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• i ,»• -. • • »<





AN AUSTRALIAN COLONY.
^C^Mtf^
THE GOVERNMENT HANDBOOK
OF
VIOTO RIA.
fij! 9ut1)ont8
BOBT. S. BRAIN, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, MELBOURNE.
9194.


THENEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
193259
ASTOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
1900








PREFACE.
The absence of knowledge by a large number of residents in
Great Britain and Ireland of the Geographical Divisions of
Australia, and of the Agricultural, Pastoral, and Mineral
Resources of Victoria, is made apparent by numerous inquiries.
In order that information respecting the colony may be
obtained by those seeking it, this brochure has been prepared.
Victoria, although the smallest of the five colonies of the
Continent of Australia, is one of the most prosperous. It has an
area of 87,884 square miles, and one of the finest climates in the
world. The difference in temperature throughout the year is
slight, the average being 49-2° in winter, and 65-3° in summer.
The average rainfall in the colony for a series of years was
26-81 inches. With such a genial climate, open-air work can be
carried on throughout the year.
Compared with European countries, Victoria occupies a very
favorable position as regards the health of its people, and is
entirely free from epidemical disease, from which less favoured
countries suffer.
The system of State Education is free, and schools are so
situated as to be accessible for children in all parts of the
colony. The standard of education is high, and many of our
most successful men received their education in State schools.
The value of imports for 1897 was £15,454,482 and exports
£16,739,670. Of the area of 87,884 square miles, only 3,242,600
acres are under cultivation, and as most of the area is capable of
cultivation, there are possibilities of extending it considerably.
The value of the agricultural products for the past year, which
was an unfavorable one, was £5,000,000, and the pastoral
products, including butter and cheese, £7,500,000.
The mineral resources of the colony comprise most of the
principal metals of economic value. The value of last year's pro-
duction, principally gold, amounted to £3,500,000.
The present population is 590,755 males, and 580,179 females;
total, 1,170,934. Not counting the population of the metropolis
and suburbs, which is 458,610, or any of the large towns and
boroughs, it will be seen that the rural population is very limited,
and there is ample scope for a considerable addition thereto.
A 2



A MOUNTAIN STREAM.





CONTENTS.
Page
Australia ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 7
Victoria . .. ... ••• ••• ••• ••• H
Financial Position of Victoria... ... ... ••• ••• 26
Notes on Mining ... ... ••• ••• ••• 32
Facts and Figures ... ... ... ••• ••• ••• 53
Agriculture ... ... ... ... •.. • •• ••• 80
Lands of the Colony ... ... ... ••• 1*0
Dairying Industry ... ... • •• 1*6
Pigs, Pork, and Bacon ... ••• ... ... ••• m
Poultry and Eggs ... ... ••• •• ••• ••• H4
Exports of Perishable Products ... ... ... — 116
Other Industries ... ... ... ••• ••• "8
Sugar-beet Industry ... ... ••• ••• ••• 122
Tobacco-growing ... ••• • •• ••• ••• 128
Why I Settled in Victoria ... ... ... ••• 132
Horticulture ... ... ... . ••• ••• '38
Fruit-growing Industry ... ... ... ••• — 153
Victorian Vineyards ... ... ... ... ••• ••• 158
Irrigation and Water Supply ... ... ••• ••• 166
Mildura Irrigation Colony ... ... ••• 182
Flocks and Herds ... ••• 188





AUSTRALIA.
The island continent of Australia was the last great
division of the world to claim the attention of the navigator
and the explorer. Nothing definite was known of this vast
and important section of the globe until about 300 years
after the discovery of the "New World," and it was not
until Britain had lost her American colonies that she turned
her eyes towards the lands which her brave navigators had
found in the southern seas. A little more than 100 years ago,
viz., in 1788, the first settlement of the continent was made
on the eastern shores ; and to-day Australia, with the adjacent
island of Tasmania, comprises six prosperous self-governing
colonies, whose agricultural and mineral wealth is a potent
factor in the commerce of the world. Situated in the south-
western portion of the Pacific Ocean, Australia lies between
the parallels of 10° 40' and 30° 11' of south latitude, and the
meridians of 113° and 153° 16' east longitude. The length
from north to south is 1,970 miles, the width 2,400 miles, and
the area 2,944,628 square miles. The areas occupied by the
different Australian colonies are as follow :—
Queensland ...
New South Wales ...
Victoria
South Australia
Western Australia ...
Total—Australia ... 2,944,628
Australian Federation.
For many years a desire for federation has been growing
among the people of the Australian colonies. The federal
movement made slow progress at first, but recently
important steps have been taken in rapid succession, and at
present there are hopeful prospects of a speedy consumma-
tion. A Federal Convention, charged with the duty of
framing an Australian Constitution, has recently success-
fully completed its labours at Melbourne, The Bill has been
well received by prominent men representing all shades of
political opinion, and there are good grounds for expecting
it to be accepted by the people. If anything, however,
668,224 square miles
309,175 „ .,
87,884 „
903,425 „
975,920 „


8
should occur to disappoint the present expectation, the
result will delay, but not defeat, the formation of the
Australian Commonwealth. It must be regarded as saying
much for the peoples of these colonies that. without the
stimulus of a common danger, they should have so far over-
come the provincial spirit, and cherished the wider national
sentiment expressed by William Gay in the following lines:—
1' From all division let our land be free,
For God has made her one; complete she lies
Within the unbroken circle of the skies,
And round her indivisible the sea
Breaks on her single shore; while only we,
Her foster children, bound with sacred ties
Of one dear blood, one storied enterprise,
Are negligent of her integrity.—
Her seamless garment, at great Mammon's nod,
With hands unfilial we have basely rent,
With petty variance our souls are spent,
And ancient kinship under foot is trod: .
0 let us rise, united, penitent,
And be one people,—mighty, serving God!"
Mr. Henry Heylyn Hayter, C.M.G., late Government
Statist of Victoria, writes thus of the discovery of Aus-
tralia :—
DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA.
From the period of the expedition into India of Alexander
the Great (b.c. 330 to 325), allusions to a Great South Land
begin to be met with in the contemporary writings, and later
on Strabo (b.c. 50), Pliny (a.d. 77), and Ptolemy (a.d. 150)
distinctly mention such a land, although the accounts they
give of it and its inhabitants are wide of the truth. It seems
clear at least that the existence of Australia was known to
the Greeks and Romans, although its position and extent
remained uncertain long after their times ; and it scarcely
admits of a doubt that in the seven or eight centuries during
which the Mahomedan power dominated in the Malay
Peninsula and Indian Archipelago the northern coasts of
Australia were often visited by their navigators, the results
of these visits being plainly perceptible both in the persons
and languages of the aborigines. The Chinese trepang
fishery on the northern shores of Australia dates from very
remote times, and traces of Chinese intercourse with the
aboriginal inhabitants about Cape York and the Gulf of
Carpentaria are said to be yet perceptible in the features of
the latter. Marco Polo, the celebrated navigator (a.d. 1293),








9
makes allusion to the Great South Land, and there is no
doubt its existence was known to him, although it is not
probable he ever visited its shores. The honour of being the
first European to behold the Great South Land has been
awarded with some confidence by Sir Robert Rawlinson to
a Provencal navigator named Guillaume le Testn, a native
of the city of Grasse. The evidence relied upon is furnished
by certain French maps and relative documents found in the
British Museum and the War Office of Paris, of dates
respectively 1542 and 1555, and from these it would appear
that the original discovery was made as early as 1531.
Three-quarters of a century after this (about the end of 1605)
Fernandez de Quiros, a Spanish navigator, started from
Lima with three ships to try and discover the Great South
Land, and on the 26th April of the following year he sighted
land he believed to be the continent of which he was in
search, which he named " Tierra Austral del Espiritu Santo."
It is generally thought, however, that this was not Australia,
but one of the islands of the New Hebrides. His crew
shortly afterwards mutinied and would proceed no further,
but two of the ships of the expedition, under the command
of Torres, continued their course, and passed through the
straits dividing Australia from New Guinea. In March,
1606, a few days before this, the Dutch landed on the shores
of Australia in a small vessel called the Duyffken. She
proceeded as far as Cape Turnagain (lat. 13f° S.), situated
in the Gulf of Carpentaria, where some of the crew landed,
and several were killed by the aborigines. The statements
brought to Holland by the survivors awakened a desire for
further information, and an expedition was sent out to found
a colony. It is uncertain where the landing was effected,
but the territory was soon abandoned in consequence of the
hostility of the natives. On their return, the members of
the expedition reported that the land was rich with gold,
but this was not generally believed. After this, repeated
attempts to obtain particulars of the land were made by the
Dutch. Dirk Hartog, in 1616, fell in with the north-west
coast, and examined it from lat. 19° to lat. 25° S. Jan
Edels, in 1619, coasted along the shore as far as 29° S., and
gave his name to portion of the present colony of Western
Australia. In 1622 the south-western extremity of Australia
was discovered by a Dutch ship named the Leeuwin; and in
the same year Francis Pelsart, in a ship called the Batavia,
was wrecked on a reef of rocks about 200 miles north of


10
Swan River. In 1642 Abel Jansen Tasman discovered Van
Diemen's Land, now called Tasmania, which for a long time
afterwards was believed to be part of the Australian main
land. In 1688, and again in 1699, Dampier, a noted
English buccaneer, visited and examined a considerable
portion of the north-western coast of Australia ; Dampier
Bay, Roebuck Bay, and the Buccaneer Islands being named
by him. Other English and Dutch navigators followed.
They seem, however, to have confined their examinations to
the western and northern coasts, and it was not until 1770
that the south-eastern and eastern shores were visited, the
discoverer of these portions being the celebrated English
navigator, Captain Cook. He made the land at that part of
Australia now called Victoria, the point first sighted being
apparently identical with the present Cape Everard, in
Gippsland, situated between Cape Howe and the mouth of
the Snowy River. He then sailed along the east coast, and
carefully examined portions of it, especially Botany Bay,
near which Sydney, the capital of the present colony of New
South Wales, is situated. On his return to England Cook
reported Botany Bay to be a suitable place for colonization,
and in 1788 Captain R. Phillip, R.N., on the shores of Port
Jackson, a few miles to the north of Botany Bay, established
a permanent settlement.








11
VICTORIA.
Victoria, so named after Her Most Gracious Majesty,
although the smallest, is one of the richest and most pro-
sperous of the various colonies situated on the Australian
Continent, of which it occupies the south-eastern portion.
It is bounded on the north and north-east by the colony of
New South Wales, and on the west by the colony of South
Australia On the south and south-east its shores are
washed by the ocean. It lies between the 34th and 39th
parallels of south latitude, and the 141st and 150th
meridians of east longitude. Its extreme length from east
to west is about 420, its greatest breadth about 250, aud its
extent of coast-line nearly 600, geographical miles. Its area
is 87,884 square miles, or 56,245,760 acres. The whole
Continent of Australia is estimated to contain 2,y44,628
square miles, and therefore Victoria occupies about a thirty-
fourth part of its surface. Great Britain, exclusive of the
islands in the British seas, contains 89,644 square miles,
and is therefore somewhat larger .than Victoria. The fol-
lowing notes upon the history of Victoria and descriptions
of cities, towns, and institutions are by the late Mr. Julian
Thomas:—
Bass's Discoveries.
The first known Europeans who trod what is now Vic-
torian soil were Mr. Clarke, the supercargo, and some of the
crew of the Sydney Cove, wrecked early in 1797, who
reported, when they reached Port Jackson, that they were
driven ashore south of Cape Howe. In December of the
same year, Dr. George Bass, a surgeon in the Royal Navy,
and also a skilful navigator, and Matthew Flinders, a mid-
shipman, started in a whale-boat, manned by six seamen,
and, passing Cape Howe, coasted along that part of Victoria
now called Gippsland, and, rounding Wilson's Promontory
—the southernmost point on the Australian Continent—
entered Western Port on the 4th of June, 1798. He, how-
ever, returned to Sydney without discovering Port Phillip
Bay. Up to this time, the southern portion of Australia
was supposed to have been connected with Van Diemen's
Land, and the wide passage now known as Bass Strait to
be only a deep bight. Dr. Bass's discovery was of great
value. His fate was an unhappy one. After having com-
pleted his survey of the Strait, he returned to England from
Sydney, but came out again with Captain Bishop, in the


12
brig Venus, intending to trade between Sydney and Spanisb
America. Bishop went mad, and Bass took command of
the vessel, and sailed to Valparaiso, to open a trade. The
Spaniards consented, and were at first amicable; but Bass
and his sailors were taken prisoners their first day on shore.
Dr. Bass was sent to work in the quicksilver mines, and was
never heard of again.
Finding Port Phillip.
Lieutenant Commander James Grant, of H.M.S. Lady
Nelson, was the first known white man who sighted the
south-western district of Victoria. In 1800 this gallant
sailor navigated the southern shores of Australia in his little
vessel of only 60 tons, and emulated Captain Cook as a
nomenclator. He named Capes Northumberland, Bridge-
water, Nelson, Sir W. Grant, and Otway, and Mounts Schank
and Gambier, Lawrence Road, and Julia Percy Island.
Portland was called after the Duke, then one of the Secre-
taries of State. Lieutenant Grant was the first European
after Bass to sail through the Straits. In 1801, Grant. in
the Lady Nelson, surveyed the Victorian coast from Wilson's
Promontory to Western Port. In the course of this voyage
he landed on Phillip Island,- in Western Port Bay, and
cultivated a garden patch with a coal shovel, the only imple-
ment available! Lieutenant Grant returned to England,
and was succeeded in command of the Lady Nelson by
Lieutenant John Murray, who, on the 5th of January, 1802,
first discovered Port Phillip Bay. The Heads were passed,
the shores explored, the united colours of Great Britain and
Ireland were hoisted on land and ship, and the port was
taken possession of in the name of His Sacred Majesty King
George III. In his report, Lieutenant Murray states that
the country reminded him of Greenwich. The hill on the
eastern side of the Bay, known to all Victorians as Arthur's
Seat, was so named by the Scotch naval orficer, after the
eminence above Edinburgh. The next navigator in Vic-
torian waters was Matthew Flinders, whose talent and
services during the Bass expedition bad been fully recog-
nised by the English Government. In July, 1801, Flinders
sailed from Spithead, in command of the sloop of war
Investigator, with instructions to make a complete survey of
the Australian coast. The Arctic explorer, Sir John
Franklin, was a midshipman on board this vessel. On the
26th of April, 1802, Captain Flinders entered Port Phillip,






A ROAD THROUGH THE FOREST.



A FOREST ROAD.





13
and ascended both Arthur's Seat, on the eastern shore, and
the You Yangs mountain, on the western. From the latter
he viewed the fine plains of the interior, and the hills around
the present city of Ballarat. Fifty years later, from the
same height, one might see caravans of coaches, drays, and
pedestrians by the thousand, bound to and from the fields
of gold. Flinders afterwards sailed northwards from
Sydney, through Torres Straits, and circumnavigated the
continent for the first time, naming it Australiaj and
claiming possession of it for Great Britain. His after fate
was an unhappy one. The first vessel in which he sailed
from Sydney, on his return to England, was wrecked on the
Barrier Reef. The record of that disaster, and of Flinders'
voyage of 700 miles, in an open boat, is one of the most
startling of the stories of the sea. Again starting from
Sydney, the unlucky navigator was taken prisoner by the
French, at the Mauritius, and detained for more than six
years. When he was released, he passed four years at
home, writing the account of his discoveries, and died in
1814, at the early age of 40. Posterity recognises Matthew
Flinders to have been "the most generous, most learned,
and yet most modest of Australian explorers." In the trio
—Dampier, Cook, Flinders—British pluck and enterprise
were worthily represented. They deserve honour from all
Englishmen and all Australians.
Settlement of Melbourne.
In the early part of 1835 a syndicate was formed in
Tasmania, then known as Van Diemen's Land, to colonize
Port Phillip. John Batman, a native of Parramatta, New
South Wales, was at the head of this. He sailed from
Georgetown on the 12th of May, in the small schooner
Rebecca. On the 29th he entered Port Phillip Heads, and,
landing on the west side of the Bay, ascended Station Peak
(the You Yangs), following in the track of Matthew Flinders,
a copy of whose chart was in Batman's possession. He
surveyed the beautiful downs, "called Iramoo by the
natives," which Hume and Hovell had passed over. Then
Batman ascended the Freshwater and Saltwater rivers,
described by Surveyor-General Grimes. The former he
called the Yarra Yarra, presumed to be the native term
for "ever-flowing." He had several interviews with the
natives, and entered into a simple arrangement with eight
of the principal chiefs for the transfer "to him and to his


14
heirs for ever " of some 800,000 acres of land (which would
now include Geelong and Melbourne, and all its suburbs) in
consideration of receiving a certain quantity of apparel, and
other miscellaneous wares, particularized as "20 pairs of
blankets, 30 tomahawks, 100 knives, 50 pairs of scissors, 30
looking-glasses, 200 handkerchiefs, 100 lbs. of flour, and 6
shirts," a " deal" worthy of the Dutch captain who bought the
island of Manhattan, the site of New York, from the Indians;
or of the New Caledonian speculators of the present day in
the New Hebrides. This " bargain " was, however, ignored
and nullified by the Government; as was a similar one
dealing with 100,000 acres of land beyond Geelong. Ulti-
mately the Governor of New South Wales allowed the
Batman Association £7,000 in the remission of the purchase
of land at Port Phillip as compensation in respect of their
claims, "recognising the services which the company had
rendered, by assisting in the colonization of the new country."
Batman was followed in the same year by Mr. John Pascoe
Fawkner, who despatched the' schooner Enterprise. from
Georgetown on the 27th of July, 1835, which sailed up the
Yarra, and on the 28th or 30th of August was moored by its
captain, John Lancey, to a tree standing on the present site of
the Australian Wharf. Two horses, two pigs, three dogs, and
a cat were landed with the provisions—the first imports into
the new settlement, which Mr. Fawkner may fairly claim to
have founded. Mr. Fawkner, when he landed on the banks
of the Yarra on the second voyage of the Enterprise, formed
a cultivation paddock of 80 acres on the south side of the
river. He turned the first sod, built the first house,
opened the first church, and started the first newspaper in
the settlement," and was, in fact, the father of Melbourne.
To Batman, however, may be credited the fame of being the
first colonizer of the shores of Port Phillip Bay. Mr.
Fawkner died on the 4th of September, 1869. Mr. Batman
died on the 6th of May, 1839, at his residence on the slope of
Batman's Hill, and was buried in the Old Cemetery on Flag-
staff Hill. In the early part of 1882, an obelisk of dressed
blnestone, raised by public subscription, was placed over his
grave. Mr. Batman's journal, and also the deed made with
the natives, are now in the Melbourne Public Library.
Batman and Fawkner were soon followed by other pio-
neers from Van Diemen's Land. The " Wild White Man"
Buckley, who had been 32 years among the blacks, became
interpreter to one party of settlers. On the 10th of








15
November, 1835, 50 pure Hereford cows and 500 sheep were
landed. Stock was driven overland from New South Wales.
The "downs of Iramoo "were soon covered with the flocks and
herds of the white settlers. Officialdom in Sydney suddenly
awoke to the fact that there was a southern part of Australia
to govern and tax. The church, in the person of the Rev.
Mr. Orton, a Wesleyan minister, had previously come to the
fore. The first sermon was preached by him in April, 1836,
under the shade of the Casuarina oaks on Batman's Hill.
The State asserted itself five months later.
Early Progress.
On the 29th of September, 1836, Captain William Lons-
dale, of the 4th Regiment, arrived at Port Phillip, in H.M.S.
Rattlesnake, Captain Hobson, after whom Hobson's Bay is
named, and assumed the position of resident magistrate.
He selected the present site of Melbourne for that of the
future city, his selection being indorsed by Sir Richard
Bourke, Governor of New South Wales, in his visit some
six months after, in April, 1837. Captain Hunter, military
secretary; G. K. Holden, private secretary; Captain P. P.
King; and the late Mr. Robert Hoddle, surveyor, accom-
panied Governor Bourke. Mr. Hoddle laid out the town of
Melbourne, and the Governor gave it its name, after the then
Prime Minister of Great Britain, and also named the principal
streets. Prior to this time the settlement • was variously
known as Bearbrass, Bearpurt, Batmania, Doutigalla, Yarrow
Yarrow, and Glenelg.
A few months later James Baker, the Quaker missionary,
thus describes the settlement:—" The town of Melbourne,
though scarcely more than fifteen months old, consists of
about 100 houses, amongst which are stores, inns, a gaol, a
barrack, and a school-house. Some of the dwelling-houses
are tolerable structures of brick. A few of the inhabitants
are living in tents or in hovels, resembling thatched roofs,
till they can provide themselves with better accommodation.
There is much bustle and traffic in the place, and gangs of
prisoners are employed in levelling the streets. The town
allotments (of half an acre each) were put up here a short time
since at £5 each, the surveyor thinking £7 too much to ask
for them; but the fineness of the country has excited such
a mania for settling here that they sold for from £25 to
£100 each." The Bank of Australasia was started in 1838.


16
Fawkner's first newspaper, the Advertiser, made its appear-
ance the same year. Inland, pastoral man drove his flocks
over the plains to the north and west. Far beyond Corio
Bay most fertile land was discovered by the pioneers from
Tasmania. The magnificent country around Lake Colac was
taken up and afterwards purchased from the Crown by Mr.
William Robertson, of Hobart, one of Batman's syndicate.
The Colac pure-bred herds have since been renowned, even
in Great Britain.
The city of Geelong, with its good harbor in Corio Bay,
sprang into existence through the fertility of the western
pastures. For a long time this was a formidable rival to
Melbourne. The yearly exports of wool and tallow and
hides from the province of Port Phillip went on increasing,
immigration from Great Britain swelled the population,
thousands of acres were under crop, Melbourne was made a
city, and in 1850, the year previous to the gold discovery,
Port Phillip, not fifteen years old, had a revenue of £230,000,
its exports amounted to £760,000, and its population was
over 76,000. Such figures show that the colony, even at
that early day, had ample sources of prosperity quite irrespec-
tive of the golden wealth which shortly was to bring it so
prominently before the civilized world, making Melbourne
by name the best known of any city in the colonies of Eng-
land. The year 1851 was notable in Victorian history. In
February the great " bush" fires occurred. For hundreds of
miles the whole country was wrapped in flames, the most
fertile districts were utterly wasted, flocks and herds were
abandoned by their keepers, the whole population fled for
their lives, destitution and ruin spread over the whole colony.
The ashes from the forests on fire at Macedon, 46 miles away,
fell into the streets of Melbourne. The annals of the colony
contain no more disastrous day than " Black Thursday."
The Colony of Victoeia.
On the 16th of July following, Mr. Charles Joseph Latrobe
who had been "Superintendent" of the district of Port
Phillip since 1839, was sworn in as Lieutenant-Governor of
the new " Colony of Victoria." "Responsible Government"
was not, however, introduced until 1855. The present Con-
stitution is moulded on those of the United Kingdom and the
American States. The two Houses of Legislature make laWs
subject to the assent of the Crown, as represented generally








17
by the Governor of the colony, " advised" by Ministers hav-
ing seats in Parliament. Both Houses are elective, members
of the Legislative Council, or Upper House, being returned
by voters possessing property qualifications. For the Legis-
lative Assembly, or Lower House, an elector only needs
residential qualification, practically manhood suffrage. In
1851, however, the Legislative Council, established by the
Act of Separation from New South Wales, consisted of thirty
members, ten Government nominees, the rest elected by the
people. The early meetings of the Council were stormy, and
Governor Latrobe was perhaps the best abused administrator
the colonies have known.
Discovery of Gold.
But shortly occurred an event which drove all ideas of
politics from the minds of Victorian colonists—the discovery
of payable gold diggings " uplifted Victoria in a night, as it
were, to the position of a nation and a power in the world,"
and advanced her destinies hundreds of years at one bound.
As early as January, 1849, a shepherd in the employ of Mr.
J. Wood Beilby, who had a station on the South Australian
border, discovered gold in a creek near the Pyrenees, a
mountain range in the west of the colony so named by Major
Mitchell, who was a Peninsular veteran. This shepherd sold
his treasure to Mr. Charles Brentani, a jeweller in Melbourne,
but carefully concealed the locality of the trove, until falling
sick, and being nursed by his master, in gratitude he im-
parted to him the secret that he had discovered, worked, and
sold gold. Mr. Beilby communicated this to Governor
Latrobe, who, following the tactics of the Sydney authorities,
would have hushed up the fact. But there were other than
ignorant shepherds to deal with. At the time when people
from all parts of the world hastened to the Californian gold-
fields, Australia suffered in losing hundreds of her people,
who flocked thither. This in the end, however, proved a
blessing, for when the gold-seekers returned they were struck
with the similarity between the rock and soil of their adopted
land and that they had just left. They sought for gold and
found it. A man named Esmond discovered it in quartz
rock at Clunes. Then it was found at Buninyong and at
Ballarat. When the reports reached Melbourne, members
of all classes were seized with the gold mania, and there was
"a rush" to the gold-fields. Desks, offices, shops, ships
were deserted. Closely following the Ballarat finds came
9194.








19
well as refreshing the eye. The buildings are not only
handsome, but many are of great architectural merit.
The cathedrals and churches, schools, Parliament House,
Treasury, Town Hall, Post Office, Law Courts, Custom House,
University, Museum, Free Library, National Gallery, clubs,
theatres, and other public institutions are worthy of special
admiration. The banking corporations are settled in build-
ings which would adorn Threadneedle-street. The wharfs on
the banks of the Yarra now give accommodation to large
ocean-going steamers. The shops and warehouses are equal to
those of most cities in the Old World. Everything necessary
to make life content and easy can be procured in Melbourne.
And the mansions in the fashionable suburbs are only less
gratifying evidences of the prosperity of the people than the
thousands of pleasant cottages which one sees on every road
within a few miles of the city. Any visitor to the colony
must be struck with the perfect arrangements for water supply.
There is hardly the smallest cottage without its bath-room.
The most important reservoir is the Yan Yean, which is an
artificial lake at the foot of the Plenty Ranges, nearly
19 miles from Melbourne proper. The numerous parks
and reserves and public gardens in and around Melbourne
are heritages sacred to the health and enjoyment of the
people, which astonish the "new chum " from crowded Euro-
pean cities, where one is taxed for space to breathe. This is
above all a place for the people. In no large town of the
world has a working man so many enjoyments as in Mel-
bourne, or so many privileges. There is no State Church
here, but free State schools give secular instruction to
children whose parents may be willing to accept it. Children
between the ages of six and fifteen who do not attend the
State schools must give evidence that they are educated at a
private school up to a given standard. The whole country,
as well as the metropolis, is dotted with State schools. The
Free Library, Museum, and Picture Galleries, and the
Botanic and Zoological Gardens afford free recreation and
instruction to the labourer and mechanic, as well as to the
clerk or shopman. Melbourne is plentifully furnished with
provident, charitable, literary, scientific, and social institu-
tions to suit all classes and creeds. In the matter of amuse-
ment, the inhabitants of the metropolis are furnished with
four theatres and several music-halls. At the Exhibition
Building and at the Town Hall grand concerts are frequently
given. But theatre and concert loving as are the Victorians
b z


20
generally, it is in outdoor sports that they chiefly relax.
Cricket, lawn tennis, football, rowing, yachting, and bicycle
riding are the most popular amusements. In cricket our
native youth have made their mark against the Gentlemen
and Players of England at Lord's. There are no more
perfect arrangements of the kind in the world than those at
the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where the members' pavilion
is not only a "grand stand," but possesses dining, billiard,
and bath rooms. Football is as popular here as in some
parts of England. Next to cricket, horse-racing absorbs
the affections of the Victorian people. In any new township
a race-course is one of the first things laid out. Young
Australian natives of both sexes are as much at home in the
saddle as Arabs or Comanche Indians. Melbourne possesses
two first-class race-courses within a few minutes' ride by rail
from the city. At Flemington the greatest race in Australia,
the " Melbourne Cup," is run early in November (our spring).
From every part of the continent people of all classes then
flock to Victoria's metropolis. The "Cup Week" is the
Carnival of Australia. If Flemington is like Epsom, Caul-
field course may be said to be the Ascot of Melbourne. The
stranger at the Cup meeting will perhaps get a better sample
of Victorian customs than anywhere else. There is an annual
attendance of nearly 100,000 people on Cup Day, yet the
"new chum" will be surprised to see that policemen are
conspicuous by their rarity, that there is scarcely a trace of
drunkenness, and that amongst the vast crowd, the members
all well dressed, and with money in their pockets, nothing
but good-humoured order prevails. Here, where every one's
working hours are so much shorter than in other parts of
the world, the toiler with hand or brain has no temptation
to make a Saturnalia of his holiday. There is less drunken-
ness in Victoria and as little crime as anywhere in the world.
The City of Ballarat:
Victoria, however, should not be judged only by its
metropolis. The inland townships deserve mention. Ballarat,
the second city in the colony, is situated exactly 100 miles
from Melbourne. It well bears the title of the "Golden
City." In the early days, the gold-yielding powers of
Ballarat were simply marvellous. No district in the world
produced so much gold in such a short space of time. It
has been stated that, iu many instances, "claims " not more


21
than 8 feet square, and about the same depth, yielded from
£10,000 to £12,000 each. At the Prince Regent mine men
made as much as £16,000 each for a few months' work. At
one claim a tubful of dirt yielded £3,325. Those days have
gone, but Ballarat, as it is now, is still more wonderful than
when gold was, in very truth, "more plentiful than black-
berries," when it was "scattered a thousand times like seeds
upon the earth." Anthony Trollope, some 24 years ago,
said with justice, of Ballarat, that it struck him with more
surprise than any city in Australia, that "in point of archi-
tectural excellence, and general civilized city comfort, it is
certainly the metropolis of the Australian gold-fields."
Sturt-street, the principal thoroughfare, is a mile and a half
long, 200 feet wide, and has a fine double row of trees in the
centre. The principal buildings on either side are the City
Hall, Post Office, Mechanics' Institute, banks, theatre,
hospital, and several large churches. The population is
40,000. The reservoirs from which the water supply is
obtained have a storage capacity of 600,000,000 gallons.
These works cost £300,000. Lake Wendouree now adds to
the charming aspect of the city; hundreds of small yachts,
miniature steamers, and rowing boats in numbers float on
the lake, which is stocked with perch, trout, and carp. The
Botanical Gardens, on the other side of the lake, are prettily
laid out and well kept. The finest wool in the world is
produced near Ballarat, and on the late Sir William Clarke's
estate, a few miles from the town, and on the small farms in
the Forest of Bungaree, splendid crops are grown. Ballarat
is now not only "a city of gold," but is an important inland
centre.
The City of Bendigo.
Bendigo is a little over 100 miles from Melbourne. It
has about the same population as Ballarat—40,000. In
1851, shortly after the first gold discovery, Bendigo was
found to contain that precious metal in such abundance that
in a short time it became famous for the number of its im-
mense nuggets, the best known of which was the " Victoria
Nugget," which was bought by the Victorian Government
and presented to Her Majesty. In 1872, Bendigo took rank
as a principal Victorian city. It is certainly equal to any
European city of the same size. The most prominent
buildings are the Post Office, the Masonic Hall, the Town
Hall, and hospital, together with a very fine theatre. The


22
streets of Bendigo are beautifully planted with English trees,
the cool shade of which is as pleasant to visitors as to the
residents. In the centre of the town is a public fernery
known as "Rosamond's Bower." Pall Mall is the principal
business thoroughfare. The streets have a total length 01
about 100 miles. Bendigo is rich in other ways besides
gold. The district produces yearly more than 1,000,000
bushels of grain, 17,000 tons of hay, and some 60,000 gal-
lons of good wine. Fruits of all kinds grow most luxuriantly
in the surrounding districts.
Schools of Mines have been established at Bendigo and
Ballarat, to which are attached museums, containing geo-
logical and technological specimens, models of mining
machinery and mining plant, sections of mines, and geologi-
cal maps and plans. At these schools instruction is given
not only in the various branches of science connected with
mining operations, in the theory and practice of mining
and safe conduct of mining works, mining surveying and
mining engineering, but also in many other subjects not
necessarily connected with mining. Students at the Bendigo
school number about 380,- and at the Ballarat school about
500. The annual income of the two institutions is about
£5,900, of which all but £1,900 is granted by Government.
Schools of Design have also been established at twenty-five
other places in Victoria, in connexion with a Royal Com-
mission for promoting technological and industrial instruc-
tion. There are over 2,800 pupils on the rolls of these
schools. An exhibition of the works of pupils is held yearly
in Melbourne, and local exhibitions are held in other towns.
Other Towns.
Geelong, which takes rank as fourth in Victorian cities,
is picturesquely situated on Oorio Bay. At one time it was
thought it would continue to rival Melbourne, and from its
fine harbor, position, and rich back country there was a
good foundation for the idea. But an idea it remains,
although Geelong is ever ready to come to the front. Some
important woollen factories are situated here, and " Geelong
tweeds" are celebrated in the colonies. In the Western
District of Victoria there are many important towns, Warr-
nambool being the chief centre as well as an important
shipping port. Belfast and Portland rank next to Warr-
nambool as sea-port towns. Hamilton, nearer to the South








MURRAY BRIDGE, ECHUCA.-Murray River.

A BUSH HUT.





