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 MC CANCELLED 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface v 
 
 Collection and Storage of Water in Victoria - - 1 
 
 Agriculture of Victoria 51 
 
 Origin and Distribittion of Gold in Quartz Veins - 209 
 
 Development of the Hesources of the Colony - - 241 
 
 2 a 
 
 11G6337
 
 FEE FACE. 
 
 During last year the following notification was made 
 public : — 
 
 KOYAL SOCIETY OF VICTORIA.— GOVERNMENT PRIZE 
 
 ESSAYS, 1860. 
 
 The Council of the Royal Society of Victoria has to announce that the 
 Government has placed at the disposal of the Council the sum of Six- 
 hundred pounds sterling, voted by the Legislative Assembly as Premiums 
 for Essays. The Council has decided, with the sanction of the Govern- 
 ment, that the premium to be awarded for the best Essay on each subject 
 shall be One hundred and twenty-five pounds sterling, with a medal. The 
 following subjects have been selected, viz. : — 
 
 1. On the Collection and Storage of Water in Victoria for Gold-Wash- 
 
 ing, Irrigation, Motive-Power, and General Water Supply; with 
 reference also to the practicability of Artesian Wells in certain 
 localities. 
 
 2. On Agriculture in Victoria, with special reference to the Geological 
 
 and Chemical Character of Soils, to the Rotation of Crops, and to 
 the Sources and Application of Manures. 
 
 3. On the Origin and Distribution of Gold in Quartz-Veins, and its 
 
 Association with other Metals and Minerals, and on the most 
 improved Methods for extracting Gold from its Matrices. 
 
 4. On the Manufactures more Immediately Required for the Economical 
 
 Development of the Resources of the Colonj^ with special reference 
 
 to those Manufactures the raw materials of which are the produce 
 
 of Victoria. 
 
 Competitive Essays on the above subjects are required to be written in a 
 
 legible hand, on foolscap paper, on one side only, and leaving a two-inch 
 
 margin. The authors will attach mottos only to the Essays, and accompany 
 
 each Essay with a sealed envelope, containing inside the name and address 
 
 of the author, and on the outside the motto affi.xed to the Essav.
 
 VI 
 
 The Essays must be in the hands of the Honorary Secretary of the Royal 
 Society on or before the 1st of October, 1860. 
 
 The Council will appoint, subject to the approval of Government, three 
 judges, who may or may not be members of the Society, to decide on the 
 respective values of the competitive Essays on each of the four topics named ; 
 but the Council reserves the power to withhold the premium in the case of 
 any of the subjects, should the competitive Essays on tliat subject be consi- 
 dered unworthy of such a reward. 
 
 The Essays receiving premiums shall be considered the property of the 
 Government. 
 
 Koyal Society, ^■ictoria-street, 
 
 Melbourne, March 28, i860. 
 
 Ill Mccordance with this uotificatiou, Essays to the number 
 of tweuty-six were forwarded to the Royal Society, and after 
 careful examination the following were adjudged to be the 
 successful ones. 
 
 During tht- progress of these Prize Essays through the press, 
 numerous and valuable additions were made by the Authors 
 to the original text. In justice to the other competitors, these 
 additions are printed in a different type, and take the form of 
 appendices. The foot notes formed part of the original MSS. 
 Several maps, woodcuts, and tabulated stiitements have also 
 been introduced to elucidate the various subjects. These 
 circumstances have combined io delay the pubHcation of the 
 ElsHays until a later period tlian was originally anticipated. 
 
 The subjects treateil of in the Essays which follow relate 
 to the further development or more ecoiiomicil u.sr of the 
 principal ii;itui;il resource's of tlir colony. While somi' of these 
 have been alrejwly so fidly re.ilized ;i.s U> li.ive placed Victoria 
 in a rommaii<liii;,f position, it can scarcely be deiiiod that 
 others admit of still fnrtliej dixelopment, :inil indee.l demand
 
 vu 
 
 attention, if the progress of the country is to be at all com- 
 mensurate in the future with that which has marked it during 
 the last few years. Moreover, as increase of population requires 
 that new sources of industry should be made known, these 
 Essays are further designed to indicate the direction in which 
 such sources may be found, by those whose unemployed labor 
 or capital seek for a fresh outlet for profitable investment. 
 
 The first Essay treats of the collection and economical use 
 of the Water Supply of the country, so as to render it more 
 available than now, for tlie gold irxiner, the agriculturist, the 
 manufacturer, and for general domestic and sanatory purposes. 
 By collecting and storing the frequently superabundant waters, 
 so as to ensure a more constant and less costly supply, valuable 
 assistance will be given to existing industrial pursuits, many of 
 which fail at present to be permanent and profitable mainly 
 for want of this desideratum. 
 
 The second Essay is occupied Avith the Geological, and, 
 to a certain extent, the Chemical Characters, &c., of the 
 various Soils of the country, a correct knowledge of which 
 alone can enable the agriculturist to carry on his operations 
 with certainty of success when the original qualities of the 
 soil have been exhausted, and it becomes necessary to add 
 fertilizing agencies. To those (and they are many) whose 
 farming operations are now conducted empirically, this Essay 
 will be read with pleasure, and it is anticipated that the prin- 
 ciples laid down in it may be followed mth advantage. 
 
 The third Essay deals with an important branch of Gold 
 Mining enterprise ; and while, to some extent, necessarily
 
 Vlll 
 
 taken up with discussing the theories as to the formation of 
 Quartz Vtins, it yet enters into practical details which cannot 
 fail to be of benefit to those eugageil in quartz-mining pm*- 
 suits, enabling them to conduct their operations with more 
 economy, and to utilise what lias often been hitherto consi- 
 dered the refuse of the mines, because of ignorance of its 
 value, or tlie proper method of treating it with advantage. 
 
 The fourth Essay is occupied with the consideration of 
 the Manufactures which may be necessary for the economical 
 development of such resources as have been as yet but 
 partially recognized in Victoria. 
 
 A proper degree of attention to the .several matters treated 
 of in these Essays will to some extent enable those, whether 
 in Victoria or at a distance, who poss(\ss tithor knowledge 
 or capital, or both, to judge of the fitness of V^ictoria as a 
 field for the employmt.'iit of labor or the investment of ra|)ital. 
 
 It is to be hoped, in conclusion, that this effort on the 
 part of the Legi.slaturf will incite to a more careful study, 
 and a more economical use of those vast resources which 
 require but science and ijidustry to develop, and that Victoria 
 may become celebrated not only for her inexhaustible mineral 
 wealth and fertile soil. I)ut also for superior local mainifaetures 
 and the quality of tho r.iw matciials sho is destined lo supply 
 so largely for the industry of otli(>r countries. 
 
 .JOHN MACADAM, iM.D., 
 
 Ili>iii,r,iri/ tStcrcfari/ to the Itvyal Svcirty of V>rfi>ri<i. 
 Dte. n. isi.l
 
 ESSAY 
 
 djollection and Storage nf l®ati}i 
 
 IN VICTOEIA. 
 
 BY FREDERICK ACHESON, C.E.
 
 ESSAY. 
 
