SUGAR INDUSTRY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 140, 14 May 1940, Page 2

SUGAR INDUSTRY

WORK IN QUEENSLAND. NEW ZEALANDER’S VENTURE, Experiences, in the sugar industry in Queensland were Related in an in V e Tr view to-day by Mr S. Lucas, who e Palmerston North 14 years ago ' Australia and is revisiting the ciry. Before his departure Mr Lucas W’? working on the railway and’ as a carpenter and as. a hoy was on the -sreu of tlie “Manawatu Standard- •-, Lucas now has a cane farm at Baupie,. about 160 miles north of Brisbane, and this is one of a group which supplies one of the smaller co-operative millswhich crushes about 50,000 or GO,OO tons of cane ahnn-lly. . . “Sugar cane culture in Australia is confined to a "narrow strin of coastal land extending from Mossman, m North Queensland, to ' the Clarence r 'River district, in northern New SoutU Wales, a distance of about 1200 miles from the limn'd tropics to the dry tropics and the dry and wet; subtropics.” . said Mr Lucas. ‘ Although no. cultivation of sugar cane was firs practised in the areas of Southern Queensland, its culture spread rapidly to North Queensland, and to-day it provides the onlv crop which be cultivated economically and profitably in the region o of heavy rainfall from Tally to Bobinda, Y where over 100 inches of ra-'n fall annually. 1 . n “The area cultivated is about 320 UUU acres, and approximately 10 000 farmers are engaged in the production, of the Australian crop of about six ™ l j" lion tons of sugar c”ne annually, yje ding nearly one million ■ tons of raw sugar. The value, of the raw manufactured is over £l3 000 C 00.,; I hi? was tlm most valuable crop grown . m Australia last year, heatirg the value of the wool production- for the first time. ■ ■ - ' ■ " . “The ideal climate ior cane growth is one in which the high '■ummer temperatures coincide with the period of high, though not excessive, rainfall, accompanied by a sprina and autumn season of moderate rainfall, and a relatively dry winter period with warm sunny days and cool nights. Last summer we had a temperature of more than 100 degrees on eleven consecutive (lavs, oil one of which it was up to 108 degrees in the shade. Under these conditions the crop makes prolific summer growth, which is followed by a gradual" diminution in the rate of crop production, during which abundant sunshine ensures the rapid ripening of the cane stalks. This increases the sugar content of the cane stalks, and as the growers are paid on the sugar content of the crop this is very important. If the cane starts again to make rapid growth, the sugar content will fall and the grower "would get a lower nrice .nor ton for the cane. SUSCEPTIBLE TO FROST.

“Cane is most susceptible to frost, and even a l.ght frost' will cause serious damage, it is for this reason, that cane culture in Australia se.dpnl extends far from the coast. The yields to the acre vary widely. Oil virgin soils of high fertility and with favourable rainfall as much as tons of cane an acre are produced. Un the older lands under droughty and other adverse conditions yieihs may tall as low as'lo tons of cane to.the acre. v

L “Queensland produces cane with the highest sugar - content in the world, and / during. the , last two years less than', seven-tons of caine ivere heeded to produce one ton of saw rugar./The lancfsclilHVhted in Australia vary from deep red volcanic loams,, to alluvial loams raid; clays. Cane has been-grown on my' larin year after year without any ' other, crop being used in rotation, for 1 50 years, and it is producing almost aS much cane to the acre as it ever did. Of course, fertilisers are used. About five to six cwt. of mixed fertiliser is used to the acre.. Then when the crop is ploughed out a leguminous crop, such as cow-peas, or Mauritius beans, is grown, and ploughed in. I “in certain districts the" rainfall is not sufficient, - and there irrigation is necessary. In most districts abundant sub-artesian, water is available) and is pumped up by centrifugal pumps. The water is allowed to run along the rows of cane. In hot summer weather cane requires from 4 to 6 ‘acre inches’ a week to maintain maximum growth. Deisel engines are mostly used, and some of the big plants run day and night. For, say, a six-inch pump about four to 6ix men are required to attend to the water drills. A marked difference is seen between irrigated and unirrigated farms. “The harvesting season is a particularly busy one for the cane farmer. He is usually fully occupied at this time of the year with the cultivation of his young crop for the following year. The cane is cut by gangs of cane cutters, ’who are paid from 7s 9d a ton for cane which is 15 tons an acre or more. The lighter the crop the higher the pay per ton. Where cane is only 7 tons an acre 12s 9d a ton is paid. A crop as light as this is not worth cutting, but often it has .to be cut to enable it to be ploughed out.’Cutters earn high wages, often as high as £lO to £ls a week, RESTRICTED AREAS.

"Because of overproduction Queensland has to restrict the area each farmer is allowed, to grow cane oh,” Mr Lucas said. ‘‘Eaen farmer is allotted a certain tonnage, according to the size of his crop and the length of the crushing.- Thus all farmers start together and finish together, irrespective of the size of their crops. This ensures that all farmers participate in the low- and high sugar content of the cane, which is low at the start of the crushing and highest in November, then gradually falling in December. Crushing finishes in the middle of December. There are 35 sugar mills, in Queensland, about half of which are co-operative mills and are owned by the farmers. Queensland is the only country in the world where, white labour at union wages is employed' in the cultivation and harvesting of the crop —BOOO cutters are employed. There are four experimental sugar stations where new varieties are cultivated and tested against disease. The farmers are levied so much per ton for the upkeep of these stations. Inspectors visit all the farms, and if any. very badly infested blocks of cane are discovered they have the power to order it to be ploughed out.

•‘‘When canc is cut it shoots up again from the ,cane stool and another crop grows. This is called ratoon cane. This can he done three or four times, when the whole crop has to be ploughed out and replanted. Sticks of cane are cut into about 6-inch lengths for planting. These pieces have two eyes from which the shoot emerges and thus the young plant gets its start.” Only two per cent, of those engaged in the industry were Italians, concluded Mr Lucas. Most of them were naturalised Australians or had' been boin in the country. Fifty, per cent, of the crop went "overseas, and with preferential tariffs £24 a ton was received for the raw ,sugar in .Australia and from £lO to £l2 a ton overseas. Ihe average price was about £l7 a ton.