23
Australian border, is the capital of a fine pastoral district.
In the east, Sale is the chief town in Gippsland, an
extensive and prosperous division of the colony, which was
discovered by Mr. Angus MacMillan in 1839. Echuca, on
the Murray, is the principal city in the north of Victoria.
In the old days this was a crossing-place for stock from
New South Wales. From Echuca there is a vast river traffic
The Murray River.
During the winter months, when the Murray's waters
are swelled by the thousand tributaries from the Australian
Alps, steamers ply to Albury on the one hand, and to South
Australia, New South Wales, and far inland rivers on the
other. Echuca, a river port, is only second to Melbourne in
the amount of its shipping tonnage inwards and outwards.
The most beautiful thing in Echuca is the park, chiefly be-
cause nature has been encouraged, educated in fact. Sitting
here on the logs in careless happy indolence, watching the
river in its ever-flowing passage to the sea, and listening to
the sweet warbling of the birds overhead, every sense is
pleased, "drinking delights from the murmur of streams
and the flutter of wings." The railway bridge at Echuca is
the finest thing of the kind in the Southern Hemisphere. Of
iron (over 4,000 tons being used in its construction), it is
1,905 feet long, and cost £124,000, having been built at the
joint expense of the two colonies. It was opened in March,
1879. The Murray is for nearly 1,000 miles the northern
boundary of Victoria. It was discovered in 1830 by Captain
Charles Sturt. From New South Wales he traced the
Lachlan to the Murrumbidgee, and the latter to its debou-
chure into a magnificent stream of 350 feet wide, and from
15 to 20 feet deep, which, in honour of the then Colonial
Secretary, Sir George Murray, he gave its present name.
Leaving the main body of the expedition in dep6t on the
Murrumbidgee, Captain Sturt started down the river in a
whale-boat and a small skiff, built in seven days. Captain
Sturt overcame all obstacles—dangers from snags as well as
from the hostile natives on shore—-and in 32 days arrived at
a large but shallow lake, where, finding it impossible to
force a passage through the dangerous navigation of Lake
Alexandria to the sea, he turned back. The return journey
was one of suffering, as the stock of provisions were all but
exhausted. Brave Charles Sturt lost the use of his eyes


24
through blight and lack of proper treatment on these
journeys. He died in England, in 1869. Few men have
done so much good work for Australia and received such a
pittance of reward and honour. Until 1851 the mighty
father of Australian waters, the Murray, was almost an aqua
incognita. No sounds, save, perhaps, the "coo-ee " of some
wandering blackfellow, or the screech of a wildfowl, flying
startled from its nest among the reeds, awoke echoes in the
quiet bends. The pelicans and the beautiful blue and white
cranes lazily flapped their wings above the river's surface
unmolested. The fish in its waters multiplied, unheeded by
all except the natives and the hungry shags, whose descen-
dants to this day haunt dead trees along the banks. The pant
and thud of a river steamer, retarded by a heavily-laden
barge, ne'er, as now, caused a "mob" of kangaroos to pause,
curious for a moment, and then to scamper across an arm of
land till lost to sight in the bush. In 1853, Captain Francis
Cadell, in the little steamer Lady Augusta, navigated the
Murray for a distance of over 1,300 miles from its mouth.
A true Argonaut was Captain Cadell, for he exploited the
land of the real Golden Fleece, opening up a vast extent of
country for pastoral purposes. The Murray would be one of
the most useful rivers in the world if the channels of its
head-waters were locked, and a supply stored for navigation
during the dry season.
Conclusion.
It is but 64 years since the first settlement was made
in Victoria ; now it possesses over a million of inhabitants.
The country is traversed by a network of over 3,000 miles of
railway, and dotted with prosperous townships. Victorians
are proud of their colony, but they are also proud
of being Australians of British blood. More than 95
per cent. of our Victorian population is British, or of
British parentage. England and Great Britain are yet
spoken of as "home " here. In spite of the establishment
of the Melbourne University, which grants every degree
except those in divinity, a large number of Victorian youths
are yearly sent " home" to school and college. Yet there
is room here for many of our race ; for although, by the
side of the flocks and herds of the squatter, one sees the
corn-fields and potato-patches of the small farmer, and the
vineyards of the wine-maker, there is plenty of forest yet to
be cleared and bush land to be cultivated.








25
Those early pioneers! From Henty and Batman and
Fawkner and Robertson to the men of the last decade, farmer
or sailor, or trader or miner, they were all the very salt of
the earth! During the gold fever, the brains and the blood,
the mental courage, as well as the bone and muscle, of
Europe flocked hither ; and the fittest survived. Victoria
has ever been essentially a pioneer colony. It owed nothing
to Government aid; in fact, its early prosperity was
retarded by Government interference. It was founded
solely by individual energy; and its people have ever
remained pioneers. It is in their blood. Victorians—Burke
and Wills—were the first to cross the continent in 1860.
They lost their lives, but made their names immortal. A
massive monolith of granite was placed over their graves in
Melbourne Cemetery, and a fine bronze statue of the two
explorers, from a design by Charles Summers, was for
years the chief sight of Collins-street—an object-lesson for
our youth. It has now been removed to a more retired spot
to make room for the cable tramway. The Burke and
Wills expedition cost the people of Victoria £57,000. The
end justified it, for within two years of the death of the
leaders from starvation, "tierces of beef were displayed in
Melbourne, salted down from cattle pasturing on the spot
where they perished." Far away in the " back blocks" in
the centre of the continent, in the sugar lands of the North,
on every new gold-field, Victorian muscle and energy and
capital are to be found. In the South Sea Islands, in the
pearl fisheries of Torres Straits and Western Australia,
Victorian pioneers are foremost; and Victorian enterprise
has done much towards the exploration of New Guinea.
Although they claim Victoria to be the richest, the most
populous, the most prosperous, and the most energetic of all
the Australian colonies, yet Victorians were the first to
raise their voices for the Federation of the Colonies, the
Political Unity of Australia. Then the peoples of all the
provinces, at present divided by absurd local prejudices and
jealousies, will be joined together for defence, and, if need
be, for defiance; and some day in the future, following out
the manifest destiny of the British race, with the dear Old
Mother Country, and her eldest-born the United States of
America, will be linked together in a strong bond, ruling
land and seas and giving laws to all the world.—Julian
Thomas.


26
THE FINANCIAL POSITION OF VICTORIA.
The Colony of Victoria has no " National Debt." There
have been no wars, earthquakes, or other wealth-destroying
disasters to involve the community in national indebtedness.
Victoria, however, has a " Public Debt," which is a very
different matter. All progressive communities of limited
population, occupying new countries, have adopted a system
of making use of the public credit for the purpose of
financing large national undertakings of a reproductive
character. Under this system loans are raised from time to
time by the Government, for the carrying out of public
works, and a Public Debt is thus created. It is evident
that in such cases a country's financial position is not
to be judged so much by the amount of the Public Debt as
by the character of the works upon which the borrowed
money has been expended. The Public Debt of Victoria is
small, and 94 per cent. of the entire amount represented has
been expended in revenue-producing public works. The
remaining 6 per cent. has been expended, for the most part,
upon harbor improvements, bridges, public buildings, schools,
and defence works, so that even this small balance may be
considered as representing expenditure which is indirectly
reproductive.
Balance-sheet.
The Public Debt of the colony amounts in round figures
to 45 millions sterling, and of this amount 35£ millions
have been expended on railways, and 5 millions on water
supply and irrigation works. The balance is represented
by expenditure upon docks, harbor improvements, public
buildings, and other permanent works. If the railways be
valued at the cost of their construction, the estimate will be
a moderate one, for their earning power is destined to
increase with the development of the country which they
serve. The unsold Crown lands of the colony constitute a
tangible asset, which, at the lowest valuation, is worth
30 millions sterling. When it is remembered that £1 per
acre is the price received for the lands which are offered
by the Government as a special inducement to homestead


27
settlement, it will be admitted that for the remaining
30 million acres, which include the valuable State forests
and the rich auriferous and other mining reserves, the valua-
tion is well under the mark. A deficit of £2,600,000, which
accumulated during the recent period of universal depres-
sion, has to be reckoned among the colony's liabilities. The
following are the tabulated figures :—
Assets.
Railways ... ... £38,294,191
Waterworks ... ... 4,909,707
Crown Lands ... ... 30,000,000
£73,203,898
Liabilities.
Loans ... ... ... £45,170,164
Deficit ... ... ... 2,604,346
Assets Balance ... ... 25,429,388
£73,203,898
Upon these moderate estimates the public account shows
a credit balance of over 25 millions sterling. No account
has been taken of the remunerative investment represented
by the Yan Yean Waterworks supplying the city of Mel-
bourne, this being under the control of the Metropolitan
Board of Works. If we accept the estimate of Mr. Hayter,
late Government Statist, as to the private wealth of the
colony, viz., £407,000,000, we have a total surplus of
432 millions.
Details of Expenditure.
If the whole of the capital represented by our Public Debt
had been lost in war it is evident, from the amount of our
national wealth, that the colony could, by the ordinary
methods of taxation, readily provide for the liability, but as
94 per cent. of the sum has been expended upon reproductive
works, taxation is only required to make up the deficiency
between the amount payable as interest and the income


28
accruing from the railways and other State-conducted ser-
vices. The loan moneys have been expended as follows :—
Railways...
£35,490,451
Country Waterworks
4,909,707
Defences ...
98,299
Yan Yean (taken over by Me-
tropolitan Board of Works)
3,142,578
Graving Dock
341,818
Law Courts
347,322
Schools ...
1,063,507
Parliament House ...
242,463
Yarra Bridge
106,258
Public Offices
162,430
Harbors
303,995
Country Tramways
60,000
Mining, &c
14,658
It will be observed that in estimating the assets of the
colony no account was taken of any of the above public
works except railways and country waterworks, although
they unquestionably possess a high value.
Revenue and Expenditure.
As expenditure upon the railways has absorbed by far
the largest part of the capital borrowed by the colony,
the revenue of the railway system is a matter of first
importance in connexion with the public finances. The
primary object of the State railways being rather to develop
the resources of the country than to make profits, it is not
surprising that many of the lines should at the outset be
unremunerative, nor is it to be wondered at that during
times of great general prosperity an expensive system
of management should have been developed. The rail-
ways were certainly extended somewhat beyond the
existing requirements of the population, and the character
of the management suffered the consequences of a long
period of unusual prosperity. The results were a serious
annual deficiency when the colony was struck later on by
the world's period of commercial depression. The railway
deficit for a time seriously affected the general revenue of the
colony, but among the several methods adopted by the
Government of Sir George Turner for balancing the National
Ledger was a new system of railway management, which









A STREAM IN THE MOUNTAINS.


29
has already made considerable progress towards placing the
lines upon a satisfactory financial basis. The profits over
expenses made by the railways for the year ending 30th
June, 1897, amounted to £1,052,130, and, as the amount
payable by way of interest on railway loans is £1,447,452,
the deficiency to be made up from the general revenue of the
colony is £395,322. Although the various methods of
reducing the cost of working have not yet had time to
produce their full effect, the position already reached is that
the railways yielded for the year mentioned a net revenue
of 2f per cent. on their total capital cost, or 3 per cent. on
the debenture capital expended in their construction. Con-
sidering that a large expenditure would be necessary on
roads and bridges if it were not for the railways, and that
the lines have greatly increased the value of land and other
property, the indirect profits of the system far outweigh the
apparent temporary loss of £395,000 per annum. The rail-
way traffic is showing a satisfactory increase, so that, with
the working out of the economies in management which
have been instituted, this first-class public asset, the indirect
cause of so much wealth, may be expected at no distant
date to cease being any charge upon the general revenue of
the colony.
In considering the general revenue and expenditure of the
colony, it is well to note how small a sum requires to be
annually raised by taxation for the ordinary purposes of
government. About 65 per cent. of the interest on the
public debt is provided by the earnings derived from public
works, while a large proportion of the annual expenditure
represents the working expenses of these State undertakings.
The total annual interest on loans is £1,823,343, of which
£92,446 is provided by the Metropolitan Board of Works.
The estimated income for the current year from railways
and other reproductive works is £1,176,526, leaving
£554,371, or a little over half-a-million, only to be
derived from taxation and land revenue, on account of
interest.
As only 50 per cent. of the general revenue for all pur-
poses is raised by taxation, it would be easily possible for
the Government to provide for much larger responsibilities
than have yet been undertaken. So far, however, from
undertaking larger responsibilities, the policy of the Govern-
. ment during recent years has been to considerably reduce
the public expenditure. A lengthened period of national


30
prosperity brought about a system of lavish Government
expenditure, which in 1889-90 reached £9,535,151. When
the succeeding depression in the commercial world touched
the colony, retrenchment of the civil service, restricted
expenditure on public works, and general economy of
government were inaugurated, which, without resorting to
severe taxation, brought the public expenditure within the
amount of the revenue. The expenditure, which for the
year 1896-7 was £6,564,843, may be considered as having
come down to its normal and proper dimensions. In 1872 a
4 per cent. Victorian Government Stock was erected, redeem-
able in 25 years, and under this authority over £2,000,000
was raised locally. Last year Parliament determined upon
its redemption, and at the same time created a new stock
bearing interest at 3 per cent., holders of the first stock
being given the right of conversion at par. This privilege
was availed of in full, with the exception of about £120,000,
and for this amount public tenders were recently called,
with the result that it was locally disposed of most success-
fully, a premium of £3 8s. per cent. being obtained.
According to the Budget statement of the Treasurer and
Premier, Sir George Turner, the Estimates of Revenue and
Expenditure for the year 1897-8 show a surplus of £l66,364r
without taking into account the sum of £250,000 required
for retiring Treasury-bonds; the statement is as follows:—
Revenue. . Expenditure.
Taxation ... £3,453,239 „. £2,317,720
Public Estate... 452,895 ... 257,437
Railways & other
Public Works 2,897,062 ... 4,061,675
£6,803,196 ... £6,636,832
Surplus ... ... £166,364
As an evidence of the increasing prosperity of the colony,
it may be noted that the number of depositors in the Govern-
ment Savings Banks increased last year by 9,602, while
there was an increase of £322,553 in deposits. Nearly
30 per cent. of the population (men, women, and children)
are depositors in these banks. The Savings Banks fulfil
another useful mission besides serving as a perfectly safe
investment for the people's savings—under the Credit
Foncier system the Commissioners lend to farmers at 4| per
cent.






J


31
Summary.
Of the public debt, 94 per cent. has been expended in
directly reproductive works; the most of the remainder upon
indirectly reproductive permanent improvements.
The public balance-sheet shows a credit of £25,000,000,
making, with the private wealth of the colony, a credit of
£432,000,000.
The earnings of the railway system are increasing, and
already the profits over working expenses are equal to 3 per
cent. interest upon the debenture capital expended.
A period of exceptional depression has been successfully
passed through, and all financial engagements have been
met, without resorting to severe measures of taxation.
The revenue of last year was more than sufficient to meet
the expenditure, and a surplus is shown upon the Budget
statement for the current year.
The yield of gold shows a steady increase, that for 1896
being 805,087 ounces. This quantity is considerably greater
than that produced in any other Australian colony. The
total yield to the 30th June, 1897, is 61,394,150 ounces.
Various other sources of national wealth are dealt with
in the different chapters of this volume.


32
NOTES ON THE MINING INDUSTRY OF
VICTORIA.
By James Stirling, Government Geologist.
Although territorially Victoria is the smallest State in
Australasia, covering an area of 87,889 square miles, yet its
variety of physical features, climatic conditions, soils, &c,
and more especially the proved stability of its splendid
auriferous resources, render it at once the premier colony of
the continent. When it is stated that since the early gold
discoveries in 1851-2 no less a sum than £246,400,000 has
been won—the bulk of this from a relatively small portion
of the proved auriferous area^and that the gold-mining
industry is only approaching a condition of permanency,
through a better knowledge of auriferous matrices, economic
methods of mining and treating the ore, it will not be
difficult to realize how important a factor the mineral
wealth, both actual and potential, has been, and will con-
tinue to be, in stimulating -all other • forms of production.
Not only in the highest altitudes, over 6,000 feet above sea-
level ; in the deep recesses of the valleys, only a few feet
above sea-level; but at depths of over 3,000 feet from the
surface—or 2,000 feet below sea-level—are mining opera-
tions being profitably carried on. New discoveries in the
depth of the dense forest-clad mountainous areas, as tracks
are being cut into their secluded recesses, are constantly
being made. Deep leads, concealed beneath extensive
basaltic flows, are being traced over hundreds of miles of
territory by boring operations. And as the areas over
which the metallic substances are extended, and the methods
of production cheapened, together with a constantly in-
creasing feeling of greater stability in the mineral resources
as fields for investment, so will the progress and prosperity
of the colony proceed pari passu with the development of
its gold-mining industry.
Physical Features.
Fully two-thirds of the colony consists of mountains and
undulating ranges, traversed by perennial streams and
covered by a vigorous arboreous vegetation. The Main
Dividing Range, which traverses the colony from N.B. to






DISH WASHING OR PANNING.








33
S.W., rises to altitudes of 6,100 feet, while lateral water-
shed lines, formed by high ridges and elevated plateaux,
rise to still higher levels—as Mount Feathertop, 6,300 feet,
and Mount Bogong, 6,507 feet. The elevated table-lands,
which are formed as extensions of the lateral water-shed
lines both to the north and south of the main divide, com-
prise the Snowy High Plains, covering an area of 400
square miles; Dargo High Plains, 200 square miles;
Nuninyong and Gelantipy, 500 square miles; and the
Bogong High Plains, about 160 square miles.
Gold-bearing Formations.
The principal gold-bearing formations, covering fully one-
half of the entire area, consist of silurian slates and sand-
stones, which have been intruded upon by plutonic rocks,
such as granite, porphyry, diorite, &c, and which are over-
lain in the western portion of the colony by extensive lava
flows—the basalts of tertiary age. Roughly speakangj,- there
are 29,000 square miles of exposed silurian rocks, which are
almost everywhere intersected by auriferous quartz veins or
covered in the valley by auriferous drifts, while there can-
not be less than 15,000 miles of silurian sedimentary rocks
concealed beneath the tertiary lava flows or tertiary sedi-
mentary rocks. In short, the older gold-bearing palaeozoic
rocks extend from the western portion of the colony, in the
Glenelg Valley, to the boundary of the colony on the east, a
distance of over 500 miles. In the eastern part of the
colony the silurian formations are in places overlain by
massive Devonian rocks, and in the southern by Jurassic
rocks; while in the west are remains of an extensive forma-
tion—the Grampians—whose age is still uncertain. With
the exception of one locality in the Devonian area of limited
extent, these formations are not known to be auriferous.
The relative areas covered by the different rock masses at
the surface may be estimated as under:—
Sedimentary formations: Palaeozoic Devonian, lower,
middle, and upper, 8,500 square miles; carboniferous, -100
square miles. Cambrian, 100 square miles; silurian, upper
and lower, 28,300 square miles.
Mesozoic: Triassic, -200 square miles; Jurassic, 3,684
square miles.
9194.
c


34
Tertiary: Eocene or oligocene, miocene, pliocene, pleisto-
cene, recent, 30,000 square miles.
Plutonic and Igneous rocks: Basalt, 11,000 square miles;
granite, 4,000 square miles; porphyries, diorites, 2,000
square miles.
Bendigo Gold-field.
The principal reefs in this field occur in the fissures pro-
duced by the arches formed by a buckling of the strata into
a series of folds; or, in other words, the prominent feature
of the field consists of numerous more or less parallel axial
lines, having a strike of N. 16 deg. W., along the course
of which the great mass of slate and sandstone rocks are
bent over into a series of anticlinals, with corresponding
synclinals or troughs between. The dip of the beds to the
east and west is about 60 feet. These axial lines or centre
country do not continue horizontal for any distance, but
have an end-long dip or pitch. The reefs are called saddles,
and thicken and diminish in size as they are traced along
the axial lines. The eastern and western extensions are
called legs. The saddles are often from 20 to 50 feet across,
while the legs are from 1 to 4 feet, bat frequently become
attenuated in depth.
A succession of such saddles occurs at different levels, not
generally immediately below the other, but listed to one
side, principally to the west. In a limited area of about 7
miles in length by 3 miles in width, there are no fewer than
twelve distinct lines of saddle reefs, known as centre country.
Mining operations have extended to a depth of over 3,000
feet with profitable results. No less a quantity than
£18,009,150 worth of gold has been won from this limited
area, and from the Bendigo district up to date £53,063,356.
The deepest shafts on the field include :—
Feet.
Lansell's 180 Mine 3,350
New Chum Consolidated 3,267
Lazarus Co. ... ... ... ... 3,210
New Chum Railway ... ... ... 3,037
New Chum and Victoria 3,100
Shamrock 3,000








35|
The enormous wealth realized from a few of the Bendigo
saddle reefs may be estimated from the following figures :—
The Carlisle Company (now amalga-
mated with North Garden Gully,
Carlisle, and Pass By) has produced
over 350,000 oz., value £1,400,000
Garden Gully United, 346,000 oz.,
value 1,384,000
Johnson's Reef, 281,000 oz., value ... 1,124,000
Great Extended Hustler's, 235,000 oz.,
value 940,000
Catherine Reef (on New Chum line,
Eaglehawk), 162,000 oz., value ... 648,000
Although the reefs in the central area of Bendigo occur in
the form of saddles, yet to the north-west, as at Marong;
north, at Sebastian, Raymond, &c; or south, at Mandu-
rang, they assume different forms. At Marong, where gold
occurs in the slates near the surface, slightly inclined or
even vertical veins occur, in places forming irregular seams
of quartz in a band of sandstone. At Mandurang, towards
the Crusoe reservoir, flat veins occur; and where such veins
intersect a particular band of strata which contains a thin,
almost parallel band or seam, of slightly different mineral
composition to the enclosing strata, the riche-st gold is found.
I have no hesitation in affirming that there is work for
centuries to come, not only in exploiting the saddle forma-
tions down to as great a depth as 4,000 feet,* but in tracing
the auriferous belt to the north and south, or developing
such parallel belts as Ellesmere to Axedale on the east, or
Marong to Lockwood on the west. It is estimated that,
making due allowance for the increased cost of haulage and
deep sinking, quartz containing 5 dwt. of gold to the ton
can be made to pay in the deep levels at Bendigo.
Auriferous Contact Zones.
The influence exerted on the Silurian strata by the enor-
mous masses of eruptive rocks, such as granites, porphy-
rites, diorites, felsites, &c, and which now appear as bosses
and apophyses, known as dykes, &c; and the structural and
* Recent temperature observations tend to show that at the rate of
increase measured by 1 deg. Fahr. for every 137 feet, mining will be
possible at 4,000 feet, so far as the heat of the rock is concerned.
C 2


36
chemical changes of the mineral components along the
planes of the contacts has for some time been the subject of
critical research; but it was not until the relation between
the occurrence of auriferous quartz veins formed at or near
the contacts, both in the eruptive rocks, and to a greater
extent in the sediments they invaded, that the attention of
practical miners was drawn to the value of following out the
contacts in the field as a guide to prospecting operations.
To Mr. A. W. Howitt, F.G.S., the Victorian mining com-
munity is indebted for first scientifically directing attention
to the importance of such contact zones, by his classic petro-
logical investigations of the rocks of the Australian Alps.
For instance, it was shown that, at Swift's Creek, in the
Tambo Valley, certain intrusive granites, diorites, porphy-
rites, &c, had invaded the silurian sediments at places where
these rocks were both metamorphosed and unaltered, and had
converted the sediments into hornfels rocks in one place and
mica schists in another; and that the auriferous lode forma-
tions are found to be connected with the contact, action of the
intrusive rocks. Similarly in the Dargo Valley, auriferous
contact lodes have been generated by the intrusion of diorite
masses into the silurian sediments. Mr. Howitt's exact
description of this contact phenomena has undoubtedly paved
the way for mining exploration in many other districts where
such features occur. In the north-eastern district, in an
area hardly yet touched by systematic prospecting, it is esti-
mated that there are fully 300 miles of contact rocks inter-
sected by auriferous quartz veins. Two of the older gold-
fields where some phases of contact metamorphism of the
sedimentary silurian rocks and their associated auriferous
veins may be studied are Maldon and Stawell.
Maldon.
The Maldon gold-field is principally to the east of the
granitic rocks at Mount Tarrengower. The alteration of the
sediments has produced rocks of the hornfels type. A well-
defined elvan (tyke traverses the field, and in the case of the
Derby mine is flanked on either side by auriferous veins.
Fully 47 reefs have been described on this field, which strike
1ST. 12 to N. 30 W. Several of the mines are now approach-
ing a depth of 2,000 feet. Such examples of permanency as
the South German, &c, may be referred to as illustrating the
stability of mining on the field, which, within a small area,
Jias already produced £2,306,620 worth of gold.








a?
Stawell.
At Stawell the auriferous quartz veins intersect a belt of
country margining the granite of the Black Range. The
rocks are very much indurated or altered by contact meta-
morphism, and the sediments are penetrated by numerous
dykes of porphyrite and diorite. The auriferous quartz veins
strike from south-east to north-west, and generally underlie
to westward at an angle of 45 degrees. In almost every,
instance, except the Magdala-cum-Moonlight, a flat reef has
been found abutting against the vertical on the eastern side,
with a northerly underlay, and the richest quartz has for the
most part been found at no great distance eastward from the
line of junction. The principal mines include the Magdala,
Oriental, Sloane and Scotchman, Perthshire, Hampshire,
New Chum, Cross, &c From this group of mines no less a
sum than £4,018,884 worth of gold has been won.
A considerable amount of boring has been carried on over
this field, and auriferous quartz veins proved in advance of
the actual workings. There is no reason why the reefs should
not extend still further to the north-north-west of present
workings.
At present the Magdala, Oriental, and North Magdala are
working at a depth of 2,409, 1,832, and 1,640 feet respec-
tively.
It would not be difficult to multiply instances in other
parts of the colony in order to show that the granitic intru-
sions have largely affected the metalliferous character of the
adjacent strata, but to elucidate all the gold-fields which
impinge on the areas occupied by the plutonic rocks would
be beyond the scope of this article. I must therefore pass
on to another class of auriferous veins, viz., those directly
connected with the dyke formations.
Diorite Dykes.
In this case the principal bed rock is of upper saurian
age, and the dykes intersect the strata both with and across
the line of strike. The quartz veins traverse the dyke in
various ways, either vertically from wall to wall across the
dyke parallel to it; either along the wall or in the body of
the stone, and horizontally or nearly so from wall to wall.
In places where the dyke stone is absent, the space between
the walls is filled with broken-up rubbly shale or slate with
thin quartz leaders.


38
Typical examples of such dykes are seen at Wood's
Point, Walhalla, Foster, Tanjil, Raspberry Creek, Coster-
field, &c.
Walhalla.
At the celebrated Long Tunnel mine, Walhalla, the dyke
trends parallel with the strike of the strata west of north.
It is impregnated more or less with iron and arsenical
pyrites.
Two qnartz lodes meeting in an apex or cap accompany
the dyke along or near to its walls on either side, while others
intersect the body of the dyke. The shoots of auriferous
quartz dip northerly, the underlie being westerly. This mine
is a splendid instance of the permanency of the auriferous
veins associated with the dykes; it has yielded over 631,344
oz., or in value £2,525,376, and has been carried to a depth
of nearly 2,000 feet.
The whole of the belt of country extending northerly
from Walhalla through the heads of the Jordan and over- the
Dividing Range at Matlock to Wood's Point, and still further
northerly to Jamieson, is auriferous and of similar charac-
ter, although on the Dividing Range, near Matlock, there is
probably a junction of the upper and lower silurian beds,
from the occurrence of fossil graptolites found there by my
colleague, Mr. Ferguson, 300 feet or more below the saddles.
Ballarat.
At Ballarat there are at least four well-defined lines of
reef, such as the Guiding Star, Star of the East or Consols,
the Indicator on the Llanberris and Speedwell line, and the
Fir". Brigade line. It is believed that the Indicator belt of
country on the eastern side of the field will be found to
extend past Creswick and Allandale towards the Moolort
Plains. Some idea of the enormous value of the gold mines
within a limited area in the Ballarat district may be gleaned
when it is stated that the yield of gold up to the present has
been £71,886,080. One mine alone, the Star of the East,
carried to a depth of 2,000 feet, has yielded over £520,000
worth of gold, declaring dividends of about £220,000 ; while
the Band and Albion, with which is now incorporated several
smaller mines, has produced £2,078,325, and declared
£900,000 in dividends. The silurian slates and sandstones
of the Ballarat field differ slightly in composition from
those at Bendigo, and are intruded upon by granitic and








39
felsitic dykes in places. The folds in the strata are not
so readily distinguished as at Bendigo, and there is a
marked absence of the fossil graptolites which characterize
the Bendigo slates.
Other Indicators. •
A few of these "indicators " may be referred to :—
At Rokewood Junction it is a soft slaty band, somewhat
ferruginous, frequently soft and clayey, varying from brown
and grey to nearly black in colour, in contact with the
hanging wall of the reef. The gold occurs in most abundance
in an inch or two of friable stone in contact with the slaty
band, and generally in masses up to several ounces in
weight.
At Creswick, Nuggety Gully: The indicator consists of a
yellowish-brown fine-grained soft earthy shale, of somewhat
soapy texture, with thin brown ferruginous veins. At the
intersection of the quartz with this band the richest deposit
of gold occurs.
At Wedderburn the indicators consist of an orange-
coloured streak about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness,
scarcely distinguishable from the slates in which it occurs.
Again, it resembles a miniature reef, sometimes laminated.
The principal one, which has been followed for over a mile,
consists of three parallel veins of ironstone or grit, about
one-eighth of an inch in thickness and 4 inches apart. On the
Champion reef the indicator consists of a thinly laminated
unctuous clay of dark-grey colour, about 5 to 7 inches thick.
The quartz veins crossing this are very rich, the gold in
coarse nuggety pieces.
At Korong Vale, Nil Desperandum: A band of nodular
micaceous schist, from a few inches to 2 feet in width,
between walls of hard sandstone, constitutes the indicator.
At Elaine it is a thin band of highly pyritous black shale.
When the lode intersects it, the latter carries gold. In
another place a band of yellowish-white concretionary
nodules, with gold on the face of the concretions, is con-
sidered as an indicator.
At Welcome Gully, near Daylesford: Wherever the
quartz veins come into contact with a small slate band of
soapy texture, usually of an olive colour, but often grey to
black, and more or less ferruginous, the former is highly
auriferous.


40
At Glenpatrick Creek : The indicator is a soft pug, with
a well-defined footwall, intersected with small flat veins of
quartz.
At Reedy Creek, Nuggety Gully: A thin continuous seam
of soft tough steatic mineral, coinciding with the bedding
planes, forms the indicator.
At Campbelltown : A series of parallel faults, filled with
an ironstone conglomerate, form the indicator. The faults
are irregular, and intersect the quartz veins nearly at right
angles. Where the quartz strikes the latter portion of the
fault the veins are very rich.
At Gaffney's Creek: A sandstone band, crossed nearly at
right angles by quartz leaders; contain gold only when
crossing the sandstone band.
My object in dwelling somewhat upon the different
"indicators" is to direct the closer attention of practical
miners to their value as an aid to prospecting operations
in newly-discovered gold-bearing districts. The axiom,
"Like produces like,*' - is as true in geology and mining as
it is in other activities.-
In addition to such indicators, there are in many districts,
especially in areas covered by the upper silurian shales and
sandstones, various eruptive dykes having a special local
significance. Those belonging to the diorite and diabase
class may be referred to. It may be inferred from the fact
of nuggety or lumps, slugs, &c, of gold occurring in associa-
tion with these "indicator" bands, that in those districts
where heavy alluvial is found indicators may be searched
for. My colleague, Mr. E. Lidgey, has recommended such
districts as from Beaufort, through Redbank and Stuart
Mill, to St. Arnaud, the Scarsdale and Smythesdale district,
Enfield, Ballarat, Creswick, and on to Wedderburn.
Wood-s Point.
The Morning Star dyke, which trends on the surface 54
deg. west of north, is intersected by quartz veins, which are
nearly horizontally disposed, inclining but slightly to north-
west. They penetrate the adjacent slates, and are richest
near the contact. Several bores were put down, which
proved floors of quartz at lower levels, and show that the
quartz veins occur to great depths in the dyke masses.


• ■;











41
Foster.
Auriferous quartz veins penetrate into the adjacent rocks
beyond the porphyritic dyke which intersects the silurian
rocks at this place. Other localities where the dykes have
associated with them auriferous quartz veins are numerous
in the country occupied by the upper silurian beds, as at
Alexandra, heads of Big River, Tanjil, Cassilis, Ovens
Valley, Queenstown, &c, &c
Meridional Belts of Reefs.
A feature which is common both to the lower and upper
silurian beds, no matter what the amount of local variation
in the direction or formation of the quartz veins may be, is
the meridional belts which come into view when the position
of the quartz veins are plotted on the map—i.e., there is a
general meridional trend of the gold-bearing portions of
strata. This significant fact was drawn attention to by
Captain Panton, P.M., and C. Wf .Ligar, ex-Surveyor-
General, during 1858—by the former in the Mining Journal,
and by the latter in the Transactions of the Mining
Institute. In the latter publication the following preg-
nant remarks were made :—" With reference to the great
national importance of the quartz reefs of- the colony, every
circumstance tending to illustrate the general law under
which they have been called into existence must be of
interest. . . To the casual observer the relative position
of the groups of what are termed paying quartz reefs . .
appear to be scattered over the country in an indiscriminate
manner. . . I consider there is reason for supposing that
such is not the case, but that they exist in lines running
north and south in the magnetic meridian, and that these
lines have generally a very remarkable equal relative
distance from each other in an east and west direction. If
so, significant facts are established for future exploration,
and it may be that remunerative reefs will be discovered by
a careful examination of these meridional lines within cer-
tain limits of deviation to be determined on after fature
investigation. In this way reefs of great value may be
brought to light which evade the eye.
Several of such lines were shown on a map accom-
panying the article to which I have referred.
Now, these remarks are suggestive, and my predecessor,
Mr. R. A. F. Murray, was able to direct special attention


42
to their importance by defining a number of auriferous
belts or zones (vide Physical Geography and Geology of
Victoria).
Later discoveries go to confirm the prediction of Messrs.
Panton and Ligar in a remarkable degree, so that now fully
thirty of such auriferous belts may be mentioned. I can
only refer to the localities intersected by them as an instance
of the fact without attempting a description of the local
details. Of course, in tracing these belts on the map their
continuity will be found to be broken in places by the
granite, basaltic, and upper palaeozoic rocks.
Commencing from the western portion of the colony, the
first belt extends south from Balmoral, where alluvial
auriferous deposits occur, but as yet no reefs.
No. 2 is on the Upper Glenelg, on the east of the Black
Range, where several reefs have been prospected.
No. 3. On the eastern side of the Grampians a belt may
be traced from Moyston to Fryingpan, where both quartz
and alluvial workings occur.
No. 4. From Ararat, through Great Western, to Stawell,
comprising both alluvial leads and auriferous quartz veins.
The Hopkins Valley lead originates within this belt.
No. 5. East of Stawell. a belt extends from Navarre, in
the Pyrenees, southward to Buangor. (There is good scope
for loaming along the western slopes of the Pyrenees within
the limits of this belt.)
No. 6. From St. Arnaud (where there is a group of
three well-defined lines of reef—one of these, the Lord
Nelson, being mined to a depth of over 1,600 feet with highly
payable results) an auriferous belt extends south through
Stuart Mill to Redbank, Moonambel, Percydale, and from
the Avoca Valley across the Dividing Range past Elmhurst
to Beaufort, and still further south to Lillie Plains, where
deep alluvial ground occurs right across to the Skipton
diggings.
No. 7. Still further east a belt may be traced from north
of Bealiba through Homebush and Avoca leads to Wansford,
Carngham, Scarsdale, and Pitfield Plains. (In the latter,
recent borings suggest that a deep lead may be found to
extend beneath the basaltic plains towards Lake Corangamite
on the west.)
No. 8. From Ballarat a belt extends northerly through
Oreswick, Clunes, Maryborough, Carisbrook, Majorca, and
Timor, Dunolly, Tarnagulla, Moliagul, to Wedderburn.








