AUSTRALIA

The island-continent of Australia lies south of Asia, between the Indian and Pacific oceans, and it extends from 10 degrees 41 minutes to 39 degrees 8 minutes south latitude and from 113 degrees to 153 degrees 30 minutes east longitude. Its area is 2,974,581 square miles and the population, not including aborigines, is 4,455,005, mainly of British origin.

Dutch and Spanish explorers visited Australia in 1606. On April 19, 1770, its eastern coast was first sighted by Cook, who, nine days later, dropped anchor in Botany bay. Sailing north, he touched at several points, and after having completed a survey of the east coast, he took possession of the territory between 38 degrees south and 10 degrees 30 minutes south. He reached Australia again in 1772 and in 1777 he landed on the coasts of Tasmania and New Zealand. The first settlement was established at Port Jackson in 1788 and gold was discovered in 1851. The commonwealth of Australia comprises the following political divisions: Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania.

As over 90 per cent of Australia’s sugar crop comes from Queensland, this article will deal with the growth and condition of the industry in that state only. Queensland has an area of 668,497 square miles, of which 920,010 acres were under cultivation in 1913; of this, 147,743 acres were planted with sugar cane.

CUTTING CANE, MAROOCHY RIVER, SOUTH QUEENSLAND

CARTING CANE TO MILL, INGHAM DISTRICT, NORTH QUEENSLAND

About one-half of Queensland lies in the tropics and the remaining area stretches southward to the twenty-ninth parallel.The temperature is affected in a marked degree by the breezes that blow steadily from the sea and moderate what otherwise would be excessive heat. It is warmer along the coast than in the uplands of the interior, and in the northern part the heat is very trying to people who have come from temperate climes. At Rockhampton the winter temperature averages 65 degrees Fahrenheit, and in summer the mean is nearly 85 degrees. The annual rainfall on the seacoast is large, particularly in the north, where it ranges between 60 and 70 inches. At Brisbane it is about 47 inches, while a large part of the interior receives from 20 to 30 inches, but it falls below 20 inches in the west and south. There are no active volcanoes in Australia and no violent earthquakes have occurred in recent years.

The sugar plantations of Queensland are found in a strip of territory running along the eastern coast between the sixteenth parallel and the southern border. This stretch of land has been divided into three districts, the southern, the central and the northern, the last being the most important, as it furnishes over 60 per cent of the total sugar production of the state.

The cane lands are of two kinds—scrub land and forest land. The scrub lands may be divided into two classes,true scrubandbastard scrub, the former being characterized by a dense, almost impenetrable vine growth and timber of soft wood. In the bastard scrub there are both hard and soft woods, the former predominating, and very little vine growth is met with. The soil of true scrub lands is of two kinds, alluvial and volcanic. The alluvial soil is composed of clay, fine sand, gravel and vegetable and mineral matter brought from the high levels by water action. The soil of forest lands is diversified and, for sugar-cane culture, “blady grassed” bloodwood country with a porous subsoil is selected. Here the yield of cane per acre isnot so heavy as on scrub lands, but the sugar content of the juice is greater.

The growth of sugar cane and the manufacture of sugar in Australia date back to 1823, but no substantial progress was made for a number of years. The first cane to be raised in Queensland was grown in the botanic gardens in Brisbane in 1847 and sugar was first manufactured in that state in 1862. The following year Captain Louis Hope had twenty acres in cane on a plantation near Brisbane and to him is due the credit of establishing the sugar industry in Queensland. In 1867 there were nearly 2000 acres in cane and six mills in operation, while the next year saw 5000 acres planted, with twenty-eight mills at work. The industry grew and throve until 1875, when the cane crop was almost completely destroyed by a disease known as “rust,” which was really due to imperfect cultivation, lack of proper drainage and the soft variety of the cane. As over 60 per cent of the estates were being operated with borrowed capital, the planters found themselves in serious financial trouble and many mortgages were foreclosed. Up to this time Bourbon cane was the variety generally grown, and when the disease wrought such havoc with the crop, it was noticed that the Rappoe cane did not suffer from rust. The hardiness of this variety encouraged the growers to substitute it and other sturdy species of cane for the Bourbon. The change proved entirely successful and the planters enjoyed good times once more.

