greater extent than it is, as there is always a fair demand for the
nuts. Blackberries of different kinds have been introduced, and do well,
the common English blackberry almost too well, as unless kept in check
it is apt to spread to such an extent as to be a nuisance. In addition
to the cultivated fruits I have briefly mentioned as growing in
Queensland, we have a number of native fruits growing in our scrubs and
elsewhere that are worthy of cultivation with a view to their ultimate
improvement. Of such are the Queensland nut, a handsome evergreen tree,
bearing heavy crops of a very fine flavoured nut. The nut is about
3/4-inch in diameter, but the shell is very hard and thick. It could no
doubt be improved by selection and careful breeding. The Davidsonian
plum is also another fruit of promise. It is a handsome tree of our
tropical North coast, and bears a large plum-shaped fruit of a dark
purple colour, with dark reddish purple flesh, which is extremely acid,
but which is well worth cultivation. Several species of eugenias also
produce edible fruit, and there are two species of wild raspberries
common to our scrubs. There are the native citrus fruits I referred to
in an earlier part of this paper, as well as several other less
well-known fruits that are edible.

[Illustration: Tamarind Tree, Port Douglas District.]

GRAPE CULTURE.

No work on fruit-growing in Queensland, however small, would be complete
without due reference being made to the vine, the last but by no means
the least important of our many fruits. Although the cultivation of this
most useful and popular fruit has not reached to anything like the
dimensions that vine culture has attained in the Southern States,
particularly in the production of wine, there is no reason why it should
not do so at no very distant future. We have many advantages not
possessed by our Southern neighbours in the culture of the grape, the
first and most important of which is that our crop ripens so much
earlier than that of the South that we can secure the whole of the early
markets without fear of any serious opposition. Until quite recently,
grape culture was in a very backward state in Queensland, the grapes
grown on the coast being nearly all American varieties, which are by no
means the best wine or table sorts. A few grapes of European origin were
grown on the Downs and in the Roma district, but their cultivation was
practically confined thereto. Now, howeve