INTERCOLONIAL EXTRACTS.
The Economist thinks that such an unusual supply of feed will be apt to make Victoria!* farmers careless about securing or economising fodder to the extent they ought. Past experience Bhould teach all stockholders the value of cattle food in any and every shape, and although every paddock is now almost overflowing with grass and grain, growth will soon stop, and in two or three months overstocking may prove to have been a mistake. There is no doubt but that our grass paddocks ought to carry more than they do ; one head to five acres is scarcely up to the mark, yet in our usual Bunimefs few of our paddocks in the natural state exceed this. Just now the growth is so rank and the feed so plentiful that dairymen and others are very likely to be tempted to buy only a small mob, and in a few j weeks find themselves overdone with stock I upon barren paddocks. It requires some I degree of management to regulate supply and demand upon a stock farm. In such a season " a stand-by" ought to be secured in the shape of an extra stack or two, in readiness for autumn or winter use. Too much fodder is far better than too much stock, and it is far more profitable to keep a few cattle well than to half starve a greater number. "We are sorry to hear, says the (Pleasant Creek Ifews)tha.t in some parts of this district the oat crops, whicbulooked remarkably well, are likely to give but a very light yield. The last rain, farmers state, started them too quickly, and the growth of straw was too vigorous for the ears. Some patches wherethe paddocks appeared to show a splendid crop, were j so light as to cause a great disappointment to the farmen. The same remarks apply, but in a much less degree, to wheat. As regards the fruit crop, we hear it will be unusually light, especially in peaches and apricots. The vines appear to have done famously, and there is likely to be one of the best crops this, year that the growers in the neighborhood have enjoyed for a long time past. A vignoron whose experience in wine making extends^ over forty years, informs us that the quality of the grapes in this district is improving every year. The old vines that two years ago gave a certain quality of wine, now render quite a different and much better description, though treated apparently under precisely similar conditions. The Melbourne JSeraU of the 18th says that the Ballaratians are apprehensive that their alluvial sinkings are giving signs of exhaustion. At a meeting called last night in Ballarat, for the purpose of; considering what steps should be taken to test quartz lodes at a great depth, the opinion that the alluvial mines were gradually failing was given free utterance to. Ballarat men, though, are none the less confident in the permanency of tbeir district being the metropolitan goldfield. Alluvial, say they, may go, but we have quartz still left us. Underneath the beds in which the large masses of gold washdirt have been found, it is anticipated that quartz abounds, and that away down in the depths there remains yet to be discovered a hidden storehouse of wealth. The proposal of the Ballarat men is that this quartz should be bored for, and that sinking to the extent of 1000 ft. should be carried on in the attempt to discover the precious stone. Science and experience have so differed in the matter of deep sinking, and experience has so much beaten science, that we feel inclined to back the goldfields' men in their determination to test fortune. Most of the discoveries that have enriched the world have been nothing more nor less than happj guesses. If this notion of going far down for quar& should prove to be a happy guess, then forcenturiea to come Ballarat will be a productive goldfie'Jd, and the whole colony will be placed in possession of riches now unknown^ as other districts will surely follow in the wake of the premier gold field. A gentleman, who has recently travelled through South Grant, fully confirms the favorable reports which have been made respecting the crops. Never, he says, did he see anything like them ; even the poorest soils are hidden from sight by the waving grain. One of the most perfect landscapes was the country between Meredith and that district, where hundreds of allotments have been taken up under the 42nd Clause of the Amending Land Act> the small farms, with the cottages of the tenants almost hidden by the luxuriant crop being quite a^ pleasing feature in the colonisation of this colony. It is to be hoped that no material damage will be inflicted by the rain. If the harvest turns out to be as good as anticipated the 41b-loaf ought to be cheaper next year than ever known in Victoria. '. . An unusual spectacle was witnessed in Bourke-street on the afternoon, of the 15th (says a Melbourne paper) at halfpast one. A woman was positively travelling up the street with a dung cart all alone, and shovelling up the heaps of manure collected near the channel. The passers-by looked on amazedly, but the female continued her work unmoved. "Was she employed by some wag for the j purpose of giving a hint to the Coporation about the state of the streets ? The farmers in the Bellarine district (says the Qeelong Advertiser of the 18th) will commence to reap their wheat this week. Mr C. Boyle began last week, and it is expected that Mr Benfrey will begin to-day. The crops still continue to look exceedingly well, although there are a few symptoms of rust ; if the weather, however, continues warm and dry, no danger is to be apprehended. The crops also look well in the Moorabool district, but better have been known; the hot wind which we were -visited with a short time back having blighted some of the ears. In that district Mr Henry Capron has been one of the first to commence reaping, and he is said to have a very fine crop.