The sugar industry of Queensland was carried on at the outset under the plantation system, that is to say, the planter, besides growing the cane, owned the mill and manufactured the sugar. This method worked very well until 1884, when a period of extreme depression came in the wake of the great boom that began in 1879. In 1885 the industry appeared to be in danger of extinction, and, as a remedial measure, the legislativeassembly voted £50,000 for the establishing of central factories. Two mills were operated on the new plan as an experiment with such marked success that an act was passed in 1893 to foster the development of the central-factory system. The act enabled a number of planters to form a co-operative company for the purpose of building and equipping a central mill. The necessary funds were obtained from the government, the cane lands being pledged as security for the loan, and the mills erected by this means became the property of the companies upon the payment of the loan. The large estates were gradually cut up into tracts of from fifty to one hundred acres each and were leased or sold on reasonable terms; in this way the land was settled by a large number of farmers.

ISIS CENTRAL MILL, CHILDERS, SOUTH QUEENSLAND

CANE UNLOADER, MULGRAVE CENTRAL SUGAR MILL, CAIRNS DISTRICT, NORTH QUEENSLAND

Nevertheless, there was grave danger that the benefit accomplished by this new law would be more than offset by the “white labor” agitation. As is well known, the labor party is very strong in Australia, and probably no other branch of agriculture in that country has been so beset with labor troubles as the sugar industry. For nearly thirty years the supply of laborers for the cane fields was drawn from the South Sea islands and India, principally the former. The white laborers were loud and insistent in their protests against the employment of Kanakas, as the islanders were called, and finally, after the formation of the commonwealth in 1900, an act excluding colored labor entirely and providing for the deportation of the Kanakas to their homes was passed by the federal government. To afford the planter relief for the hardship worked upon him by this measure by reason of the high wages they had to pay in order to secure white laborers, a duty was placed upon foreign sugar. A bounty upon sugar produced by white labor was also provided for, but this, together with the excise tax on sugar, was abolished in 1913. Today the industry is protected by a customs tariff of one and three-tenth cents per pound.

When cane is to be planted in new ground, the scrub, stumps and logs are first cleared away and the field is then ready for the seed. Holes are made with a mattock at regular intervals, the seed cane is placed therein, covered with earth and left to grow. The ground is hoed from time to time to keep the weeds under control, but the young cane does not require much attention after the first five or six months. On cleared land, ploughing is done two, three or four times, after which the surface is harrowed, rolled and planted. Three or four weedings are necessary during the growth of the crop.

From Mackay northward planting is done between February and October, but in certain low-lying districts in the north May, June and July are not considered good months for planting on account of the possibility of frosts. The cane ripens in from twelve to eighteen months. In the region south of the tropic line, planting is done early, although much cane is set out in August and September. The cane when cut is transported to the mills by narrow-gauge railroads, some of these lines being portable. In the north crushing begins in June and ends in December, while in the south the greater part of it is done from August to December. From two to four crops of ratoons are raised, but usually not more than three, the land lying fallow for one season. Fertilizing is not generally practiced, although some growers make use of legumes or dry manures as enrichers. The former consist of the Mauritius bean, the cow-pea and vetches, which are ploughed into the land after they have attained a certain growth.

Under ordinary conditions the rainfall is so evenly distributed in the sugar-growing districts that irrigation is not needed. Still, there are places where it has been found necessary to irrigate freely, owing to the amount of rain being insufficient for the crop needs. In such cases, wherever practicable, water is obtained by damming rivers and streams andis distributed over the cane fields through ditches by gravity. Where, however, the topography of the country does not admit of this being done, pumping is resorted to and large stations have been established for this purpose. The yield of sugar per acre since 1894 has been 1.688 tons and the amount of sugar extracted since 1904 averaged 10.95 per cent of the weight of the cane.

The federal government maintains an experiment station at Mackay and experiment farms have been laid out in the important sugar centers. The value of the work done at this station cannot be too highly estimated. The scientists in charge are constantly on the lookout for new varieties of cane and are on the alert to fight diseases and pests. The chief enemies of the cane in Queensland are cane grub, fungus pest, frosts and floods.

Today Queensland has forty-eight sugar mills and two refineries. Thirteen of the mills are centrals and four of these are under state control. Additional factories are under construction.

Most of these plants are equipped with three sets of rollers and modern machinery, the capacity ranging from 70 to 960 tons of cane per day.

The annual production of sugar in Queensland since 1894 in long tons has been as follows:

Back to Index Next