THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14. 1574

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1905, 14 September 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14. 1574

In November, 1872, was established in Victoria the Department of Agriculture, [c was established as a branch of the Lancia Department and the Minister of Lands adopted a novel method <>f obtaining a Secretary. Evrfry applicmt hid t<< wiitean essny on the subject whioh it wathe duty of the new D j partinent to attend to. These easava (there were a lur^n number of them) were submitted fr> com pete'nt jii'lg'.", aud the writer of the Wst obtain d the po*t of Sec-etary for the Depar'nient of Auricnlt'ire. The inno vation of tha H'm. J. J. Ca3ey in this ma tt-r was critic Sud severely at the time, -ur the second animal report of the D - liartinent, now before ns is ampl*- demonstration <>f the wisdom "f ihe plan a 1 - pc 1 by him. Thh report is most, exhaustive — it contains 363 pages, and not only is it exha<i«t : vp,, but it displays nnmist-ikablv that the Sncretarv, Mr W.i'l s, is in e<-ery reaped qua itied for the important postion he occupies. The vast amount of information contained in it, nicely d igested, exhibits a degree of organisation exc^edintrly creditable to a Department only a little more than a year and a half oil. Persons well acquainted with the cHinnta and soil of Victoria, will not be surprised to learn, that in addition to being eminently fitted to ho a wheat, oats, barley. and potato pn'divti.; country, it. is in s<>me parts fit to liv-il the countries of Southern Europe and par's of India, in sub-tropical produc'i'>n°, such as in>ligo, cistor oil bean, opium, poppy, aim md, camphor, .swet-t chesnnr, cork oak, fk 1 , prune, orange, shaddock, olive, vine. Mr Wallissays — " The past, season has been very favorable to the growth of the vine The crop of grapes has been good generally throughout th* entire Oniony, an I in many localities the yield has more than doubled that; of any previous year. The vintage of 18?4, it is cnrMent/y stated, will he the b^st as regards both the quantity and quality of the wine made, that hns yec been known in Victoria ; and now that our vineyards are gaming aye, tlie produce equals, if it does not excel, the growths of the celebrated wine countries of the old world, as the awards ■>f the Vienna jurors testify." This must be highly satisfactory to Victorians, and is good news also to the people of New Zealand, inasmuch as it promises them a cheap and wholesome beverage in abundance at no distant date. The Secretary says of )iO|)-ci>)tnre t) at it, is making rapid strides in Victoria — "The soil and climate of a considerable area of our territory are pre-emient y adapted to the development.<>f the hop-plants. Itdeligh'B to i row in deep tih loams such as ex s i»nri\er flats ai>d low lands, formed by fh« deposition of decomposed or disenthraled rocks and vegetable debris in I Gip^sland and many other districts i.f Victoria. It will also attain perfection in the friab'e, red, volcanic soils frequently ' met with in our mountain rat.ges. The I yield obtained from young hop-grounds in this country, in some instances, is quite astounding, as much as 15cwt and upwards per acre having been gathered from plantations when only two years' ■Id " Here is evidence of a most cheering character to the people that, it immediately concerns, and t«. ns in New Zealand, and more especially on the West CoHBt, h is also of interest, seeing that it promises ch< apness in an ar-'icle which is consumed largely, and eniers into the >\> me*>t:c econuii.y of every honseh- 11. Quoting again from the report: — "Hops are imported into this country in Unje quintitiep, fto>n England and Tasmania, and realise prices in the Melbourne market varying from Is 8d to 2- 4£<l, and i Is 3d to Is ]0d per pound resf emvely." | We imagine a crop of 15cwt to ihe ac c at these prices would ho highly remunerative. Tha soil in the valleys of tiie G ppslHiid rivirs is somewhat like that in the firey Val'ey. And we sh-'uld think that our fanners might make a worse ex| erin cur. than ttymg how the hop-plant would thrive on their holdings. Mr Wallis f!ec!ares that the orange will $>row as well in several larg" rJiatr c's of Victoria as in New South Wales, where the supplies are principally derived at present. In the neighborhood of Sale, in Gippsland, we are aware that oranges have been growing equal to the best ever pro- j duced in New South Wiiles. It is » nly very vaguely known in Victoria that th* orange can be reared there so well. But this ignorance cannot long continue, seeing the energy being displayed by the Secretary for Agricu ture in diffusing broadcast information on this and kindred suljects. This, also, is a matter in which people on the West Coast are interested. To quote again from the report :— " No fruit ib more widely known, more hiahly esteemed, or more largely consumed than the orange ;" aud it goes on, to slate in

reference to the value of the nraiH'eg>owing in lostry, that as much as L2OOU have been offered and refused for a single crop of oranges off five acres of land in New South Wales. Were orange-growing carried on extensively in Victoria, we might obtain this wholesome and delicious fruit at a reasonable price, instead of at the exorbitant rates now ruling on the Coist. Touching on a sul'j ct of vital importance, Mr Wallis makes some remarks pregnant with wisdom, and which might well !io of profit to other countries as well as Victoria. "The subject of agricultural education is one of growing importance. At the present time any p3iS"n who travels from the sea to the Murray, from the boundary of New South Wales to the confutes of South Australia, will witness, with few exceptions, one uniform system of reckless land spoliation — a system which, unless checked, is calculated to bring inestimable misery upon this country, and that at no distant date. The exhaustive system of cropping pursued in Victoria is due in great measure — and this view of the case cannot, I think, be called in question — to the want of special knowledge on the part of the cultivators of our soil ; to the want of a wider knowledge of the principles which regulate agricultural practice. This knowledge it is That needs to be supplied." We purpose returning again to tlm report. Mr Wallis urges the importance of having it scattered broadcast throughout the length and breadth of Victoria, and with this view we eu-urt-ly agree. Thero is no other pursuit up m which men will enter without some adequate knowledge of it. But men seem to think that the firmer, like the poet, is bom not made. We have known men to s-art farming who. before cumin/ io the C lonifs, had never seen a larger area under cnltivaiui than was endorsed within the walls of a box containing plants on a wi idow sill.