43
Referring to this belt, Mr. Murray remarks that within this
great auriferous zone he would include the gold-fields of
Inglewood, Tarnagulla, and Kay's diggings, north of the
plains of the Loddon Valley, and to the south the gold-fields
of Smeaton, Kingston, Creswick, Ballarat, Buninyong, and
the Durham, the last-named localities being continuous
with one another as regards auriferous character, there
being no break from Durham to Smeaton, a distance of
25 miles north to south in the alluvial gold workings, over
a width of about 4 miles from east to west. The belt of
the Leigh River has been profitably worked 20 miles
south from Durham, and auriferous gravels have been
traced from its banks under the plains south of Mount
Mercer, where the further continuation of the Durham lead
is sure to exist. It is, therefore, Mr. Murray thinks, quite
likely that the belt of silurian rocks extending southward
from Ballarat may be found to have regained its auriferous
character, and that the deep ground resting on it beneath
the basalt may be as rich in gold as those to the northward.
As regards the portion between Smeaton and Tarnagulla,
there is every reason to believe that the belt retains its
character from the Madame Berry line, a distance of 30
miles to Tarnagulla, and that all the alluvial leads in its
course will prove profitable. On a smaller scale, the flat
alluvial country along the Bui Bui Creek, between Tarna-
gulla and Inglewood, is likely to prove auriferous in the
vicinity of a line between these two places.
No. 9. From Inglewood (where a number of reefs have
been worked to shallow depths, four distinct lines being
traceable for a distance of 4 miles) a belt of auriferous
country certainly extends throngh Newbridge, Baringhup,
Campbelltown, Bullarook, and east of Mount Buninyong to
Elaine.
No. 10. From Maldon south through Muckleford,
Daylesford, Ballan, and Steiglitz (several of the mines at
Daylesford have been carried to a depth of 1,800 feet, and
there are no geological reasons why a highly auriferous zone
should not be met with at lower levels than the present
lowest workings). Similarly, the Steiglitz gold-field, which
has produced £763,316 worth of gold, should yield profit-
able returns as deep as that now worked at Ballarat. Two
mines alone (the United Albion and New Mariner) gave
the following returns :—United Albion, depth 1,050 feet,
£54,000, declaring £15,000 in dividends, on a capital of


44
£9,000; New Mariner, £109,000, dividends £56,000, on a,
capital of £8,000.
No. 11. A very important belt extends southerly from.
Bendigo, through Castlemaine, Chewton. Elphinstone, and
Blackwood, towards Bacchus Marsh. Castlemaine, which has
produced £1,802,604 worth of gold, has long been known for
its surface auriferous wealth; and it is believed that deep
mining will reveal, between the 1,000 feet and 3,000 feet
levels, a payable auriferous zone, and that at these deep
levels saddles, similar to the Bendigo field, may be met
with. Of course, the structural feature of the reefs will
depend on the direction and extent of the compressive
forces acting on the strata. It is probable that the granite
masses between Castlemaine and Bendigo have played an
important part in the genesis of the reef formations.
No. 12. East of Bendigo recent mining developments are
disclosing the existence of a belt extending from Goornong,
through Ellesmere (Fosterville) to Axedale, and further
south to Redesdale, and on towards Macedon, intersecting
the basaltic leads to the east of Kyneton and Malms-
bury.
No. 13. From Runnymede, through Heathcote—where
gold has recently been found in quartz veins intersecting
a diabase dyke, near the junction of lower and upper
silurian formations, which rest upon still older Cambrian
rocks—to Lancefield, Romsey, and RiddelPs Creek.
No. 14. An important belt, characterized by the occur-
rence of antimony ore in association with the auriferous
quartz veins passed from Redcastle, Costerfield, Pyalong,
Kilmore (where scheelite has been found), on towards the
Morang district, near Melbourne.
No. 15. Another similar antimony-bearing belt extends
from Rushworth (where cross, i.e., east and west, lines of
reef occur) through Whroo, Mitchelstown, Reedy Creek
(Broadford), Whittlesea, west of Queenstown, east of
Oakleigh, and on to Tabberabbera, on the Mornington
Peninsula, where quite recently gold was found in granitic
rocks.
No. 16. From Murchison south through Yea and on to
Enweald, east of the Dandenong Ranges.
No. 17. From Merton to Alexandra, Marysville, and
south to Neerim, intersected by dyke formations.


45
No. 18. An important belt extends from Dookie, where
ironstone deposits occur, south through Maindample,
Darlingford, Frenchman's Creek, on the Big River, through
the heads of the Yarra, to the west of Mount Baw Baw, and
on to the Tangil, extending also, in all probability, beneath
the South Gippsland mesozoic beds to Foster's and Wilson's
Promontory.
No. 19. Another, and perhaps the most interesting of all
the belts, extends south from Benalla, through Toombullup,
Jamieson, Lauraville, Wood's Point, Matlock, Jericho, and
Walhalla.
This is, par excellence, the belt of dioritic dykes, extend-
ing uninterruptedly for over 70 miles. The dykes run at
various angles, with the strike of the enclosing strata.
When they are parallel, or nearly so, the reefs are more
persistent, and the shoots of gold longer, than in those
cases where the dyke cuts the strike of the strata nearly
at right angles. At present, between Walhalla and
Toombon, at least 50 leases are being worked. Such
mines as Long Tunnel, Long Tunnel Extended, Great
Long Tunnel South, Toombon, Loch Fyne, the Hope, &c,
may be referred to.
In the east of the Walhalla auriferous belt there is a
large area covered by Devonian rocks-, which have not yet
proved payably gold-bearing. Although two minor belts
may be traced—one from Cameron's Creek on the Howqua
River, south to the east of Mount Useful and on the
Siaton, and the other from near Briagolong (Gladstone
Creek) northerly through the Wonnangatta Valley to the
heads of the Buffalo River.
No. 20. From Rutherglen, where deep alluvial leads
occur, a belt may be traced in a S.S.E. direction through
Everton, Myrtleford, Buffalo River, across the Dividing-
Range, to the Wongungarra Valley and Crooked River.
No. 21. From Barnawartha, through Woorragee to the
east of Beechworth, on to Bright (the yield of gold for
the Bright district being £2,294,556), Harrietville, west
of Mount Hotham, to the head of the Dargo, over
the Dargo High Plains to Grant and Lower Dargo. It is
on this belt that the highest altitude at which auriferous
veins have been found is attained, as on the western side
of Feathertop ridge, at 6,000 feet above sea-level.


46
No. 22. Still further east a very extensive belt stretches
from Bethanga, on the Murray, through Eskdale, Snowy
Creek, and Mount Wills, Livingstone (the yield of gold for
the Omeo district being £1,293,732), Cassilis, Haunted
Stream, and to Monkey Creek, near Bruthen.
No. 23. From Granya, through the head of the Dark
River, to the Gibbo River, and in all probability through
the head of the Tambo, southerly towards Mount Tara.
No. 24. From Corryong through Wheeler's Creek and
Buckwing, to the Limestone River, and heads of the
Buchan River.
No. 25. On the eastern side of the Snowy River recent
mining explorations suggest several auriferous belts, as
under:—From McLachlan's Creek, on the border line
between New South Wales and Victoria, through Deddick,
Mount Bowen, and the heads of the Yalma, west of Mount
Ellery, and on to Cabbage Tree Creek.
No. 26. From Bonang, through Boulder Creek, to Club
Terrace, Lower Bemm, and Pearl Mount, on the coast.
No. 27. From Mount Delegate, through Bendock, over
the coast range, to the eastern heads of the Bemm and
western heads of the Cann River valleys.
No. 28. On the extreme eastern portion of the colony,
from Mallacoota Inlet, across the Genoa Valley, into New
South Wales.
Enough has been stated to demonstrate beyond the
possibility of doubt the enormous extent of the gold-bearing
belts of strata, and that there is practically an inexhaustible
supply of gold yet to be won; in not only following the down-
ward prolongations of the reefs already discovered, but in
renewed search for further surface outcrops along the exten-
sion of the belts I have indicated. No theoretical specula-
tions respecting the genesis of gold-bearing veins need militate
against successful mining enterprise in those districts where
the downward prolongations of the auriferous reef formation
is at present a matter of conjecture. The fact remains that
from the highest surface altitudes to a depth of 3,000
feet below sea-level gold-bearing strata undoubtedly exists.
The permanency of Victoria's gold-mining industry is an
established fact so far as the quartz-bearing formations
are concerned.






HAND DOLLYING.


47
Alluvial Deposits and Leads.
There is hardly a single river in Victoria which does not
contain alluvial auriferous deposits along some portion of
its course. These detrital deposits have been classed as
"surfacing," comprising earth or thin layers of clay, rubble,
and decomposed rock on the slopes or summits of hills com-
posed of silurian rock. The gold is found free, or associated
with fragmentary quartz, from the surface earth down to
chinks and crevices of the bed-rock.
River, Creek, and Gully Workings. — Deposits of gravel,
drift, &c, resting on the silurian bed-rock, or on the banks
of water-courses ; in some cases terraces are met with on the
rocky slopes high up above the present river beds.
Leads.—Gravels, conglomerates, &c, deposited in the beds
of ancient rivers, in some cases only covered by recent
accumulations, and in others by several layers of basalt.
The beds of these ancient rivers are iu some localities above,
and in others below, those of the existing streams, as the
Dargo High Plains and Glunes or Ballarat districts respec-
tively, and are worked by tunnels or shafts accordingly.
In addition to the above there are widespread deposits of
gravels, conglomerates, &c, believed to be due to estuarine
or marine action; the gold is more patchy in its occurrence,
though sometimes found in defined runs; not neccessarily in
the deepest hollows of the bed-rock, but often on the ridge
or slopes thereof. Some of these deposits cap hills of silurian
rock; others constitute reef washes, beneath the basalt, but
at higher levels than the deep lead gutters.
Localities of Lead Systems.
Commencing at the western end of the colony, the first is
that along Mather's Creek, south of Balmoral, although there
is a limited extent of slightly auriferous gravel south-west
of Harrow, on the Glenelg. The Stawell leads comprise the
deep lead and its tributaries, situated from 3 to 5 miles
north-west of the town; and the Commercial-street lead and
its tributaries, commencing at the reef and terminating
at Seventy Foot Hill, about 3 miles west of the town.
These leads may still be traced further afield. The Great
Western lead, from which over £100,000 worth of gold has
been obtained, has been worked for over 2 miles to a width
which exceeds in places 1,200 feet. Gold occurs principally
in fine scales. Ararat: A number of shallow leads trend


48
towards the Hopkins Valley, where they combine into one
main lead, which extends southerly beneath the basalt. The
borings put down prove that this lead system extends in
all probability for at least 8 miles, with a covering of
from 230 to 300 feet of basalt. Landsborough: This ex-
tends northerly from Barkly, past Landsborough, to Navarre,
and on towards the Wimmera Valley. The tributary leads
at Navarre were very rich; the depth of sinking from 50 to
over 100 feet.
Beaufort. — This lead, known as Fiery Creek, has been
worked from the head of Fiery Creek, through the town of
Beaufort. in an easterly direction, to its junction with the
Waterloo lead. It is believed that from this point the
lead will be found to extend easterly through Windermere,
and probably junction with the extension of the Haddon
lead.
Smythesdale.—Rising in the Hard Hills, the Linton lead
trends southerly to its junction with the Standard lead, and
beyond that it is called the Happy Valley lead, which, trend-
ing rapidly to the east, enters the main Smythesdale lead,
which rises near Nintingbooh- and trends southward through
Piggoreet, Cape Clear, and on to the Pitfield Plains. Many
of the tributary leads to this system have been very rich.
The continuation of the deep ground of the Stanley, near
Cape Clear, remains to be proved. It is thought that the
Victoria Mint Company is near it. The Snake Valley lead
falls northward from the Hard Hills, and junctions with the
Preston Hill lead. It is probable that these two leads will
eventually join with the Haddon lead, and the latter junction
with the Midas leads. As an instance of the richness of
portion of these leads, the Magnum Bonum claim, covering
an area of 12 acres, yielded at a depth of 102 feet 6,639 oz.
of gold, value £26,556.
Ballarat. — Here several lead systems trend southerly,
westerly, and north-westerly, noted for their richness and for
the occasional discovery of large nuggets in such tributary
leads as Little Bendigo, Canadian and Hiscock's — such
nuggets as The Welcome, found at Bakery Hill, which
realized £9,325; the Lady Hotham, at Canadian Gully,
£3,000; the Nil Desperandum, £1,050; and another at
Canadian Gully of £5,532. During 1855-6 such leads as
Inkerman, Red Streak, Frenchman, Esmonds, Malakoff,
Milkmaids, and Redan were opened out and proved very rich.
It is estimated that as much as 1,637 oz. of gold was obtained








49
from one day's washing at the Band of Hope. My colleague,
Mr. Lidgey, who has made a detailed survey of the field,
estimates that from twenty mines £5,902,050 has been won;
that dividends to the extent of £2,500,000 have been paid;
the total amount of calls only reaching £594,914. The
tracing out of the Bailarat lead systems to the west, north-west,
and south-west still offers a field for mining development.
Rokewood. — The extension of the Break o'Day lead,
already worked through the township of Rokewood, still
further south, remains to be proved.
Bet Bet Valley Leads.—This extends from Lexton, through
to Caralulup, Lilicur, and Bung Bong, to Rathscar, in the
Avoca Valley. The course of this lead is unmistakably
marked by a strip of basalt, from 1 to 2 miles in width,
which follows the valley, and is bounded on the east and
west by ledges of outcropping silurian rock. The course
of the lead goes northward about 3£ miles into Rath-
scar, where it turns westward, and in about 2 miles
further is joined by the Homebush lead. Beyond here it
passes into and down the Avoca Valley, where it is joined by
the Avoca lead system. It probably extends past Archdale
and beyond St. Arnaud.
There is thus an average length of over 40 miles of main
trunk lead traversing auriferous rocks fed by rich tributary
leads and with numerous rich shallow workings in the border-
ing country on either side. That portion extending from the
southern line of a series of bores put down at boundary of
Lexton to the Homebush leads, a distance of 20 miles, de-
serves special attention, being well defined by borings and
being bordered by rich auriferous country.
Amherst and Maryborough Leads.—A series of leads from
Amherst, Daisy Hill, Alma, and Maryborough nearly all
trend towards Timor, where the course of the main lead is
marked by the deep leads worked by the various Duke com-
panies. The continuation of this lead either north-westerly
towards the Avoca Valley, or north-easterly towards the
Loddon, is now being tested by boring operations to the
south-west of Bet Bet.
Sadowa Lead.—The Sadowa lead extends for several miles
towards Talbot. Its course is apparently interrupted by a
basaltic dyke.
Loddon Valley Lead.—This lead system, with its tribu-
taries, is probably the most important yet worked in the
colony, extending from the Midas and Dowling Forest group
9194.
D


50
of mines, a distance of 16 miles of unworked ground;
then the marvellous Berry group of mines, with 4 miles of
unworked ground.
Northerly from the junction of these two lead systems as
far as the parallel of Carisbrook, the Mount Greenock,
Majorca, and Carisbrook leads come in from the west, and
the Loddon leads from the east. The boring near Moolort
proved a large and well-defined trunk lead, which extends
close to Eddington, where the Bet Bet system probably joins
it. In the total length of this system there are 60 miles of
unworked leads.
Dunolly and Burnt Creek Leads.—Leads trending down
the Bet Bet Valley, such as Chinaman's Flat and Four-mile
Creek, were very rich.
Daylesford Leads.—These leads are all above the level of
the present stream. The most noteworthy are the Wombat
Hill lead, Deadman's lead, Italian Hill lead, O'Hara Burke
lead, Fern Tree lead, and Jim Crow Creek lead.
Bendigo Leads.—The rich alluvial gullies fed by the
Bendigo reefs tend toward Bendigo Creek into a main lead
near the -White Hills, which has been traced a length of
7 miles. Several tributaries enter below the White
Hills from the westward, trending northerly towards
Huntly. It is estimated that for a distance of 6 miles from
the White Hills the lead yielded £2,000,000 worth of gold.
Its course from Huntly has not yet been definitely ascer-
tained, although it is believed to trend north-easterly through
Bagshot towards Goornong, and to be enriched by a tributary
lead system coming in from the east. A minor lead system
extends north-westerly along the Myers Creek Valley, re-
ceiving tributary leads from Eaglehawk on the east. Still
further north a lead system extends for several miles past
Neilborough.
Heathcote Leads.—Mclvor Creek has been worked for a
number of leads; most of the gold occurs in nuggets—one
of these weighed 658 oz. Several of the tributary gullies
are still being worked.
Castlemaine Leads.—Extensive gullies have been worked
at Chewton, Maldon, Castlemaine, and down through Yandoit
to Newstead.
Malmsbury and Coliban Valley Leads.—This system of
leads extends from the Main Dividing Range between Tren-
tham and Blackwood. It is fed by various tributaries from
Trentham, Lauriston, Taradale, and Malmsbury. A liDe of








51
bores near Carlsruhe proved deep ground at 348 feet from
the surface. Four and a half miles northward, near Lauris-
ton, a lead was proved, and 2 miles further north a third
series of bores proved wash at a depth of 371 feet. Near
Malmsbury, the Taradale lead junctions with the main lead.
Following down the valley of the Coliban, borings at Redes-
dale proved the bed rock to be 223 feet from the surface, the
fall of the surface from Kyneton to Redesdale being evidently
greater than that of the lead. From Trentham to Axedale,
on the general course of the lead system, the distance is fully
50 miles, and from near Carlsruhe to a little beyond Redes-
dale the distance is 25 miles.
Plenty River Leads.—Rising in the Plenty Ranges,
where several creeks and gullies have been worked with
satisfactory results, notably Jack's Creek and Deep Creek,
the lead extends to Whittlesea, while at South Morang a
tributary lead has been worked for some years by means of
tunnels. Boring is now being carried on to prove the
position of the lead, which it is thought might extend still
further south towards Collingwood.
Tanjil Leads.—Here a lead has been traced for several
miles along the valley of the Tangil to a higher level than
the present stream. A number of tributary lead systems
exist at higher levels in the valley.
Neerim Lead.—A sub-basaltic lead extends for a distance
of about 20 miles along the water-shed between the Tarago
River and the Latrobe.
Moondarra.—This lead system extends along the plateau
between the Tyers and the Thompson Rivers for a distance
of 16 miles.
Rutherglen Leads.—There are two main deep leads now
being worked—-the Great Southern, which is a continuation
of the Chiltern Valley Lead, and the Great Northern. The
principal companies now at work include the Great Southern,
Southern and Chiltern Valley United, Great Southern No. 1,
Prentice United, North Prentice, Great Northern Extended,
and the Wahgunyah. The yield of gold for the Chiltern and
Rutherglen districts has been £2,282,384.
Ovens River.—The Ovens River and nearly all its tribu-
taries below Porepunkah have proved auriferous. In the
higher levels terrace washes, and in the lower there is evi-
dence of a very extensive deep lead system, now being proved
near Palmerston by boring. Similarly, from the neighbour-
hood of Beechworth in the highly auriferous plateaux situate
D 2


52
on the water-shed line between the Ovens and the Little or
Kiewa runs, a number of lead systems radiate towards the
main valleys on either side, as the Eldorado, Woolshed, and
Staghorn Flat, and numerous others.
Dargo High Plains —Round the edge of this basaltic
plateau, at an altitude of between 4,000 and 8,000 feet, gold
has been found and partially worked for many years.
Recently tunnelling operations by Ryan and Co. have dis-
closed what appears to be a deep lead system extending for
a distance of over 20 miles. Whether there is more than
one lead remains to be proved by boring operations across
the plateau. In the Kiewa Valley there are miles of terraces
which should repay mining exploration. Similarly in the
Mitta Valley and all its tributaries alluvial deposits and
leads occur. Towards the head of the Murray, Buckwong
Creek, and Limestone Creek, along the Tambo Valley,
terrace washes occur in the Mitchell and all its tributaries, the
Wongungarra, Dargo, Wentworth, Crooked River, Wonnan-
gatta River, the Bemm River in East Gippsland, the heads
of the Broadribb, the Mackenzie—in short, the heads of the
Yarra, Goulburn, and all streams to the east rising in the
Main Dividing Range—contain auriferous deposits, either as
creek and gully alluvium or as terraces, the former being
more readily worked, even with the most primitive appli-
ances, while the latter require the expenditure of capital for
the construction of high-level races to sluice the deposits.
Who will dare to venture the assertion that Victoria's
alluvial deposits and leads are worked out in the face of such
overwhelming evidence to the contrary? When we realize
how small a portion of the proved auriferous ground has
really been worked as compared with that awaiting develop-
ment, there can be but one feeling, and that of unbounded
confidence in the future mining prospects of the colony. In
one square mile of ground in the Madame Berry area gold to
the value of £1,536,758 has been raised, £848,700 paid in
dividends, £433,000 in wages, and £130,000 in royalty.
There is no special reason why other portions of the unworked
leads should not yield similar returns. They intersect
similar belts of known auriferous territory, and when the
location of the known quartz-bearing auriferous belts are
mapped out, and also the courses of the leads which inter-
sect them, a new mining era will evolve, and science and
practice go hand in hand towards a more rapid industrial
progress and continuous prosperity.


53
FACTS AND FIGURES.
By James J. Fenton (Assistant Government Statist).
Area and Population.
Area.
Victoria, although small as compared with the other
Australian colonies, occupying no more than the thirty-
fourth part of the whole Australian Continent, is nearly
as large as Great Britain, about half the size of Spain,
three-fourths of that of Italy, or equal to Denmark,
Belgium, Holland, and Poland combined.
Population.
Notwithstanding its size, the colony now contains one-
third of the inhabitants of the whole continent, and is more
populous than any other colony except New South Wales
(which is three and a half times the size), its density of
population being 13-4 persons to a square mile as com-
pared with 4^ in New South Wales, and a little over 1 in
Australia as a whole. The population at the last census,
which was taken on the 5th April, 1891, was 1,140,405.
Between that period and 31st December, 1897, the inhabi-
tants are estimated to have increased to 1,176,238, con-
sisting of 595,402 males and 580,836 females. These
numbers show an average of about 97 females to 100
males. Inclusive of the suburbs, Melbourne, the capital of
the colony, and the most populous city in Australasia, con-
tained 458,610 inhabitants at the end of 1897.
Nationalities.
According to the census of 1891, 97 per cent. of the
colonists are British subjects by birth, and only 3 per
cent. are foreign born. The native Victorians numbered
about 714,000, or 63 per cent. of the population; the
natives of other Australian colonies numbered 80,000; the
English, 163,000; Irish, 85,000; Scotch, 51,000; Germans,
11,000; Chinese, 8,000; Swedes and Norwegians, 3,200;
Americans (U.S.), 2,900; Italians, 1,700; Danes, 1,400;
French, 1,300; Swiss, 1,300; Russians, 1,200; and the
natives of other countries, about 15,000.


54
Aborigines.
At the first colonization of the district now called Vic-
toria, the Aborigines were officially estimated to number
about 5,000 ; but according to other and apparently more
reliable estimates they numbered at that time not less than
15,000. When the colony was separated from New South
Wales in 1851 the number was officially stated to be 2,693.
In 1891 the number had become reduced to 565, viz., 325
males and 240 females. The existence of the few that still
remain alive has no political or social significance what-
ever. The race is rapidly becoming extinct.
Religions.
The religions of the people, as returned at the census
of 1891, were as follow :—Protestants, 837,000; Koman
Catholics, 248,000; Jews, 6,400; Buddhists, &c, 7,000;
persons of other sects or of no denomination or religion,
about 19,000 ; and unspecified, 23,000.
Occupations.
The occupations as returned at the census are first
classified under two main divisions, viz.:—Breadwinners,
numbering 494,000, including 114,200 females; and de-
pendants, 629,800, including 425,500 females. The former
were again subdivided into Professional classes, 29,600,
including 9,700 females ; Domestic, 57,000 (42,431 females);
Oommercial (distributors), 98,500 (9,300 females); Indus-
trial—including commercial and industrial combined (modi-
fiers), 167,100 (28,700 females); Primary Producers (grazing,
agriculture, mining, &c), 124,000 (10,900 females); and
Indefinite (pensioners, &c), 17,800 (13,300 females). These
figures are exclusive of Chinese, Aborigines, and the un-
specified.
Marriages, Births, and Deaths.
Marriages in Victoria numbered 7,454 in 1897, or 6-36
to every 1,000 of the population. Births in 1897 numbered
31,302, or 26-69 per 1,000 of the population. Both the
marriage rate and the birth rate are at present below the
average, chiefly in consequence of a temporary deficiency in
the adult male population at marriageable ages. Deaths in
1897 numbered 15,128, or 12-90 per 1,000 of the population,
which is an exceedingly low proportion as compared with


• I.)
European countries. For instance, in Sweden and Norway
the death rate averages about 17 per 1,000; in England
and Wales and Denmark, 19 per 1,000 ; in Belgium and
Holland about 20; in France, 22 per 1,000 ; and in Ger-
many, Italy, and Austria-Hungary, from 24 to 30 per 1,000.
Finance.
Revenue and Expenditure.
The State revenue of Victoria, in the financial year ended
with the 30th June, 1896, was £6,458,682, and the expen-
diture £6,540,182. The revenue per head was £5 9s. 3d.,
and the expenditure per head was £5 10s. 8d. The amount
raised by taxation was £2,691,009, or nearly 42 per
cent. of the whole revenue, the principal item under this
head being Customs duties, which yielded £1,733,672;
next to which came Excise duties £297,030, Income tax
(with exemption up to £200) £168,088, Probate and
Succession duties £148,432, and Land tax (on large
pastoral estates) £127,178. The land revenue amounted
to £410,143, of which £295,200 was from land sales;
and the railway revenue to £2,394,475. Of the ordinary
expenditure in 1895-6, £1,419,000 went to defray the
cost of working the railways, and £503,000 the posts
and telegraphs; whilst £1,893,000 was paid as interest
on the public debt, incurred chiefly for the construction
of railways and other reproductive works; £571,000 was for
free public instruction, including contributions towards the
maintenance of various educational institutions ; £255,000
was granted towards the maintenance of public and private
charitable institutions, &c, and £155,000 to assist and
encourage the agricultural and mining industries; whilst
the cost of general administration absorbed £1,157,000.
For economic reasons the colony has of late years consider-
ably restricted its loan expenditure, and only £219,000,
derived from the proceeds of loans, was expended during
the year on railways and waterworks. In 1896-7 the
revenue amounted to £6,630,217, and the expenditure to
£6,564,852. Omitting the receipts from the sale and
occupation of land and from railways, in order to make
the figures comparable with those of other countries, the
balance of revenue in 1895-6 was £3,654,064, or a larger
amount in proportion to population than is raised in any


56
country in the world out of Australia, except Germany or
France. The amount per head was £3 10s. as against
£3 9s. 6d. in Germany (with States); £3 7s. in France;
£2 13s. 7d. in the United Kingdom; £2 18s. in Italv;
£2 7s. 7d. in Belgium; £2 6s. 3d. in Holland; £2 5s. in
Switzerland; £2 2s. 3d. in Austria-Hungary; £1 13s. 7d.
in Spain; and £1 10s. 9d. in the United States.
Local Revenue and Expenditure.
The whole colony is divided into 208 municipalities, whose
revenue consists of amounts received from rates, licences, dues,
&c, supplemented by a State subsidy. In 1896 their total
revenue amounted to £1,157,838, of which £111,967 was
from Government and £905,458 chiefly from local taxation;
and their expenditure to £ 1,098,336 (exclusive of loans).
The State subsidy, which is divided amongst the different
municipalities, with certain exceptions, according to a scale
based upon the amount they respectively levy from rates, is
at present £100,000 per annum. There are also other local
bodies, viz., a Harbor Trust (Melbourne), with a revenue
of £125,000; a Water and Sewerage Board, with one of
£167,000 ; besides several waterworks and irrigation trusts,
two fire boards, &c
Public Debt.
On the 30th June, 1897, the State debt of Victoria
amounted to £47,029,321, which is equivalent to a propor-
tionate indebtedness of £40 3s. 9d. to every man, woman,
and child in the colony. In order to place the colony on a
sound financial footing, the borrowing policy has been dis-
continued for the present, and no further loans will be con-
tracted unless they can be economically utilized in developing
the material resources of the colony. Of the existing debt,
nearly four-fifths was borrowed for the construction of rail-
ways, three-fourths of the remainder for waterworks, and the
balance for school buildings, defences, docks, and other public
works. It will be observed that the debt, unlike the national
debts of most of the countries of the Old World, was not
incurred to defray the expense of war or for other unproduc-
tive objects, but for the prosecution of works of a permanent
character, necessary for the development of the colony,
from which amounts are already received sufficient to go a
long way towards payment of the interest on the loans, and
by which succeeding generations will be largely benefited.


57
The annual interest payable amounts to £1,832,837, equiva-
lent to an average rate of 3-88 per cent., and the loans have
an average currency still to run of 16 years ; but as the loans
mature and are replaced by 3 or 2^ per cents., there will
eventually be an annual saving of at least £430,000 per
annum. Even in the present depressed times the railways
are returning an annual profit of 2f per cent.
Debts of Local Bodies.
Besides the State debts, loans have been contracted for the
construction of public works from time to time by various
local bodies throughout the colony. The following amounts
were outstanding in 1896 :—Municipalities, £3,569,904 (ex-
clusive of Government loans, £342,656) ; Melbourne Harbor
Trust, £2,000,000; Metropolitan Board of Works (Sewerage
and Water Supply), £3,084,065 (exclusive of £2,359,157
lent by the Government, and included in the public debt);
Fire Boards, £130,000. The total of these is £8,783,969.
As against the municipal debt, there is a sinking fund of
nearly half-a-million sterling. The loan of £1,650,000 con-
tracted by the Melbourne Tramway Trust is not taken into
account, as the principal and interest are repayable to the
trust by the Melbourne Tramway Company.
Monetary Institutions.
Royal Mint.
The Melbourne branch of the.Royal Mint was established
in 1872. From the time of its opening to the end of 1896,
17,998,016 ozs. of gold had been received thereat, valued
at £71,713,761. Gold is issued from the Mint as coin or as
bullion. The former, with the exception of 884,584 half-
sovereigns, has consisted entirely of sovereigns, which have
numbered 65,477,718. The bullion issued has amounted to
1,393,164 ozs., valued at £5,790,791.
Banks.
There is no State bank in Victoria, but there are eleven
joint-stock banks of issue, of which six are Victorian institu-
tions, with about 420 branches within the colony. According
to the sworn returns of these banks, their note circulation
during the last quarter of 1896 was £979,460, and the
amount on deposit was £29,973,000 ; whilst on the other
hand the advances amounted to £37,935,000, and the coin


58
•and bullion to £8,900,000. The paid-up capital of the eleven
banks doing business in the colony was 19 millions ; but
their business is not confined to Victoria. Although the
banks have suffered considerably from the recent financial
crisis, they are gradually regaining their former prestige.
Savings Banks.
Every facility is afforded in Victoria to persons desirous
of investing their savings securely and profitably. Trustee
savings banks were established in 1842, and post-office
savings banks in 1865, but in 1897 these were merged into
one institution, controlled by Commissioners, and guaranteed
by the State. According to the returns for 1897, the
number of depositors in the institution was about 360,000, or
about 31 to every 100 of the population, who had to their
credit £7,944,800, or an average of £22 to each depositor.
Most of the depositors belong to the working classes. The
rate of interest allowed to depositors in 1896 was 2£ percent,
for the first £100, and 2 per cent. for any excess over that
amount up to £250. No interest is allowed on amounts over
£250.
State Advances to Farmers.
In order to aid and encourage the agricultural community,
which has for years past been hampered by the high rates of
interest charged on private loans, a special department
under the Commissioners of Savings Banks was created,
by an Act passed in 1896, for the purpose of making
advances to farmers at the low rate of 4£ per cent. interest,
repayable, principal and interest, by annual instalments
extending over a long series of years (maximum 31£
years). In the first year of its operation (1897), £365,000
was so advanced, and applications for a further sum of
£183,000 were approved. The maximum advance allowed
is £2,000, but the average amount agreed to be advanced to
each of the 1,100 successful applicants was not quite £500.
By this measure it is anticipated that the rate of interest
on private advances will also be greatly reduced.
Moneys on\Deposit.
The moneys on deposit in banks, savings banks, and
building societies, at the close of 1896, amounted to
£39,711,043, of which £31,217,091 was in banks, £7,638,682
in savings banks, and £855,270 in building societies. Other


59
institutions, such as deposit banks and some of the insur-
ance companies, also receive deposits, but of these no returns
are furnished.
Life Insurance and Friendly Societies.
Ample provision is made by the colonists against old age
and sickness, as, in 1896, the number of life policies in force
in the colony was 132,684, assuring £22,757,000. Thus 11
in every 100 of the population (men, women, and children),
were assured for an average amount of £171 per policy.
Moreover, the Friendly Societies, which provide against sick-
ness and disablement, and also hand over, in the event of death,
a funeral donation, have a membership of 80,691 members,
equivalent to over one in every four males between the ages
of 20 and 60; they have an annual revenue of about
£310,000, whilst their present annual expenditure is
£270,000; they have accumulated funds amounting to
£1,155,400—equivalent to an average of £14 6s. 5d. per
member.
Trade and Commerce.
Imports and Exports.
In 1897, the declared value of goods imported into Vic-
toria was £ 15,454,482, and that of goods exported therefrom
was £16,739,670. The excess of exports over imports was
thus £1,285,188, and the total value of external trade was
£32,194,152. Per head of population, the average value of
the imports was £13 3s., and that of the exports £l4 5s., or
together £27 8s. These proportionate values are higher
than corresponding amounts in most other countries in the
world. In the latest year of which returns are at hand, the
value per head of the external trade of Holland, which is
larger than that of any other independent country, was £43,
whilst that of Belgium was £35, that of Switzerland £22,
the United Kingdom £19, Denmark £15, Uruguay £13,
Chili £11, France £10, Argentine £10, Sweden and Norway
£8, Germany £7, and the United States £6. About
three-sevenths of the total trade is with the United Kingdom
and two-fifths with the neighbouring colonies—principally
New South Wales.
Principal Imports.
It is a matter of considerable difficulty except in the case
of dutiable articles, to ascertain the imports for home


60
consumption. The following
the values of the principal of
, however, may be regarded as
such imports in 1897:—
Imports for Consumption, 1897.
Cotton piece goods and manufactures £847,420
625,162
562,794
478,758
228,647
304,000
238,415
301,457
250,657
243,214
171,586
186,579
146,242
122,577
113,762
Sugar and molasses
Iron and steel
Woollen piece goods
fi -, f Official value
Coal{ Actual „
Tea
Silk and silk manufactures
Paper (including bags)
Timber ...
Apparel and slops
Spirits ...
Tobacco
Hides
Beef and mutton*...
Principal Exports.
The exports of Victorian staple products are largely-
dependent on mining, grazing, and agriculture. The follow-
ing were the leading items in 1897 :—
Exports of Principal Home Products, 1897.
Wool
Gold
Butter
Quantity
Value
Quantity ...
Value
Breadstuff* { $™^ty as wheat
Leather
Hay and chaff
Skins
Tallow
Horses
43,678,294 lbs.
£2,035,082
£4,379,264
22,167,002 lbs.
£884,976
-22,471 bushels f
£57,955
£327,029
£193,744
£190,922
£116,163
£104,898
Shipping.
The vessels entered and cleared at Victorian ports in 1897
numbered 3,280, of an aggregate burden of 4,598,515 tons,
* Either in the form of sheep and cattle, or meat.
t Net import in quantity—a most exceptional circumstance. During the previous six.
years the average annual exportation was 5,000,000 bushels.


