A LAND OF PROMISE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 64, 10 April 1909, Page 4

A LAND OF PROMISE.

THIS NORTHERN TERRITORY. "Had agriculture," state* a writer in Urn "Lone Hand," "in the Northern 'Territory hud the .same of Stale encourag.uncut as it has • in tin? Commonwealth, history would nu doubt, have told a different tale, it can he honestly said that agriculture in tile Territory has never been tried, never had a chance. So when tile Commonwealth pours in its military settlers they must be given the same opportunities that they would have had had liiey remained in the more settled portions of the continent. Then agriculture iu the Territory will be just as succesI'ul as it is elsewhere under similar conditions. The Government Resident reports that the country is eminently suitable for mixed fanning which would pay better than straignt-out tropical agriculture. Within the last 18 months 5120 acres have been taken up for that class of cultivation. Cattle, nurses,, pigs goats with a strain of Angora, ami poultry all tinive. The Angora linds the climate especially suitable, and some mohair from within 30 miles of Port] Darwin realised Ud. per pound in Sydney. Tile crops suitable lor growing in mixed 1 farming are tobacco, hemp, eotion (which is indigenous to the Territory;,■ and "upland 1 ' rice. The tobacco is oi an exceptionally high quality, and according to the Resident, an acre of i land may be fairly computed to yield ~lioo to COO worth of cigar-tobacco leaf. ! tor sweetening the -soil for liner culti-j vation the growing of sisal hemp is unrivalled, li grows right away in tlie 1 virgin soil witn a minimum of preparation, and, moreover, can be grown in the poorest soil. With regard to cotton, all Kinds thrive, and in u* ijounieai Gardens at Port Darwin 110 less than 12 varieties have been succeaauilly grown. The picking season is in .May, June, and July, the most delightful portion of the year. Rice is usually associated with unhealthy conditions, but "upland" rice can be grown with as little danger as wheat." Although from a miner's standpoint the country has been merely specked over, sufficient is known to justify the statement that the Territory is nch 111 minerals. During luo7 the output of copper was worth £15,031, silver lead yielded £2003, tin ore was worth .C-11,31a>, and wolfram A11y431, *nd gold Jj15.278, a grand total of irom a country practically without roads, railways, or water carriage, only partly explored, and with only one person to every -457 square miles. A dozen "Golden .Miles/' such as that of Kalgoorlie, may be awaiting discovery. At present there are practically no sheep jn the Territory. Some of the mission stations keep them, and give the wool to the carters for payment of carriage of goods. Lack of means of trausport makes wool-growing 011 a commercial scale impossible. So the live stock is comprised solely of cattle and horses, pigs and goats. On December 31, 11)07. there were on the 40 stations in the Territory 332,887 cattle and 8300 horses. The pigs and goats were not numbered, although some of the swine had their photographs taken, ana lae pictures prove them to be very superior pigs indeed. Scores of experts have reported that the land contains unlimited areas of lirst-dass sheep country, but till the place is traversed by railways wool cannot be grown profitably, fco sheep wiU not come on the scene till a railway has made it possible to transport the wool to market at a profit. The Territory is a beautiful land,and iu tiie course of events will one day lie the must populous part of Australia. It lias advantages that none of the other Slates can boast of. It has great navigable rivers like the Victoria, the Katlicriuc, the lioper. It has great areas of land suitalc for mixed farming, still larger areas suitable for pastoral enterprise, catlle-rcaring, and horse-breeding. Right, in the centre of tin; continent, like a natural citadel, a heaven-made fortress, rise the Maedonnell llan'gcs, out of which How the magnilieont Einke and a dozen other splendid rivers.