 The development of the ample resources of this colony demands at 
 the present time the most serious and careful attention. The fact 
 that industrial pursuits have of late not yielded that large return 
 of former years, indicates either that the natural resources have 
 been diminished, or that the means of developing- them are insuffi- 
 cient: the pi'oduction of mineral wealth is dependent upon a pre- 
 carious supply of water, which, in the most favorable years, is 
 inadequate. The gold fields, long since stripped of their richer 
 deposits, now present openings where only real industry, combined 
 with ample appliances, will make them productive, while a vast 
 extent of poor auriferous country i-emains deserted and unworked, 
 which would 3'ield profitable results from the judicious supply of 
 water. That the yield of gold would be enormously increased is 
 undoubted and admitted on all sides, while the capital invested 
 would be highly reproductive, and that without taxing mining- 
 interests to any sensible extent, as the general surface of the 
 auriferous districts is highly favorable for obtaining amjile sup- 
 plies of water for artificial storage both from its undulating and 
 impervious nature, while in its general configuration abundant 
 sites for reservoirs of lai-ge capacity are presented, which, in many 
 cases would involve but little outlay in their construction. It is 
 satisfactor}"- to know that, notwitlistanding the diminished rainfall, 
 an amj)le supply will be always available for collection, if only 
 from the contribution of periodical heav}' rains which ha])pen 
 during the driest 3'ears. The question of water supply becomes thus 
 practically limited to economical storage capabilities. This colony 
 has a mean rainfall, scarcely inferior, if not full}' equal to that of 
 England, whose more favorable geological formations modify the 
 flow of water so as to distiibute it ])ermanenth' throughout the 
 
 B 2
 
 4 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 year. In Victoria the raiu tails upon a g-enerally impervious sur- 
 face unsuited to its absorption, and hence passes rapidh' to the sea, 
 leaving- the beds of watercourses dry for a certain part of the year. 
 How to prevent this enormous loss which forms a serious drawback 
 to mining-, ag-ricultural, and pastoral interests, forms a question of 
 the hij^hest importance to the industrial advancement of the 
 colony. 
 
 RAINFALL. 
 
 The observations on the rainfall of Melbourne have been con- 
 ducted firstly, during the years from 1846 to 1851 inclusive, by 
 Mr. Archer ; the mean result for the six yeai-s was liQ inches per 
 annum, the lowest being 'JO inches for the year 1847, and the 
 highest 44J inches for the year 1840, in the November of which 
 there fell so much as 11? inches. The results obtained during- the 
 yeai-s 1855, 1850, and 1857, at the Surve^'or-General's otiice, were 
 nearly the same for each, being 28^ inches. 
 
 Professor Neumayer's observations fiom March, 1858, to 
 Febmary, 1859, give a mean rain for Melbourne of 21 i inches, 
 and from March, 1859, to February, 1860, 21f inches. 
 
 The following- table shews the results of observations throughout 
 the colony hitherto jmblished : — 
 
 
 E 
 
 1 
 •3 
 
 e 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 c 
 •f 
 
 o 
 
 c 
 
 M 
 « 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 -a 
 i 
 1 
 
 c 
 o 
 
 £ 
 
 U 
 
 ■o 
 
 c 
 c 
 
 1 
 
 e 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 < 
 
 1 
 
 1846 
 
 39 G9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1847 
 
 2r>-2.'> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 IH48 
 
 aavA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 IM» 
 
 41 2.'> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 loao 
 
 ■i«>»H 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 lOAl 
 
 aioo 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 June IBM 
 
 34 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 to 
 
 mean cif 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jan. IHM . 
 
 Hiiitlu. 
 
 mean 
 fur 1 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Feb. IBM 
 
 
 iimiiUu 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 to 
 
 38 as 
 
 3U3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jan. IK.'i? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 iHhl t'> IH.*.)t 
 
 WM 
 
 31-79 
 
 34-10 
 
 30-31 
 
 87 40 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mar. 1 )i 'iH 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 mean 
 
 mean 
 
 to 
 Kib. I8.VJ I 
 
 31 09 
 
 17-36 
 
 
 ■ism 
 
 
 34-47 
 
 30-87 
 
 19-04 
 
 97-97 
 
 27-30 
 
 lor II 
 niuntliR 
 
 for 8 
 niniitlia 
 
 >lar. Itt^'jS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2U4 
 
 2-89 
 
 (o 
 
 21 73 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 rub. iHfvij 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mar. mjO\ 
 
 1-70 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 to 
 
 mean 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8rpt. I860j 
 
 pr.mth. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATER. 5 
 
 From this table it appears that not only there has been a con- 
 siderable diminution in the amount of" rainfall of late years in 
 Melbourne, but also that the last two years of observation were 
 unusually dry. 
 
 As the averag-e rain of the interior, where observed, was over 
 25 inches during- a year of this dry period, this amount may safely 
 be assumed as within the general averag-e, and sufficiently safe to 
 base calculations of least supply upon. 
 
 This rainfall gives a mean result of 381,668,000 tone of water 
 per day over the whole area of the colony. 
 
 AVAILABLE RAIN, DRAINAGE BASINS, Etc. 
 
 The proportion of this rain that drains olf the surface, and 
 thence by the watercourses reaches the sea, being- the available 
 rainfall, forms a most important feature in this inquiry, and is one 
 unfortunately that has never been determined by any extended 
 series of experiments ; some liiilit, however, may be thrown upon 
 this subject by investigating- the conditions of surfaces forming- 
 drainage basins relative)}' with the known or deduced discharges 
 of water therefrom. 
 
 The disposal of the rainfall upon its descent upon the surface 
 may be classed as follows : firstly, b}' surface moisture and evapo- 
 ration ; secondly, by absorption and filtration throug-h porous 
 formations orig'inating- springs; thirdly, by surface drainage into 
 the watercourses forming- the main portion available for collection 
 and storage. The relative proportions of rainfall disposed in each 
 case necessarily depends upon the geological nature and configu- 
 ration of the receiving basins, a due consideration of which is 
 all-important in investigating the sources of water supply. 
 
 A large proportion of the colony consists of sandstone and slate 
 formation, highly contorted from upheaval, and covered frequently 
 with vast plains of basalt, especially towards the west, and pro- 
 truded by large masses of plutonic rock, principally towards the 
 east. 
 
 The general surface of this formation is of an impervious, 
 non-absorbent character, being- covered with a stiff clay, the result 
 of its own decomposition, and also with beds of cemented gravel 
 and sand of a generally very impervious nature. 
 
 The immense area occupied b}' this formation as the surface
 
 6 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 rock, and its necessarily undulating and steep character, combine 
 with its su|5erticial ini])tMviousness to etiect the rapid discharg-e of 
 a large per-centage of tlie rain into the watercourses, and thence to 
 the sea, at once causing destructive floods and subsequent drought 
 fi'om the sudden and intermittent nature of the discharge. 
 
 But while to this formation, consequently almost destitute of 
 springs, may be mostly attributed the non-permanency of the 
 streams, and tlie badly watered condition of a large portion of 
 Victoria, it nevertheless forms the best gathering grounds for the 
 collecting and storage of water, and discharges oft' its surface the 
 largest per centage of rainfall, and is therefore well adapted in an 
 economical point of view for the supply of storage reservoirs, 
 which mav therefore in this formation be constructed of smaller 
 capacity than those fed from more porous basins. 
 
 Although it may be said that this formation has comparatively 
 little capacity for absorbing water, and giving it out gratlually in 
 the form of springs owing to its retentive character, yet the beds 
 of its leading valleys and watercourses are frequently covered with 
 an alluvium of sandy clay and gravel of a higbly absorbent 
 character, resting immediately upon the surface of the rock and 
 affording abundant sup])lies of water by sinking even in the dry 
 seasons. To this source are the gold-fields fre(|uciitly indebted 
 for a supply of water during the summer months ; the absorbent 
 character of the alluvium effecting a capacity for the storage of 
 Wiiter therein invaluable to tlu* mirier during tiio dry season, 
 altjiongh presenting difficulties to mining operations during the 
 winter. 
 