61
and carried about 168,000 men. About five-sixths of the
vessels, embracing over eight-ninths of the tonnage, and
•carrying over ten-elevenths of the men, were steamers.
Agriculture, Grazing, and Mining.
Settlement on Crown Lands.
Land suitable for agricultural purposes may be obtained
from the Crown in Victoria under the following conditions :—
The best unsold portions of the public estate have been
•divided into "grazing areas" of various sizes up to 1,000
acres, each of which is available for the occupation of one
individual, who is entitled to select, within the limits of his
block, an extent not exceeding 320 acres for purchase in fee
•simple at £1 per acre, payment of which may extend over
twenty years, without interest. The selected portion is
termed an "agricultural allotment," and of it the selector
is bound within the first six years to cultivate 1 acre in
every 10 acres, and make other improvements amounting to
a total value of at least £1 per acre. The unselected portion
of the original area is intended for pastoral purposes, and
for this the occupier obtains a lease at a rental of from 2d.
to 4d. per acre, an allowance up to 10s. per acre being made
the lessee for any improvements he may have effected calcu-
lated to improve the stock-carrying capabilities of the land.
Residence is compulsory if an agricultural allotment has
been selected, but not otherwise; or by paying twice the
amount of purchase money, and expending upon improve-
ments £2 instead of £1 per acre, residence may be altogether
dispensed with. The area at present available for selection
is about 6,000,000 acres.
Private Land.
Persons desirous of purchasing farms already improved
can always do so from private individuals at prices ranging
from £2 per acre upwards, according to the quality of the
soil and value of improvements effected. The area of all
private lands is about 23,100,000 acres, equal to two-fifths
of the area of the whole colony, of which 18,000,000 acres
are held in fee simple, and 5,100,000 acres are in process of
alienation under the system of deferred payments.
Land in Cultivation.
Only 5| per cent. of the whole area of the colony, or
14 per cent. of that of the private lands, has as yet been
brought under cultivation. In the season 1897-8 the area
under tillage was 3,242,600 acres, and the number of


62
cultivators 34,000. The principal crops are: Wheat,
which covered 1,638,000 acres; oats, 294,500 acres;
barley, 36,500 acres; potatoes, 42,800 acres; and hay,
578,400 acres. There were also 120,900 acres under per-
manent artificial grass; 22,300 acres under green forage;
36,300 acres under gardens and orchards; 25,300 acres
under vines; 12,700 acres under peas and beans; 10,800 acres
under maize; 8,100 acres in market gardens; and 15,500
acres under rye, vegetables, hops, tobacco, sugar-beet,
and a few other crops of minor importance; whilst
400,500 acres were lying fallow. The produce of wheat was
10,426,000 bushels, or an average of 6^ per acre ; that of
oats, 4,844,000 bushels, or 16£ per acre; that of barley,
756,000 bushels, or 13 per acre; maize, 516,000 bushels, or
48 per acre; potatoes, 61,700 tons, or 1£ per acre; hay,
648,000 tons, or over 1 ton per acre. The yields of most of
the crops, more especially wheat and potatoes, were adversely
affected by drought. It should also be pointed out that the
greater proportion of the wheat-growing area is in the dry
northern districts, where the yield is restricted by the amount
of rainfall; in ordinary seasons the yield of wheat is about
10 bushels per acre.
Wheat.
During the last twenty years, with but one exception, the
colony has produced more than enough breadstuffs for its
own consumption. Of the quantity produced in the season
1897-8, viz., 10,426,000 bushels, about 3,000,000 bushels
will be available for export in 1898.
Fruit.
Fruit of all kinds could be produced, if required, in almost
unlimited quantities ; but owing to its perishable nature,
and the want of economical, as well as efficient, means of
preservation and transport, but little has as yet found its way
to European markets. In 1896-7 the number of orchardists
was about 4,100 ; and the quantity of large fruits gathered
for sale was returned at 1,100,000 cases, consisting chiefly
of apples, apricots, pears, and plums. The quantity of small
fruits, such as raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, currants,
&c, was 21,114 cwt; and that of nuts—almonds, walnuts,
filberts, &c—52,226 lbs. Fruit-drying is carried on chiefly
at Mildura—an irrigation settlement on the River Murray;
the quantity produced in orchards in 1896 was 226,750 lbs.,
consisting chiefly of apricots, peaches, and figs; and in vine-
yards 11,276 cwt. of raisins, and 762£ cwt. of currants.


63
Wine.
The wine industry, which promises to be of great im-
portance to the colony, has made rapid progress during
the last eight years, the area under vines having increased
from less than 13,000 acres in 1888-9 to nearly 28,000-
acres in 1896-7, the wine made from 1,200,000 gallons to
2,822,000 gallons, and the quantity exported from about
200,000 gallons to 354,000 gallons. In 1896-7 the quantity
of grapes gathered was 601,000 cwt., of which 434,000 cwt.
was made into wine ; and the number of vine-growers was
2,600. The State has given special attention and encourage-
ment to the industry by the founding of a School of Viti-
culture; by the establishment of Wineries, three of which
have already been started; and by offering special induce-
ments for the opening up of foreign markets.
Sugar.
One of the latest industries started in the colony is the
manufacture of sugar from beet, for the growth of which the
soil and climate of certain parts of the colony are believed to-
be especially adapted. One factory, equipped with the most
modern machinery, has already commenced operations under
favorable auspices. The only encouragement given by the
State is in the form of a loan, at 4 per cent. interest, of about
two-thirds of the capital invested in buildings and machinery,
but this has to be repaid by instalments extending over a
period of 23 years. One of the conditions antecedent tc-
granting the Government advance was that occupiers or
owners of suitable land should undertake to cultivate for
three years at least 1,500 acres of sugar beet in the vicinity
of the factory. The best sites for factories are reported to
be Maffra, in Gippsland, where the present factory is-
located, and Port Fairy (formerly named Belfast), in the
western district. A further Government advance has been
authorized, and is available, for the establishment of a
second factory.
Special Products.
There is also unlimited scope for the cultivation of maize,
tobacco, the opium poppy, the olive, and other oil plants,
flax and hemp—for oil seed and fibre, grass and clover-
seeds, scent and essential oil plants ; but these have as yet
received but little attention.


64
Grazing and Live Stock.
The area of Crown lands occupied for pastoral purposes
was 19,500,000 acres, or 35£ per cent. of the area of the
whole colony, and there are besides freehold grazing lands to
the extent of close on 20,000,000 acres. The Crown lands
are held by about 22,000 lessees or licensees, who pay the
State an annual rental of £78,000 for the use of the land.
According to the latest returns, the live stock in the colony
consisted of 431,547 horses; 1,826,435 horned cattle (in-
cluding 457,924 milch cows); 13,180,943 sheep; and
337,588 pigs. The number of dairy farmers was 27,000,
of whom all but about 1,400 are also cultivators.
Wool is one of the staple products of the colony, and the
quantity produced in 1897 was 54,567,742 lbs., of the value
of £2,105,936. With the exception of a small proportion
manufactured in the colony, the whole of this is exported—
about three-fourths being sent to the United Kingdom, and
most of the remainder to the Continent of Europe.
The dairying industry, for which Victorian pastures are
well adapted, has made rapid strides during the last few
years, owing to the opening up of markets in the United
Kingdom, rendered possible by the incorporation of freezing
chambers in ocean-bound vessels, and stimulated in the first
instance by bonuses granted by the State. As, however, the
bonuses have for some time past been discontinued, the
industry now stands on its own merits. The industry has so
far been mainly confined to butter, the manufacture of
cheese on a large scale having attracted but little attention.
The following figures, showing an increase in the exports of
butter from 1,000,000 lbs. in 1889 to over 22,000,000 lbs.
in 1897, speak for themselves :—
Wool.
Butter.
Export of Victorian Butter.
Lbs.
£
1889
1891
1893
1897
1,019,220
4,652,344
13,975,633
22,167,012
37,447
226,326
573,107
884,976


66
can be no doubt that Victoria, as a manufacturing country,
now occupies a higher position than any other colony of the
Australasian group. Statistics of manufactures and works
in operation are collected annually. The collectors are
instructed to obtain returns only from establishments
employing four hands or upwards, or those with less than
four hands when machinery worked by steam, gas, electric,
wind, or horse-power is used. No attempt is made to
enumerate mere shops, although some manufacturing indus-
try may be carried on thereat; were this done, the manufac-
tories of the colony might be multiplied to an almost
indefinite extent.
In 1896, the total number of establishments returned was
2,810, employing 50,448 hands, viz., 37,779 males and
12,669 females, in which capital was invested to the amount
of over 12^ millions sterling—£4,983,000 in machinery and
plant, £4,376,000 in building and improvements, and
£2,921,000 in land. In 1,252 of the establishments steam
was used, in 478 gas, in 5 electric, in 19 water, in 6 wind,
in 86 horse-power, and in 964 manual labour only was
employed; and the engines in use were worked to an
aggregate horse-power of 29,000, and had a full capacity of
38,543; whilst over three-fourths of the hands were engaged
in factories using machinery worked by steam, gas, electric,
wind, or horse-power. The factories may be divided into two
main classes, those occupied with the partial or crude treat-
ment of raw materials, which numbered 459, and employed
4,547 hands; and those engaged in manufacturing finished
articles of consumption, which numbered 2,351, and employed
45,901 hands. Of the total number of industries, 227, with
1,802 hands, were working in animal, and 124, with 3,262
hands, in vegetable and mineral foods; 237, with 3,097 hands,
in drinks and narcotics; 474, with 15,768 hands, in dress and
textile fabrics; 120, with 1,696 hands, in furniture; 124,
with 1,598 hands, in building materials; 240, with 3,237
hands, in road, railway, and water vehicles, and other
apparatus for transportation; 130, with 2,235 hands, in
animal matters; 391, with 3,934 hands, in wood and other
vegetable substances; 62, with 676 hands, in oils and fats
(animal and vegetable); 334, with 6,263 hands, in metals
and minerals; 34, with 428 hands, in gold, silver, and
precious stones; 57, with 787 hands, in heat, light, and
energy; 203, with 4,654 hands, in printing, account books,
and stationery; and 53, with 1,011 hands, in other industries.


67
The principal products manufactured during the year were
as follow :—Flour, 122,541 tons ; beer, 14£ million gallons;
spirits, 410,000 gallons (proof); sugar and molasses refined,
783,162 cwt. ; tobacco, 985,811 lbs.; butter, 29,676,097 lbs.;
bacon and hams, 7,817,977 lbs.; soap, 140,792 cwt; candles,
51,552 cwt.; woollen cloth, flannel, &c, 2,180,704 yards;
blankets, 9,519; hides, tanned, 439,291; skins, tanned,
2,147,169; boots and shoes, made, 2,598,387 pairs; timber
(Victorian), sawn, 31,973,743 super, feet; gas, 1,477,130,510
cubic feet; electric energy supplied, 4,916,171 Brit. units;
bricks, 55,682,110. In freezing works, moreover, 271,790
carcasses of sheep and 860,904 of rabbits were treated for
export.
Railways.
The Railways in Victoria are exclusively the property of
the State, whose policy has been not only to systematically
open up the interior and keep pace with the development of
the country, but also to anticipate settlement; and although
in the past they were not, nor were intended to be, worked
on strict commercial principles, still the whole community
has derived from them incalculable benefits, and it is believed
that few railway systems in the world could show from their
inception so favorable a record. Their success would have
been still greater, but for the construction of a large number
of political lines, the heavy cost of construction—due to the
sudden rise in the price of land immediately it was known
to be required for railway purposes, and the high rate of
interest on public loans. All these things, however, are now
changed. The railways have been removed from political
control, and an attempt is being made to work them on
commercial principles; unreasonable prices are not now
paid for land, which is indeed in many cases obtained free of
cost; whilst the current rate of interest on loans, formerly
as high as 6, 5, and 4 per cent., has fallen to 3 per cent., which
will result in a considerable saving as the loans mature.
On the 30th June, 1897, 3,112 miles were open for traffic,
about 300 miles of which were laid with double lines. The
cost of construction of lines open for traffic was, inclusive of
rolling-stock, £38,325,517, or an average of about £12,315
per mile; of this amount about £35,521,777 was raised
by means of loans, and the remainder—or about 7 per
cent.—was contributed from the general revenue. The
E 2


68
train mileage during the year was 9,228,687. The total
receipts amounted to £2,615,935, and the working expenses
to £1,663,806. The net income was thus £1,052,129, which
is equivalent to a return of 2| per cent. on the mean capital
cost, or close on 3 per cent, on the debenture capital. This
must be considered a satisfactory result, considering the
adverse effect on the revenue of the failure of the harvest,
and seeing that at the present time the average rate of
interest payable upon the railway loans is between 3f and 4
per cent.
Posts and Telegraphs.
Post-offices.
x~ A very efficient postal system exists in Victoria, and
post-offices are established throughout the length and
breadth of the colony; 1,572 of such institutions now exist,
as against 1,342 twelve years since. In the year 1896 the
letters passing through the post numbered 84,124,347, in
addition to which there were large numbers of newspapers,
packets, and parcels. The postage on letters to places in
any of the Australasian colonies is twopence per ounce, and
on newspapers one halfpenny each. The postage on letters
to the United Kingdom is twopence halfpenny, and on
newspapers one penny.
Money Orders.
Money-order offices in Victoria in connexion with the post-
office have been established in 443 places, and the system is
being rapidly extended by the opening of fresh offices.
Besides the issue and payment of money orders at these
places, such orders are issued in favour of Victoria, and
Victorian orders are paid, not only at places in Great Britain
and Ireland and in the various Australasian colonies,
but also in the principal British possessions and foreign
countries throughout the world. The number of money
orders issued during the year 1896 was 217,878, of
an aggregate value of £668,882. The commission on
money orders for sums not exceeding £5 is 6d. to places in
Victoria; and 6d. for sums under £2, and 1s. for those under
£5, to places in the other Australasian colonies; and so on
proportionately for larger sums up to £20. To the United
.Kingdom and other countries, the charge is on a scale


69
averaging about 1s. for every £2, with a further rate
varying from 3d. to 9d. for orders passing through the
London office. The limit for a single order is £20 to places
in the Australasian colonies, China, Italy, Germany, and the
United States, and £10 to other places. Money orders may
be made payable in all the Australasian colonies by telegraph
on payment of the minimum charge for a telegram in
addition to the above rates, except in the case of New
Zealand, in which instance the charge for a money-order
telegram is 5s.
Postal Notes.
Postal notes are also issued, chiefly for use within the
colony, for any amounts not exceeding £1, at charges rang-
ing from £d. to 3d. The number of such notes paid
during 1896 was 944,028, having a total nominal value ot
£385,403.
Electric Telegraphs.
Telegraphs in Victoria are Government property, and are
worked in connexion with the Post-office. Telegraphic
communication exists between 791 stations within the
colony, and the Victorian lines are connected besides with
the lines of New South Wales, and by means of them with
Queensland and New Zealand. They are also connected
with the lines of South Australia, and by their means with
Western Australia, and with the Eastern Archipelago, Asia,
Europe, and America. They are likewise united with a sub-
marine cable to Tasmania. In 1896 the miles of line along
which poles extended numbered 6,977, of which 3,140 miles
belonged to the Railway Department, and the miles of wire
14,389, including 5,018 miles used for railway purposes; the
telegrams transmitted numbered 1,872,615, of which 64,281
were on Government business. To places within Victoria,
telegrams containing not more than nine words are sent for
9d., 1d. extra being charged for each additional word. To
New South Wales the charge is 1s. for ten words; to South
Australia and Tasmania, 2s.; to Western Australia and
Queensland, 3s.; and to New Zealand, 3s. 6d. For each addi-
tional word 6d. is charged to the last named, 3d. to Queens-
land, and 2d. to the other colonies. To England or the
Continent of Europe, the rate is 4s. lOd. per word; to
India it varies from 4s. lOd. to 5s. 1d.; and to the United


70
States, from 5s. lOd. to 6s. 6d. In the case of telegrams to
places on the Australian Continent, names and addresses
are not charged for ; to places in Tasmania they are not
charged for unless they exceed ten words, but all words
above that number are charged for as part of the message.
In the case of telegrams to New Zealand, England, the
Continent of Europe, India, and the United States, the
names and addresses of both sender and receiver are charged
for as part of the message.
Telephones.
During the last few years, telephonic has in a large
measure superseded the less expeditious postal and tele-
graphic communication in the chief centres of population,
and the telephone system has been rapidly extended to meet
public requirements. At the end of 1896, there were thirteen
public exchanges, having 2,754 subscribers, whilst the length
of wire used exceeded 10,000 miles. A few bureaux for the
use of the public have already been established.
Education.
University.
The Melbourne University, which has been established
since 1855, is empowered to grant in any faculty except
divinity (no religious test being permissible) any degree,
diploma, certificate, or licence which can be conferred in
any university in the British dominions; and by Royal
letters patent, under the sign-manual of Her Majesty Queen
Victoria, issued in 1859, it was declared that all degrees
granted by the Melbourne University should be recognised
as academic distinctions and rewards of merit, and should
be entitled to rank, precedence, and consideration in the
United Kingdom and in British colonies and possessions
throughout the world just as fully as if they had been granted
by any university in the United Kingdom. The institution
at present receives an annual endowment of £12,250 from
the general revenue. On the 22nd March, 1880, the Univer-
sity was thrown open to females, and they can now be admitted
to all its corporate privileges. Affiliated to the Univer-
sity are three colleges in connexion with the Episcopalian,
the Presbyterian, and the Wesleyan Church respectively,
and named Trinity, Ormond, and Queen's. Ormond


71
College, named after the late Hon. Francis Ormond, M.L.C.,
who contributed nearly £82,000 towards its erection and
endowment. The University Hall, built at a cost of about
£40,000, is called the Wilson Hall, after the late Sir
Samuel Wilson, who contributed the greater portion of the
funds for its erection. Since the opening of the University,
4,040 students matriculated, and 2,452 degrees were
granted—including about 100 to lady graduates, of which
2,066 were direct, and 386 ad eundem. The students who
matriculated in 1896 numbered 129—of whom 16 were
females; and the graduates in the same year numbered 123
—of whom 31 were females.
State Education.
The State educational system of Victoria, the basis of
which is that secular instruction shall be provided, without
payment, for children whose parents may be willing to
accept it, but that, whether accepted or not, satisfactory
evidence must be produced that all children, up to the age
of 13, are educated up to a given standard, has been most
successful in its operation. In 1872, just before the present
system came into operation, the number of children returned
as on the rolls of State schools was 136,055, whilst in 1896,
after the system had been in force for twenty-four years,
the number had increased to 235,617, or by 73 per cent.,
the increase of population in the same period having been
only 52 per cent. It has been estimated that the propor-
tion of children attending school for not less than 40 days
in each quarter amounts to about 47 per cent. of the numbers
on the rolls.
Private Schools.
Besides the State schools, which are attended by five-
sixths of the children under instruction in the colony, there
are, according to the latest returns, 939 private schools,
attended by 49,996 scholars. Some of these private
schools are attached to religious denominations, as many as
220, with 23,562 scholars, being connected with the Roman
Catholic Church. Six are called colleges or grammar
schools, two of which are connected with the Church of
England, two with the Roman Catholic, one with the
Presbyterian, and one with the Wesleyan Church. In these,


72
as well as in some of the other private schools, a very high
class of education, almost if not quite equal to that obtained
in the best public schools in England, is given.
Results of Victorian School System.
It has been officially estimated that of the children in
Victoria between the ages of six and thirteen (the school age),
all but a very small proportion receive education during
some portion of each year. The results are shown in the very
large proportion of educated children comprised in the
population. According to the returns of the census of 1891,
of every 10,000 children at the school age, 9,389 could read,
8,770 of whom could also write, and only 611 were unable
to read. The proportion of instructed children indicated
by these figures is far higher than the proportion prevailing
in any of the other Australasian colonies, and is equalled
in few, if in any, other countries.
Clergy and Churches.
Clergy.—There being no State religion in Victoria, and
no money voted for any religious object, the clergy are
supported by the efforts of the denomination to which they
are attached. The clergy, ministers, &c, number 1,615, of
whom 236 belong to the Church of England, 198 to the
Roman Catholic Church, 237 to the Presbyterian Church,
218 to the Methodist Churches, 59 to the Independent
Church, 52 to the Baptist Church, 38 to the Bible Christian
Church, 474 to the Salvation Army, 95 to other Christian
churches, and 8 to the Jewish Church. Besides these there
are other officials connected with some of the sects who,
without being regularly ordained, perform the functions of
clergymen, and are styled lay readers, lay assistants, local
preachers, mission agents, &c The number of these is not
known, but it no doubt materially swells the ranks of
religious instructors in the colony.
Churches and Chapels.—The buildings used for public
worship throughout Victoria number at the present time
about 4,809, of which 2,651 are regular churches and
chapels, and 2,158 public or private buildings. Accommoda-
tion is provided for 650,000 persons, but the number attend-
ing the principal weekly services is said not to exceed
500,000. About 350,000 services are performed during
the year. Of the whole number of buildings used for


73
religious worship, 1,081 belong to the Church of Eng-
land, 570 to the Roman Catholics, 947 to the Presbyterians,
1,386 to the Methodists, 819 to other Christians, and 6
to the Jews.
Prices.
The following are the quoted prices of the principal
articles of consumption, also of live stock, in Melbourne
during the year 1896. In country districts the cost of
groceries, tobacco, wines and spirits, &c, is naturally some-
what higher, and that of agricultural and grazing produce,
firewood, &c, somewhat lower, than in Melbourne :—
Prices in Melbourne, 1896.
Articles.
Agricultural Produce.
Wheat ... ... ... per bushel
Oats
Maize
Bran ...
Hay ...
Flour, first quality
Bread
Grazing Produce.
Horses—
Medium to heavy draught
Saddle and light harness
Butchers' meat—
Beef
Mutton
Veal
Pork
Lamb
Butter
Cheese
Milk ...
Geese
Ducks
Fowls
Rabbits
Pigeons
Dairy Produce.
Farm-yahd Produce.
per ton
. per 4-lb. loaf
each
ii
per lb.
>»
ii
ii
per quarter
per lb.
> i
per quart
per couple
Prices.
4s. 2d. to Cs.
3s. to 4s. 9d.
2s. 8d. to 3s. 8d.
2s. to 3s. 8d.
3s. to 4s.
8Jd. to Is. 2d.
£2 10s. to £6 5s.
£9 to £15
4jd.to 8d.
£17 to £23
£10 to £35
3d. to 6d.
lid. to 4d.
2d. to 6d.
3d.to 6d.
Is. to Is. 9d.
8d. to Is. 3d.
6d. to lOd.
3d. to 5d.*
4s. to 10s.
2s. 6d. to 6s.
3s. to 6s.
6d. to Is.
Is. to 2s.
In the country the price Is only 3d. per gallon.


74
Prices in Melbourne, 1896—continued.
Farm-yard Produce—continued.
Articles.
Prices.
Turkeys
each
per lb.
per doz.
5 s. to 20s.
5s. to 10s.
Sucking pigs ...
Bacon
7d. to 9d.
Ham
9d. to Is.
6d. to Is. 9d.
Eggs
Garden Produce.
Potatoes
Onions, dried . .
Carrots
Turnips
Radishes
Cabbages
Cauliflowers ...
Lettuces
per dozen bunches
»i
>i
per cwt.
2s. to 8s.
3s. to 14s.
3d. to Is.
3d. to 9d.
3d. to 5d.
6d. to 2s. 6d.
Is. to 5s.
3d. to 9d.
Id. to 3d.
per doz.
,,
Green peas, retail
... ... ,,
per lb.
Miscellaneous Articles.
Tea
Coffee
per lb.
Is. to 2s.
Is. 3d. to 2s.
2|d.
3d.
Sugar, refined ...
Rice ...
Tobacco
Soap, common
Candles—Sperm
Salt ...
Coal ...
Firewood
Gas (in 1898) ...
ii
ii
ii
ii
,,
3s. 6d. to 5s.
... ... ,,
2|d.
5d. to 8Jd.
Jd. to Id.
16s. to 20s.
15s.to 20s
5s.
per ton
... per l',000ft.
ii
Wines
Spirits, etc.
Ale—English ...
per doz.
8s. to 10s. 6d.
5s. 6d.
6d.
,, Colonial
{
Porter—English
1 per quart
per doz.
... per bottle
ii
8s. 9d. to 10s. 6d.
4s. 6d. to 6s;
4s. to 5s. 6d.
12s to 20s.
3s. to 7s. 6d.
Brandy
Whisky
Wine (Colonial)
,,
per doz.
... per gall.
Wages.
The following table contains a statement of the average
rates of wages paid in respect to engagements made in
Melbourne in 1896. The quotations are without board and


76
Wages in Melbourne, 1896—continued.
Description of Labour.
Boundary riders...
Shepherds
Stockmen
Cooks ...
Labourers
Drovers
Sheep washers ...
Shearers
Cooks ...
General servants
Married couples
I.—Station Servants.
Males (with rations-).
per annum
per week
per 100 sheep shorn
Females.
per annum, with board and lodging
n '» »»
per annum, with rations ...
5.—Wobkers in Books, etc.
Printers—
Compositors ... per 1,000
Machinists ... per week
Lithographers ... „
Binders ... „
Paper rulers ... „
Sewers and folders \
(females) /"
6.—In Watches, Jewellery, and Precious Metals.
Watchmakers ... per week
Manufacturing I
jewellers /"
7.—In Metals other than Gold and Silver.
per day
per week
per day
Blacksmiths
Die-sinkers
Engravers
Farriers—Firemen
„ Floormen
Hammermen
Fitters ...
Turners ... „
Boilermakers and platers, per day
Riveters ... per day
Lamp-makers ... per week
Pattern-makers ... per day
Moulders ... „
Brassfinishers, coppersmiths, per day
Tinsmiths ... per week
Japanners ... „
Ironworkers ... „
Galvanizers ... „
Plumbers, gasfitters „
Rate.
£40 to £60
£36 to £52
£50 to £60
£60 to £70
15s. to 20s.
25s. to 40s.
15s. to 25s.
15s. to 168.
£30 to £60
£30 to £36
£50 to £70
Is.
£2 12s. to £3
£2 10s. to £3 10s.
£2 10s. to £4
£2 10s. to £3 10s.
12s. 6d. to 27s. 6d.
£2 to £3
£1 10s. to £4
9s. to lis.
£2 10s. to £4 10s.
£1 15s. to £3
£2 to £2 5s.
£1 15s. to £2 2s.
6s. 6d. to 7s.
9s. to 10s.
9s. to 10s.
10s. to lis.
10s. to lis.
£1 15s. to £3
8s. to 10s.
9s. to 10s. 4d.
8s. to 10s.
£2 to £2 14s.
£2 to £2 14s.
£2 to £3 6s.
£2 to £3 6s.
£1 10s. to £3


77
Wages in Melbourne, 1896—continued.
Description of Labour.
8.—In Carriages and Harness.
per week
per day
per week
Smiths ...
Bodymakers
Wheelers
Painters
Trimmers
Vycemen
Collar-makers ...
Harness-makers...
Saddle-makers ...
Saddle-tree makers
Whip-makers
9.—Ships and Boats.
Sailors—
Sailing vessels... per month, and found
Steam-ships ... „ ,.
Ship carpenters, shipwrights (steam),per month,and found
Stevedores' men.j ,
lumpers ) r
10.—In Houses and Buildings.
Masons... ... per day
Plasterers ... „
Bricklayers ... „
Slaters ... ... „
Carpenters ... „
Labourers ... „
Painters and glaziers „
Signwriters ... „
Paperhangers ... „
11.—In Furniture, etc.
Cabinetmakers ... per week
Carvers ... „
Turners ... „
Upholsterers ... „
Polishers ... „
Coopers ... per day
Rate.
12.—Workers in Dress.
Tailors ...
„ in factories
Mantlemakers
Milliners—
First class
Second class
per hour
per week
£2 to £3
£2 to £2 10s.
£2 to £2 10s.
6s. to 8s. 4d.
£2 to £2 14s.
£1 10s. to £2
£1 5s. to £3
£1 5s. to £3
£1 5s. to £3
£1 15s. to £2 10s.
£ I 10s. to £3 10s.
£3 to £4
£6
£9
8s. to 10s.
8s.
6s. to 7s.
6s. to 8s,
7s. to 8s
6s. to 8s.
5s. to 6s
5s. to 8s
7s. to 8s.
5s. to 7s.
£1 Ss. to £2 10s.
£2 5s.
£2 5s.
£2 to £2 15s.
£2 to £2 10s.
7s. to 9s.
lOd. to Is.
£2 to £3 10s.
£2 to £3
10s. to 25s.
£3 to £4
15s. to £2 5s.


Wages in Melbourne, 1896—continued.
Description of Labour.
12.—Workkhs in I)kess—continued.
Dressmakers
Needlewomen
Bootmakers
per week
.. riveting, per pair—
children's
boys'
women's
men's
„ ... machine sewing, per pair—
children's and boys'
women's
men's
„ ... making Wellingtons to order, sewn,
pegged
... making elastics to order, sewn
pegged ...
„ Machinists, per week
Hatters—
Gossamer trade—
Body makers—silk hats, per dozen
Finishers ... perdozen
Simpers ... „
Crown sewers „
Trimmers ... „
Felt Hat Trade—
Bodymakers per week
Blockers ... „
Finishers ... „
Shapers ... „
Binders (females) „
Trimmers ,, „
Clothing Factories—
Cutters ... „
Pressers ... „
Tailoresses ... „
Machinists ... .,
Shirtmakers ... ,,
Drapers' assistants, carpet salesmen.
Rate.
per week
Bakers—
Foremen
Second hands ...
Butchers—
Shopmen
Slaughtermen...
Boys...
Small-goods men
Maltsters
13.—In Food.
per week
with board
12s. to 25s.
12s. to 25s.
5d.
7£ to 9d.
8d. to Is. Id.
lid. to Is. 9d.
6d. to 9d.
Is. Id.
Is. 5d.
13s. 6d.
8s. 6d.
10s.
7s. 6d.
10s. to 25s.
10s. to 22s.
12s. to 24s.
4s. to 12s.
3s. 6d. to 4s.
6s. to 9s.
£3 5s.
£3
£3
£3
24s.
20s.
£2 10s.
30s. to 40s.
12s. 6d.to 27s. 6d.
12s. 6d. to 25s.
14s. to 40s.
£1 10s. to £5
£2 5s. to £3 10s.
£2 to £2 108.
£2 5s. to £2 10s.
£2 10s. to £3 10s.
£1 to £1 12s 6d.
£1 10s. to £2 10s.
£2 2s. to £2 15s.


