to being grown in the wild manner I have
described, it is occasionally cultivated in a systematic manner,
somewhat like the tomato, but not to any extent; growers preferring to
depend on it as a first return from newly fallen and burnt-off scrub
land. As a fruit it meets with a very ready sale, as it is one of the
best cooking fruits grown; plainly stewed and served with cream, made
into puddings or pies, or converted into jam, it is hard to beat. The
jam has a distinct flavour of its own, one that one soon becomes very
partial to, besides which it is an attractive-looking jam that, were it
better known in the world's markets, would, I feel sure, meet with a
ready sale at satisfactory rates. The plant is somewhat susceptible to
cold, hence it does best in a district free from frost, but it is not
killed out by light frosts, only killed back, and its crop put back.
Like all plants belonging to the same natural order, it likes a good
soil, rich in available potash, and this is probably the reason why it
does so well on newly burnt-off scrub, the ashes of which provide an
ample supply of available potash.

THE OLIVE.

A much-neglected fruit in this State, as it is also in most
English-speaking countries. Few English people are fond of either the
fruit or the oil, and yet it is probable that there is no tree that for
the space it occupies will produce a greater annual return of food than
the olive. A number of trees are scattered throughout the State, some of
which are now of large size and fair age, but, so far, practically
nothing beyond making a few gallons of oil and pickling a few gallons of
fruit has been attempted, and this only in a purely experimental manner.

The present condition of the olive industry is destined to have a
wakening up ere long, as a country that can produce this fruit in such
quantities and of such a quality as the lighter soils of the Darling
Downs is destined some day to be one of the largest producers of olives
on earth. Some years since I planted a number of the best varieties of
olives--trees obtained direct from California--on the Darling Downs, in
land that I considered suitable for their growth, and which was properly
prepared prior to planting. The trees here have made a really phenomenal
growth, they came into bearing within three years of planting, and have
borne steadily ever since. They have proved enormous bearers, and an
experimental crushing showed that the oil was of hi