o 30 dozen fine fruit grown on strong young plants on rich new land.
Although the industry in the North is now almost entirely in the hands
of Chinese gardeners, there is no reason whatever why it should not be
run by white growers, as is done in the South, and there is no question
that our white-grown bananas in the South compare more than favourably
with the Northern Chinese-grown article, despite the fact that the
latter has every advantage in climate and an abundance of virgin soil.
Most of the photos of bananas are, I am sorry to say, not by any means
typical of this industry, as they have been taken during the off-season,
when the plants look ragged and are showing little new growth, and the
bunches also are much smaller than usual. Still, I hope that the
illustrations will give some idea of the growing and handling of this
crop, and will show what a banana plant and its bunch are like.

THE PINEAPPLE.

If there is one fruit that Queensland can grow to perfection, it is
undoubtedly the pineapple. This is not merely my own personal opinion,
but is the universal admission of all who are qualified to judge. On
many occasions I have taken men thoroughly conversant with
pineapple-growing, and who knew what a good fruit really is, through
some of our plantations, where I have given them fruit to test, and,
without exception, they have had no hesitation in saying that they have
never tasted better fruit. Our fruit has a firmness, freedom from fibre,
and a flavour that is hard to beat. It is an excellent canning fruit,
superior in this respect to the Singapore article, which it surpasses in
flavour. This is admitted by English and European buyers, and its
superiority is bound eventually to result in a great increase in canning
and the establishment of large works run on thoroughly up-to-date
lines.

[Illustration: Picking Pines for market--Woombye District.]

[Illustration: Pineapple Plantation--showing plants of different
ages--Woombye, North Coast Line.]

Like the banana, the pineapple is a tropical fruit, and is very
sensitive to cold, hence its culture is confined to frostless districts.
It is grown all along our eastern seaboard, where, when planted in
suitable soils and under suitable conditions, it is, undoubtedly, our
hardiest fruit, and is practically immune from any serious disease. Its
culture is entirely in the open, no shelter whatever being given, so
that we are not put to the great expense that