Farming in Victoria.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 314, 7 November 1888, Page 3

Farming in Victoria.

In the Victorian Assembly Mr Madden f took for his fext the state of the" farming industry, of which he drew a gloomy picture. * Indeed, he foretells the speedy collapse of the Victorian fanner. ' When the dictionary of a Victorian language comes to be compiled, we shall read of ' farming' as a ' defunct industry, followed by the early settlers.' Mr Madden thinks the farmer's only hope lies in irrigation, though be sees precious small hope in that. The Victorian farmer grows wheat which costs him' 2s' 6d a bushel before it leaves his farm, and the most he can expect for it is 2s Bd, which leaves him only a starvation margin of profit.. He has a miserable prospect enough, which is rendered the harder to face when he compares ifc with the prosperous future which the city man has in view. The farmer cannot li- c contented with his hard-earned 2d a bushel of profit -'whilst he sees his brother in Melbourne selling his land at £1,000 a-foct and receiving his 50 per cent, of interest for his mei'cantile, finance, or real estate bank shares. His one desire is to sell out and flit fco them etropolis. Mr Madden preached a true sermon, though his conclusions were far from comforting." Perhaps New Zealand farmers who are believers in Protection as the panacea for all our public ills, will note the above as one result of a strongly protective tariff upon, the agricultural industry. If properly considered it does not go far to cure' them of their craze, nothing will.