 IS'ext to the day-slate and sandstone formation the basalt 
 plains occupy the largest area, covering a larg(» jtroportion of the 
 western half of Victoria : owing to their h'vel ehaiaeter they dis- 
 charge a comparatively small ])er centage of rainfall into their 
 waterrourses, wjiich are few and far ajiart; being covered with a 
 toleral)ly stiff' clay they are not well adajiti'd lor absorption, hence 
 a Cf)nsi(ierabje amount of the rainlall rests n])on tlu! surface and 
 is disjiosed in tlie form of swamps and lagoons having no outlet 
 and Kul)jecf U) constant cvajioration. 
 
 'i'he counties of liipon and llampilen consist almost exclusively 
 of trap plains, and evidence bv their conqjarativc! absence of minor 
 watercourses thi; small amount of water (h*ained off' them into the 
 creeks. A considerable area of the latter count v is covered with
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATER. 7 
 
 an immense number of lag*oons and swamps which testify at once 
 the g-eneral non-absorbent character of the soil and the small 
 capacity of the basalt plains for surface drainag'e. The fact also 
 that the creeks intersecting- this formation altliough frequently 
 along' deep valleys have comparatively few and unimportant 
 spring-s, insufficient in the dry season to effect a constant tiow in 
 the creeks, and whose locality is scarcely otherwise indicated than 
 by the presence of salt in the waterholes, evidently the result of 
 salt-spring-s from the basalt, testify to its meagre absorbent 
 capacit}'. The general paucity of spring's from the basalt formation 
 is fiu'ther evidenced by the generally dry beds of its creeks in 
 the summer time, intersecting- as they frequently do one hundred 
 miles of country at levels considerably below the general surface 
 of the plains, they could not fail to drain a regular and uniform 
 supply of water from this formation were it stored therein to any 
 considerable extent. 
 
 That, however, copious springs occasionally occur in this rock is 
 apparent from the examples at Mount Rouse, in the county of 
 Villiers, and at the source of the River Coliban ; these however 
 are probably the result of great volcanic action producing a more 
 decidedly fissured character in the rock than in that of the, basalt 
 plains. 
 
 The primitive granitiform formations of Victoria form a most 
 important feature in its geological structure, as being lhe source 
 of nearly all the permanent streams, forming a considerable 
 portion of the great dividing range, from Mount Disappointment 
 eastwards; from them proceed the only truly permanent streams in 
 the colony, embracing the rivers IMitta-Mitta, Little River, Ovens, 
 Goulburn, and Yarra, with their tributaries, flowing to the north 
 and west, together with the magnificent rivers of Gipps Land 
 flowing towards the south. 
 
 The peculiar aptitude of these rocks for the storage of rain 
 water, and its gradual emission was observed at the sources of the 
 River Plenty in Mount Disappointment, and arises from the lodg- 
 ing of the water in its extensive fissures, while the surface of the 
 rock is covered with a spongy decomposed vegetable soil, con- 
 stantly generatirg fresh vegetation, the subsequent decay of which 
 increases the peaty mass which is thus constantly accumulating; 
 rain foiling upon this spongy surfiice is readily absorbed and filtered 
 through into the fissures beneath, from whence it but slowly
 
 8 TKIZE ESSAY. 
 
 drains out at lower levels, fi-om the external fissures being filled 
 up with tliis spongy' soil, and roots of plants, S:c. The eastern 
 source of the Plenty, when observed in the summer of 1850, 
 delivered 12 cubic feet per second, solely under the above condi- 
 tions. The Woori Yalloak Creek, a small tributary of the Yarra, 
 only 20 feet wide, and supplied from spring-s in the Dandenong 
 and adjacent ranges eastward, discharged in the summer of 1859, 
 50 cubic feet per second, (or about one-tenth of the whole Yarra 
 discharge on same day at Melbourne), from similar sources, as it 
 was not then (if at any time) affected by the melting of snow, or 
 bv surface drainage ; and this creek forms a type, in an inferior 
 degree, of the many constantly flowing tiibutaries of the Yarra, 
 such as the Kiver Don, Badgers' Creek, Running Creek, S:c. ; all 
 of them, in the dry season, evidently the sole result of springs 
 fi-om granitiform rocks, and not from the melting of snow, which 
 if it existed in the height of summer, could be easily seen on the 
 exposed Dandenong, Plenty and othei* ranges, forming the sources 
 of these streams. 
 
 Put while to this cause may be attributed the permanent 
 character of streams generally, another scarcely less important 
 source of supply is derived from the melting of snow on the Aus- 
 tralian Alps, during the spring; tlie ]^Iitta-Mitta, Little River, 
 Ovens, and Goulburn, together with tlie principal rivers of (Jipps 
 Land, are all considerably affected from this cause, and are subject 
 to sudden and heavy floods from the effects of a few warm days 
 in the spring, suddenly melting the snow on the ranges; although 
 this result is comparatively irrespective of the natxire of the for- 
 mation on which tiie snow rests. Yet the continuity of the supply 
 from this source will dejiend, more or less, upon the porous 
 character of the formation on which tlie snow rests, causing its 
 absorption according as molted, and thus storing it, so as to effect 
 a gradiuil flow ; it is thus tliat the snow upon the Australian Alps 
 combines with the fissured character of the granitiform rocks on 
 which it is deposited, to ])ioduce a greater continuity and unifor- 
 mity of flow, than if the surface formation were ol" a more imper- 
 vious nature. 
 
 The Australian Al|)s, with their e.xtensive sj>urs, extending i'ar 
 northwards and southwards, under these conditions, and traversing 
 u« they do, more than one hundred miles in length in Victoriii, 
 thus iiMtMi:iIly form the source of an immense sujtply of water.
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OE WATER, U 
 
 which is to a considerable extent stored within their fissures, and 
 given oiit p'radualh'' in the dry season, after tlie melting- of the 
 snow has ceased; this fact is abundantl}-- proved hy the measure- 
 ments of discharge taken by the Survey Department of Victoria 
 in February of the present year; the aggregate discharge south- 
 ward into Gipps Land, with the exception of the Snowy River, 
 amounted to 1600 cubic feet per second, while that to the north- 
 ward and westward from the IMitta-Mitta to the Yarra, resulted 
 in 2580 cubic feet per second in December of last 3'ear; these 
 results making together 4180 cubic feet taken in the di-y season, 
 when the melting of the snow must have ceased, (excepting on 
 the highest altitudes), and thus representing only the residue 
 drainage, would form a combined stream, fully equal to the summer 
 How of the River Murray below the Goulburn. 
 
 With such an amount of water obtainable from this source 
 during the dry season it is reasonable to calculate upon a vastly 
 greater quantity as representing the whole annual flow therefrom, 
 a great proportion of which is carried away upon the sudden 
 melting of the snow, in heavy floods, as is evidenced b}^ the rapid 
 rising of the rivers, frequently up to 18 feet in a few hours, on 
 the first approach of a few warm days in the spring. 
 
 It may at least, therefore, be assumed with tolerable certainty, 
 that the Australian Alps, with their connected ranges, occupying 
 an immense area in Gipps Land and the Murray District, form a 
 source of water supply ampl}'- sufficient for the whole surface of 
 the colony for all useful purposes. 
 
 The practicability of the disposal of a ])ortion of this vast 
 natural supply in the form of central westerly streams, capable 
 of commanding at high levels a large area of Victoria, forms a 
 subject worthy of the deepest consideration, fraught as it is with 
 such importance to the development of all the material resources 
 of the colony ; nor should the ap])arently insurmountable diffi- 
 culties that present themselves to the execution of such a great 
 work deter searching investigation into its merits. So high an 
 authority as the Survey oi'-General has, indeed, already pro})ounded 
 a scheme somewhat similar, and of as great magnitude : in the 
 absence of preliminary surveys, however, it would be premature 
 to decide definite!}' on the subject. 
 
