of  twenty  years  ago.  This  applies  mainly,  of 
course,  to  the  lower  and  middle  cLisses,  and  they  are  numerically 
the  greatest  consumers. 
The  cultivation  of  Rice,  too,  has  got  a  firm  foothold.  Rice  and 
Wheat  are  always  in  demand,  and  will  be.  The  northern  part  of  the 
province  is  best  adapted  for  its  cultivation,  and  the  cultivation  is  going 
by  strides.  We  should  like  some  more  information  as  to  the  price 
of  land,  the  chance  of  opening  for  our  young  men,  and  a  few  other 
particulars  of  a  like  nature.  We  have  plenty  of  good  farmers  in 
England  who  begin  to  think  their  golden  days  here  are  over,  and  if 
they  or  their  sons  could  find  ^openings  among  congenial  surroundings 
in  our  home  on  the  other  side  of  the  world,  many  would  seize  the 
opportunity. 
We  want  some  definite  information,  a  greater  entering  into  details, 
something  about  the  amount  of  capital  needed,  and  the  stattis  we 
should  occupy  there;  something  about  land  tenure  and  the  burdens 
on  land,  the  educational  advantages,  and  a  ch  ar  statement  as  to  the 
difficulties  that  would  present  themselves  to  new  comers.  Perhaps 
some  day  we  may,  through  the  courtesy  of  the  Agent  General,  have 
the  means  of  increasing  our  knowledge. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
We  have  had  a  week  of  mild  and  windy  weather  which  has  done- 
much  to  dry  the  land,  but  it  is  raining  heavily  again  as  we  write,  so 
there  will  be  little  gained.  Wind  and  more  sunshine  are  wanted. 
Wheat  will  soon  require  rolling  ;  it  is  showing  signs  of  losing  root 
owing  to  wireworm,  and  the  sharp  frosts  before  Christmas  have  left 
the  surface  of  the  land  very  light. 
Young  seeds,  too,  will  have  to  be  rolled  when  possible  ;  the  plant  is 
certainly  thinner  than  it  was,  and  it  never  was  a  good  one.  On  a 
recent  visit  to  a  neighbouring  county  we  walked  over  several  fields  of 
new  seeds  without  finding  one  that  could  be  called  a  decent  plant.  We 
have  known  the  time  when  all  such  would  have  been  ploughed  up,  but 
