Another feature of the banana, of which man takes full
advantage, is that though the bunch be removed before the fruit is
matured as to size, the ripening process proceeds, just as though there
had been no untimely interference. The bananas may be small, but will, as
a rule, be almost as sweetly flavoured as those allowed to develop on the
plant. Yet the superfine aesthetic essence is not for the delight of
those to whom the fruit is tendered after it has undergone a sea voyage.
Let there be no misunderstanding with respect to the desirableness of the
coastal tract of North Queensland as a territory capable of supporting a
large, prosperous and healthful population. It is no part of the present
purpose to extol the mineral or the pastoral districts. They lie apart.
But in North Queensland agriculture is almost solely confined to the
coast and is essentially tropical. The tropics represent that portion of
the earth's surface wherein man may live with the minimum of exertion,
where actual wants are few, and wherein ample comforts may be enjoyed by
those who seek them with a quiet mind and easy understanding. Although
the question may be perhaps beyond proof, it might be safely asserted
that a larger proportion of men of the yeomen class, represented by those
who have succeeded in tropical agriculture in North Queensland, are
independent to-day, than of the men in Victoria and New South Wales, who
devoted their energies to sheep-farming, wheat-growing and dairying.
Pages:
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124