 As the River Yarra forms a sample of the above class of 
 streams, all of which drain from basins similar to its own in
 
 10 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 geological character, an examination into the capacity and nature 
 of its basin relatively with the amount of water drained therefrom, 
 will be important in determining the value of such basins 
 generally for the production of permanent streams, and also their 
 capacity for the collection of rain. 
 
 This river is contained in a basin of about 1500 square miles, 
 comprised in the southern slopes of the great dividina- range on 
 the north, and an extensive spur therefrom on the south and east. 
 
 The supply of water is derived principally from two sources : — 
 firstly, rain upon the impervious portions of the basin, comprising 
 the clay-slate, sandstone, and trap formations, which, with the 
 exception of the latter, being generally precipitous, and having 
 little capacity for retaining the rain water falling on them, it flows 
 off, after surface saturation, into the watercourses, the sudden and 
 simultaneous discharge of which into the river causes swellings 
 and floods of more or less magnitude, dependent on the relative 
 amount of rain in a given time and its duration ; the other source 
 of su])ply comes fi-om that area of its basin occupied by the 
 granitic and porphyritic rocks abounding in fissures, and clothed 
 with dense vegetation, and thus having a vast storage capacity 
 for the rain water falling on them, hold back a considerable supply, 
 which is given out gradually by means of a great number of 
 constantly flowing streams of water of great purity. 
 
 The geological formations of the basin of the Upper Yarra being 
 a.s vet unsurveyed, it is impossible to arrive at the relative pro- 
 portion of the griinitic and j)or])liyriti{' rocks to the clay-slate and 
 others, tliroughout the wliolf, which has only been investigated 
 for a distance of forty miles eastward of Melbourne ; however, 
 the area of granitic and ])orphyritic rock, as yet ascertained, 
 amounts to about one inmdred square miles, of which the granite 
 at the source af the I'lenty alone occupies about ten sqtuue miles, 
 and discharges from its fissures in the diy season, when all surface 
 drainage has ceased, about sixteen cu])ic feet per second, in addi- 
 tion to the discharge on the north side of the range, forming the 
 source of the [Sunday C'reek. 
 
 It is certain, however, that the granitiform rocks do occu])y a 
 considerable area in the basin of the Upper Yarra, as it lies 
 mostly on the great dividing range and sj)urs which consist almost 
 entirely of these rocks, whose |)resence is further indicated by 
 the number of constantly running streams proceeding therefrom.
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE 01' WATER. 11 
 
 The presence of these rocks in the eastern part of the great 
 dividing- range, forms an important g-eological feature, and renders 
 the Yarra, in common with the Goulburn and tlie rivers of the 
 Murray District and Gipps Land, exceptional to the generality of 
 the streams of the colony, which, for the most part, owe their 
 sup])ly to surface drainage from an impervious watershed, supple- 
 mented occasionally by feeble spring's. Thus the River Campaspe, 
 below its junction with the Coliban, has a drainag-e basin of 600 
 square miles, or about one-third the area of that of the Yarra, 
 and consisting- almost wholly of slate, sandstone, and trap forma- 
 tions, having but a limited area of granite, and, yet discharged at 
 this point only 4| cubic feet per second, on the same day that the 
 latter river gave 535 cubic feet. This fact, taken in connection 
 with the ample rainfall on these high basins, forms a striking- 
 proof of the immense loss of water due to the absence of porous 
 rocks, and to the generally impervious character of the prevailing- 
 formations in the colony, causing- the rain either to be returned 
 to the atmosphere by surface evaporation from level ground, or to 
 be rapidly discharged into the watercourses in the form of floods 
 after heavy rain upon steep ground, so that passing off in g-reat 
 volumes, no permanent flow is left more than what may be sup- 
 plied by casual springs and drainage from swampy flats in the 
 watercourses. 
 
 The area of the known clay-slate, sandstone, and trap rocks, in 
 the Yarra basin, occupying nearly two-thirds of the whole, or 
 about 1000 square miles (of which the trap covers one-eig-hth), is 
 drained mostly by the non-permanent streams ; only so much of 
 the permanent ones receive its drainage as pass through it, while 
 they derive their constant flow only from the porous rocks at their 
 source. The discharge of the Yarra in the dry season does not 
 include drainage off this area, its watercourses being then dry, 
 excepting immediately after rain, hence the least or summer flow 
 of the Yarra comes altogether from the remaining- third part ot 
 the basin. It is reasonable, therefore, to conclude that the amount 
 of water drained into the Yarra from off the former area of clay- 
 slate, vfcc, during- the year, forms at least two-thirds of that from 
 oft" the whole basin, especially when the generally impervious and 
 precipitous nature of the surface is considered, which is hence 
 better adapted to collect and rapidly discharge the rainwater off 
 into the creeks than more porous formations.
 
 V2 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 What the whole mean discharge of the Yarra is cannot he 
 ascertained Init hv an extended series of ohservations, hut as the 
 least or suuinier flow is ahout 035 feet per second or 604,880,000 
 cuhic yards per annum, derived solel}' ^om g-mnitiform formations, 
 that from the ahove distinct area of clay-slate, S:c., must, 
 according to the ahove conclusion, he at least twice this amount, 
 or 1,249,700,000 cuhic yards; the sum of these two will give 
 1,874,040,000 cuhic yards as the known least discharge per annum 
 of the Yarra, at Melhourne, as thus estimated. 
 
 It is highly important to ohserve that this amount represents 
 a de])th of collected rain water of 14.J inches over the Yarra hasin 
 of 1500 square miles, the summer flow alone heing ecpiivalent to 
 nearly 4'8 inches depth of rain over the whole hasin. 
 
 The following facts ohtained from hasins, analogous and similar 
 to that of the Yarra, tend to confirm the ap])roximate truth of 
 tliis availahle collected rain. 
 
 The River La Trohe, in the month of Fehruary of this year 
 (the driest month), discharged 074 cuhic feet per second into 
 Lake Wellington from oflf a drainage hasin of 1900 square miles, 
 equivalent to a depth of rain over the hasin of 4*8 inches, heing 
 exactly the same as that in the Yarra hasin from its summer flow. 
 
 The River Mitchell discharged into Lake King the same time 
 (Fehruary, 1800) 497 cuhic feet per second, its hasin heing 1800 
 square miles ; this discharge represents a depth of rain thereon 
 of 3J inches. 
 
 The discharge of the Mitta-Milta in Deccmhrr, 1859, was 
 404 cuhic feet per second from a hasin of 2000 square miles, 
 being e(juivalent to 3'1 inches of rain. 
 
 The Little River, draining from a hiisiii of 700 sipiare miles, 
 next to that of the Mittn-Mitta, discluirgcd into the Murray on 
 the same dav 101 "8 ruhii- feet ])er second, i'('|tres('ntiiig a depth of 
 Cf)Ilecred rain of 31 inches, the same as the Mitfa-Mitta adjacent. 
 
 The iihovi! rrsulfs taken at jicriods snlis(M|iii'nt (o the melting 
 of the snow at thr hrads of the rivers which were at their sumincr 
 level, and iinatVectecj hy surface dniinage, and :is such representing 
 hut an inferior jtortion of the whoh' anioinit ol water piissing 
 (hiwn annually, indicate ii large mean per ceiitage of iiiinfall as 
 due from the gathering hasins of the Murray and (Jipjis Land 
 HiHtricts, which heing of a generally liilly character facilitate the 
 discharge! of the surface ilrainage into the watercourses hefore
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATEU. 13 
 
 being' evaporated from the soil, irrespective of that which is held 
 back in the form of snow in the liijiher regions, and when melted 
 maintains the saturation of the porous rocks forming- the source 
 of summer suj)ply. 
 
