Under ordinary conditions the rainfall is so evenly distributed in the sugar-growing districts that irrigation is not needed. Still, there are places where it has been found necessary to irrigate freely, owing to the amount of rain being insufficient for the crop needs. In such cases, wherever practicable, water is obtained by damming rivers and streams and is distributed over the cane fields through ditches by gravity. Where, however, the topography of the country does not admit of this being done, pumping is resorted to and large stations have been established for this purpose. The yield of sugar per acre since 1894 has been 1.688 tons and the amount of sugar extracted since 1904 averaged 10.95 per cent of the weight of the cane. The federal government maintains an experiment station at Mackay and experiment farms have been laid out in the important sugar centers. The value of the work done at this station cannot be too highly estimated. The scientists in charge are constantly on the lookout for new varieties of cane and are on the alert to fight diseases and pests. The chief enemies of the cane in Queensland are cane grub, fungus pest, frosts and floods. Today Queensland has forty-eight sugar mills and two refineries. Thirteen of the mills are centrals and four of these are under state control. Additional factories are under construction. Most of these plants are equipped with three sets of rollers and modern machinery, the capacity ranging from 70 to 960 tons of cane per day. The annual production of sugar in Queensland since 1894 in long tons has been as follows: 1894-95 91,712 1895-96 86,255 1896-97 109,774 1897-98 97,916 1898-99 163,734 1899-00 123,289 1900-01 92,554 1901-02 120,858 1902-03 77,835 1903-04 89,862 1904-05 145,020 1905-06 152,259 1906-07 182,188 1907-08 185,063 1908-09 150,400 1909-10 132,816 1910-11 207,340 1911-12 176,076 1912-13 113,060 1913-14 255,000 1914-15 246,408 1915-16 150,000 1916-17 200,000[88] MAURITIUS Great Britain’s island colony, Mauritius, lies in the Indian ocean between 57 degrees 18 minutes east and 57 degrees 49 minutes east, and 19 degrees 58 minutes and 20 degrees 32 minutes south, 550 miles from Madagascar. Irregular in shape, it extends 36 miles from north-northeast to south-southwest, and its greatest width is 23 miles. Its area is 710 square miles.