79
Wages in Melbourne, 1896—continued.
Description of Labour.
14.—In Animal Matteks.
Brush-makers ... per week
Female drawing hands, per week
Curriers
Tanners
Beamsmen
Shedsmen
Fellmongers
Portmanteau,
Trunk-makers
... per week
In Vegetable Matters.
. per week
15.
Basket-makers
Broom-m«kers
Cigar-makers
Tobacco (plug) makers
Cork-cutters
16.—In Stone, Clay, etc.
Brickmakers—
Clay-hole men ... per 1,000
Setters ... „
Drawers
Burners
Potters
Quarrymen
Labourers
Stonebreakers
Tarpavers
Asphalters
General managers
Legal
Mining ,, ,,
Engineers ... ,,
Engine-drivers ... „
Pitmen... ...
Blacksmiths ... ,,
Carpenters ... „
Foremen of shift ,,
Miners ... ,,
Surfacemen-Labourer? ,,
Boys ... ... „
per week
per hour
per day
per cubic yard
per day
17.—In Mines.
per week
Rate.
£1 10s. to £3
15s. to 25s.
£2 2s. to £3
30s. to 36s
40s. to 45s.
30s. to 40s.
28s. to 40s.
£1 15s. to £2 5s.
£2 to £2 10s.
30s. to 40s.
30s. to 40s.
£2 to £4
3Gs. to £2 15s.
Is. 9d.
8d.
8d.
£>
lOd. to Is.
6s. to 8s.
to 6s. 6d.
e. to 3s.
6s. 6d.
10s.
5s.
£3 to £10
£5 to £6
£2 10s. to £9
£2 8s. to £5
£2 5s. to £i
£2 to £3 10s.
£2 to £3 10s.
£2 2s. to £3 18s.
£2 5s. to £3 6d.
£2 to £2 10s.
£1 10s. to £2 10s.
10s. to £2


80
AGRICULTURE.
The agricultural resources of the colony, although only
yet developed to a comparatively limited extent, have con-
tributed in a marked degree to place Victoria in its present
proud position, and the best guarantee for its future progress
is to be found in the agricultural expansion capable of
resulting from its rich soil, genial climate, and various other
advantages. What has already been accomplished is the
best indication of what may be expected in the future.
Pioneering Work Done.
In the past all the difficulties connected with carrying on
agricultural operations in a new country have had to be
overcome. The pioneer farmer had to learn the peculiarities
of the soil and the special conditions of climate with which
he had to cope in an unknown and untried country, and all
this had to be done under special difficulties. Seeds, plants,
tools, and implements had to be imported from distant
countries; horses, cattle,, sheep, swine, and poultry had also
to be brought from abroad, while the breeds best suited to the
new conditions, and the peculiar treatment necessary, had
to be learned by experiments more or less expensive. In
establishing agriculture amidst all these difficulties there
were other obstacles which had to be overcome. There were
but few large towns, so that the markets for produce were
limited, and it frequently happened that when a successful
harvest was obtained-the farmer would find the port glutted
with foreign products. Not only were markets limited, but
they were difficult of access. There were no roads through
the forests, over the hills, or across the plains. Eivers had
to be bridged and roads had to be made before the farmers'
produce could be taken to market. All this up-hill work
had to be carried on by farmers who were far from schools,
churches, and social institutions.
Prosperity Assured.
Those who commence farming now, either upon Crown
lands or upon farms purchased from settlers, have none of
these difficulties to overcome. The large cities provide
markets for produce, and supply implements and machinery
of the most approved kind, manufactured locally and in
Europe and America; seeds and plants of every kind have











I


81
been brought from all parts of the world; all the best breeds
of live stock are available; and the conditions of soil and
climate have been so well ascertained that all branches ol
agriculture can be carried on with a complete knowledge ot
the most suitable treatment to be pursued. Roads have
been made in every direction, the rivers have been bridged
at all necessary points, and railways have been extended
to all settled portions of the colony, with the certainty that
they will follow the settlers to the districts not yet occupied.
In addition to all this, schools have been established in the
midst of every group of settlers, churches have been built in
every village, and even the most distant portions of the
colony enjoy social advantages not surpassed in any country
in the world.
Early Progress.
Much has been done in a short time. It is only 64 years
since the first white man settled upon Victorian soil, but a
much shorter time has elapsed since the march of progress
properly began with the inrush of population soon after the
discovery of gold in 1851. The development of agriculture
had a still more recent commencement, for at the time oi
the gold diggings the land was in the possession of Crown
tenants, who leased it as sheep and cattle runs, and many
years passed before the new colonists, attracted by the
discovery of gold, could succeed in passing laws for the
throwing open of the land to agricultural settlers. Up to
the year 1860 land could only be obtained at auction, and it
was difficult for men of small means to obtain farms; and
although more liberal land laws were passed after that date
it was not until 1869 that an Act was framed under which
agricultural settlement was effectually encouraged. During
the period intervening between the landing of the first
white men and the passing of the Land Act of 1869 agricul-
tural settlement made very slow progress, but much useful
work was done, the beneficial effects of which are still
experienced. Mr. Henty, the first settler, commenced to
cultivate immediately aft-- arriving, and the plough which
he used is preserved in ILelbourne as a valuable historical
relic, being the plough which turned the first sod in Victoria.
The farms afterwards established near Melbourne, Ballarat,
Geelong, Lancefield, Kilmore, Warrnambool, Belfast, and
other early towns tested the quality of soils, and made
known the peculiar treatment required by different crops in
9194.
F


82
the climate of the colony. Owing also to the enterprise of
the early colonists, live stock of different breeds were
imported, so that when the public lands were thrown open
for selection in 1869 the colony was well supplied with
trained farmers of local experience, stud herds of shorthorn,
Hereford, Ayrshire, and Jersey cattle had been established,
as well as studs of the best draught and thoroughbred
horses, flocks of merino, Lincoln, and Leicester sheep, with
well-bred representations of other kinds of live stock.
Later Development.
It was under the above circumstances that the agriculture
of the colony began a career of remarkable development
some 25 years ago. It may be mentioned also that the
mining industry had been for some time affording employ-
ment to a diminishing number of men, and that many of
the miners settled upon land under the liberal provisions of
the new Land Act. Under preceding Land Acts the greater
portion of the best land in the coast districts had been
alienated, many large estates used for grazing purposes
having been formed, so that agricultural settlement under
the more liberal provisions of the Act of 1869 had to extend
mainly over the northern or inland portion of the colony.
Settlements were rapidly formed in all parts of the northern
areas, and wheat-growing, the most suitable industry for the
pioneering stages of such districts, was quickly developed
to larger proportions. Three years after the Act came into
force—viz., in 1873—the land under cultivation amounted
to only 964,996 acres, while ten years later, in 1883, the
area had increased to 2,215,923, and in 1893 to 3,019,002
acres. The total extent of land under the wheat crop in
1873 was 349,976 acres, and in 1893 it was 1,469,359 acres.
As the production of all other farm products also increased
during the same period, while live stock multiplied, and
marked improvement was made in the quality of the various
breeds, the natural advantages possessed by the colony for
carrying on the various branches of agricultural industry
are clearly manifested by the rapid progress which has
taken place. Between 1881 and 1895 the number of sheep
in the colony increased from 10,360,285 to 13,180,945, and
the number of cattle from 1,286,267 to 1,833,900. When
it is taken into account that the population of Victoria is
only at present a little over one million, and that important
mining, manufacturing, pastoral, and other industries have








83
been carried on, the development of agriculture which has
taken place proves conclusively that the soil and climate
of the colony afford special advantages for agricultural
pursuits. In a new country the people are eager for large
profits, and so much attention would not have been given to
agriculture bad not the favorable conditions of climate and
soil made the industry remunerative.
Fertility of the Soil.
It was soon discovered that the soil of Victoria was
exceedingly fertile. It had all the experience of being rich,
and when tried it more than realized expectations. Only a
few years after the landing of the first settlers "Port Fairy"
potatoes won fame, on account of their superior quality, in
older-established parts of Australia, and other products were
soon afterwards grown with equal success. The potatoes
were grown at Belfast and Warrnambool, on the south-west
coast of the colony, districts still famed for the production
of root crops. The rich soil of this region is of volcanic
origin, being very friable and of a reddish or chocolate
colour, capable of growing all kinds of crops for many
years without manure. A yield of from 12 to 15 tons
per acre of potatoes is sometimes obtained, and 10 tons
per acre is a frequent yield. The Lancefield, Daylesford,
Kyneton, Ballarat, and Gippsland districts contain land of
the same kind, and all over the colony a large proportion of
the soil is exceedingly fertile. Even in those parts of the
colony where the yield of the crops is smaller the defect is
not so much in the soil as in the supply of moisture. There
are in the inland northern portions of the colony districts
which do not enjoy such a liberal rainfall as others. In
such localities the yield of the crops is generally compara-
tively light, but the soil is rich, a fact that is proved from
the large yield obtained in a moist season. Having extensive
areas of fertile soil in all parts of its territory, and con-
sequently under different conditions of climate, the products
of the colony are both abundant and varied.
The Genial Climate.
"The finest climate in the world." Such is the verdict
of all observant colonists who have travelled enough to give
weight to their opinion. There is no winter, in the English
or American sense of the word. The time called winter is
merely the season in which there is more rain and less heat
F 2


64
than in summer. Very few Australians have ever seen
snow. Upon the inland mountain ranges and the elevated
land in their vicinity a little snow falls occasionally, but
only sufficient to make the ground white for a few hours.
The native trees are evergreen, not casting their leaves in
the winter, although English trees and others indigenous to
cold countries go through the form apparently out of respect
to old-established family customs, and altogether the winter
is only a modified summer. Stock are neither housed nor fed
in the winter. The merino sheep, which produce the finest
wool in the world, run out on the pastures all the winter,
generally without even a hedge to shelter them ; cattle in
the same way are not only able to live on the pastures
through the winter, but to fatten fit for the butcher. The
dairy cows also are kept milking without being housed or
fed, and when horses are not at work they spend the whole
winter in the open fields. Any farmer who knows what it
is to provide for housing and feeding his live stock through
the winter in England, Scotland, Ireland, or America will
be able to understand what special advantages Victoria
possesses in its winterless climate.
The Rainfall.
In order to obtain a clear idea of the rainfall of Victoria,
it will be necessary to take note of the physical features of
the colony. It will be observed, by looking at the map,
that the eastern coast range of the Australian Continent
terminates about 100 miles south of the northern boundary
of Victoria, or in the Gippsland district. From the terminal
point a spur called the Great Dividing Range strikes off to
the westward and extends across the colony of Victoria.
This Dividing Range divides the colony into two parts, viz.,
the northern and southern division, or, if we take the whole
course of the mountain chain, including the portion of the
eastern coast range of the continent which extends into
Victoria, we have the colony divided into the inland and
coast districts. On the coast side of the mountains the
territory, which averages a little over 100 miles wide, enjoys
a copious rainfall, while in the inland country, averaging
roughly over 100 miles from the River Murray, the average
rainfall is somewhat less. All over the coast districts the
rainfall is sufficient for the requirements of cereal and some
kinds of root crops. Wheat, oats, and barley are success-
fully cultivated, and permanent pastures of English grasses














86
deficiency of moisture. The cheap system of cultivation and
harvesting which is carried on enables the farmer to make
good profits from light crops. There is comparatively little
timber in the dry districts. Trees enough grow in patches
or belts to provide fencing timber, but every farm contains
a large area of open plain land which is ready for the
plough. This land is more fertile and as easy tilled as the
prairies of Western America, while a cheaper system of
harvesting is adopted. The peculiar dryness of the air
enables the stripper, which is a combined reaping and
threshing machine, to be used, while en the American
prairies the grain has to be reaped, bound, stooked, carted,
and threshed. In the colony of South Australia, where this
cheap system of cultivating and harvesting is adopted, the
wheat-growers have been able to make a living from crops
averaging only 5 bushels the acre. In the dry parts of
Victoria the system of farming is similar, and the average
yields vary from 10 to 15 bushels per acre. In the dry
districts, too, the natural pastures are excellent, and, as the
climate is warm, stock thrives well. Farmers in these
parts, therefore, makft.Cprofits, both from cultivation and
stock-keeping, and -they are generally prosperous and
well content with- their prospects. The system of irri-
gation recently introduced will make some of the arid
districts the most productive portions of the colony. (See
article upon " Irrigation.") A tract of 11,000,000 acres of
land lying in the northern portion of the colony called " the
Mallee," owing to being covered with a scrub of that name,
is now being extensively cultivated by means of the South
Australian scrub roller and stump-jump plough. The wheat
grown here is of the highest standard of quality, and this
tract has become now the great wheat-producing belt of the
colony.
Crops and Yields.
The rich soil and warm genial climate combine to render
the colony's productions abundant and varied. In the coast
districts, where all kinds of cereals and leguminous and root
crops are cultivated, the yields obtained from the unmanured
land are all that could be desired. The average of the whole
colony is always lower than the results obtained by farmers
who understand their business. The system of farming
carried on stands much in need of improvement. The
majority of those upon the land have had no training as








87
farmers, and the system, like that of all new countries, is
not calculated to produce the best results. Farmers who
understand their business, and give the land reasonable
cultivation, obtain from 35 to 45 bushels of wheat, oats, and
barley per acre in districts where the general average is not
more than from 15 to 20 bushels per acre. Much heavier
yields than those stated are frequently obtained, but from 35
to 45 bushels per acre are common when the land is well
cultivated. With potatoes, mangolds, beets, and peas, the
same difference is observed between the average obtained by
a rough system of farming and upon land properly cultivated.
About 5 tons of potatoes per acre is a payable crop, and
from 12 to 15 tons per acre are frequently obtained. Hay,
which is made from wheat or oats, yields from 2 tons to 4
tons per acre, and English grasses for pasture are success-
fully cultivated in all the coast and elevated districts.
Maize is a crop which grows well in the more moist
portions of the coast districts, and as much as 100 bushels
per acre is frequently obtained. Owing to the defective
system of farming, many of the crops for which the colony
is suitable are much neglected, the tendency of settlers being
to neglect rotation and confine their attention to growing a
single description of grain. Thus wheat-growing is carried
on more extensively than most other departments of farming.
All over the northern or inland districts wheat can be profit-
ably produced, while in some sections other cereals do not
do so well, and this fact also tends to swell the proportion ot
the colony's wheat production. The statistics of the harvest
of 1883-4 show that the colony produced 15,570,000
bushels of wheat, 4,717,624 bushels of oats, 1,069,000
bushels of barley, 117,294 bushels of maize, 791,093 bushels
of peas, 161,088 tons of potatoes, 18,906 tons of mangolds,
139,540 tons of onions, 433,143 tons of hay, 15,717 cwt. of
hops, 9,124 cwt. of tobacco, besides smaller quantities of
carrots, turnips, chicory, grass seed, and other products. In
1893-4 the wheat yield was 15,255,200 bushels; oats,
4,951,371 bushels; barley, 1,033,861 bushels; maize,
180,442 bushels; peas and beans, 1,050,082 bushels;
potatoes, 144,708 tons; mangolds, 19,340 tons; turnips,
3,465 tons; onions, 203,980 tons; hay, 503,385 tons;
hops, 5,684 cwt.; tobacco, 8,952 cwt. The three last
harvests have come short of these figures owing to excep-
tionally unfavorable seasons. The wheat production of the
colony is capable of great expansion, but there are more


88
numerous opportunities and larger profits to be made by
developing the various branches of husbandry which are
partially neglected by the farmers.
Wheat.
The wheat grown in Victoria is the finest in the world.
It always brings the highest price in the London market,
fetching considerably more than English, Indian, American,
or New Zealand wheat. The wheat crop is generally the
first sown by the new settler, as it quickly returns a profit,
and brings in resources to keep the farmer going until stock-
raising, dairying, or other branches of industry are estab-
lished. Many settlers have found continuous wheat-growing
upon the rich virgin soil of the colony a profitable business;
but the rule is that the best farmers, after a year or two,
add the growing of other crops in rotation, and establish
herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, breeding also horses and
swine upon the farms.
Oats.
Oats grow well in all the coast districts of the colony and
in the more moist of the inland districts. Even in the
driest sections of the inland districts good yields of oats are
being obtained by adopting the Algerian variety, while the
straw is also valuable for fodder. In the moist districts from
40 to 50 and up to 60 and 70 bushels per acre are obtained
with good cultivation, and the crop is successfully grown in
rotation with wheat, barley, and roots.
Barley.
As barley requires more moisture than wheat, there are
dry districts inland from the coast ranges where it cannot be
properly grown, but the area of its cultivation is more ex-
tensive than that of oats. It yields good returns all over the
coast half of the colony, and upon about half of the inland
area. English barley grows well, producing a fair malting
sample and a good yield, the crop being a profitable one.
Those farmers who grow barley in rotation with oat, wheat,
and root crops are generally the most successful.
Maize.
The maize crop is one which is not understood by the
majority of Victorian farmers. Although crops of 100
bushels per acre, or as heavy as in any part of America, are
obtained, and those who engage in its cultivation make large
profits, the majority of farmers do not yet pay as much








89
attention to the cultivation of this cereal as they should. In
America it is much more extensively cultivated even than
wheat, maize being, in fact, the staple crop of the country.
It is grown as a general crop in those States where only
from 30 to 40 bushels per acre are obtained, and there are
but few of the coast districts of Victoria where better yields
would not be produced. The cultivation of maize, if attended
to by the farmers, would be as profitable in Victoria as in
many parts of America.
Leguminous Crops.
Peas are largely grown with most satisfactory results.
Good yields are obtained, and the crop is profitable in more
ways than one, for it has been found highly valuable in a
system of rotation. Lands which had been impoverished by
continuous grain growing have been brought back to a state
of fertility by sowing the pea crop, and in limited districts
where the merits of the pea crop are understood it plays a
leading part in the system of maintaining the productive-
ness of the soil. Beans and vetches are also found to do
satisfactorily. It is by the cultivation of many of these
neglected crops that the agriculture of the colony is now
being greatly developed. The comparatively backward state
of our farming system offers encouraging opportunities for
an influx of farmers, whose skill would turn our various
unused advantages to account.
Root Crops.
The potato crop has been cultivated in most of the coast
districts of the colony, and it yields, as a rule, a much more
profitable return than cereals. Farms upon which potato-
growing is carried on usually command an exceptionally high
value, a fact which bears the best testimony to the profit-
ableness of the crop. Mangolds have also been successfully
grown, very heavy crops being obtained, but, owing to the
defective system of farming, the potato is the only root
which has received much attention. Potatoes, being required
for human food, find a ready market, and hence their com-
paratively extensive cultivation by the farmers; but as
mangolds, beets, and carrots are required principally for
feeding stock, they receive very little attention. Feeding
stock is a system not properly understood in the colony.
The rich pastures, and the absence of cold winters, enable
farmers to keep their stock in the fields all the year round,


90
and at the same time cause the business of feeding stock to
be neglected. Notwithstanding the richness of the pastures
and the mildness of the winters, much could be done in the
way of increasing the profitableness of stock-keeping by
producing food, and the neglect of taking advantage of such
an opportunity is one of the principal defects of our farming
system. Those farmers who grow food for dairy cows, pigs,
and other stock find the system profitable, and they are
generally more prosperous than their neighbours. Where
heavy root crops can be grown, it is not the fault of the
country if they are not cultivated. As the system of farming
improves, the growing of mangolds and carrots may be
expected to increase, and it is believed that the cultivation
of beets for sugar-making will ere long become an important
industry. Most of the onions used in the Australian colonies
are grown in Victoria. The crop in the coast districts yield
from 10 to 15 tons per acre, and the soil, which is never
manured, shows no sign of exhaustion after more than 30
years' cultivation.
Hay and Grasses.
Hay, which is extensively grown in the colony, is made
from oats or wheat, cut just before ripening. The yield is
from 2 to 4 tons per acre, the last named being the return
obtained in the coast districts, and the former in the inland
districts. In moist localities, or where irrigation is prac-
tised, lucerne is grown for hay, and it is one of the most
profitable of crops. From 4 to 6 tons per acre are obtained,
the crop yielding from four to six cuttings of about 1 ton
each. In all of the coast districts, rye-grass, clover, cocks-
foot, fog, foxtail, fesques, and other grasses are successfully
cultivated, and it is the practice to lay down fields in pasture
after they have been growing grain for a number of years.
Very little manure is used in the colony, letting out the land
in cultivated pasture being the most common means of
maintaining fertility. In the northern or inland districts
the rainfall is not sufficient to render the cultivation of
English grasses profitable, but in those localities the growth
of the natural grass is so rapid, and the quality of the
pasture is so rich, that no inconvenience is experienced from
the absence of artificial grasses. After the cereal crop there
is good pasture afforded by the self-sown grain, and in the
second year the natural grass has established itself so well
as to carry more stock than the unbroken pasture.


STUDENTS PRUNING.—Longerenonq Agricultural College.

THE BLACKSMITH'S SHOP.—Dookie Agricultural College.





91
Hops.
Hop culture has been established in the colony for some
years, and there are extensive districts along the coast and
near the mountain ranges specially well suited for the
industry. Although hop-growing was introduced at a com-
paratively recent date, and much had to be learned as to the
cultivation of the plant and the treatment of the hops, the
industry has already assumed an important position. The
soil and climate are much better suited for hop-growing than
those of England or the eastern states of America, as shown
in the higher yields obtained. From 20 to 25 cwt. per acre
are frequently obtained from unmanured virgin soil, and
about 10 cwt. per acre is yielded by yearling hops. California
is the only country in the world that can show results in
hop-growing equal to those of Victoria.
Other Products.
The tobacco crop is one which may be expected to increase
as time passes. The soil and climate have been proved to
be well suited for tobacco culture, and the cultivation of such
a valuable crop may be expected to show development with
the increase of population and the progress of the country.
Great advantage to this industry has resulted from the
employment by the Government of an American expert to
instruct growers in improved methods. It will have been
gathered from what has already been said that the climate
resembles that of the South of Europe, and it follows that
the various products of France, Spain, and Italy can be culti-
vated in the colony. This is not a matter of theory only,
for practical experiments have already been tried which
prove that the various rural industries of Southern Europe
can be introduced with an assurance of greater success than
ever attended them in their native country. Fruits of all
kinds—from apples, pears, plums, peaches, apricots, and
cherries to grapes, oranges, lemons, and olives—have been
tried and found to flourish in a manner which astonishes
natives of the South of Europe. The mulberry grows luxuri-
antly, and the development of silk culture is only a matter
of time. The only reason why the colony does not produce
more fruits, olive oil, and silk is that it is too prosperous.
Wages are so high that other industries involving less labour
absorb the attention of the population. The state of Cali-
fornia, however, the climate of which resembles that of


92
Victoria, is teaching us that, by adopting machinery and
labour-saving methods of management, many of the indus-
tries of Southern Europe can be profitably carried on when
the population is limited and the rate of wages high. The
attention of colonists has been attracted to the fact that in
California fruit-growing has developed marvellously on
account of the system which is adopted of drying apples,
apricots, prunes, raisins, and currants, and preserving fruit
in cans, and some progress is already being made to intro-
duce the same system into the colony. Vines and fruit treea
of all kinds grow well both in the coast and inland districts
of the colony, and those colonists who are engaged in the-
cultivation of vineyards and orchards are generally even
more prosperous than the farmers who grow grain.
Dairy Farming
That the colony is peculiarly well suited for dairy farming
follows from what has already been said in regard to the soil
and climate. Rich natural pastures covering a fertile soil
are sources of wealth in any country, but where the climate
is so mild that stock require no shelter even in winter, special
value attaches to well+grassed land. Just as the sheep
farmer or the settler, who fattens cattle for the market,
allows his stock to graze all the year round in the open fields,
so the dairy farmer will take no special care of his milking
cows. There are here and there farmers who take their cows
into sheds on winter nights, feeding them upon straw or
green fodder, but they are exceptions, the dairy cows in
general, as all other stock, finding all their food and what
shelter they need in the open fields. Those who had some
straw, hay, or green food in the winter are rewarded by extra
returns, and larger profits would be made if farmers did
more in the way of growing supplies of winter feed for dairy
cows, but the natural advantages of the country are indicated
by the fact that dairying is generally carried on without
resorting to any system of artificial feeding. (See article
under the heading of "The Dairying Industry.")
Irrigation.
The most productive portions of America are those in
which the rainfall is so deficient that it has to be supple-
mented by means of irrigation. The Government and Press
Commissions from this colony to America (see "Victoria











93
compared with America ") saw no districts in their travels
which were so productive, or which were so profitably
cultivated or thickly populated, as the irrigated portions of
California, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico; and their
reports established the fact that irrigation can be carried on
with great success even in thinly-populated new countries.
From this it is predicted that the inland districts of Victoria,
in which the rainfall is lighter than on the coast side of the
Dividing Range, will ultimately become the most productive
and the most thickly populated. At present the land in the
inland section is occupied in holdings of from 600 to 1,000
acres in extent, upon which a combined system of grain-
growing and stock-keeping is carried on, but with irrigation
the land will become so productive that subdivision into
smaller holdings will take place. The Murray, the largest
river in Australia, and the Goulburn and other Victorian
rivers only require to be utilized in order to bring about
such beneficial changes as have taken place in some of the
driest tracts of Western America. Not only is the suitable-
ness of irrigation founded upon American experience, but it
has been fully proved by considerable practical experience
within the colony itself. The Government, a few years ago,
completed a scheme of irrigation which made the surplus
water of all the principal rivers available for application to
the land, and the results, wherever the water has been used
for irrigation, have been highly satisfactory. Owing to the
seasons having been less dry than usual since the completion
of the water schemes, and the want of skill in the details oi
irrigation possessed by settlers, only slow progress has been
made in turning such a valuable source of wealth to account,
but those farmers who have watered their crops have been
richly rewarded. The area under irrigation is now rapidly
increasing, a fact which furnishes the best proof that farmers
are finding the system profitable. The present farmers, who
hold large areas of from 300 to 600 and 1,000 acres, will no
doubt soon be glad to subdivide and sell their land in small
and moderate-sized holdings, and such dense settlements as
Ontario, Pomona, and Riverside, in Southern California,
will come into existence, in place of the present extensive
wheat farms. Those who buy farms before extensive irriga-
tion shows the marvellous productiveness of the soil when
supplied with water will have the best chance of obtaining
cheap land. (See further remarks on this subject under the
heading of " Irrigation Schemes.")


94
Fruits, Wine, Sugar-beet, and other Products.
Owing to different climatic conditions existing in various
parts of the colony, from the coast districts to the elevated
Blopes of the Australian Alps and Dividing Range, to the
dry warm plains of the north, the range of productions is
wide. In addition to the branches of agriculture already
dealt with, such subjects as Orchards, Vineyards, the Beet-
sugar Industry, Tobacco, and Oil and Fibre Plants will be
treated of in separate chapters.
Victoria compared with America.
North America receives a constant stream of population
from the United Kingdom and Europe, and, in most cases,
emigrants have bettered their condition by going to the
newer country. Can Victoria offer equal inducements to
the agriculturist who is seeking a new field of operation?
Happily, an authoritative and satisfactory answer can be
given to that question. In 1883, the two leading news-
papers of Victoria sent special agricultural reporters to
America to report "upon-, the condition of farming in that
country. The farmers of the colony wished to know what
they had to fear* from American competition in grain-
growing, wool production, and other branches of agri-
culture, and to be instructed in the best and cheapest
methods of carrying on farming operations. In order to
supply this information, each of the two leading journals of
Melbourne sent a special agricultural reporter to travel all
over the United States in the year mentioned. The writer
of these pages, who was one of the special reporters thus
sent, reported that the colony had nothing to fear from
American competition, and dwelt upon the many superior
advantages possessed by Victoria. Upon these points the
special reporter of the other journal fully agreed with the
present writer, and thus the superiority of the colony was
testified to by two independent experts. In 1885, a member
of the Government, as chairman of a Royal Commission
upon Irrigation, visited the United States, and he was
accompanied by two reporters representing the same news-
papers. The reports of the member of the Government
referred to, and of press representatives who accompanied
him, all agreed in testifying to the superior richness of the
soil, and the more genial character >»f the climate, of this
colony, as compared with those of the United States. The
verdict of all those independent and well-qualified witnesses





95
was that, as far as climate, soil, and other natural condi-
tions were concerned, the balance of advantages was on the
side of Victoria. California was the only state in which
the climate was anything like as favorable to agricultural
and pastoral pursuits as that of the colony. The severe
winter in the best parts of the Mississippi Valley, or out on
the Western Prairie?, is a great drawback to the progress
of the farmer and stock-breeder. In America the farmer
must house and feed his stock in winter, while in Victoria
the custom is almost unknown. The fine-woolled merino
sheep, the horse stock, the fattening cattle, and the dairy
cows, all thrive throughout the year without shelter upon
the open natural pasture lands. The lands in America
available for settlement are from 1,000 to 2,000 miles from
the sea-ports, while the compact colony of Victoria, with its
extensive coast-line, lies near its shipping ports, the most
distant districts being little more than 300 miles inland.
The seasons are opposite to those of the Northern Hemi-
sphere, giving the colony command of the great markets of
the world, while those of India, China, and Japan are close
at hand. What was worthy of imitation in American
machinery, and methods of carrying on farming in a new
country, was brought under notice, and the latest improve-
ments are now being adopted. The farmer in Victoria
can adopt the best American methods and labour-saving
machinery; he lives under institutions second to those of
no other nation in freedom and liberality, and he carries on
his industry upon a soil and in a climate unsurpassed in the
whole world.
Agricultural Education.
The importance of instructing the youth of the colony in
scientific and practical agriculture has long been recognised
by thoughtful colonists, but little of importance was accom-
plished until 1885, when the Government set apart 150,000
acres of land as an endowment for agricultural colleges and
experimental farms. The endowment lands were assigned
to three trusters, and a Council of Agricultural Education,
representing the Agricultural Societies of the colony and
the Government, was appointed. Two colleges have been
established, at which students receive a thoroughly liberal
English education, combined with scientific agriculture, as
well as practical experience of all branches of farming
industry.


96
• It is proposed to extend the scope of agricultural educa-
tion by the establishment of a Dairy School; and a Viticul-
tural School, which will shortly be organized, has already
been erected by the Government. Students are also instructed
in horticulture at the Government Horticultural Gardens
at Burnley, near Melbourne; and a Government Scent
Farm is also carried on to give instruction in scent flower
farming. Experts are also employed by the Government to
give instruction to settlers engaged in dairying, fruit-
growing, viticulture, tobacco-growing, and the cultivation of
fibre and oil producing plants. The absence, for many years,
of any such schools, and the fact that the majority of the
settlers have had no previous agricultural experience,
accounts for the backward condition of many branches of
colonial farming. While this state of things offers special
advantages to new-comers with good agricultural training
and experience, the new colleges will in time raise the standard
of agriculture in the colony. The instruction is free at the
agricultural schools, as it is in the ordinary State schools,
and the charge for board and lodging, £26 per annum, is as
low as the bare paying of expenses will admit of. The
existence of such colleges should offer no small inducement
to intending emigrants to make a home in Victoria, for a
means of practically training one's family for a colonial
career, while obtaining their education, is of no small
importance. There are institutions in England which profess
to give an agricultural education fitting young men for
colonial life, but the training obtained under such circum-
stances must be very defective. The knowledge of colonial
conditions must be wholly theoretical, and the time spent
in such institutions is likely to be almost entirely lost. In
the agricultural colleges and upon the experimental farms
which are established in Victoria, students receive a practical
and scientific education, which will fit them for a successful
career in any of the Australasian colonies.
Wages.
The rate of wages must be studied in connexion with the
peculiar condition of agriculture in the colony. The genial
climate enables the farmer to dispense with the heavy staff
of men needed in the old country. There is no hand feeding
of stock, and thus a great deal of labour is saved. The rich
virgin soil requires no manure for many years, and hence
there is more saving of labour. Labour having always been








97
high, all kinds of labour-saving machinery has been
introduced, so that, from the double, three furrow, and
multi furrow plough to the reaper and binder and Australian
stripper, the system tends to keep down the expenditure
upon wages. Farm labourers are generally provided with
hoard and lodging, and the wages average as follow :—
Ploughmen, per week, 16s. to 21s.; ordinary farm hands,
13s. to 19s.; married couples, 21s.; females, 8s. 6d. to 10s;
mowers, 24s. to 34s. ; mowers, per acre, 4s. l1d. to 5s. 5d.;
reapers, per week, 24s. ; threshers, 6d. to 7d. per bushel;
shepherds, £30 to £40 per annum; stock-keepers,, £40
to £50 per annum ; generally useful, 14s. to 20s. per week;
sheepwashers, 15s. to 22s. per week; shearers, 14s. to 16s.
per 100. The rate of machine labour is as follows :—
Reaping, without binding, from 4s. 1d. to 5s. per acre;
reaping and binding, about 6s. to 9s. per acre ; mowing,
3s. 8d. to 4s. 7d. per acre; threshing, including winnowing,
£1 2s. lOd. to £1 3s. 7d. per 100 bushels ; threshing, with
winnowing, 14s. 4d. to 20s. per 100 bushels. The cost of
machine labour to the farmer who works his own machinery
with his own teams is much less than the figures stated.
Prices of Products.
In studying the market prices of agricultural produce, it
is necessary to remember the circumstances affecting the
cost of production. In Victoria, while the rate of wages is
high, the value of land or rent is low, advanced labour-saving
implements and machines are employed in cultivating and
harvesting, there is no expenditure for manures, and the
taxes are low. In the city of Melbourne, which is connected
by railway with all the important producing districts of the
colony, wheat is at present (Oct., 1897) 5s. 7d. per bushel.
Between 1885 and 1895 the prices varied from 1s. lOd. to
5s. 9d. per bushel. Prices for oats have ranged during the
last eleven years from 1s. 1d. to 3s. lOd. per bushel; malting
barley from 2s. 8fd. to 4s. 2d. per bushel ; maize from
1s. 8±d. to 4s. lOd. per bushel; hay from £1 13s. to £5 2s.
per ton; potatoes from £1 18s. to £4 per ton, and in one
year reaching £8 3s. 2d.; mangels from 17s. 9d. to
£1 10s. 7d. per ton; flour, £5 to £13 15s. per ton; butter
(retail), 6d. to 2s. 6d. per lb., since 1892 8d. to 2s. per lb.;
cheese (retail), 4d. to 1s. 6d. per lb., since 1892 6d. to 9d.
9194.
G


98
per lb. ; beef (retail), 2d. to 10d. per lb., since 1892 2d. to
8d. per lb.; mutton (retail), l£d. to 5d., since 1892 l£d. to
4d. per lb. ; pork (retail), 3d. to 9d. per lb.
Prospects of Agriculture.
From what has already been said, it will be seen that the
scope for agricultural development in Victoria is almost
unlimited. -With the exception of wheat-growing, all
branches of farming may be considered in their infancy.
There, is great room for improvement in the system of
carrying on each branch of agriculture, and there are rural
industries capable of almost unlimited extension, which have
as yet made scarcely any progress. Cultivation has of late
years made satisfactory progress, and all the surroundings
of the case show that the rate of development will be much
more rapid in the future. The greatest increase has taken
place in the production of wheat, a result which may be
accounted for by the suitableness of the product for export
and the facilities offered by the crop in the way of giving
a quick return to the occupiers of new country. Dairying,
fruit-growing, vine-growing, hop culture, the cultivation of
tobacco, and other lucrative branches of industry require
some extra attention, and hence their progress has been less
rapid. These latter industries are now receiving increased
attention, and their progress opens up a very wide field for
future development. For many years the special industries
referred to were kept back through having to depend upon
the local markets. The American system of pushing exports
of butter, cheese, hams, and bacon, dried and canned fruits
and vegetables, out into the markets of the world had not
been yet adopted, and hence prices ruled low for what
should have been our most valuable products. Now, how-
ever, steps are being taken to organize an export trade in
the various products for which our soil and climate are
specially favorable. Now, fresh butter made here in our
luxuriant spring and summer reaches London to catch the
high winter market, and the dairying industry will soon far
surpass the production of grain. A few fruit-canning
factories have been established, and the increase of these
will enable our orchards to be extended in every direction,
supplying fruit to distant markets, and so on with the
various rural industries which at present are subordinate to
wh eat-growin


99
A Promising Outlook.
Those who are now engaging in agriculture will take part
in the colony's new career of agricultural progress, and at
the present time the colony offers special inducements to
new-comers. It would be difficult to find a more promising
field for the emigrant with capital, small means, or only his
labour to depend upon. Wages are on a liberal scale, living
is cheap, and capital commands a comparatively high rate
of interest. The capitalist can find a profitable investment,
be his resources extensive or limited, and the man who has
no money can soon turn his labour into capital. Land being
cheap, the freehold of a farm can easily be acquired, and
the farmer carries on his industry upon rich soil, in a mild
genial climate, under the security of the British flag, and in
a country where the rough pioneering system has given
place to the comfort and conveniences, as well as the
educational and social advantages, of civilized life.
For further information apply to Mr. J. M. Sinclair, the
Representative in London of the Victorian Department of
Agriculture.
193 25 9
a 2


100
THE LANDS OF THE COLONY.
Cheap Land.
Free land is generally worthless, and is only obtainable in
inaccessible or badly-governed countries, where it can be of
little value to the settler. Even in the United States of
America, where homestead farms are given to settlers, there
are no available State lands near railways which can be
taken up for nothing. Every alternate block is granted to
the railway companies which have made the lines, and the
remaining State lands within the area are raised to double
the price of more distant areas. In a word, free land is not
obtainable in any part of the world where railways, markets,
and other advantages, without which land is valueless, are
provided. As the colony of Victoria has been provided with
railways, roads, bridges, schools, local government, and all
the advantages of modern civilization, there is no free land.
There is cheap land, however, and that is more to the pur-
pose. In the United; States, where free land is obtainable
in distant places far from markets or railways, settlers prefer
to purchase from railway companies or private owners near
railways, and within reasonable distances of large towns. It
is considered better to give £2 or £3 per acre near a railway
town, £15 or £20 -per acre near large cities, and from £20
to £40 per acre in fruit-growing districts supplied with
water for irrigation, than to go out into the wilds and settle
upon free land. In like manner there are distant portions
of some of the Australian colonies where land is nominally
much cheaper than in Victoria, but, when its inaccessibility
and distance from market are taken into account, it is really
dearer. Purchase money is paid once for all, but distance
from market means paying annually a heavy tax in the
shape of carriage, which would represent the annual interest
upon an immense sum of money.
Land a Good Investment.
In Victoria land is nominally and really cheap. It gives
such a good return upon the market value that it is con-
sidered by capitalists one of the best investments. During
the last 30 years the Government have been offering the
public lands at a low price to promote settlement. Land