 The collected rainfall of the west half of Victoria lies under 
 more unfavorable conditions than that of the east above. The 
 creeks lising- generally in steej) clay-slate and sandstone formations 
 throug-h which they traverse for a considerable part of their 
 course, at length emerge upon and flow through vast basalt plains 
 which occu])y a large proportionate area of their basins, but 
 contribute little drainage from off their surface; so far as the 
 creeks flow through the upper clay-slate part of their basins they 
 are under the most favorable conditions for obtaining- a larg-e 
 per centage of rainfall, and (piite on a par with the rivers of 
 Gipps Land and the Murray District, but there being no storage 
 capacity within their basins the great bulk of the water passes 
 raj)idly ofl" and is lost for all useful purposes. 
 
 The Campaspe, Loddon, and Avoca form examples of this class 
 of streams, which are all non-permanent. 
 
 It is yet satisfactory that, notwithstanding the immense amount 
 of rain that is returned to the atmosphere from ofl" the basaltic 
 plains occupying a large area in these basins, that a large per- 
 centage is obtained on the whole due to the superior drainage 
 capacity and extent of the clay-slate areas forming the upper 
 portions of the basins. 
 
 Under these circumstances the actual per-centage of rain col- 
 lected in each basin must necessarily in a great measure depend 
 upon the relative areas therein of the two formations. 
 
 But yet another feature tends to the conclusion that the drainage 
 from oflf the west part of Victoria must be considerably less than 
 that from ofl:' the east ; the eastern basins being of great altitude 
 and broken character (intersected as they are by the Australian 
 Alps, covered frequently with thick forests and dense vegetation), 
 necessarily attract floating rain clouds, the precipitation of which 
 produces a larger amount of rainfall than that due to more level 
 tracts of country : it is hence not difficult to account for the 
 comparatively arid character of the basalt plains of the western 
 basins, and how, in consequence, the mean rainfall in this part of 
 the colony must be inferior to that towards the east, and, conse- 
 quently, the amount of collected rain.
 
 14 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 In judgfing- of the value of" the estimate of the annual amount 
 of collected rain from off the eastern basins (14^ inches), as 
 deduced above from observations on that of the Yarra, it must be 
 borne in mind that such were obtained after two years of known 
 umisual dryness, the amount of rain during- which, as observed in 
 Melbourne, was one-third below the average of former years. 
 
 It is a more difficult matter to estimate the mean amount of 
 collected rain from otl" the western half of the colony, there bein^ 
 no legitimate data whatever from which to compute it; it is, 
 however, certain that an amount altogether passes down in the 
 form of floods and otherwise throughout the year more than 
 amply sufficient, and which may be safely si't down as at least 
 half of that draining from the eastern basins, or about 7 inches, 
 which is 1?8 per cent, of the estimated least rainfall of 20 inches ; 
 the mean collected rain of the eastern and western basins would 
 thus be over 10^ inches for the whole colony, equal to 680,000 
 tons of water per square mile. 
 
 Taking' the mean level of the general surface above the sea at 
 300 feet, this amount of water would represent a motive power 
 per square mile per annum of 9GU0 horse-power, which multi])lied 
 by the area of the colony, 86,000 square miles, g-ives 825,000,000 
 of horse-power for the whole. 
 
 STORAGE OF WATER, RESERVOIRS, Etc. 
 
 As a great proportion of this water comes down the channels in 
 floods, an immense difficulty is thereby ])resented to its successful 
 diversion and storage, as the valleys of the streams are generally 
 very deej) and precij)itt)us, being; fie(|uently fiom 100 to 150 feet. 
 Under such circumstances, the erection of dams of sufficient 
 strength and durability to resist the action of floods becomes very 
 diflicult, especially if there is a large drainage area above them 
 discharg-ing heavy floods ; — the formation of a sejmrate channel or 
 l)ye-wash of suffirii-nt capacity to carry ofl" the floods is also 
 g-enerally impracticable from the confined nature of the valleys, 
 and the necessity of such having- a sectional area nearly e(|ual to 
 that of the natural channel. 
 
 For these reasons the construction of storagpo reservoirs in the 
 bedft of streams is hig-hly objectionable, excepting' where from 
 their large capacity or having- a sninll drainage area, they can
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATER. 15 
 
 hold all the water, including- floods, coming* into them, which 
 can seldom be the case but when they are situated on some gently 
 falling- flat, near the head of the supplying- stream. 
 
 It is, however, far down in the course of streams that the most 
 suitable sites present themselves for the formation of reservoirs of 
 larg;e capacity, due to the more level character of the bed, and the 
 extensive flats into which the valleys widen and subsequently 
 contract : in such cases ample room must be obtained for an exit 
 for the overflow by capacious side channels of a sectional area 
 equal to that of the maximum discharge for a given fall. 
 
 Under any precautions or circumstances reservoirs formed from 
 the damming- up of main streams are liable to danger from the 
 effects of extraordinary rains of three and four inches in a day, 
 which sometimes happen in this colony, and the floods from which 
 could not be conveyed by any artificial bye-channel of a capacity 
 within reasonable limits. 
 
 Reservoirs, to be perfectly safe, should be located off" the line of 
 drainage that supplies them, as is the case with the Yan Yean 
 Reservoir, which is separated from the River Plenty, supplying it 
 by a low range ; the water being- conducted into the reservoir by 
 an aqueduct, the supply is thereby capable of being adjusted by a 
 sluice, by means of which only a regulated influx can take place, 
 and irrespective of the floods which pass down their natural 
 channel in the Plenty. 
 
 The amount of evaporation from the surface of reservoirs 
 remains yet to be decided. The experiments that have hitherto 
 been made from small vessels of water indicate a mean of about 5 
 feet per annum, which must be regarded only as an approximation, 
 as the various conditions under which evaporation ensues de- 
 pending in a great measure upon the influences of climate and 
 physical configuration and temperature render it a question of 
 localit}'. The anticipations regarding the lai-ge amount likely to 
 be lost fi-om the Yan Yean Reservoir from this course having not 
 been fulfilled is only of local value, as the contiguity of the Plenty 
 Ranges shelter the reservoir to a great extent from the eflfects of 
 hot winds, and preserve a certain amount of moisture in the air 
 surrounding them, so that the hot dry winds blowing- from the 
 north and passing over the ranges, must be considerabl}' moisteneil 
 before reaching- the reservoir. Hence it may be inferred that a 
 low rate of evaporation ensues, which should form no guide for
 
 16 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 more open and exposed localities. It would be unwise, therefor*', 
 in the absence of more extended observations, to base any 
 calculation of evaporation upon less than the mean amount 
 obtained of 5 feet per annum ; which, althouuh it may be in 
 excess for districts similar to Gipps Land — of an inferior mean 
 temperature — yet possibly falls short of the reality in many other 
 places, especially upon the basalt plains. 
 