The Lancefield Chronicle reports that the crops generally throughout this district are looking remarkably well. Thn is particularly the case with wheat, of which cereal we have reason for expectisg a fair average crop. Daring the last month the oat crop has much improred, and instead of a general failure, as wai formerly anticipated, fields can be commonly seen which giro promise of 40 and 50 bushels to the acre. Mr Mackay, Lancefield, has a small paddock of the) Tartarian variety, and competent judgdi prognosticate as high as 70 bushels to the' acre therefrom. The straw is remarkably fine, 'attaining an average height of 6ft 61q. A feature still more noticeable is this heavy crop haviag sprung from comparatively poor soil, which has already been under cultivation for three seasons. There appears to be a much larger area of barley in the district this season than in former • ones, and the crop without exception^ if I remarkably fine. I *We learn from the Qetlohg AclveriUff that the Victorian Woollen Cloth Company sold during the half-year ending 30th November last upwards of 52,000 yards of tweedy and manufactured during the same period upwards of 47,000. The profits daring the half-year were £2511 10s. 6d., this, added to previous reserve (deducting last dividend paid and interest . on debentures) leaves a present balance to the credit of profit and loss to the 30th November of £3900 19*., from which* we understand, the directors will re- * commend a dividend of 10 pet cent, pet acnilm, and a bdnus of five shillings per share on the old issues. It this dividend and bonus be paid, it will still leave m reserve on profit and loss account of £2400— in addition to this there is a reserve fund of £800 for wear and tear of machinery. The company have no " bill* payable," the liabilities beyond the . debentures (except for the extension o£ works) being only about £500 on bpeni accounts. The balance sheet shows £1218 cash on hand, and £2518 in trade bills not discounted-. Large purchases of wool are now being made for the year** stock for manufacture. The extension 61 the building is being proceeded with, and will be completed in time for the machinery ordered from England. The Byines Herald states that ft violent hail* torm passed OT«r • portion of the county of Cumberland on the 10th December. Its duration was not more than about a quarter of an hour, bat daring that time its violence #as unequalled by any similar visitation known in these ooloniet. Hailstones of every size> and irregular-shaped lnmps of ice, pelted with unexampled violence* almost devastating « large tract of country. On Saturday a hailstone, or rather a lamp of ice* which had been picked up on the grounds of the . Hon. James Byrnes and preserved in bis ioe-box» . was as large as a fow *a egg, and apparently com* posed of several pieces of ice, congealed together* ▲ few strange visitors such as these, are lufioient to account for a resident of Parramatta being thft possessor of a sheet of roofing iron perforated in sixteen places. Many persons whose annual income depended upon the prodttoe of orangeries and orchards are almost ruined-. Trees wer* . stripped of their foliage and denuded of fruity a* completely as if etfpped off by a> sharp edged instrument, and we saw branches where not only was the bark stripped but even the Wood was indented, Green fruit lay ankle deep upon tha ground. In the town of Paramatta window* innumerable were destroyed, and a harvest provided for the glaziers. At Pennant Hills and along the north side of the river, especially about Byde, the value of fruit destroyed is estimated al several thousand pounds ; some persons estimate their losses at from £300 to £500, others at lease* amounts. - A Castiemaine journal writes i— A good sample of hay-lashing rope, made from aa excellent quality Of New Zealand lax, imported from. Auckland, ie to be teen at the agents, Messrs Corbet and Bogers. It was spun at Wattle Hat by Mr Griffiths, who, we understand, purpose* going more extensively into this branch of native) industry. He has been making such improve* ments as to render him confident that in a short time he will be able to turn out ropes fit for miners. Some of his early trials were not to his mind, on account of the flax being deficient in strength, but the samples from Auckland are pro* nottnced equal to anything imported.
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Southland Times, Issue 1191, 4 January 1870, Page 3
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1,783INTERCOLONIAL EXTRACTS. Southland Times, Issue 1191, 4 January 1870, Page 3
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