101
worth from £2 to £3 per acre could be had from the
Government for £1 per acre, with from ten to twenty years
to pay the purchase money. This fact, together with the
rough system of farming carried on, is sufficient to show
that land could not rise to its natural value. Had an ad-
vanced system of farming been carried on, obtaining the
best possible results from the soil, and if no land could be
had without purchasing in the open market from holders
who knew its worth, land values would have risen to their
intrinsic standard. But land of the best quality could all
along be obtained at the nominal rate of £1 per acre, with
long terms, and the soil has not been developed to its full
extent. At the present time purchasers get the advantages
of these circumstances. They obtain land near markets, and
upon railway lines, at a cheap rate.
Favorable Opportunities.
In the inland dry districts, where land is rising in value
owing to its productiveness having been tested, good land is
sold at from £1 10s. to £3 per acre. Farms with fencing
and buildings upon them change hands at from £2 10s. to
£4 10s. per acre. These may be taken as average prices.
In positions specially convenient to large towns, first-class
agricultural land is worth from £20 to £25 per acre, and
land which is suitable for the potato crop fetches from £30
to £50 per acre, but these are exceptional values. It fre-
quently happens that sheep farmers give from £2 to £3 per
acre for unimproved grass land, to be used for grazing
purposes alone, and the agriculturist can generally obtain a
much larger return than the keeper of stock. It will be
readily understood that the present value of land is low
when compared with the returns obtainable from the soil,
for the price is regulated by the circumstances of the country.
Those circumstances which tend to keep down the price of
land are the limited population, the quantity of Government
land offered for the nominal sum of £1 per acre, with easy
terms, and the absence of a system of high farming. When
the Government lands are all taken up, and the growth of
population increases, the demand bringing into existence
also a system of high farming, land will command a much
higher price than at present. The time is, therefore, a
favorable one for obtaining cheap land. Farms are always
to be had, as they change hands, and those who purchase


102
"within the next few years will not only make profits upon
their agricultural operations, but at the same time gain
advantage by the increasing value of the land.
Government Land.
The colony of Victoria is 56,245,760 acres in extent. Of
this area about 23,000,000 acres have been alienated to
private owners. Of the 30,000,000 acres available for
settlement, 11,500,000 acres are what is known as the
mallee country, which occupies the extreme north-western
portion of the colony. The mallee country was some years
ago set apart for occupation under a system of leases from
the Crown. The mallee in its original condition being
insufficiently supplied with water, and covered more or less
with a scrub of small trees and shrubs, was unsuitable for
being taken up in farms of the ordinary size. It was
accordingly let in large areas for twenty years. At the end
of the leases the land reverts to the Crown, and lessees are
compensated for permanent improvements. At the expira-
tion of the leases, the land, having being improved, will be
suitable for occupation in smaller areas. About 2,000,000
acres of mallee land is now available for agricultural settle-
ment.
The exact figures are as follows :—
Area of colony 56,245,760
Area alienated and in process of
alienation 23,090,664
Area neither alienated nor in process
of alienation ... 33,155,096
Area of mallee lands (exclusive of
Mildura, 250,000 acres, and roads
through mallee country 155,207
acres) 166,793
Area of mallee country available ... 2,195,380
Area of pastoral lands
available 1,872,038
Area of agricultural and
grazing lands available 6,059,840
7,932,478
Pastoral Areas.
An area of about 7,000,000 acres of Crown lands, apart
from the mallee, is now open for settlement under an Act








104
Mallee Lands.
About 2,000,000 acres of mallee lands are now available
for occupation, and areas will be thrown open from time to
time as may be required. The agricultural settler upon these
lands may take up a maximum area of 640 acres, either
under a "licence " or a "perpetual lease." Under licence
he pays at the rate of 1s. per acre per annum for twenty
years, and at the end of that time the land becomes his
private property; or, if he wishes to secure the freehold
sooner, he can do so at the end of the sixth year by paying
14s. an acre, which is the balance of the purchase money.
If the settler elects to occupy under perpetual lease, he pays
at the rate of 1d. per acre per annum up to 1903, when the
first revision of rent takes place. At the end of every sub-
sequent ten years the rental is re-adjusted upon the natural
unimproved value of the land. A licence for a mallee agri-
cultural allotment is for a term of six years, and contains
conditions in regard to residence, cultivation, and improve-
ments. The issue of a lease or a Crown grant is dependent
on compliance with such conditions. Holders of perpetual
leases only pay 1d. per acre up to 1903, when the first
revision of rent tajkes pT$c<j', Subsequent revisions of rent
are at intervals of ten years. The mallee settlement has
been very successful, and the land has been rapidly taken
up as it has been made available. A larger quantity of
wheat has been produced in the mallee than in any other
division of the colony, and as railway communication is
being extended, and the water supply being improved, there
is vast scope for the further development of successful
settlement. The suitableness of the mallee district for
dairying, the keeping of sheep, the growing of vines, fruit
trees, and other special crops is being practically demon-
strated, so that there is a promising field for a large acces-
sion of population.
Openings for Settlers.
It will be observed that the only means of obtaining the
fee-simple of Government land in the colony is by taking up
a 1,000-acre agricultural and grazing block, and selecting
320 acres out of it. In a few years the whole of the land
will be taken up under the existing Act. The fact that the
land is so quickly taken up is the best proof persons at a
distance can have of the value of the land. Where there
are large areas of free land awaiting settlement there must




















-











i
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I
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105
be adverse circumstances which render it unsuitable for
profitable occupation. In the colony of Victoria, land has
always been eagerly sought after, and as it has been
thrown open for occupation from time to time, under the
different Land Acts, it has been quickly taken up. To the
new-comer land ought to be worth as much, if not more
than to the existing settlers, for, while colonial farmers
are rather prone to follow an old-time system of manage-
ment, the new arrival brings with him improved methods
of procedure, acquired amid the keener competition of older
and more thickly-populated countries.
Village Settlements.
To meet the necessities of persons and families without
means who wish to settle upon land, an Act was passed
in 1893 under which 2,339 settlers, comprising, with their
families, some 8,928 persons, have been provided with agri-
cultural homesteads in village settlements. Under this
system 20-acre allotments are made available, and settlers
are provided with sums of money, by way of loans, to
enable them to meet the preliminary expenses of settle-
ment. Sums of from £15 up to £50 each have been
thus advanced; the total for the past four years has
amounted to £63,999 17s. 4d. Under this system 48,611
acres have been occupied, 10,390 acres cultivated, and
improvements effected by settlers to the value of £141,128.
For further information apply to Mr. J. M. Sinclair, the
Representative in London of the Victorian Department of
Agriculture.


106
DAIRY FARMING.
Rich Natural Pastures.
That the colony is peculiarly well suited for dairy farming
follows from what has already been said in regard to the
soil and climate. Rich natural pastures covering a fertile
soil are sources of wealth in any country, but where the
climate is so mild that stock require no shelter even in
winter, special value attaches to well-grassed land. Just
as the sheep farmer or the settler, who fattens cattle for
the market, allows his stock to graze all the year round in
the open fields, so the dairy farmer will take no special
care of his milking cows. There are here and there farmers
who take their cows into sheds on winter nights, feeding
them upon straw or green fodder, but they are exceptions,
the dairy cows in general, as all other stock, finding all
their food and what shelter they need in the open fields.
Those who add some straw, hay, or green food in the
winter are rewarded by extra returns, and larger profits
would be made if farmers did more in the way of growing
supplies of winter feed for dairy cows, but the natural
advantages of the country are indicated by the fact that
dairying is generally carried on without resorting to any
system of artificial feeding.
The fact that Victorian butter is made from cows thus
fed upon natural pastures gives to the product a special
value in the London market. The attractive flavour of our
butter, its firm grain and small proportion of moisture,
results of our natural pastures, have been specially noted
by buyers, while our geographical position confers upon us
another special advantage.
A Unique Geographical Advantage.
This geographical advantage consists in our situation at
the Antipodes. As our summer is at the time of the
English winter the produce of our spring and summer,
cheaply produced by the bounty of nature, finds an open
market during the winter of the Northern Hemisphere.
This special advantage is not shared in by any European
country, Canada, or the United States. Any farmer
in the Northern Hemisphere knows the difference between
producing butter in winter and in spring. It is





107
surely unfortunate for the British farmer in his struggle
against the competition of cheaply-produced imports
that nature should have armed a competing country with
this unique advantage. While the long rigorous winter is
placing all kinds of natural difficulties in the way of the
British producer, the farmers of Europe, Canada, and the
United States are being met by similar climatic disad-
vantages, but at this particular period of adverse conditions
nature is lavishing her richest gifts of sunny skies, genial
warmth, and luxuriant pastures upon the favoured dairymen
of the Antipodes. It is the possession of these incalculably
valuable natural facilities that has enabled Victoria to so
rapidly, and with such comparatively little effort, secure a
respectable place in the British markets for a product which
is destined to figure with increasing magnitude among her
leading exports.
Government Assistance.
Notwithstanding the exceptional natural advantages
possessed by the colony, the development of dairying was
for a time beset with difficulties. Supplying the local
markets was easy enough, but after that point was reached
progress was suspended for many years. Making arrange-
ments for placing a first-class article upon the British
market presented many obstacles, and there is no saying
how long the dairying industry would have languished had
not an administrator come into power who knew what was
required, and who had the courage to carry it out. The
Hon. J. L. Dow, as Minister of Agriculture, commenced in
1888 a system of improving the dairying industry, which, in
a few years, was abundantly justified by results. For three
years bonuses were paid upon exports of butter, and by
other means the modern factory system was brought into
existence. A travelling dairy was employed in instructing
the farmers; a model dairy was conducted at the Centennial
Exhibition; Mr. David Wilson, the Dairying Expert, was
appointed; refrigerating cars were put upon the railway
lines, cool stores were provided at country railway stations,
refrigerating chambers were built in Melbourne, and a system
of inspecting and branding approved butter for export was
organized. Satisfactory results were immediately realized,
and succeeding Ministers of Agriculture continued to
encourage the new export trade—the present Minister, the


108
Hon. J. W. Taverner, having been conspicuous in his efforts
to extend and improve the rapidly developing dairying
industry.
Inspection of Dairies and Exports.
The Hon. J. W. Taverner's administration has been
largely concerned in improving the cool storage arrange-
ments in Melbourne, making better terms as to freights
with steam-ship companies, and securing more effective
inspection of exports, as well as providing for improved
methods of examining herds and dairies in order to insure
the soundness and wholesomeness of the produce. The
exports of butter, which in 1890 amounted to only 400 tons,
increased under the new system to 1,000 tons in 1891. In
1892 they were 2,140 tons, in 1893 3,611 tons, and they in-
creased rapidly till 11,584 tons were reached in 1895, the
value of butter and cheese exported in that year being over
a million pounds sterling. Owing to an exceptional
drought, there was a considerable falling-off in exports
during 1896 and 1897, but the Dairy Expert has reported
that reasonable precautions in- the way of providing for the
carrying forward of the surplus fodder of good years, to meet
the needs of less favorable seasons, would easily enable
the existing dairies to double the exports of 1895.
The Butter Factories.
Butter factories have now been established in all parts of the
colony, from the cool coast districts to the drier and warmer
inland and the far north-western " mallee." So effective is
the factory system, with its modern methods of securing
by artificial means the required conditions of success, that
bntter of the finest quality has been produced in the driest
and hottest districts of the colony, even within the boundaries
of the mallee division. The returns for 1895 show a total of
174 butter factories, and it is to be noted that, while these
represent all portions of the colony, they are as yet spread
only sparsely over the various districts. While progress has
been satisfactory, the scope for development is so large that
many years will elapse before the limits of the industry's
profitable expansion will be reached. The factories are
carried on upon the co-operative principle, the most of the
shareholders being milk suppliers, who receive for their milk
prices fixed from time to time by the directors, according to
the butter market, and also their proportion of the profits














109
made by the factory company. The milk supplied is tested
and paid for according to its proportion of butter fat. The
prices paid for the milk have generally been satisfactory,
and, as a rule, dividends have also been paid by the
companies.
The Cheese Factories.
The cheese-making industry became prominent in the
colony before the butter factories came into existence. Until
it became possible to place first-class butter on the British
market, dairying was practically restricted to supplying the
limited local demands. As cheese could be exported, the
production of that commodity received a good deal of atten-
tion, and the industry would no doubt have continued to
make progress had not a more profitable one become
available to the dairy farmer. The high price of butter,
however, as compared with the price of cheese, has, so far,
prevented any recent development in the production of the
latter. There are at present twenty butter factories which also
make cheese, and seventeen cheese factories. The development
of cheese-making would rapidly take place if a serious drop
occurred in the value of butter. The dairying industry has
thus two strings to its bow. Cheese-making has paid well,
and would pay now; but, for the present, butter-making
pays better.
Veteeinary Inspection.
Mr. David Wilson, the Government Dairy Expert, says—
"Another effort has been recently made in England to raise
a scare against Australian perishable produce. This time it
is against our mutton. The charges, however, will be as
easily disproved as were the charges of adulteration made
about our butter. A committee of the House of Commons
now sitting has recommended that all our beef and mutton
for export, and all dairy herds, should undergo veterinary
inspection. It cannot be made too widely known that many
of our butter factories have had this system in operation for
over twelve months, and that a veterinary surgeon's certifi-
cate as to the health of the cows from which the milk was
produced accompanies every box of butter these factories
export. No doubt all the factories will gradually adopt a
similar system, even although their milk suppliers' herds
may be in perfect health. As for the beef, mutton, rabbits,
hares, and poultry that Victoria exports, I am pleased to be


110
able to report that a system of veterinary inspection has
been rigidly carried ont during the past two shipping seasons,
a veterinary certificate accompanying every carcass of mutton
and beef, and every package of poultry, hares, and rabbits,
certifying that same has been inspected, and is fit for human
consumption. To a very large extent, therefore, we have
anticipated the recommendation of the committee of the
House of Commons."
Room'for New-comers.
There are openings for large numbers of dairy farmers in
all the districts containing factories as well as in many
localities where factories could be profitably established.
Dairy farms can be purchased at low prices or leased for
reasonable rentals, so that only a small capital is required
by freehold or tenant farmers. The "share system" of
farming has lately been adopted in connexion with dairying,
and the results have been so satisfactory that there is now a
demand for dairymen t<> take land and cattle on shares in
different parts of the colony. In some cases the farms alone
are taken under this system, but the most common method
is for the owner of the land to supply land, cattle, and
other requisies, the tenant providing only the labour.
Large estates formerly devoted to the keeping of sheep or
the fattening of <-atile are, in suitable dairying districts,
now being turned to more profitable use in supplying milk
to the butter factories under this form of the share system.
The plan is ■ ne which suits the land-owner where workers of
a suitable kind are scarce, and it, opens up a profitable field
for the employment of families whose only capital is their
lahour. The successful establishment of the dairying
industry lias thus done much to start the colony on a new
career of prosperity by opening up a fresh avenue of employ-
ment for laud, capital, and labour.






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PIGS, PORK, AND BACON.
The keeping of pigs, while receiving some attention on
many farms, has not been developed in the colony to the
extent which the prospects seem to warrant. The fact that
an export trade has not yet been established upon a perma-
nent basis may be taken as accounting for the slow progress
of an industry calculated under the peculiarly favorable local
conditions of yielding handsome profits. Excellent speci-
mens of the best breeds were introduced in early times, and
careful breeding has been carried out for many years, so that
the stock of the colony is generally of good quality. The
Berkshire breed has met with the most favour, but recently
Hampshires have been introduced, so that, with these and
Yorkshires previously imported, the Berkshires are in some
cases being crossed, in order to produce a type fulfilling the
requirements of the modern market.
Favorable Local Conditions.
Cold weather is the condition which the fattener of pigs,
as of other stock, finds it most difficult to cope with. Keep-
ing up the heat of the animal body being an imperative first
duty of food, a cold climate places a severe tax upon the
fattening ration. In Victoria, the mild climate renders the
work of the stock-feeder peculiarly profitable. Not only is
the cost of expensive housing saved, but a large proportion
of the food consumed is relieved from the duty of protecting
against the cold and devoted to the making of flesh and fat.
The pig-feeding experiments conducted at the Longerenong
Agricultural College had the effect of demonstrating the
favorableness of the climatic conditions under which pig-
feeding is carried out in this colony.
Feeding on Grain and Milk.
In 1895, when grain was abnormally cheap, the writer,
then Principal of the Longerenong Agricultural College,
in the Wimmera district, carried out a series of experiments
to test the question as to the return obtainable from feeding
pigs with wheat, oats, and a mixture of both these cereals,
with and without skim milk. The experiments were com-
menced on the 14th June, and continued for 92 days, the
pigs being weighed at the commencement and the con
elusion. Nine thrifty young pigs were selected as nearly as


113
in pen 3 the 344 lbs. gain gives a return of 2s. 1d. per bushel
for the wheat consumed, but the quantity of fat live weight
for sale was 552 lbs. If the pigs had been sold in store con-
dition the original 208 lbs. would not have fetched the same
price as fat pigs. If O£d. per pound were allowed as the
difference in value between fat and store pigs, there was a
gain of 8s. 8d. on the pen, or 2s. lOJd. per pig from that
source, making the return on the wheat about 2s. 5|d. per
bushel. I consider a good deal of the success is due to the
mild climatic conditions of the country.
A Promising Industry.
Pig-keeping in this colony is one of the most profitable
branches of agriculture, the genial climate being specially
favorable, and it is likely that in the immediate future the
industry will be largely extended. Like all departments of
production confined to supplying local markets, the raising
of swine has been seriously kept back by the periodical
occurrence of over-production and low prices. The attention
which is now being paid, however, to opening up markets
for more or less perishable products in London and else-
where is likely to result in an outlet being found for our
surplus of pork, bacon, and hams, so that an industry
which is so profitable to such countries as America and
Denmark will probably show a rate of expansion akin to
that of the butter trade.
9194.
H


114
POULTRY AND EGGS.
The keeping of poultry, like several other minor branches
of rural industry, is at the present time undergoing a
change, which is likely to result in a great expansion of
the business. Until recently local markets were relied
upon, and these frequently became over-supplied, with the
result that prices for both eggs and table birds fell to very
discouraging rates. Under such circumstances poultry-
keeping was kept within denned limits, and progress was
impracticable. The opening up of an export trade, how-
ever, has entirely changed the prospects of this industry,
and it is almost certain that the progressive movement
which has now been commenced will be continuous. Local
conditions, and especially the exceptionally favorable
climate, have long been recognised as offering special
advantages to poultry-keeping, but continuous progress
could not be expected until an outlet for the produce had
been assured.
., , .. . :Special Advantages.
The wonderfully mild climate of Victoria, with absence of
cold winters, is exceptionally favorable to poultry-keeping,
as it is to so many other rural pursuits: Very few native-
born Victorians have ever seen snow, and it is rare to find
ice as thick as a penny on shallow pools in the coldest parts
of the colony. Under these conditions poultry thrive, with
the minimum of food and attention, and there is another
natural condition which is of immense importance, viz., the
geographical position of the colony. Situated at the An-
tipodes, the time of the various seasons is opposite to that
of the Northern Hemisphere. When England, Russia,
Belgium, France, as well as Canada and the United States,
are enduring the severity of the northern winter, Victoria is
enjoying the warm summer. It would seem as if the colonies
at the Antipodes had been intended by nature to compensate
northern countries for the losses of the rigorous winter
However this may be, it is certain that a beginning has been
made by this colony in a system under which the cheaply
produced abundance of our spring and summer months will
find a profitable market during the winter scarcity of the
Northern Hemisphere. Our exports of eggs and poultry
have not yet reached any considerable dimension, for the











practicability of exporting has too recently been demon-
strated, but the market having been found remunerative,
and the transport practicable, the expansion of this business
has been fully assured.
Profitable for Families.
The interest of the poultry fancier in the colony is an
important one. All the best breeds are represented by
birds of the highest quality, and through the importing and
stud-breeding operations of the fanciers, those carrying on
the ordinary poultry business of the colony are able to
obtain the stock most suitable for their purposes under local
conditions. While there are a few poultry farmers who carry
on the production of table birds or eggs as a separate busi-
ness, the bulk of the produce of the colony comes from
farmers, orchardists, vignerons, or gardeners who make poul-
try-keeping an adjunct to other branches of rural industry,
and the poultry yard is generally a profitable and reliable
department. The Department of Agriculture has rendered
great service by organizing the export trade. It gives
directions as to suitable breeds of poultry, and the methods
of management, while it also undertakes the proper ship-
ment of eggs and birds through the Government Cool
Storage Dep6t. The industry is one requiring very little,
capital, and, as suitable land for the purpose can be
readily obtained near railway stations and large towns, it
offers promising opportunities to new settlers.
h z


116
EXPORTS OF PERISHABLE PRODUCTS.
The modern system of preserving fresh perishable produce
by means of cool storage has raised Victorian agriculture,
and set it upon a new plane of prosperous development. Our
limited population provided only a restricted local market,
and our distance from the world's great centres of consump-
tion confined agricultural development to the production of
such staple commodities as grain and wool that were suit-
able for exportation. All the valuable perishable products
of agriculture had to be kept strictly within the narrow
limits of local consumption. The introduction of the cool
storage system has produced a revolution. Artificially
•cooled stores, refrigerated railway trucks, cold storage
depots at the ports, and refrigerating chambers in ocean
steam-ships, have opened up the markets of the world to the
most perishable products of our farms, dairies, orchards,
and vineyards. A beginning only has been made in
•exploiting this new field of agricultural wealth. Dairying
has certainly, with wonderful rapidity, demonstrated the
potency of the change, but the various other branches of
agriculture are only taking the first steps in this new
career of prosperity.
Exports for 1897.
The exports for the year ending April, 1897, through the
depfit of, and under the inspection of the Department oi
Agriculture, give an indication of the variety of products
which the colony is now beginning to place upon the British
markets :—
Produce.
Quantity.
Estimated
Value.
£
«.
d.
Butter (tons) ...
9,8954
942,247
3
4
Mutton and Lamb (carcasses)
79,062
39,531
0
0
Rabbits (pairs)
932,203
77,683
11
8
Hares (,,)
5,533
1,383
5
0
Game (,,)
316J
31
13
0
Turkeys („)
6644
664
10
0
Ducks, Fowls, and Geese (pairs)
10,219
3,832
2
6
Eggs (dozens) ...
12,338
616
18
0
Milk (tons)
11
123
4
0
Mutton (legs) ...
12,338
1,233
16
0
„ (haunches)
58
11
12
0
Beef (quarters)
400
1,000
0
0
Pork (carcasses)
434
868
0
0
Kidneys (crates)
54
54
0
0
Veal, Sausages, Ox Tails, Tongues, and
165
200
0
0
Sundries (packages)
Totals
—
£1,069,480
15
6








IN THE COLD STORAGE DEPOT.-Melbournc











117
In the above the exports of some private companies who
ship beef and mutton from other ports, such as Geelong and
Portland, are not taken into account. So far, the exports of
chilled meat from these ports have not reached large
dimensions, but they may be expected to increase consider-
ably in future years.
For further information apply to Mr. J. M. Sinclair, the
Representative in London of the Victorian Department of
Agriculture.
i
i


118
OTHER INDUSTRIES.
Some of the rural industries dealt with under this heading
are sometimes called "novel" on account of being generally
unrepresented among the avocations of ordinary farmers.
Requiring special skill or unusual conditions for their
development, they are not so common as grain-growing,
dairying, stock-raising, and other branches of agriculture,
but in many cases they are quite firmly established, and in
as advanced a condition. In the old colonial days, circum-
stances prevented their extension beyond prescribed limits,
but the conditions affecting them are rapidly changing under
modern conditions.
Bbe Farming.
Bee-keeping is receiving increased attention in the colony,
«nd owing to its profitableness it may be expected to extend
to large dimensions. Under the old close hive system the
expansion of the industry was held in check by the limited
yields of the stocks and the ravages of disease. The new
system of ;fr^,me hives, however, enable the bee-keeper at
once to prevent disease, and greatly increase the yield 01
honey. The natural forests which surround the various
farming districts provide excellent bee pastures, and the
sunny climate of the colony provides a long working season.
Under these circumstances it is not surprising that bee-
keeping is a profitable business. At times, the prices of
honey have been discouraging, owing to the local and other
colonial markets becoming temporarily over-supplied, but
already something has been done in the way of finding
markets for exports. In 1895, 204,435 lbs. of honey was
exported, 180,055 lbs. having been sent to the United
Kingdom. The bee business requires very little capital, and
it is one presenting special inducements to settlers, either
for their exclusive attention or as an adjunct to other
branches of rural industry.
Hop-growing.
Hop-growing has had a long and checkered career in the
colony, much money having been both made and lost during
the various phases of the industry. The soil and climate
in the hop-growing districts have been proved to be specially
suitable, and much heavier crops of hops can be relied upon











119
than in England, but as the industry is one involving much
hand labour, there has been a difficulty, owing to our
limited population, in keeping the cost of production down
to. .the level required in the carrying on of an export trade.
Our. exports are principally confined to the neighbouring
colonies, and the hop-growers, with all their natural advan-
tages, have yet to accomplish the feat of producing cheaply
enough to compete in the markets of the world. Upon the
fertile river flats of Gippsland, in the east of the colony;
along the rivers flowing into the Murray, in the north-east; as
well.as in the Otway Forest, in the west, successful hop gardens
are carried on. The number of growers at present is 128,
cultivating an area of 791 acres. Yields sometimes reach
a ton of dried hops to the acre, and an average of 15 cwt. to
the acre is frequently obtained. In the hop-growing districts
the school holidays are given at the picking season in order
to allow the children to assist in the work. With an
increase in the population, and the adoption of more labour-
saving methods, it may be expected that this industry, for
which there is almost unlimited scope amid exceptionally
favorable natural conditions, will be largely extended.
Flax and Linseed.
That flax would grow luxuriantly in the colony has been
known from the earliest times, but owing to the labour
involved in managing the fibre crops, very little attention
was, until recently, given to the growing of flax or linseed.
Daring the last few years, however, a stimulus has been
given to the industry by the action of the Hon. J. W.
Taverner in importing fibre working and oil making
machinery, and employing experts to give instruction in the
various manufacturing processes. In all but the very driest
districts of the colony flax grows well, producing a good
yield of both seed and fibre, and as a market is being found
for the products, it may be expected that the area devoted to
its culture will rapidly increase. Mr. Jos. Knight, the
Government Expert, says—" The flax crop should find a place
in the ordinary farm rotation; the industry is a payable one,
suitable for all classes of our agriculturists, and requires only
to be properly understood to receive that attention to which
its merits entitle it." Farmers understanding flax culture
in the old country would, no doubt, find in this industry
profitable scope for their experience.


120
Olive Culture.
Olive culture is one of the most promising industries in
the colony. Trees planted in various parts of Victoria grew
so well and yielded so freely, that settlers were impelled
some years ago to take note of a product of which they
possessed little knowledge. An olive grove, also which was
planted twenty years ago at the Dookie Experimental Farm,
in the north-eastern district, began after the establishment
of an Agricultural College at the farm to produce olive oil
of excellent quality. Later on olive culture and the making
of olive oil were established at the Longerenong Agricultural
College, in the north-western district, and that was followed
by the successful production of olive oil at Mildura, the irriga-
tion settlement on the Murray River. As the result of these
and some other local experiments, it has been demonstrated
that the extensive inland areas of the colony are specially
suitable for the growth of the olive. In Southern Europe
the olive does not bear until ten years old, but in Northern
Victoria trees begin to bear at three years old, and profit-
able crops are obtained after the fifth year. Very heavy
yields are sometimes obtained, but 60 gallons to the acre
is considered a fair average. The working expenses are
reasonable, being not more than £7 per acre, including in-
terest on cost of manufacturing machinery, so that there is
a handsome margin of profit. The prices obtained for the
locally-produced oil have ranged between 7s. and 10s. per
gallon. Even at the lower price a profit is shown of £14
per acre, while it may be concluded that such a special
product as pure olive oil will always command a good
market.
Oil Seeds and Scents.
In addition to the growing of linseed, such plants as
sunflowers, castor oil beans, and pea nuts are beginning to
receive attention. That they grow well in different parts of
the colony has been fully proved, for settlers from early
times have been led to make trials of nearly every known
kind of useful plants. While sunflowers and castor oil plants
have been found to grow well and yield heavy returns the
absence of a market for the produce has prevented their
extensive cultivation. The Department of Agriculture,
however, has done much to encourage these cultures by
importing an oil mill, and thus assisting to create a market
for the seeds. The results so far have been highly


ORCHARD WORK.-Mildura.

A GROUP OF HOP PICKERS.





121
encouraging, and there is no doubt that castor oil plants,
sunflower-s, and other oil-producing crops will in a few years
be extensively cultivated. Flower farming for the production
of essential oils is another industry which has recently been
receiving attention, and which is likely to be developed under
the highly favorable climatic conditions of the colony. An
Experimental Farm for testing various scent plants was
established by the Government some years ago, and the
result has been to direct attention to an industry which is
likely when better understood to be highly profitable.
Silk Culture.
Natural conditions are exceptionally favorable to the silk-
growing industry, which is so great a source of wealth to
different countries; but as a dense population with an
abundance of cheap labour is necessary for its development,
only limited progress has been made. This interesting
industry, however, has received attention from sanguine
persons from early colonial timfesf and at present an active
society is pushing its interests with considerable success.
As silk culture is suitable for profitably employing the
members of a settler's family who cannot engage in the
heavier work of rural life, the industry is likely to make
gradual progress and ultimately assume considerable
importance.


122
THE SUGAR-BEET INDUSTRY.
The production of sugar-beet has received attention at
various times during the last 25 years, but from different
causes arising out of the peculiar nature of the business the
several attempts to establish the industry have proved un-
successful. The suitableness, however, of extensive areas in
Victoria for the production of heavy crops of beet prevented
the expectation of successfully introducing the sugar-beet
industry from being entirely abandoned, and a company is
now operating which is likely to establish this important
branch of production upon a sound basis. The conditions of
sugar-beet production are such that its inauguration stands
specially in need of Government assistance. Farmers have
no inducement to grow the beet crop until sugar factories
exist which will provide a market, and capitalists have no
inducement to erect factories until a supply of beet is
assured.
Government Encouragement.
Eecognising the peculiar nature of the case, the Turner
Government resolved to render the necessary assistance.
The Beet Sugar Works Act of 1896 was accordingly intro-
duced and passed into law, under which liberal encourage-
ment to the industry was provided. Under this Act advances
are made . to companies which carry out the - sugar-beet
business upon stated lines, and in a manner satisfactory to
the Government. Any company establishing a factory in an
approved district where there is an area of 10,000 acres of
suitable land within a radius of 10 miles, and which has
entered into contract with farmers for the cultivation of at
least 2,000 acres of beet crop for three years, is entitled to
claim advances which ultimately reach the value of £2 for
every £1 expended by the company. These advances are to
be repaid in 46 half-yearly instalments, the sum bearing
interest at 4 per cent., and the property of the company
being security under a first mortgage for the loan.
The Maffra Sugar Beet Company.
The only company as yet establablished under the Act is
the Maffra Sugar Beet Company Limited. The capital is
£50,000, in 50,000 shares of £1 eacn. The first issue of
25,000 has been taken up, and the company, which is entitled


THE MAFFRA BEET-SUGAR FACTORY-FRONT View.





1


124
powerful factor in bringing about the present movement. Mr.
Sinclair's report brought under notice the success of some of
the American companies, notably those of California, a state
whose general conditions are in many respects similar to
those of Victoria. The report also was highly favorable to
the opinion that the industry conld be successfully estab-
lished in this colony. After visiting the scene of beet-sugar
productions in Utah, under a system of irrigation, Mr. Sin-
clair in his report deals as follows with the advantages of
the industry and its suitableness for the Australian colony
of Victoria:—
"The successful establishment of a beet-sugar factory in a
community means the placing of a cash market at fixed prices
for the farmer's produce at his own doors; it enhances
the value of land at least threefold, by giving it an income-
paying value; it means the distribution in the community
of many thousands of pounds annually, and profitable and
healthy employment for hundreds of families, besides the
saving to the country of the value of the sugar, which other-
wise would have to be purchased abroad, being so much
money gone out of the country that should be kept at
home.
"The success attending sugar-beet culture with irrigation
in Utah indicates what may also be accomplished in the same
way at Mildura, in Victoria. The rich sandy loams at
Mildura are capable of producing sugar-beets equal in
quantity to Utah, and Mildura is in possession of a much
more favorable climate. The higher percentage of sugar in
the Chino beets over those at Lehi is simply the result of its
warmer climate, and there is a similarity of climatic condi-
tions existing between Chino and Mildura. Sugar-beet
culture, under favorable conditions, is perhaps the most
profitable use to which land suited to it can be put, and a
trial should certainly be made of it at Mildura and other
places along the Murray Eiver where rich friable loamy
soil exist.
"I omitted to mention that the agricultural superintendent
at Lehi informed me that all land suitable for beet culture
there had risen over 80 per cent. in value during the past
eighteen months. He pointed out land on the lower plateau
for which 150 dollars, or £30, per acre, could be obtained.
On the upper plateau virgin sage brush land, of which I was
afraid to name a value, had recently been purchased for 40
dollars, or £8, per acre.





_J


125
"In the foregoing reports I have endeavoured to give a
concise statement of the methods of beet-root culture at two
of the most successful factories in the United States. I think
it will be recognised by the Victorian farmers that the two
places—Chino and Lehi — from their similarity in soil,
climate, and rainfall to a great portion of Victoria have
enabled a study to be made of the sugar-beet industry which
may prove of supplementary value to what information is
already in their possession. There is not the slightest doubt
of the fact that large areas of land in Victoria are as well
suited for sugar-beet culture as either California or Utah.
It is the most interesting, and at the same time profit-
able, agricultural industry I have seen in the United States.
There is no reason why Victoria should send away annually
thousands of pounds for the purchase of sugar when it can be
grown and manufactured in the colony, furnishing at the same
time a profitable occupation for a large number of its people."
As showing the profitableness of the industry to the
farmer, Mr. Sinclair instances the Watsonville Factory, in
California, in connexion with which the beet crop netted one
year £13 l1s. 4d. per acre :—
"The following year, the season1-being a bad one, results
were not so good, a yield of only 13,500 .tons of beets from
2,000 acres being obtained, for which the .factory paid
5 dollars per ton. The sugar output was 1,650 tons, for a
run of 47 days. The farmers, however, were satisfied, and
increased their area of beets, and the company increased
both its capital and plant. Both parties have since, from
year to year, steadily extended their operations, the far-
mers getting an average of from 13 to 14 tons per acre,
for which this season they were paid 3£ dollars (or 14s. 7d.)
per ton. The Watsonville Factory is now one of the most
successful in the United States, everything in connexion
with it being carried on on a satisfactory basis."
In connexion with the Chino Beet Company, another
Californian enterprise, Mr. Sinclair says :—
"In 1893 Mr. Gird and 170 farmers cultivated over 4,000
acres of land with sugar-beets, 2,500 acres of which were in
good condition, and the remaining 1,500 acres were sod-land
broken up for the first time, and from which the tonnage
was necessarily light. There was distributed during 1893
(the last campaign) £60,000 for beets and labour, which
would otherwise have gone out of the country to purchase
foreign sugar.