 In choosing- sites for reservoirs great care shoidd be takeu to 
 command at high levels, and supply as larg-e an aiea as possible. 
 The most remunerative adaptation of storaj^-e water must evidently 
 be where it is possible first to take advantag-e of the height of 
 water in the reservoir, as a motive jiower for machinery, such as 
 for quartz-crushing; and when that power is spent in the fall, 
 using the same water undeteriorateil for ordinary water supply, 
 embracing gold-washing, irrigation, domestic use, &,c. Thus, a 
 double dutv may be obtained, and the expenditure upon a system 
 of reservoirs throughout the j)opulous districts may be more 
 remunerative. The Yau Yean water, before entering Melbourne, 
 could in this manner be made available for an actual motive 
 power of 8U0 horses per day, without, in any way, sacrificing the 
 requirements of tlie city, as there would still be left a head of LOO 
 feet to command the suppl}' of the same water to all the houses. 
 This power would be able to break 1,8L'0,U00 cubic yards of road 
 metal in the year (assuming one-hoi-se jwwer for only six cubic 
 3'ards), at a cost of |d. per cubic yard, an amount sufficient for 
 345 miles of road, laid thirty feet wide, with nine inches of broken 
 stone. This will show the vast inqiortaiice of designing reservoirs 
 with the double view of motive ])ower and water sujiply. 
 
 If from the peculiarities of climate and geological formation 
 this colony is deficient as regards a jternument sii])|(ly of water, it 
 is yet singularly favored, in its jthysical structure, f()r its econo- 
 mical storage, from its numberless valleys, which permit oi' 
 economical dams being made across them. The leading gullies 
 through the aurilerous districts contain frecptent good sites for 
 reservoirs, from their moderate i"all and large capacity. In some 
 cases, at the foot of the great dividing range, the creeks rising 
 there j)ass through deep antl occasionally wide valleys, with a fall 
 of about one in two hundred, and where short dams might be 
 couhtiurted that would hold back large bodies of water. 
 
 The construction of high dams, so as to obtain u good depth in
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OK WATER. 17 
 
 the reservoir, is a matter of no small difficulty, by reason of the 
 enormously increasing- amount of earth embankment for every 
 increase of heig-ht ; hence such dams will be most available, 
 where their length is short, in closing- up narrow gullies or g'aps, 
 such as frequently waterworn through the basalt formation in the 
 line of streams. 
 
 In viewing- the g-eneral suitability of a system of reservoirs to 
 the wants of the colony, it will be necessary to examine closely 
 the limits of their capabilities. 
 
 The peculiarly undulating- and irregular nature of the basins of 
 the clay-slate and sandstone formations, in which the auriferous 
 districts lie, is unfavorable, in one respect, to the conduction of 
 water by artificial channels, owing- to the very circuitous routes 
 the}' must take, and the consequent expense of conveying water 
 for many miles distance ; while, if the natural watercourse be 
 used for this purpose, a gTeat amount of general utility is 
 sacrificed from the low-lying level of the conducted water with 
 regard to adjacent lands. This circumstance tends to confine the 
 utility of storage reservoirs generally to localities forming- centres 
 of population ; they are hence adapted to supply the wants of the 
 gold-fields : but for the more general purposes of supply to pastoral 
 and agricultural districts thinly inhabited it is to be feared that 
 their adaptation is impracticable within economic limits, excepting- 
 in specially favorable localities. 
 
 The Yan Yean Reservoir forms a great proof of the possibility of 
 obtaining a large suppl}' of water for storage from very small 
 visible sources. The discharge of the River Plenty, where it sup- 
 plies the reservoir, was ascertained in the summer of 1855 to be 
 only 6^ cubic feet per second, equal to a yearly supjjly of eight 
 and a half millions of cubic yards, and capable of occupying only 
 a mean depth of 3| feet in the reservoir, which is less than the 
 actual evaporation (as assumed from general observations at 6 feet), 
 and forms only one-third of the mean depth of water. 
 
 This reservoir is fed from a drainage basin of sixty square miles 
 of a generally steep character. Mount Disappointment forming the 
 northernmost portion, whence the constantly running streams, 
 merging into eastern and western arms, issue, forming a total dis- 
 charge of about 16 cubic feet per second in the summer time, which 
 amount is lessened by half from absorption and evaporation in 
 reedy swamps before reaching the reservoir. The water near the 
 

 
 18 PRIZE KSSAY. 
 
 source is exceeding'ly cold ami clear, and apparently of g-reat purity, 
 but is subsequently deteriorated in its passag-e through the swamps. 
 The reservoir itself is about eight miles fi-om the sources, and lies 
 off the Plenty; it occupies an area of 1440 acres, and is ca])able of 
 containing; 25,000,000 cubic yards of water; the annual evapora- 
 tion, reckoned at 5 feet in depth, is 11^ niillions cubic yards, or 
 nearly half its whole capacity'. Assuming- the total available sup- 
 ply to be only 1}1?,000,000 cubic yards, as estimated in the year 
 1856, the water of the reservoir would have a motive power of CJ 
 hoi'ses per foot of fall, which, multij)lied by the ap])roximate height 
 above Melbourne, or 000 feet, would result in a total theoretical 
 water power of 1500 horses, 80 per cent, of which, or 1200 horses, 
 can be made available by means of the Turbine or horizontal water 
 wheel, the useful effect of which has been proved up to that per- 
 centage. 
 
 This immense power being- available from the reservoir is neces- 
 sarii}' due to the water being- conveyed under pressiu-e to Melbourne, 
 600 feet lower, and at a very larg-e cost, which it was considered 
 the special object in view warranted ; but such an example will 
 not serve to illustrate the results to be expected from reservoirs in 
 g-eneral, which it will be ])ractically impost^ible to construct so as 
 to obtain a great liead of water by conveying it in pipes, the 
 enormous exj)piise of which and cost of carriage will preclude their 
 use, excepting- in sjiecial cases where a very sudden fall will permit 
 a sliort length of pipe being laid. In any general system of reser- 
 voir.o, therefore, the motive power will be probably limited to such 
 head of water as will be due to the height of the rmljunkment uj) 
 to the water level. 
 
 The natural reservoirs of Victoria, comjirising principally the 
 lakes and hig-otins of the counties of llanijtden, lleytesbur}', (iren- 
 ville, and I'ohvartli, form no mean feature in its varied resourt-es, 
 and are in ninny instances cajiablo of being- turned to profitable 
 jiuqioses. The county of Ilamjxlen contains 17 sipiare miles of 
 lakes and lagoons, of wliich 1(1 s(puire miles are fresh, 10 bra(-kish 
 or slightly so, and I'J salt, (ircnvillo has Lakes Coranganiite and 
 Murdcduke, both siilt, and oceujjying tog-ether an area of about 80 
 square miles, tog-ether with a number of smaller lakes covering an 
 area of about 10 scpiare miles, and which are cither mostly salt or 
 brackish. The county of I'olwarth contain.s the magnificent fre.sh 
 water lake Colac, which has an area ol 'J s(|uare miles.
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE Ol' WATER. 19 
 
 Lake Corang'amite forms the centre of a group consisting- of 
 many of the above, and its site represents tlie lowest part of a 
 g-eneral depression of tlie surrounding district, wliich consists of 
 basalt plains. The origin of this vast system of lakes is pro- 
 bably due to the sudden cooling and consequent arrest of the 
 molten flood of lava which, Howing- down from all sides over an 
 orig-inal depression or basin forming- an inlet from the sea sur- 
 rounded and drove before it large isolated bodies of sea water, 
 which, having thus no means of escape, their area was constantly 
 diminished, while their depth increased till they overflowed the 
 encroaching- lava and attained in their thus concentrated volume 
 an immense cooling power which, in conjunction with their 
 ncreased hydrostatic pressure, arrested the further advance of the 
 lava. 
 
