Agriculture.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2372, 23 October 1880, Page 1 (Supplement)

Agriculture.

The following brief notes of the condition of tho agricultural resources of the colony, will convey to our readers an idea of tho amazing progress which has been made in this direction, within the short space of 43 years. AVe take the statistics up to 31st March, 1879, when the number of holdings in excess of 1 acre was 47,050. Extent of land in occupation (purchased); Freehold, 8,923,935 ; rented, 1,514,896 ; total, 10,438,813. Selected land (not purchased), 5,402,572. Total area in occupation, 15,901/103. Extent under tillage, 1,609,273. Tho area under wheat was 691,622 acres, averaging a yield of B'B bushels to the acre ; total yield, 6,060,737. Maize: 1939 acres, producing 40,754

bushels. Oats: 131,4-8 acres, yielding 17'6bushels ! j to the acre ; total, 3,3(1(1,036. Barley : 22,871 acres, ' giving a total result of 417,157 bushels. Hay : 172,709 j ! acres, with an average yield of I'2 tons; total, 209,028 ; | tons. Potatoes: 36,527acres,averaging2 7tons; total j 98,958 tons. Rye ami bcrc: 1779 acres, producing ! 20 - 816 bushels. Peas and beaus : 15,153 acres, with | a yield of 2-18,430 bushels. Turnips : 310 acres, pro- 1 ducing 3600 tons. Mangel Wurzel; 888 acres, i producing 8275 tons. Onions: 1009 acres, yielding 3600 tons. Tobacco : 1930 acres, producing 15,662 | cwt. Vines: -1134 acres, yielding 72,058 cwt.-| Gardens: 12,131 acres. Orchards: 8269 acres. j Beet, carrots, &c., 402 acres. Chicory, 155 acres, j ■ Hops, 213 acres (this industry has been largely in- i creased within the past year). Pumpkins, melons, ; i &c., 208 acres. The acerage of laud under crop up j i to March, 1879, amounted to 867,792 acres, thus pro- 1 ; portioned:— Root crops, 39,396; green forage, • 401,427; other crops, 30,359 ; iu fallow, 97,669. I The progress of agriculture in Victoria has been !

marked by a most intelligent adoption of the most improved machinery and implements. For the year ending March, 1879, the value of agricultural implements and machinery on farms and stations was estimated at £2,025,916, a large proportion of which was made in the colony. There are numerous linns engaged in the manufacture of agricultural machinery in Melbourne alone. The value of improvements upon stations and farms up to year ending March, 1879/ was set down at £16,845,527. The number of hands employed upon stations and farms was calculated at 103,520. The number of live stock on land, purely farming and unconnected with stations was as follows: — Horses, 185,671 ; cattle, milch cows, 236,780; exclusive of milch cows, 741,489; sheep, 5,611,964; pigs, 179,203. On stations the following stock was estimated:—Horses, 17,479; cattle, milch cows, 11,380; exclusive of milch cows, 164,577; sheep, 4 502,303; pigs, 4182. Total of stock on farms and

; stations:—Horses, 203,150; cattle, milch, cows, 268,110 ; others, 906,060 ; sheep, 10,114,267; pigs, 183,391. The lauds of this colony are being rapidly occupied. Indeed, from the very first settlement of tho country a groat eagerness has been displayed to secure, both by rental and purchase, pastoral and agricultural privileges. Up to 31st December of last year, no less an area than 19,243,168 acres had been alienated from the Crown, of which it is estimated that 1,037,000 acres had been abandoned or forfeited, and so reverted to the Crown —thus reducing the alienated lauds to 18,206,165 acres. Estimating the area of the colony at 56,446,720 acres, this will leave, available and uualienated, 38,240,555 acres. AVhen it is considered that in this calculation are included the ranges, water lines, goldfields, roads, Ac., of the colony, we : may reckon upon no larger area available for sclecI tion or occupation than 12,002,587 acres —a comparatively small reserve for future requirements.

It is estimated that there are 42,} millions of ! acres in Victoria available for pastoral and agri- | cultural purposes. All English cereals, fruits, vegetables, and trees grow to perfection in the colony, and very many other products which cannot exist in the cold and ungenerous climate of England, flourish bravely in Victoria. Wheat, barley, | and oats are the farmer's staples. After this | follow potatoes, peas, beaus, rye, maize, sorghum, I mangel wurzels, beet, clover, and a variety of ; fodder grasses. Tobacco also is now extensively j cultivated and manufactured. Hops are largely , grown in Gippslaud, where they promise to become a prominent product. Then hemp, flax, chicory, beet, bird-seed grasses, poppies, and the like, have been cultivated with profit. As for fruits, Victoria | is the happy producer of both European and semi- I tropical fruits. The olive, orange, guava, and ! mulberry flourish side by side with the gooseberry ; and apple. Gippslaud, the climate of which is ; particularly favourable to the growth of English 1

fruits, is fast becoming the garden from which Melbourne will draw her chief supplies. This however, is said in no sense as deprecatory of other districts prolific of the gifts of Ceres and Pomona. The climate, however, of Gippsland is singularly favourable to that slower development of fruits which conduces so considerably to their superior flavour and quality. The stations or runs of the colony are 801 in number, embracing an extent of 20,854,615 acres, the yearly rent for which amounts to £138,495. To 469 of these runs are attached 1,690,317 acres of purchased land. The average size of these stations is 26,036 acres, let at IJd. per acre.