126
"At the close of the campaign for 1893 the Chiho Valley
Beet Sugar Company decided to increase the capacity of
their factory still further to 1,000 tons daily, to erect a
complete Steffen's plant for the extraction of the small
amount of sugar left in the molasses, all of which necessi-
tated the expenditure of £50,000. The winter and spring
saw these improvements completed, and the factory was
opened to receive beets on the 27th July, 1894. The winter
and spring previous to my visit to Chino were exceptionally
light in rainfall, there being only 11 inches of rain instead
of 18 inches, the usual average. (I may here state that
California has absolutely no summer rainfall, thunder-
storms, as mentioned in one of my previous reports, being
almost unknown.) The surrounding country has conse-
quently suffered for want of moisture, fully half the crops
being a failure in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern
California. In spite of these climatic disadvantages during
1894 the Chino Sugar Beet Plantation has produced a fair
average crop, with regard to tonnage—about 12 tons to the
acre—and a very high record as regards sugar, the per-
centage being this year an average of 16 per cent. This,
Mr. Gird said, would give gross returns of £12 per acre, and
net £8 per acre, most satisfactory results in any season, the
high percentage of sugar making up the loss in tonnage."
Mr. Clement Van De Velde, C.E., a gentleman of experi-
ence in connexion with beet-sugar production in Belgium
and Holland, and who has interested himself in advocating
the -adoption of the industry in the Australian colonies,
says:—;
"In Victoria it has already been proved beyond question
that a large portion of the colony, especially Gippsland, the
Port Fairy, Warrnambool, and Ballarat districts, and the
valley of the Yarra, are eminently suitable for the cultiva-
tion ' of sugar beet. Experiments made, especially those
under the direction of Mr. A. N. Pearson, Chemist of the
Department of Agriculture, show that more than satisfactory
crops can be obtained as regards both quantity and quality
of roots. -
Owing to the genial climate of South-Eastern Australia,
the season for sowing and harvesting sugar-beet will be much
more extended (at least double) than in Europe dr srime-Bi
the American States. This is extremely favorable to both"
the farmer and the manufacturer. To the farmer it mean-s
less extra manual labour, and with his own family he will be



INTERNAL VIEW.-Beet-sugar Factory.

MACHINERY.-Maffra Beet-sugar Factory.





127
able to look after a much larger area, the total amount of
labour required being divided over a longer period. To the
manufacturer it means a great saving, as instead of having
to take delivery of the whole crop within four or five weeks
(before the frost sets in) and protect a large portion of it in
silos about the factory, where it loses part of the sugar con-
tents for which he has paid, he will be able to take delivery
of the beet in quantities almost equal to his daily require-
ments, and so save also a double manipulation of the
roots."
It is evident, therefore, that the industry has been com-
menced under favorable prospects in Victoria, while it is
satisfactory that practical results, so far as they have yet
been obtained by the Maffra Company, have been highly
encouraging.


128
TOBACCO-GROWING.
Tobacco-growing is carried on successfully in various
districts for which the soil and climate have been found to
be specially suitable. Progress, however, has been retarded
by a variety of removable circumstances. Beyond growing
a comparatively limited quantity of tobacco for local manu-
facture, the industry has not advanced, and it was recognised
that the principal cause was a lack of knowledge on the part
of growers as to the best methods of cultivating the plant and
treating the leaf. The Minister of Agriculture, Mr. J. W.
Taverner, in order to overcome this difficulty, some time ago
engaged an American expert, Mr. A. J. Bondurant, of
Virginia, who has already done much to place the industry
on a satisfactory basis; and Mr. Bondurant, who is well
pleased with the prospects of tobacco-growing in the colony,
writes as follows :—
Tobacco in Viotoria.
The cultivation of tobacco for commercial use was com-
menced in Victoria about thirty years ago. Its cultivation,
as I am informed, was introduced owing to the difficulty of
obtaining it from the Southern States, on account of the
civil war that existed between the States of America.
It was found from the first cultivation of this plant in
Victoria that it grew well, though the methods of cultivation,
curing, and general management were of a primitive
character—open thin-thatched sheds used for drying, on
curing, thereby exposing the plants to the varied
atmospheric changes that exist in this climate. Yet, not-
withstanding this fact, the industry has continued steadily,
though not rapidly, to increase, much of this home-grown
tobacco being used by the Melbourne manufacturers for
blending with the American tobacco in making plug for
smoking purposes.
The Yields.
The crop for the year 1896 exceeded 800 tons. The bulk
•of this was sold to the Melbourne buyers as soon as it was
placed on the market last November.
The locality in Victoria where this plant is generally
cultivated is known as the north-eastern part of this province.
In this section there is an abundant rainfall, and the climate


129
generally favorable for the growth of the tobacco plant. It
is grown mostly on the rich alluvial bottom lands on the
King, Ovens, Kiewa, Mitta Mitta rivers, and to some
extent on the Murray-—though there are parts, such as the
Goulburn Valley and many others, where the cultivation has
not been undertaken, in which it is thought the tobacco plant
can be grown with success.
Under favorable conditions, the yield on these soils is
large, much above the average soils in America. During
the past season, from 2^ acres, one grower produced 2 tons
and 700 pounds, which was sold to a Melbourne manufac-
turer for 6d. per pound. Though this instance must not
be misleading—it is only safe to say that lrom half to
three-quarters of a ton per acre can be produced, and, should
the supply be large, lower price than the above will be
realized, the manufacturers here claiming that they have
only a limited demand for the home-grown leaf.
An Export Trade.
However, this difficulty should be overcome by finding a
demand in England, the best tobacco market in Europe.
If this Victorian tobacco has been used for more than
thirty years by the tobacco manufacturers here alone, and
by blending with foreign tobacco, why can it not be
successfully utilized by the Mother Country?
The Quality.
The tobacco hitherto grown here resembles much in
general appearance, flavour, &c, that grown in some of
the Western States of America, namely, Kentucky, Missouri,
and Ohio, and the soils upon wrhich it is grown are similar to
those soils in America.
The Government of Victoria, through its Minister of
Agriculture, is doing all that it can to encourage this
industry.
Though having been in this colony during only one
season's growth, I am encouraged with the improvement
that is going on among the growers, as to adopting better
methods as to growing, curing, and preparing this plant for
market. The present season (1897) will show much to-
bacco of better colours, flavours, and general management
than has hitherto been obtained here.
9194.
i


130
Experiments.
The Minister of Agriculture, on my advice, has estab-
lished a Tobacco Experimental Farm at Edi, on the King
River, for the purpose of educational instruction to the
tobacco-growers as to the best methods of management.
This experimental farm was not started in time last year
(189f5) for conducting this work as fully as desired. Never-
theless, a suitable curing house was constructed, a crop
grown on the Experimental Farm, the curing by heat, and
I am fairly well satisfied with this preliminary trial.
Should the season of 1897 be favorable for growing, it is
proposed to have placed in the curing house for this year's
crop, a suitable heating appliance, whereby the temperature
can be controlled, and still better results obtained. A
brighter tobacco, now much sought after in the markets of
the world, is likely to be secured by this improved process
of curing.
Thus far, the soil, rainfall, conditions, &c, seem favor-
able for producing tobacco of good quality under improved
methods of management; though we have to contend with
the unexpected frost, liable to occur frequently, even in
midsummer, and this is detrimental to this tender plant.
This, however, is not so much to be dreaded as a fungus
disease known as "blue mould."
This fungus is similar to rust in wheat, and it is believed
that it is produced by the same atmospheric changes.
While this is a serious drawback to the successful culti-
vation of tobacco in Victoria, and every effort is being made
to combat it, it is well to state that this fungus does not
occur every year, and seldom does it attack the plants to
such an extent as to utterly destroy them, and usually, even
though the "blue mould" does make its appearance, a
moderate, though not a full, crop can be secured annually.
Favorable Prospects.
Many thousand acres of suitable soil for tobacco-produc-
tion are not yet under cultivation, and upon these a settler
with small capital upon a few acres, by employing intelli-
gent methods, should make a competent support for a
family. Under the aid of this enlightened Government,
that is doing what is necessary to aid this new industry,


131
there is good reason to hope that before many years it will
- attain that prominence that the dairy, mine, fruit, &c,
occupies.
As before stated, the work of the expert in the tobacco
industry has not progressed to that extent that will at
present justify him in drawing definite conclusions, though
he is hopeful as to the success of this industry ultimately,
especially if it is, as a home industry, protected with whole-
some legislation.


132
WHY I SETTLED IN VICTORIA.
What an English Farmer Says.
The agricultural depression in England has lasted about
twenty years, and no means has yet been discovered by
which the British farmer can successfully compete with the
cheap produce of the colonies and new foreign countries. A
Yorkshire farmer, who gave up the struggle fifteen years
ago, and emigrated to Victoria, has favoured the editor with
the following views upon the subject:—
Why I Emigrated.
I had been bred a farmer, and I knew my business, but I
was rapidly losing money. My landlord was a reasonable
man, and he made all the reductions in the rent that any one
could expect; but it was all the same. My capital was
disappearing, and. I made up my mind to do something
before it was all.g$fi6. The cause of my losses was the low
markets brought about by the cheap produce coming in from
Australia and America. I was making a little out of cattle,
but I could see that would not last; and as for butter,
although it was not coming from Australia at that time, it
was coming from somewhere cheaper than I could make it.
As I was being ruined by cheap production, I reckoned I
would go out and be a cheap producer myself. And very
glad I am that I did it in time. I have not made a fortune,
nor have I done quite as well as I expected, but I have done
a lot better than stopping at home. Things have been
getting no better with the farmers at home. Rents have
been reduced from time to time, but markets have been
getting lower and lower, and the farmers getting poorer and
poorer. It is not only grain and meat that pours into
London now from abroad, but butter, cheese, poultry, pork
and bacon, fruits, and everything. My neighbours would
have done well to have come away with me, for most of
them have lost all they had. What little capital I had left
bought me the freehold of a farm, so I am my own landlord
at any rate. Those who have less than I had would do
well to come out. for this is a better country for making a
fresh beginning in than England.





133
Little Capital Required.
A man who has capital enough to be a tenant farmer even
on a very moderate scale in the old country can buy a good farm
right out in Victoria. The value of farms in settled districts
close to railway stations is only about equal to from one to
two rents in England. That is, the freehold prices range
from 30s. to £3, and up to £4, £5, and £6 per acre. Farms
at these prices consist of good average land, and they return
a profit upon these prices. There are also limited areas of
specially productive land, fetching up to £20, £30, and £40
per acre, but they are not more profitable than my own farm
at £5 per acre. Not only is the freehold at the level of a
rent or two in the old country, but the working capital
required is also much less than that required by the English
tenant farmer. The expenditure upon manures is insigni-
ficant, and although the system of farming would not be
thought much of in England, it returns a profit, and that is
more than can be said for the system under which I lost
about £1 per acre per annum for some years in Yorkshire.
An English tenant farmer can easily start as a freeholder in
this country, and a labourer can become a tenant farmer.
Many labourers have become freeholders here by settling on
the lands which were granted on easy terms by the Govern-
ment, and others have rented farms, some making money
enough to buy out the land.
Making a Start.
It. suited me better to buy a well-improved farm near one
of the large towns than to go inland and settle as a "selector,"
but the selecting system offers good opportunities for those
who have less capital, and who want to become land-owners
at the beginning. As the Government undertakes the
making of railways, the new settlers are soon followed by
the lines, so that their produce is carried to the sea-board at
low rates. There are plenty of opportunities for men of
very small capital to get on to the land. Good farms near
the large towns can be taken at low rents by men who have
little more capital than their labour and that of their families;
while by going to the more distant districts opened up by the
railways, the selector can obtain land at 20s. per acre, being
allowed twenty years to complete the purchase, or he can
obtain perpetual leases from the Government at a few pence
per acre. And then there is the "share system " of farming,
imder which a start can be made by men of no capital.


134
Under this system farms are taken for one, two, or three
years, the tenant doing the best he can, and the landlord
taking a share of the crop as rent. The landlord's share is
from one-third to one-fourth of the crop, according to arrange-
ment. The advantage to the tenant is that the rent is in
proportion to the yield of the land. When it is remembered
that in this country land "is plentiful and the population
small, it will be understood that there are many oppor-
tunities of entering into the business of farming. Things
are cut very fine in England, but here most of the settlers
were not bred to farming, so that carrying on under easy con-
ditions, they could not be expected to have developed a high
system of agriculture. Skilled farmers from older countries
are not likely to fail where so many untrained settlers
succeed.
Neither Frost nor" Snow.
- There is no doubt that cheap land was the'principal cause
of the great fall in the values of agricultural produce, but
the cheapness of the fertile lands of Victoria is only one of
the advantages which the colony possesses in competitive
production. .Ther.ft-.are cheap lands in Canada and the
United States, but it is only in Australia that a genial
climate prevails. ,There is literally no winter here in the
English sense of -the term. Snow is a rarity seen only on
the highest mountains, and all that is known of frost is an
occasional hoar-frost, which does not injure ordinary crops.
The climate is even milder than that of the Mediterranean
coast, and growth continues all through the winter. There
is no housing or feeding of live stock, but the flocks and
herds remain in the fields throughout the year, growing and
fattening upon the rich pastures provided by nature. This
natural pasture, which is very abundant, is highly nutritious
and fattening, and it produces the best butter in the world.
It has only recently been proved that the butter made from
the natural pastures of Victoria possesses qualities of firmness
and flavour unequalled by the best in the London market.
At the Antipodes.
In speaking of the immense advantages possessed by
Victoria in her wonderful climate, the Yorkshire farmer
missed out a point of great importance, viz., the unique good
fortune of the colony in being situated at the Antipodes. It
is often referred to as an interesting fact that Victoria is on














135
the opposite side of the globe to England—that it is day in
Victoria when it is night in England ; winter here when
it is summer there, and so on; but the vast practical im-
portance of this state of things is seldom recognised. It is
evident, upon reflection, that our position at the Antipodes
confers upon us a unique advantage as competitors in
supplying the world with agricultural products. If, by
some miracle, the rigorous winters of North America could
be exchanged for the warm genial climate of Australia, the
Great Southern Continent would still retain its unique
advantage of an antipodean situation. While the severity
of the winters would have been removed, its season of
abundance would still occur at the same time as the
spring and summer of Britain and Europe. V--:toria has
not only a mild winter, but its prolific spring and summer
produce their abundance at the very time when Europe and
North America are passing through their annual periods
of suspended vegetation and destructive cold. Successful
competition in agricultural production depends upon three
dominating conditions, viz.:—1. Cheap productive land.
2. A favorable climate. 3. Seasons of maximum productive-
ness concurring with the annual periods of scarcity and
maximum prices. The first is possessed in common by
Victoria and North America ; in regard to the second, the
colony's frostless and snowless winter places her at an
immense advantage; while the third, with all its incalcul-
able potency, is the exclusive possession of the antipodean
competitor.
Ports and Railways.
Victoria is fertile to the sea-shore, and, being narrow with
a long coast line, the ports are close to the scenes of pro-
duction. A line drawn 100 miles from the coast would
include more than half of the colony, and a similar line 150
miles from the sea-board would take in more than three-
fourths of the colony, while the great grain fields of the
United States, Canada, and India are from 500 to 1,000, and
as much as 1,500 miles, from the shipping ports. A network
of Government railways is spread all over Victoria, reaching
every district, and the railway charges are low. The railways
have not been made by private companies for profit making,
but by the Government, in order to benefit the inhabitants,
so that freights are always as low as the working expenses
and interest on cost of construction will allow. As a matter ,


136
of fact, the railway charges do not pay the whole interest on
their cost, the balance being paid out of the general revenue
of the colony. As the volume of traffic increases with the
increase of population, and the growth of production, freights
will be further reduced, and the transport facilities of the
inhabitants enlarged.
Local Government.
The local government system of the colony is admirable.
There are cities, larger towns, and smaller boroughs, with
local councils managing all internal affairs, and the country
districts are divided into self-governing shires. The rating
in the shires is for purely local improvement, and instead of
having burdens laid upon them by the Central Government,
the local bodies are handsomely assisted by annual subsidies
out of the general revenue of the colony.
General Advantages.
While entirely self-governing, the colony enjoys the
inestimable advantage of being an integral part of the
British Empire. The inhabitants are a free people, intelli-
gent, indnstrious, honest, law-abiding, and as loyal to the
British Crown as they are to the principles of individual,
political, and religious liberty. The Government, in the
constitution of which every adult male has a voice, carries
out a system of primary education, free, secular, and
compulsory, and State schools are established, not only in
every village, but in every distant corner of the colony where
ten or twenty children can be gathered together. A map in
this volume showing the positions of the State schools will
convey an idea of the wide-reaching character of the State
primary education system. The colony is also well provided
with secondary schools and colleges carried on by private
enterprise, while the education system is crowned by the
Melbourne University, an institution liberally assisted by
the State. The Melbourne Public Library and Art School
would be regarded with admiration in any city in the world,
and throughout the numerous towns of the colony popular
technical colleges and mechanics' institutes receiving
Government assistance have been plentifully established.
There is no State aid to religion, but churches of all denomi-
nations are voluntarily supported by the people, and various
places of worship have been erected in even the smallest
and most distant villages. The same widespread and





137
minute distribution is characteristic of the various popular
amusements, which differ little from those of England, and
no critic would accuse the colonists of taking life too
seriously. At one time emigration to the colony meant the
sacrifice of many social advantages, and the new-comer's
idea was to make a fortune and "go home." All this has
now been altered, and those who make fortunes as a rule take
a trip to the old land, but soon "come home" again, drawn
by the social attractions of their adopted country.
Cheap Money.
One of the principal difficulties in the way of successful
farming in the colony has been a defective system of
obtaining financial accommodation. Agriculture is an in-
dustry which is not adequately served by the banking system
that meets the case of other lines of business. Accommoda-
tion for a short term serves the purposes of the merchant
or speculator, but the improvement of land, whether it be
fencing, clearing, building, or draining, does not pay for
itself in a few months, or even, in, a few years. Investment
in land improvement may be- wise and profitable, but the
capital cannot be returned for a term of years. For want of
some means of obtaining capital on terms suitable for their
industry farmers and settlers have, in the past, been seriously
handicapped, but recently Sir George Turner's Government
introduced a Credit Foncier scheme for the purpose of re-
moving this difficulty. Through the Commissioners of the
Government Savings Bank local loans are raised from time
to time as required. The capital thus obtained is advanced
to farmers on the security of their land. Advances are made
to the extent of 75 per cent. of the land valuation. At
present the rate is 6 per cent., and the amount includes
interest, working expenses, and 1 per cent. to a sinking fund,
which extinguishes the debt by the end of the term. The
system has been in operation three years, and an amount of
£176,695 has been advanced to 425 farmers, averaging
£415 15s. each. As the system is working satisfactorily, it
will no doubt be largely extended.


142
the neighbourhood of the metropolis, where a large area
of land is devoted to it. and whence supplies are sent to-
up-country towns, as well as to the neighbouring colonies,
nearly 2,000 tons being yearly exported. In the country the
principal supply of vegetables is grown by Chinese, who are
located in the neighbourhood of the principal towns, and also
in the suburbs of Melbourne. They are the chief hawkers of
vegetables, and, besides growing a supply for that purpose,
purchase largely from European cultivators. The Chinese
cultivate their gardens in small patches by hand labour, but
the Europeans employ horse labour wherever it can be
applied. The bulk of the gardens are situated to the east
and south-east of Melbourne, where the soil is almost pure
sand, and easy to work. Some of the yields of vegetables-
obtained are simply marvellous. Cabbages averaging 26 lbs.
weight, and parsnips 86 inches in length, are common;
while mangel-wurzel are grown turning the scale at 56 lbs.
The land is highly manured, and heavy yields are obtained.
The produce is also of excellent quality. Two crops a year,
or three crops in two years, are generally grown. The pro-
duce not exported is disposed of in the metropolitan markets,
chiefly the Victoria Market, where an average of 300 carts
attend twice a week during the summer season, each grower
selling his own produce.
Plant Nurseries.
These have become numerous of late years, one or more
being established in the neighbourhood of every large town,
and several in country places, where the propagation of fruit
trees constitutes the principal business; the demand for these
being very large both in Victoria, the neighbouring colonies,
and New Zealand. In the neighbourhood of Melbourne,
nurseries are numerous, some being of considerable extent,
and kept in a style that would be creditable to similar estab-
lishments in any part of the world. The collections of
plants are now very extensive and are being annually increased
by importations. Owing to the mildness of the climate in
winter, a large number of species that require to be housed
in Europe thrive out of doors, the year round, stove plants
alone requiring the protection of glass and artificial heat;
but they are not much grown in nurseries owing to the
smallness of the demand. Fuchsias, pelargoniums, cinerarias,
cyclamens, and Chinese primroses are grown in unheated
houses. In these nurseries the plants are mostly grown in


145
—attains a large size in the cooler districts. Pittospornms
are, of all evergreens, the best adapted to the climate,
forming handsome specimens and fine ornamental hedges.
Rhododendrons require shade in the warmer parts of the
colony, but flourish exposed in the cooler districts. Schinus
molle is of great value as a shade tree. Besides those
already mentioned, there are an immense number of dwarf
shrubs that attain great perfection, such as the Indian
azalea, daphne indica, boronia, bouvardia, chorizema, deut-
zia, eriostemon, erica, erythrina, escallonia, fuchsia, hy-
drangea, lantana, lasiandra, pomegranate, pelargonium,
petunia, salvia, veronica, and weigela. Of roses, about
400 varieties are grown. Among climbers are bignonia,
bougainvillea, clematis, lapageria, passion flowers, including
Tacsonia and Glycine sinensis.
Among herbaceous plants, dahlias, chrysanthemums,
phloxes, pentstemons, carnations, columbines, cyclamens,
iris, mesembryanthemum—numerous species—and verbenas.
Bulbous and similar plants flourish exceedingly, including
amaryllis, anemone, gladiolus—grown in every garden—
hyacinth, ixia, lilium—magnificent, narcissus, ranunculus,
tulip, sparaxis, Guernsey lilies, tuberoses, tritoma, tritonia,
and several others.
Fruit.
Fruit culture is practised throughout nearly the whole of
the colony. In some of the more densely-populated districts
orchards of 100 to 150 acres have been planted, and their
numbers are rapidly increasing. They are very numerous in
the neighbourhood of the metropolis, where they generally
exist in conjunction with market gardening; these range
from 8 to 20 acres in extent. Owing to the variety of
climatic conditions, all the fruits of temperate regions can
be cultivated. A large number of varieties are grown, all
the best to be obtained in Europe and America having been
imported and propagated. Numerous varieties of fruit have
been raised from seed, the parent blossoms being, in most
cases, carefully intercrossed. In apples, varieties of great
excellence, both dessert and cooking, some of the former
almost equalling the best of the imported sorts. While in
pears, some colonial varieties are unsurpassed by the best
European sorts. Peaches, plums, cherries, and strawberries
of excellent quality have been also raised.
9194.
K


147
Fig.
The fig thrives in all, except the coldest, parts of the
colony, and exceptionally well in the warmer northern dis-
tricts, where it grows with great luxuriance, the trees attain-
ing a large size, and fruiting heavily every year, the fruit
being of large size and good quality. Fig-drying has been
successfully practised, but has not yet become established as
a business.
Filbert.
Trees of the filbert and other nuts grow with remarkable
luxuriance in the rich soil of valleys in the more temperate
regions, where they bear enormously. Nuts are in great
demand, and bring high prices in the market.
Gooseberry.
This well-known fruit thrives in all parts of the colony
except the warmest, but grows best where the summer tem-
perature is low. In such situations the bushes attain a large
size, and bear enormous crops. The fruit is much used for
cooking and jam-making.
Grape.
The grape and wine-making have been treated elsewhere;
it is only necessary to remark that, as a dessert fruit, it
thrives and ripens its fruit in all but the coldest climates,
and in all varieties of soil or situation. It grows as a bush
in gardens, or trained to a fence or trellis; it rambles over
the cottage verandah, and even in the heart of a city or town
it continues to thrive,-its roots extending dozens of yards
beneath the pavement. It, however, brings its fruit to the
greatest perfection in the zones of highest temperature, where
bunches and berries of enormous size, fine colour, and excel-
lent flavour are produced.
Melon.
The melon thrives in the open ground in all the warmer
and more temperate parts of the colony; the seed being sown
in ordinary garden soil; little or no attention is required
by the plants until the fruit is ready to gather. Both rock
melons and water melons are in great demand in the markets,
and also a cross-bred variety of sugar melon, which attains
a large size and is much used for jam.
K 2


148
Mulberry.
This is well adapted to the more moderate zones, where it
rapidly forms a tree and produces abundance of fruit. The
silk-worm mulberry also grows well, but is rarely utilized.
Peach.
This fruit, one of the most delicious grown in the colony,
ripens its fruit nearly everywhere. The trees require much
attention in warding off the attacks of aphides in spring, and
they are not long-lived. When in good soil the fruit attains
a large size, and acquires an excellent flavour. A number of
colonial seedlings have been raised; these prove more robust
than some of the imported varieties and are generally pre-
ferred by growers for market.
Pear.
The pear is highly esteemed as a dessert fruit, many of the
imported, as well as several seedling, varieties being unsur-
passed for flavour. The trees quickly attain a large size, and
rarely fail to produce a full crop, the fruit attaining a large
size. They thrive in nearly all parts of the colony.
Persimmon (Diospyros Kaki).
This fruit, introduced only a few years ago, is becoming
popular on account of the rich flavour and fine colour of its
fruit, which renders the trees highly ornamental ; these are
very precocious, trees of 3 or 4 feet in height producing
several dozens of fruit. Young trees are annually imported
from Japan.
Plums.
Plums are in great request, and are largely grown in all
districts. The trees are very prolific, rarely failing to
produce a full crop, and when not overloaded the fruit is very
large ; it is much used for jam and other culinary purposes.
On account of its abundance, the fruit can be obtained in the
markets at a low rate.
• Quince.
This fruit is grown, though in small numbers, in nearly
•every garden. The trees crop well, and produce fruit of
large size.


150
are in season from the beginning of summer to the end of
autumn. They are sold at such rates as bring them within
the reach of all classes.
Beet.
This root succeeds in all soils and all climates. It is in
great request, being used in a fresh or pickled state. The
roots, like others of similar nature, are allowed to remain in
the ground until wanted for use, a supply being obtainable
at all seasons.
Brocoli.
This is rarely grown, as the plants require too great a
length of time to attain maturity, and its place is filled by
the cauliflower.
Cabbage.
The cabbage is the most largely grown of all green
vegetables. The plants come quickly into use, and attain a
large size ; cabbages can be had every day in the year, and
with very little labour.
Cauliflower.
The cauliflower is one of the most esteemed of vegetables;
it may be obtained throughout the year in the cooler districts,
and in others except during two or three of the hottest
months. It grows luxuriantly, becomes rapidly fit for use,
and attains a large size. Plants, including leaves, stem, and
roots, have been grown to 42 lbs. weight, the head, dressed
for market, weighing 36 lbs.
Carrot.
This root, which thrives everywhere, is in great request,
and very extensively grown. The roots are rarely troubled
with any kind of insect.
Celery.
Celery prefers the cooler districts, but may be had
everywhere during winter and spring. Its culture has
greatly increased of recent years.
Cucumber.
A few growers cultivate the cucumber in heated houses
during the winter season, but the demand is not great at
that time. Large quantities are grown in the open ground
in summer. They are in considerable demand for pickling.


152
remain till the following season, fruiting all the while-
Later crop plants are supported by stakes or trellises. The
markets are supplied for about nine months in the year.
Turnip.
Turnips are in season every day in the year. They become
quickly fit for use, but do not succeed well in the drier
districts, except during the winter season.
Vegetable Marrow.
There is a large consumption of this vegetable. The seed
is sown in the open ground in spring, and where the soil is
good heavy crops are yielded; very little attention beyond
gathering the fruit being required.








153
THE FRUIT-GROWING INDUSTRY.
(By I). M. Vow, of The Leader.)
Fruit-growing is one of the most promising industries in
Victoria. Settlers who have been engaged in the orchard
business for many years are generally among the most
prosperous members of the community, while there are few
colonial industries that can compare with fruit-growing in
offering encouraging prospects of future development. The
past history of the industry has served to prove its profitable-
ness. The scope for expansion is practically unlimited.
Will it Pay?
Some few years ago, when fruit-growing as a business was
receiving a large share of attention, the most contradictory
statements were made in regard to the prospects of the
industry. Persons interested in promoting the growing of
fruit pointed to the wonderful results obtained in California
and elsewhere, while others, posing as practical men on the
strength of having produced wheat or potatoes, pronounced
strongly upon the impossibility of a family being able to live
upon a holding of 10 or 20 acres. The owners of established
orchards not being desirous of calling too many competitors
into the field had very little to say on the matter. The
yields of their orchards, however, gave encouragement to the
advocates of progress, and as the objectors had nothing but
prejudice to contribute to the controversy, the victory was
with the progressive party. As the result, an important
movement in the direction of tree-planting was made in
nearly all parts of the colony, and under the stimulus of
Government bonuses the area of land under orchards was
greatly increased. Most of the new orchards have now come
into bearing, and from a variety of causes the financial
returns have fallen somewhat short of expectations. Many
new planters are disappointed with the results, and their
complaints, added to the statements of the original objectors,
constitute a charge of failure against the fruit-growing
industry. Those who always opposed progress are saying,
"I told you so," and disappointed planters are aiding by
misrepresenting the position and prospects of an important
and promising industry.


154
Expecting Too Much.
In seeking to arrive at the actual position of the case, the
views of those may be disregarded who say—" I always told
you fruit-growing would not pay," for they have learned
nothing from recent experiences; but the men who have
invested in fruit-growing, and are disappointed, have a right
to be heard. Their complaint is that the business is not
what it was represented to be: and this is a fact. There is
no doubt that many were induced to plant orchards upon
exaggerated estimates of the returns to be obtained. Maxi-
mum yields and high prices were quoted as an encourage-
ment to planters, and persons who were induced to invest in
what was too often represented as a fortune-making enter-
prize have naturally been disappointed. In regard to the
quality of the fruit there is no complaint, for in this respect
the most sanguine expectations have been realized; but the
yields have in some cases come short of anticipations. In
the matter of yields, the disappointment has arisen in most
cases through planters having been led to expect full returns
too soon. Trees from seven to ten years old have seldom
failed to yield heavy crops ; • but, as growers expected
maximum returns two or three years earlier, grounds have
been furnished for discontent. This objection, it is evident,
time will be able to remove, and the industry must be judged
by its actual results rather than,by its relation to the exag-
gerated anticipations of investors.
Good Local Markets.
The markets, too, have been a cause of some disappoint-
ment. The expectation of higher prices for fruit has perhaps
caused more discontent than having to wait an extra year or
two for maximum yields. In the matter of prices, however,
growers cannot plead that they were encouraged to expect a
local fresh fruit market at payable rates for the produce of
their orchards. An export trade in fresh fruits and a resort
to canning and drying were always insisted upon as neces-
sary to place the industry on a sound basis. In all the
circumstances of the case, the growers could not have
expected better prices in the fresh fruit market than have
been obtained. Instead of resorting to canning and drying,
t he whole of the colony's fruit has practically been thrown
upon the local market. Not only has the local consumer
been expected to take the produce of our orchards, but he


155
has been required to make use of it within a few months,
and then he has been allowed to supply himself with im-
ported preserved fruit for the rest of the year. When the
surroundings of the case are taken into account the wonder
is that the fresh fruit market has stood this process of glut-
ting as well as it has done. At a time when the large area
of new orchards brought into existence by the planting
bonuses were coming into bearing, the colony was passing
through a period of extraordinary depression. With a
greatly restricted purchasing power, the colony's demand for
fresh fruit has absorbed the produce of our enlarged orchard
area, a highly encouraging result that is nothing short of
surprising.
Room for Expansion.
A common saying is that "there are too many in the
industry"; but this does not fit in consistently with the fact
that Victoria imports £59,000 worth of fruit per annum.
Going into details, it is found that the quantity and value
of fruits and jams imported into Victoria during the year
1897 were:—
Fruits, Jams, &c.
Bottled fruits...
Dried fruits (unenumerated)
Currants
Raisins
Jams and jellies
Totals ...
Quantity.
Dozen packets.
59,581
Lbs.
839,327
3,215,476
1,116.579
89,383
Value.
£
4,277
11,307
25,882
15,461
2,239
5,260,765 ... 59,166
And 59,581 doz. pks.
The Tariff rates are:—
Fruit, dried, boiled or partly boiled, or
pulp ...
Fruits, preserved in bottles, &c—
Quarts and over a pint
Pints and over half-pint
Half-pints and smaller
Over a quart and not exceeding a gallon
Fruits, green, being oranges and lemons
Fruits not otherwise enumerated
3d. per lb.
6s. per doz.
3s. per doz.
1s. 6d. per doz.
18s. per doz.
9d. per bush.
1s. 6d. per bush.


158
VICTORIAN VINEYARDS.
The production of wine is unquestionably destined to be-
come one of Victoria's greatest industries. Receiving
attention from the earliest days of the colony, the progress
of wine-growing has been slow but sure. Measured
by the volume of production, development has been only
moderate: estimated by the extent to which the colony's
resources have been successfully tested, and the manner in
which the superiority of the wines has been demonstrated,
it has been immense. It was from the first recognised that
with a limited population wine production could not become
a great industry without depending upon an export trade,
and consequently improving the quality of the wine has
always received more attention than the extension of the
vineyards. The result has been that Victoria, with a com-
paratively small area under vines, has since 1851 been repre-
sented at all the great exhibitions of the world. Having
proved by the honours won at the various exhibitions that
wines of the highest quality could be produced, the exten-
sion of the vineyards was commenced about twenty years
ago. The area under vines now reaches 30,000 acres,
yielding annually about 2,500,000 gallons of wine. As wine
is not the ordinary beverage of the local population, a sur-
plus of from 200,000 gallons to 400,000 gallons is annually
exported, and as our wines become better known to the con-
sumers of the old world the demand for them will gradually
increase. The consumption of such superior wines as our
vineyards produce is upon such a large scale, that, with the
footing already secured in the world's markets, our vintages
will rapidly take their places among the most valuable pro-
ductions of the colony.
Early History.
In dealing with the early history of the industry, as well as
the other branches of the subject which follow, extensive
use is made of the writings of Mr. Hubert de Castella,
one of the pioneers of wine-growing in Victoria, and author
of the interesting book, John Bull's Vineyard. In 1860,
says this authority, the number of acres under vines had not
reached 2,000. Some of the wines made, however, had
already found their way abroad, and obtained favorable


159
notice. About that time a rush for establishing vineyards
took place; the Victorian Government offered, in various
localities, lands considered as best adapted to that cultiva-
tion, under especially favorable conditions; the newspapers
issued periodical encouragements in shape of reports on the
plantations going on, and on the successes obtained or ex-
pected; the Argus gave a large gold cup to the best-
appointed vineyard ; lawyers, doctors, and men of means,
taking land under the wine industry clause, planted by
proxy; various companies were formed to work large areas
of vines. In four years over 2,000 acres were planted. All,
in fact, seemed to indicate great and immediate prosperity.
Unfortunately, however, the colonial taste was for strong
drinks. Port arid sherry advocates had taken up the move-
ment, the warmest districts were proclaimed as the best to
settle in, and the men who planted in more temperate
countries were pitied for their mistake.
But to those growers who took as types the strong wines
of low commerce, it was not sufficient to obtain, by proper
maturity, musts equal in richness to those of Spain and
Portugal. Many of them left their grapes standing on the
vines until they were turned into raisins ; and we recollect
the case of an amateur vigneron who had his grapes placed
on the zinc roofs of his house and cellars, previous to
crushing them, in order to leave them for two days improving,
as he called it, under a burning sun.
W ines made in this fashion, not from must, but from
syrup, incapable of a complete fermentation, true compounds
of sugar and alcohol, soon turned to vinegary sourness.
The light wines of the cooler districts, mixed by inexperi-
enced wine merchants with these strong ones, only developed
their acidity. Day by day the name of colonial wine became
more ignominious, the trade died out, and neglected vine-
yards were gradually rooted out. The statistics of 1880
showed a diminution of 553 acres of vines, as compared
with those of 1875.
The Turning Point.
All the while, however, a few persevering men, both in the
northern districts and around Melbourne and other towns,
careful of their plantations and diligent in study, were every
year improving their vintages, and the Melbourne Inter-
colonial Exhibition of 1881, displaying a real and solid ad-
vance, again brought the wine industry to the fore.