 Viewing- the origin of the lakes according to this theory, it 
 would not be difficult to account for the presence of salt in them ; 
 the immense vaporization that would be caused by the molten 
 flood would necessitate a deposition of salt throughout the pores 
 and fissures of the lava or bayalt, and quite sufficient to account 
 for the saline spring-s emitted therefrom. 
 
 That the saltness of the lakes is due wholly to the accumulation 
 of salt in solution passed into them by drainage from out of the 
 basalt rock, and not to any inherent saline matter, will be borne 
 out by a minute inspection of the counties of Hampden, Grenville, 
 and Polwarth. It will be observed that the salt lakes, such as 
 Corangamite and Gnarpiu-t drain their supply from creeks passing- 
 throug-h basalt in addition to such spring-s as may issue from their 
 banks, while the merely brackish have generally no channels flow- 
 ing into them, and consequently have a diminished saline supply 
 confined to springs. Again the fresh lakes of which Colac forms 
 the type, have, in most cases, no watercourses discharging- into 
 them from oft" the basalt, excepting when they have an outfall, but 
 are supplied by surface rain and creeks di-aining through other 
 formations. Thus Colac, which is fresh, is supplied by the Birre- 
 gurra Creek, draining a sandstone basin. 
 
 It may be observed that the Corangamite and adjacent lakes 
 and lagoons have no outlet, hence the water in them is the residue 
 left after evaporation from their surfaces. Under these circum- 
 stances, all the salt delivered into them in solution from creeks and 
 spring-s in their banks fi'om vear to year, remains therein and con- 
 
 c 2
 
 20 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 stantly accumulates, while the amount of water remains approxi- 
 mately the same, and tlius contains a constantly increasing- per- 
 centag-e of salt. These facts tend foicibly to the conclusion that at 
 a certain era immediately subsequent to the deposition of the 
 basalt and the formation of the lakes, there existed no appreciable 
 saline matter in their wateis, for if the accumulation of salt in them 
 during- untold ag-es has been only sufficient to render many of 
 them brackish and others salt, instead of producing- salt beds, it 
 will be presumed that the mean annual per-centa{^e of salt 
 delivered into them from their earliest formation must be inap- 
 preciable. 
 
 These presumptions are strengthened by the fact that the salt 
 spring-s in the basalt are g-enerally verv ieeble, and when mixed 
 with the g-reat body of fiesh water surface drainage before tiowing- 
 into the lakes are insufficient to affect it sensibly. 
 
 It may be inferred, therefore, that it is only the accumulation 
 of salt in the lakes during- a long- period that renders its ])resence 
 perceptible, and not the inappreciable amount received yearly. 
 
 Were it, therefore, possible to drain the salt lakes of their 
 present contents, and tiius remove their saline accumulations 
 (presuming- in each case the whole of the salt is in solution), it 
 may reasonably be inferred that they would be converted into 
 reservoirs of fresh water, as the yearly -amount of salt then 
 received by them would be so inconsiderable as to take long- 
 periods analog-ous to the ])a.st to restore them to their present 
 saline condition. 
 
 Lake Ik)loke ju-esents strong- presumptive evidence for the 
 soundness of this inference, being- fed by the Fiery Creek passing- 
 through a vast extent of basalt country emitting- salt spring-s ; 
 its water is, nevertheless, fresh, owing- to its having- an outfall in 
 the salt creek, which thus carrying- off the salt in sohition prevents 
 its accumulation. 
 
 It may thus be seen with what harmless results a lake may 
 receive its supply from off u luisin Imviiig; salt sj)rings provided it 
 has an outiiill. 
 
 Lake ]'urruml)»'ct, which is fresh, :ind receives its su]>ply from 
 the basaltic stony rises, forms iiddilional testimony lo the above 
 conclusion.s, it having- an outfall in ("urdie's Creek, of which it 
 forms the sour(-e. 
 
 Again, Lake Ilindmarsii receives the whole drainage of tlu;
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATER. 21 
 
 Wimmeia River, is fresli, and discharg-es by means of an outlet 
 into Lake Albacutya, twelve miles lower down, which is salt, and 
 forms the virtual termination of the Wimmera drainag'e, although 
 there is a dry outlet from it, but which has not flowed for man}'' 
 years. In this case the whole of the salt in Albacutya must have 
 passed originally through Lsike Ilindmarsh, but in such constant 
 minute quantities as not to affect its water, while the concentration 
 of the same for want of further outfall produced the saltness of 
 Albacut3'a ; it is thus easy to understand how a fresh-water stream, 
 having but an inappreciable amount of salt, may terminate in a 
 bitter salt lake. 
 
 Lake Burrumbeet, situated in a basalt basin, and having- an 
 outlet in Baillie's Creek, adds additional testimony to the efficacy 
 of an outfall in preserving fresh water in lakes fed partly from 
 saline sources. 
 
 Presuming upon the validity of the above conclusions regarding 
 the cause of the presence of salt in the lakes as due to accumu- 
 lation, and not to any inherent saline character, it becomes a 
 question of great practical importance to determine the possibility 
 of withdrawing the saline matter from the lakes by drainage, and 
 thus restore them to their ancient state of natural fresh water 
 reservoirs. 
 
 Lake Corangamite, as before stated, forms the centre of a gentle 
 depression, in which are situated nearly all the lakes and lagoons 
 eastward of the Emu Creek, in the county of Hampden. Mr. Scott, 
 the district surveyor, states in corroboration, that the Avhole lake 
 countr)', north of Mount Leura, drains into it. It is, hence, prac- 
 ticable to connect this system of lakes by open channels, and 
 thence drain them into Lake Corangamite. One channel, about 
 twelve miles long, can intersect the principal group of lakes, in- 
 clusive of Bookar, Timboon, Weeranganuck, &c. Lake Gnarpurt 
 is only separated from it by a narrow neck of land, while most of 
 the remaining lakes are within a mile of its western shore; con- 
 sidering the level nature of the ground, being a basaltic plain 
 falling towards Corangamite, no difficulty is presented to draining 
 nearly all the lakes into it from its western basin. 
 
 To discharge this connected body of water eastward into the 
 Barwon would effect the desired end, and to which the slight 
 depression of the east basin of Corangamite presents but little 
 difficulty. A channel, commencing from the north-east corner of
 
 22 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Corang-amite, and passing- easterly tliroug'h tlie centre of Lake 
 Murdeduke to the Barwon, would involve but little deep cutting, 
 as the hig-hest point of the land dividing' the basin of Corang;amite 
 from that of the Barwon cannot be more than a few feet above the 
 lake, as the Lake Colac overflow, which drains northerly down to 
 this point for a distance of about eig;ht miles, is only ten feet above 
 Corang-aniite, and if fi-om this be deducted the amount of fall for 
 eight miles, it is probable that three or four feet will be the g'reatest 
 heig;ht of the land above Corang-amite. This hig-hest point lies 
 about eig;ht miles east of the lake, and as it would be necessary to 
 make the channel deep enoug-h to drain the lake to its general 
 g-reatest depth, which is about ten feet, the probable dej)th of 
 cutting- at this hig-hest point would be about fifteen feet, while for 
 the larg-est part of the distance eastward on the fall to the Barwon, 
 a mere surface channel about three feet deep would be sutlicient, 
 as the current of water would soon increase its sectional area either 
 in depth or width, having-, as it would, a g-ood fall to the Barwon. 
 The mean de})th of cutting- would thus be nine feet, and taking- a 
 width of three feet as sufficient to open the clKinncl, (side slopes 
 being- unnecessary, owing' to the falling- banks being- washed down 
 by the current,) the amount of cutting- recpured for the whole 
 distance from Lake Corang-amite to tlie Barwon (twenty-six miles) 
 would be 13r,1280 cubic yards ; and, assuming- the possibility of 
 some of the deeper cutting- being- through basalt rock, an averag-o 
 cost of 5s. would entail a total expenditure of £34,320 for draining; 
 oflf the present salt water of Corang-amite into the liarwon. If to 
 this be added twenty miles of open driiin, of an average depth of 
 three feet and same width, for connecting; Corang-amite with the 
 western lakes, so as to receiv»! their drainag-e, the amount of 
 cutting- wduld be 30,200 cubic yards, which, assuming- it all earth, 
 if estimated at 3s. jier cubic yard, would come to £o280. Thus 
 the total cost of discharg-ing- Corang-amite and adjacent lakes into 
 the Barwon would be £40,000 nearly. 
 