160
A grand prix, a trophy of solid silver, of the value of
£800, was offered by the Emperor of Germany to be awarded
"to an exhibitor in one of the Australasian Colonies as an
acknowledgment of the efforts in promoting art and industry
as shown by the high qualities of the goods manufactured by
such exhibitor."
The fact that, after a keen competition, this prize was
awarded to the most successful exhibitor of Australian wine,
as fulfilling best the conditions specified by the Imperial
donor, caused a stir which is remembered to this day; and not
only in the colonies, but in England and in foreign countries
was the announcement received with marked interest.
From that day colonial wine was no longer thrown pro-
miscuously under general condemnation. People who had
never tasted it before condescended to have it on their tables.
Ulubs and hotels, full of visitors, could no longer refuse it
admission, since it had obtained such high recognition. It
was a benefit to all. A few months afterwards the growers
of Victoria could count the value of their produce, even of
their properties, substantially advanced.
Yet.another benefit, still more important, was conferred by
that emiifftnt distinction upon the wine-growers at large. It
opened their eyes to the requirements of the public taste—at
least, of educated taste—and it educated their own.
Many vignerons, some of them possessors of smaller extent
of vines than the lucky winners of the Emperor's prize, had
run closely with them in the race. Their wines had been of
equal value, but were exhibited on a lesser scale. The result
was that the other growers — those who, to that day, had
desired to obtain strength, and what they mistook for body—
began to ponder over the list of awards. When they found
these awards given to delicacy and bouquet, to light
wines principally, and to those only amongst the heavy ones
which were free from alcoholic taste and non-converted sugar,
faith in alcohol was shaken in their hearts, and the value of
proper fermentation dawned upon them. From that time
dates a general improvement in the manufacture.
At Other Exhibitions.
Australia's best chance of making her wines known was by
sending them to the World's Great Exhibitions. Her first
display was at Paris, in 1851, and since then those of London,
Vienna, Paris again, Philadelphia, Amsterdam, and Bordeaux
have received her samples, and she may well be grateful for


11 .



RECEIVING GRAPES AT CELLAR.





161
the reception they met with at the hands of her elders. It
may have been kindness of heart toward a new-comer, or
perhaps, as was said in a French report we are about to
quote from, "kind curiosity;" but the prizes given, although
perhaps only to encourage the young scholar, were numerous
and highly esteemed. Three years ago, Bordeaux, the queen
city of wine, invited the world to exhibit samples of its
vintages within her walls, and, amongst others, appeared 70
from Australian vignerons. A book was pnblished review-
ing impartially the produce of the exhibiting nations, and
our beginnings were given full consideration to.
Mr. R. Sempe, the writer of the review in question, begins
by showing the admirable adaptability of our soil and climate
for the cultivation of the vine ; and by exposing, we quote
him now, "the unique spectacle of development and greatness
of the colonies, which, born yesterday, have arrived by their
courage and energy, coupled with liberty, to a degree of
richness and civilization which rivals even the largest towns
of old Europe." The results of other later exhibitions have
fully confirmed the high character of the Australian wines
from Victorian vineyards, i
Vine-growing Districts.
The Rutherglen district, situated in the Murray Valley, is
the most extensive wine-producing section of the colony, and
there are in the same division millions of acres equally
suitable for viticulture. Mr. Hubert de Oastella speaks thus
of other centres of the vine-growing industry :—
"The whole of the northern slopes of the ranges in the
centre of Victoria, from Stawell to Bendigo, a zigzag line of
200 miles of mountains and gullies more or less auriferous,
and all producing, or capable of producing, fine wines, is
dotted about by townships which are only awaiting a signal
to increase their plantations. The Shire of Stawell, for
example, includes, with a rural population of 3,500 people,
many vineyards. At Ararat several growers cultivate an
average of 10 acres each. Strathfieldsaye, near Bendigo,
contains several vineyards of old repute on the Emu Creek.
Castlemaine counts also some valuable vineyards, and there
are a good many on the River Goulburn in the same latitude.
"Up to the present time, with the exception of the vine-
yards around Melbourne and those of the Yarra, the whole
of the southern coast of Victoria, the most temperate parts
of all of Australia, and perhaps the most fertile, a stretch of
9194.
L


162
land 500 miles long by 60 miles broad, extending from Cape
Otway to the River Glenelg, has scarcely been tried for
viticulture. Should, as we may anticipate, experience prove
the value of wines grown in mild latitudes, there are
16,000,000 acres on that southern coast hitherto held as a
region too cold for growing vines, which may yet become
one of the most valuable parts of the Australian continent
for that purpose."
The Character oe the Wines.
All the wines of the northern region of Victoria are full-
bodied and generous, of magnificent colour; the red can be
similar to the fine wines of Roussillon and Asti, and we
have met on the Emu Creek, at Stawell, and sometimes in
smaller vineyards, where wines had been fermented in
smaller quantities—brilliant ruby wines like the cote-r6tie
of the Hermitage, and sprightly ones like the best of the
Valteline. If the wines of the Murray can be compared to
those of Spain and Portugal; the wines of Bendigo, Stawell,
and the Goulburn to those of the Rhone and Pyrenees;
the grapes near Melbourne, growing in a cooler latitude, one
or two degrees more south, and often visited by the coast
rains, produce wines more similar to those of the Rhine and
Bordeaux. The fine wines of Sunbury, of Essendon, and
the Yarra district have gained colonial reputations.
At the time of the Melbourne Exhibition in 1881, the
proprietor of one of the Yarra vineyards requested M.
Eigenshenck, the representative of the well-known house of
Arles-Dufour, of Paris, &c, to take back with him some
samples of his wines and have them valued in Bordeaux.
The result of this inquiry is so important, by the high
position of (he judge it was submitted to in Bordeaux, that
it is only right for us to give the full particulars.
In December, 1881, Messrs. Arles-Dufour communicated
the following, written to them by Mr. A. Lalande, of
Bordeaux, to whom the wines had been submitted :—
"We have found the Nos. 1 and 2 (red wine 1879, made
from Cabernet-Sauvignon) very good, and we have given
them a value of frs. 1,000 per tonneau of 900 litres.
"We have found the No. 4 good (white Hermitage 1879),
and we have given it a value of frs. 600 to 700 per tonneau."
The name of Mr. Armand Lalande, the president of the
Chamber of Commerce of Bordeaux, is a household word in
England as well as in France. He is the first authority on





164
Mr. de Castella in conclusion, "cost them 6d. per gallon, or
about that, and if they can sell them at their farms, during
the,year following the vintage, for 1s. 6d. per gallon, there
is, on an average crop of 250 gallons per acre, a profit of
over £12 per acre, which no other crop can give. A culti-
vation based upon such returns cannot but increase."
Australian Champagne.
The manufacture of champagne has engaged the attention
of three or four growers in Victoria and New South Wales
for many years, and much experience has been gained as
to the requirements of the industry under local conditions.
Colonial experimenters have had good natural wines to work
with, and they have, with considerable enterprise, obtained
the best expert assistance from France. Considerable diffi-
culty was experienced in adopting the peculiar and delicate
manufacturing process to the peculiarity of local climatic
conditions, but within the last few years a large measure of
success has been achieved. Mr. Hans W. Irvine, of Great
Western Vineyard, 139 miles from Melbourne, having ob-
tained highly satisfactory results. A great difficulty with
other experimenters has been that of controlling the tempera-
ture in a naturally warm climate, and in overcoming this
obstacle Mr. Irvine has been effectively assisted by the pos-
session of a deep underground cellar, the features of which
are unique in the Australian Colonies. The cellars are ex-
cavated out of decayed granite rock, 25 feet below the sur-
face, and the temperature in its vaults remains at about 58
degrees, showing very little variation throughout the year.
Although the cellars were originally constructed for the
accommodation of the clarets and hocks for which the vine-
yard has been long celebrated, and which are still the basis
of Mr. Irvine's extended business, their suitableness for the
preparation of sparkling wines has, during recent years, led
to an increasing use of them for that purpose. The making
of champagne, sparkling hock, and sparkling burgundy was
commenced at the Great Western Vineyard in 1890, and the
results have been fairly successful. There are at present
150,000 bottles in the cellar, and an additional 48,000
bottles of the 1896 and 1897 vintages are being added.
Considerable difficulty has been experienced in obtaining
the necessary skilled labour, a drawback to which every
new industry is subject. The Great Western sparkling








165
wines have been successful at several important exhibi-
tions, and have been well spoken of by many qualified
experts. Having overcome many of the difficulties inevit-
able to a new industry, champagne-making is likely to
prove an important branch of Australian wine-growing
in Victoria.
Australian Brandy.
A considerable quantity of wine is made into brandy,
this branch of production having increased during recent
years owing to the low prices ruling for wines. On ac-
count of the exportable surplus of wine having increased
beyond the capacity of the existing demand, local prices
have fallen to a low level, and considerable quantities of
new wines have been sold to distillers at about 6d. per
gallon. There are eight distilleries in the colony, and the
quantity of wine made into brandy in 1895 was 213,193
gallons. While the prices offered by distillers are unsatis-
factory to growers who have produced wine for the proper
wine market, growers who produce specially for distilling
prices find the prices remunerative. It is probable, there-
fore, that an increase in the production of brandy will
take place, along with the development of the wine-
growing industry.
For further information apply to Mr. J. M. Sinclair, the
Representatative in London of the Victorian Department of
Agriculture.


166
IRRIGATION AND WATER SUPPLY.
About twenty years ago the highly satisfactory returns
obtained by a few scattered settlers as the result of artificially
watering their crops directed attention to the subject of irri-
gation. The representatives of the two leading Victorian
newspapers, who visited America in 1883, reported that irri-
gation was being carried on with great success in that
country, and soon afterwards the Hon. Alfred Deakin, a
member of the Government, accompanied by Mr. Derry, an
experienced engineer from India, proceeded to America for
the purpose of investigating the subject. The results of this
investigation were favorable, and public opinion having been
thoroughly aroused upon the subject the Hon. Alfred Deakin,
as Minister of Water Supply, introduced and successfully
carried through a scheme providing for national irrigation.
A National Scheme.
Under the scheme the land-holders of suitable districts
were allowed to constitute irrigation trusts for the purpose
of carrying out water supply works, the Government
lending the necessary capital at a low rate of interest
upon the security of the land supplied with water. So
confident were land-dwners that they readily pledged their
holdings as security, constituting trusts, and borrowing
large sums of money from the Government. Nearly the
whole of the occupied lands- in the drier portions of the
colony were placed under the control of local trusts and pro-
vided with more or less expensive water supply works. The
national scheme was universally popular, and its immediate
effect was to greatly improve in the drier districts the supply
of water for domestic and stock purposes. When, however,
the time arrived for the commencement of the payment of
interest considerable difficulty arose. It was a feature of the
scheme that the interest was to be provided out of funds
received by the trusts for the sale of water used for irriga-
tion purposes. From a variety of causes however very little
irrigation had been carried out by land-owners, and conse-
quently interest had to be met by the clauses of the Act
providing for taxing the land. Two causes may be assigned
for the failure of the land-owners to use the available water
for irrigation. In the first place, a series of wet seasons had






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167
prevailed rendering good crops available without recourse to
irrigation; and, in the second place, the population occupying
the land were not acquainted with the practical details of
the various. methods of using water artificially in agricul-
ture, or the culture of the several crops suitable under such
a system. The outcome of the whole matter has been the
discovery that a slower rate of progress would have been
better. All concerned—Government, officials, and land-
owners—have been too sanguine, but in the long run, although
not so quickly as anticipated, the national irrigation scheme
will prove remunerative. The payment of interest to the
Government has been postponed, but the land served has
permanently improved, and the practice of irrigation to
render the investments remunerative is being extended.
The Futdre of Irrigation.
Irrigation has not been disappointing. It is the lack of
irrigation that has caused the temporary trouble. When
water has been applied to the land the results have been
equal to expectation. Recept dr^seaSpns have given fresh
evidence of the value of irrig&tion^ andwith. the growth of
knowledge the system is likfely .to increase until the irriga-
tion trusts are placed upon a sound financial basis. The
following account of the various irrigation schemes of the
colony is condensed from a report of Mr. Stuart Murray,
Chief Engineer of the Water Supply Department:—
The Goulburn Valley.
The Goulburn is the largest of Victorian rivers. It has
the largest drainage area, the greatest mean volume, and
the most permanent stream. The area of its basin, down to
the weir recently constructed near Murchison, is little less
than 4,000 square miles, and a considerable proportion of this
area consists of high mountain ranges, whose melting snows
maintain the volume of the river far into the summer. The
term Goulburn Valley would, strictly applied, include this
great basin. It is, however, by popular usage limited to
the plain that extends from Murchison northward to the
Murray, through which winds the Goulburn River after its
debouchment from the ranges. Here it is to be understood
in a still more restricted sense—it is to be taken as includ-
ing only that portion of the plain commanded by the works,


168
actual or projected, of the Goulburn irrigation scheme.
This comprises, east of the river, the projected East Goul-
burn Irrigation Trust district, with an area in round numbers,
of 225,000 acres; and west of the river, the district of the
existing Rodney Irrigation Trust, with an area of 278,000
acres, and that of the Echuca and Waranga Waterworks
Trust, with an area of 272,000 acres, or about 775,000 acres
in all.
The district of the proposed East Goulburn Irrigation
Trust—it has not been actually constituted—includes a great
part of the Shires of Shepparton and Numurkah, and smaller
portions of the Shires of Goulburn, Euroa, and Yarra-
wonga.
Irrigation Trusts.
The Rodney Irrigation Trust district is nearly coterminus
with the Shire of Rodney. The Echuca and Waranga
Waterworks Trust district, comprising part of the Shires
of Echuca and Waranga, has also been constituted. Within
the area referred-te-as the Goulburn Valley, there are also
included theTowns #fShepparton, Numurkah, and Wunghnu,
Tatura, Ky&bram, and Mboroopna. These, which have a
joint population of 5,260, are not reckoned as part of the
area commanded by the works. That area is 775,000 acres
on both sides of the river, with a total rural population of
10,400 persons, an annual rateable value of £145,000, and
an immediately dependent urban population of 5,260, settled
in six towns that are within the borders, though excluded
from the area, of the irrigation district. Each of these towns,
excepting Wunghnu, has a separate water service of its own,
some of them dependent on the irrigation works as their
source of supply. The lands on the east side of the river
are supplied with water for domestic and stock use only
by the Goulburn River, the Broken River (which is one of
its tributaries), and the Broken Creek (which is an affluent
of the Broken River), also by some artificial channels sup-
plied chiefly by pumping from these sources. The west side
of the river has a much more efficient system—a very com-
plete reticulation, comprising nearly 400 miles of channels,
supplied by gravitation from the national works constructed
by the Government. These are ample to provide fully for
domestic and stock wants, with a surplus available for the
irrigation of a limited area.














171
in lucerne, divided into paddocks and kept under irrigation.
This land has maintained eight sheep to the acre throughout
the summer. Mr. Kavanagh has also 16 acres under mixed
fruits and 20 acres under raisin vines irrigated, the whole in
excellent condition and bearing annually a heavy crop of
fruit of unexceptionable quality. Several of Mr. Kavanagh's
neighbours have areas under lucerne, chiefly used for beeves
and dairy cattle, and plantations of vines and fruit trees.
Wherever there is water available the lucerne paddocks and
the plantatious are under irrigation, and the area is con-
tinually being extended.
Population Wanted.
On the east side of the river, though there is no irrigation
and no water yet available for the purpose, there is a
considerable area of planted land. There are, in fact, more
than 450 acres of plantations, two-thirds of which, or about
300 acres, are in close proximity to the Town of Shep-
parton. These plantations comprise apples, apricots,
peaches, table grapes, and mixed fruits. There are no
grapes grown specially for raisin-making nor for the pro-
duction of wine, but the possibility of having to dispose of
surplus produce, and eventually probably of the bulk of the
crop, by drying, seems to be kept in view in all planting.
Besides the fruit plantations there are a good many small
areas of lucerne, maize, sorghum, and liroom corn. The
plantations generally are kept in a high state of cultivation,
and it is surprising what crops of fruit are obtained, both as
to quantity and quality, under dry tillage.
The devotion of the soil to intense culture (for which it is
so well adapted), the utilization of the water of the magni-
ficent river that nature has provided, and its application to
the land as solvent for the stores of plant food it contains,
can only be the work of time. The land is there far beyond
the possibility of utilization by its present handful of
occupants. It is of unexceptional quality; the water is
available, or is rapidly being made available, to stimulate
its productiveness and develop its resources. It is not
possible to doubt that time will solve the problem of how
this development can be best accomplished.
The Lower Loddon and Gunbower Districts.
The Lower Loddon and Gunbower districts may be briefly
•described as including the alluvial plain that stretches from


-but these are exceptional, a fair crop being six cases from
each full-grown mature tree. Mr. Lang thinks that com-
mand of water is a condition essential to successful fruit-
growing in the Castlemaine district. The bulk of the crop
is disposed of in Melbourne, Bendigo, and Castlemaine, but
a portion has during each of the past four years been ex-
ported to London. In the present season 600 cases of apples
have been despatched to England, all packed in the modern
American manner—that is, each separate apple rolled in a
sheet of tissue paper. The cost of transit to London, in the
cool chambers of the mail boats, is about 4s. 6d. per case,
which, at recent prices, leaves a fair profit to the grower.
The trade is enlarging. Besides fruit-growing there is a
little dairying in the Barker's Creek district, and the two
industries seem to run well together, the refuse from the
cow-yards forming excellent manure for the trees. In the
Campbell's Creek district, lying south-east from Castle-
maine, there are about 350 acres planted with fruit, the bulk
of which is cultivated dry, though some of the orchards get
a partial supply from the pipe reticulations.
A few miles south-east from the City of Bendigo, in the
valleys of the Sheepwash, Emu, and Axe Creeks, there are
about 1,000 acres under plantations of various kinds. About
600 acres are under vines, and 400 acres are under other
descriptions of fruit. None of this area is irrigated, but the
necessity for watering during the past season has been pain-
fully obvious ; indeed, of late years, it has suffered a great
deal from drought. The works of the Emu Valley Trust
command the greater part of this area, and could be
extended so as tc command almost the whole. The vines
are nearly all of wine varieties. Many of the vignerons—
all the larger growers—are wine-makers, working up their
own crops and purchasing those of their smaller neighbours.
The wines command good—some high—prices, and are well
in request. To the north of Bendigo, along the Huntly-road,
and the valley of the Bendigo Creek, about 600 acres of old
diggings have been taken up, under the provisions of a law
recently passed, for fruit-growing, and about 250 acres have
been reclaimed and planted with trees and vines. A good
example in this way has been set by Mr. Carolin, late mayor
of the city, who has invested a large sum in the business.
About 400 acres are commanded by the Huntly race, and
the balance by one of the pipes of the reticulation. Lower
down the Huntly-road there are about 240 acres of orchards


178
United Waterworks Trust, and in the west by the Western
Wimmera Irrigation Trust, and, as to a small portion, by
the Lowan Shire Water Trust. The water supply to the
Borough of Horsham is administered by a separate urban
trust.
The whole of the area, if we except a small portion of the
Grampians Range that intrudes on the southern boundary,
is of alluvial formation, though generally much more
irregular in profile than the eastern portion of the riverine
plains in Victoria. The soil is generally of good quality, or
from fair to good, of loam, varying from sandy to clayey;
the subsoil more retentive than the surface soil, and with a
varying infiltration of lime.
Excluding the portion held under the mallee settlement
provisions about one-third of the area is held as originally
selected in blocks not exceeding 320 acres; the remainder
chiefly in blocks of from 640 upwards to 3,000 or 4,000
acres, but for the most part not exceeding 1,000 acres. There
are also some half-dozen properties of larger dimensions,
and about 20,000 acres of land are let in farms of from 100
to 300 acres each.
The farmers of the Wimmera district were among the
first to avail themselves of the facilities offered by the
Government for the provision of efficient systems of water
supply in the rural districts. The leading features of their
scheme are a succession of weirs on the Wimmera River at
points favorable for diversion, and the construction of lines
of channel, with distributaries for the service of every part
of the area. The river weirs are the Glenorchy, the Ashens,
the Longerenong, and the Dooen weirs, the main purpose of
which is the diversion of water from the river, though they
act to some extent as storages. There is also a weir at
Horsham, whose sole purpose is to impound water for the
supply of the town. From the Glenorchy weir a short
artificial channel leads into the head of the Swede's Creek,
an affluent of the Richardson River, which in turn empties
itself into Lake Buloke. But for the supply thus artificially
diverted from the Wimmera the Lower Richardson would in
most years have no flow whatever, and when it ceases to flow
it soon becomes so salt as to be unfit for ordinary use.
Another short cut from the weir carries a supply into the
head of the Dunmunkle Creek, from which diverge the
Laen, Lallat. and Minyip channels, and their numerous
branches, and lower down the Carron channel and its


180
towns nor the country can now be said to be in any
sense badly off for water. Besides the domestic- supply
the works are capable of affording something to be
employed in irrigation, especially from the channels
dependent on the Wartook storage.
The colony system of settlement has been attempted here
with some show of success, the colonies being generally the
result of the action of syndicates, who sell land to settlers
at prices ranging from £10 to £20 per acre. Burnlea is
close to the Wimmera River, and within the Borough of
Horsham; it derives a supply of water from a branch of
the channel from Wartook storage. It contains a total of
550 acres, all of which is reticulated with channelling. A
considerable portion has been sold, chiefly to business people
in Horsham, and of these 50 acres are planted with mixed
fruits. Young Brothers' colony has also been all reticulated.
The purchasers in the Young Brothers' colony are chiefly
tradesmen and workmen settled in and about Horsham.
£300 worth of produce—grapes, apricots, and peaches—
were sold from the settlement in 1893, and the returns have
since largely increased. Riverside is on the south bank of
the Wimmera, a few miles above Horsham. It contains
430 acres, all reticulated, and all sold to actual or intending
settlers, the bulk of whom are business people or mechanics
from Melbourne and other towns. Of the latter a few have
entered into possession, are settled, and working in the dis-
trict. The holdings have been planted with vines and fruit
trees. At Dooen there is an area of land subdivided for sale
and settlement, reticulated, and supplied by a branch from
the Dooen pumping main. About two-thirds of it have
been planted with vines and fruit trees. Quantong is a
co-operative settlement, on the right bank of the Wimmera
River, about 12 miles west from Horsham. It contains
2,253 acres of sandy loam, whereof 500 acres have been dis-
posed of, chiefly to mechanics and others from the towns.
Some ten or twelve substantial wooden houses are built or in
course of building by settlers, and several blocks of land
have been planted. The Arapiles colony is near Mount
Arapiles, 20 miles west from Horsham and 5 miles from the
township of Natimuk. It contains 640 acres, whereof 200
have been sold in blocks of 10 acres and upwards, most of
the purchasers being trades people in Natimuk and Horsham,
though a few are of the agricultural class. Besides these
colonies there are a number of individual holders who have


182
THE MILDURA IRRIGATION COLONY.
In introducing a system of irrigation into Victoria, the
Government not only passed the Irrigation Act, under
which the various water supply trusts have been formed, bat
made special arrangements with a firm of Californian experts
for the establishment of an irrigation colony—Mildura, on
the Murray River, being the result. An extensive grant of
land with liberal water privileges was given on easy terms
to the Messrs. Chaffey Brothers, of Ontario, California, on
condition that they would establish such an irrigation colony
as would not only prove the suitableness of the mallee
country for such purposes, but also serve as an object-lesson
on irrigation to settlers in other parts of Victoria. The
Mildura colony, which has now been ten years in existence,
has proved the suitableness of the mallee for irrigation pur-
poses, and has served as a valuable object-lesson in various
branches of fruit-growing under irrigation, and the preserva-
tion and marketing of several varieties of fruit, although the
colony itself, from a number of causes to be herein explained,
has not been so successful as was at one time expected. It
is sufficient for the present to say that the causes of such
disappointment as has been met with in connexion with
Mildura are in no way connected with the profitableness of
irrigation as a system, or any natural unsuitableness of the
soil or climate for the purposes originally intended.
Founding the Colony.
Five years after the agreement was made with the pro-
moters, Mr. Stuart Murray, the Chief Engineer of Water
Supply, wrote as follows :—
"Any account of the progress of irrigation in Victoria that
did not take note of Mildura would be incomplete. The
Mildura settlement is the scene of the greatest experiment in
irrigation yet undertaken here, and the success or failure of
irrigation at Mildura would have largely influenced its
success or failure throughout the colony. The Government
has not invested money in the Chaffey enterprise as it has
invested money in the form of loans advanced to trusts, and
in the construction of costly national works in the Goulburn
Valley, in the Loddon Valley, and throughout the settled
portions of the dry northern districts: yet it has a distinct





CULTIVATING AN ORCHARD.-Mildura.

GATHERING FRUIT.-Mildura.


A
•V


183
right of property in Mildnra in virtue of the concessions it
has made to its founders. They have been given, subject to
the fulfilment of certain conditions on their part, a block of
50,000 acres of land as a free gift, with a further area of
200,000 acres on very favorable terms. But, more than
all, they have had handed over to them a large share of the
colony's inheritance in the waters of the Murray River—a
concession, practically in perpetuity, of so much water as
may be required for the complete irrigation of this enormous
block of 250,000 acres, and for the service of the community
of, it may be, 500,000 or more of people that will eventually
dwell there.
"The agreement between the Victorian Government and
the Messrs. Chaffey was signed in May, 1887, and possession
of the property was entered upon on the 4th of August follow-
ing. The progress may be briefly summarized as follows :—
The present population numbers 4,000, of whom nearly one-
half are actually engaged in the clearing, preparation, and
cultivation of the soil, either as.iand-owners or as workmen.
The area of land sold by the Messrs. Chaffey is, in round
numbers, 17,000 acres, whereof 10,000 have been planted,
500 are under various kinds of annual or green crops, and an
additional 3,000 are cleared and ready for cultivation or
planting. The remainder are held for future improvement.
Of the plantations about two-thirds consist of raisin vines.
The others, in the order of their importance, comprise wine
grapes, apricots, oranges and lemons, peaches, olives, and.
other fruits. The expenditure by the Messrs. Chaffey on
works for the service of the settlement has been far in excess
of that provided for by their agreement. These comprise
eleven pumping plants (ranging from 200 to 1,000 horse-
power each), 150 miles of main and 300 miles of secondary
and distributing channels (whereof about 3 miles are lined
with concrete, made from the local lime), together with
syphons, flumes, bridges, and other secondary works.
"So much for the extent and character of the settlement
and the work done. Now for the results of the work, in its
financial and commercial aspects. So far the settlement
has been maintained chiefly by the capital brought into it by
the settlers themselves and by the expenditure of the firm of
Chaffey Brothers and Co. Little of what it has produced
has been sold to the outside world. No doubt a material
contribution to the support of the settlers has been derived
from their own produce. Some of them have earned a few





187
deposits are now well known, so that further loss is not
likely to be sustained from this cause. Such lands will in
future be avoided by planters; they will be devoted to the
growing of cereal and fodder crops, and there is a very
large area available for extending the orchards and vine-
yards. The yields of fruit as has been said have exceeded
expectations, and all qualified judges who have seen the
fruit have spoken of them in the highest terms.
A railway connecting Mildura with Melbourne, Ballarat,
Bendigo, and other large towns is necessary to insure the
success of the settlement. It was expected by the first
settlers that a railway would soon be constructed, but soon
after the period of colonial depression the proposal to make
this line was indefinitely postponed. Recently, however, the
matter has been again receiving public attention, and the
Government are now seriously inquiring into the prospects
of such a line proving remunerative. There is a growing
opinion among public men that a railway to Mildura cannot
be much longer delayed, and there is no doubt that railway
communication would give a great impetus to the settle-
ment. New-comers to Victoria, who may intend entering upon
fruit-growing, would do well to see Mildura before settling
down. Owing to the check which this settlement has met
with, planted orchards and vineyards in full bearing can be
purchased much cheaper than they are ever likely to be
again, and investors who avoid the small patches of alkaline
land already described have good prospects of doing
well.


188
FLOCKS AND HERDS.
The keeping of live stock may be considered the pioneering-
branch of Victorian agricnltnre, for it was as pastures for
flocks and herds that the fertile lands of the colony were first
occupied. The rich natural pastures, and the genial climate
of the Port Phillip district, attracted pastoralists from the
adjacent island of Tasmania and the more northern portion
of New South -Wales, and the occupation of the country for
grazing purposes led to the discovery of gold with its influx
of population, and the introduction of the various branches
of agriculture. At first stock-raising was carried on upon
large divisions of country called "runs," which were leased
from the Crown, and afterwards when a great portion of the
land was alienated large estates were acquired, upon which
the grazing of sheep, cattle, and horses were carried on,
while the keeping of live stock also became an important
feature of the farming system adopted by settlers who acquired
smaller holdings. In the colony, therefore, we have the
breeding of sheep and cattle as a separate industry, as well
as a department of general farming. Owing to the excel-
lence of the natural pastures and the mild climate, grazing
has from the beginning continued to be highly profitable,
the small amount of labour involved having been a favor-
able condition where wages have always been high.
Sheep.
The merino wools of Victoria (first known as Port Phillip)
are the finest in the world. Mr. G. A. Brown, author of
The Merino Sheep in Australia writes as follows upon
the introduction of the merino into the colony :—" Victoria,
under the old name of Port Phillip, was the first of the
Australian Colonies to demonstrate to the world that merino
wool of the exceptional fineness, length of staple, softness, and
lustre could be grown in large quantities on the wide
pasture lands. For nearly half-a-century the wool produced
by the famous flocks of Victoria has held a foremost place in
the estimation of European manufacturers, and has always
realized the highest prices in the markets of Europe.
Though great strides have been made by the flock-masters in
the other Australasian Colonies, Victoria still holds her pride
of place in the front rank. The advantage that Victoria
possesses over other pastoral lands in the production of
merino wool, of the highest quality, is in a measure due to





189
the skill-of her flock-masters; but it must be admitted that
the beauty of Victorian wool is mainly owing to the climate
and pastures of the country. In summer the heat as
measured by the thermometer is very great, but such is the
character of the atmosphere that Europeans can work under
the blazing sun, and in the greatest heat, without injury to
their health. In winter the cold is never excessive; snow
is seldom seen save on the highest mountains. Frosts are
frequent, but not so severe as to injure the stock, and the
sharpest frost is dissipated before the sun is a couple of
hours high. The climate much resembles that in which the
merino flocks were reared in their old home in the Spanish
Peninsula, when they passed the summer in the mountains of
Montanat, the winter on the plains of Estremadura. By some
people it has been thought that in this peculiarity of climate
lies the secret of the beauty of Victorian merino wool."
The Land of the Golden Fleece.
"Victoria," says the same authority," has been justly called
the land of the golden fleece, for it is her golden fleeces that
have brought wealth to the country more than any other
industry. This colony is another illustration of the truth of
the old Spanish proverb—' Sheep have golden feet, and
whenever the print of their footstep is seen the land is turned
to gold.' The originals of the Victorian merino flocks were
obtained from the mother colony of New South Wales and
from the adjacent island of Tasmania. The country was for-
tunate in having for its first inhabitants men having sufficient
skill, backed up by a fair amount of capital, to secure the
finest sheep in both colonies. It is, however, to Tasmanian
flocks that the best Victorian studs trace their origin, and
even now rams from the island flocks are highly prized, and
realize very high prices at the annual ram fairs held in
Melbourne. The first to introduce sheep into Victoria were
the Messrs. Henty, who sailed from Launceston in 1834, and
settled down near Portland, now a small town on the coast
of Victoria. These gentlemen were not only the first to
introduce sheep in Victoria, but they were the first colonists
who set foot in the land. To Mr. T. Henty and his sons
Australia is greatly indebted for the introduction of merino
sheep of the highest class. The flock was formed in Eng-
land, towards the end of the last century, with pure merinos
obtained from the flock kept by H.M. George III. The
following notice of this flock appears in Thos. W. Horsefield's











THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY,
ASTOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATION;,.


199
Government Lands ...
Government Assistance
General Advantages ...
Gold
Horticulture
Botany
Public Parks and Gardens
Botanic Gardens...
Horticultural Societies ..
Market Gardening
Plant Nurseries ...
Private Gardens
Fruits ...
Vegetables
Horses
Hay and Grasses
Hops
Imports and Exports
Irrigation and Water Supply .
A National Scheme
Future of Irrigation
- The Goulburn Valley
Irrigation Trusts
The Murchison Weir
Irrigated Holdings
Population Wanted
The Lower Loddon and Gunbower Districts
The Castlemaine and Bendigo Districts
The Wimmera District ...
Concluding Remarks
The Mildura Irrigation Colony
Inspection of Dairies and Exports
Lands of the Colony ...
Cheap Land
Land a Good Investment
Favorable Opportunities
Government Land
Pastoral Areas ...
Agricultural Allotments
Mallee Lands
Openings for Settlers
Village Settlements
Land a Good Investment
Local Government
Manufactories, Works, &c
Mining Industry of Victoria
Physical Features
Gold-bearing Formations
Bendigo Gold-field
Auriferous Contact Zones
Maldon
Stawell...
Diorite Dykes ...
Walhalla
Ballarat
Other Indicators
Rokewood ...
Creswick