 Th(! channel thus formed would be capable of draining- at a very 
 trifling- further expense the larg-o grouj) of salt and ])raekish lakes 
 wjiich lie in a direct north line from Lake ("ohie, and form the 
 course of its overflow: also, in ])assing- throug-h Jiake Murdeduke 
 (which has an area of seven scjuare miles, and is salt), would carry 
 off its water. 
 
 A» the discharge of this salt water frdui the lakes would bo
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATER. 23 
 
 only temporary until their salt was carried oft", no valid objection 
 can arise to its delivery into the Barwon, whence it would soon 
 pass rajjidly to the sea. 
 
 Presuming- upon the practicability of the above scheme, the 
 great advantages attained thereby are apparent. Corangamite, 
 18 miles long and 4 miles wide, tog;ether with its neighbour Lake 
 Gnarpurt or Little Corangamite will present a fresh water surface 
 of upwards of 80 srpiare miles, irrespective of that comprised in 
 the numerous adjacent lakes; and as the mean depth will be about 
 5 feet, the reservoir capacity will hold 418,000,000 cidjic yards of 
 fresh water, or nineteen times more than the Yan Yean Reservoir; 
 the outfall channel to the Barwon also will render the water avail- 
 able for 26 miles of country for irrigation and general piu'poses. 
 
 Were local utility the only question involved, the above scheme 
 would be the most economical and practical ; but if, in addition, 
 g'eneral reproductive results be looked for from such immense 
 resources, a different and more costly mode of developing* them 
 should be adopted, by means of which the motive power of this 
 vast body of water, situated at a height of 346 feet above the sea, 
 mig-ht be made available, and irrigation and general water su])ply 
 be obtained on a g-rand scale to command a large tract of country. 
 
 With this view an outfall channel might be cut from Lake 
 Corangamite eastward till it reached by a nearly uniform fall the 
 nearest point to Geelong', on the Ballaarat railway, that is, 200 
 feet above the sea, which is probabl}^ about 8 miles therefrom, near 
 Batesford; thence a pipe in continuation should be laid along the 
 railway to Geelong", convejing- the water under pressure due to 
 the 200 feet of head. 
 
 The fall of the channel would be 146 feet in its whole distance 
 of about 40 miles, or more than 3^ feet per mile ; with an exca- 
 vated sectional capacity of 4 feet mean depth and 3 feet wide, the 
 water passing down would have a velocity of about 28 inches per 
 second, with which it would so abraid the sides and bottom of the 
 channel as to g'raduall}' increase its sectional area until it was 
 sufficient for the discharge, which will comprise, in addition to 
 that supplied from the lakes, the drainage off" 150 square miles 
 of the plains lying between the Kivers Woady Yaloak and Leigh, 
 also the water of the River Leigh, W^arrambine, Native Hut, and 
 Bruce's Creeks, all draining from the north ; by making the 
 channel wholly in excavation, instead of depending- partly upon
 
 24 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 a made side bank, there can be no doubt but that this vast 
 drainag-e can be made to wear away an ample capacity in the 
 channel for their discharge, excepting the heavy Hoods. 
 
 Although Lake Corangamite, ipcluding Lake Gnarpurt, is esti- 
 mated to contain 413,000,000 cubic yards, yet this amount cannot 
 be reg-arded as a yearly supply available, as it is only a certain 
 constant quantity remaining after all evaporation, but not cumu- 
 lative ; the evaporation however over the 80 square miles of lake 
 surface which is now lost, taken at the generally assumed rate of 
 five feet, would amount to 4L3,000,000 cubic yards, the same as 
 the estimated capacity : it is from the saving of this that a con- 
 stant supply can be depended on. Corangamite, in common with 
 nearly all the lakes of the colony, has a very gently sloping bed, 
 whose section would be approximately represented by a triangle 
 with the apex at the deepest point ; hence if the constant supply 
 abstracted from the lake was such as to reduce its extreme dejith 
 by half, the quantity so obtained would be three-fourths of the 
 whole, while the surface of evaporation would be reduced three- 
 fourths, and hence the amount evaporated ; this latter amount 
 thus saved would exactly balance that abstracted for useful pur- 
 poses, inasmuch as the whole annual evaporation taken at five 
 feet is equal in amount to the contents of the two lakes whose 
 mean depth is also five feet. 
 
 For the same reason if Corangamite was constantly drained to 
 its full depth the whole yearly evaporation would be saved which 
 would represent the amount yearly drained otf. It is hence clear 
 that whatever depth of water be drained out of the lake it will be 
 balanced l)v the saving in the amount of eva])oration consequent 
 upon the reduced area exposed thereto. 
 
 The total amount of water available therefore from Corangamite 
 and Cniirpurt for all useful purposes will be that evajioiated, or 
 413,OUO,0(>0 cubic yards per annum. 
 
 This amount of water conveyed by the channel to the locality 
 above mentioned, 1?00 feet a))ove the level of the sea, would repre- 
 sent a constant daily theoretical motive power of 8000 horses, or 
 about 0400 effective. 
 
 The excavation for tlie ciiannel, J() miles long, would be 03,000 
 cubic yards, taking the cost of which as liigh as Os. (in order to 
 cover jiossible contingeneies of occiisional rock cutting) tlip whole 
 cost would be £L'3,L>00, to which should be added £10,000 for
 
 COLLECTION AND STOUAOE OF WATER, 26 
 
 five dams laid in masonry for carrying- it across the beds of the 
 watercourses it intersects, makinn* the total £33,250. 
 
 The pipe conveying* the water in continuation to Geelong* would 
 probably be eig-ht miles laid along the Geelong* and Ballaarat 
 railway, which offers peculiar facilities for its economical transit 
 and fixing' J taking- it of the same diameter as that laid for the 
 Yan Yean Reservoir, or 83 inches, it would weigh altogether 
 (1720 tons, and, assuming- its cost per ton laid at £15, the whole 
 length of eig-ht miles would cost £101,000. This pipe, with its 
 head of 200 feet, would discharg-e water with a velocity of 3'52 
 feet per second, which multiplied by the sectional area will result 
 in 21 cubic feet per second as the discharging" capability of the 
 pipe, which is equivalent to 50,600 tons daily falling" 200 feet and 
 forming" a constant theoretical motive power of 477 horses. 
 
 This forms only about one-seventeenth of the whole power ; for 
 every additional 477 horses power a separate pipe would be re- 
 quired, involving" in each case a simil-ar expenditure, and which 
 mig-ht be added according" as the increase of manufacturing" and 
 industrial pursuits demanded. 
 
 The amount of water delivered by a single line of pipe (as 
 above) would form an allowance of 226 gallons per head per day 
 for a population of 50,000 persons at Geelong. 
 
 Apai't from motive power and water supply, the water available 
 from Goran g-amite (as above set down) would be sufficient to 
 irrigate for a depth of 30 inches, per annum, 160 square miles of 
 the plain countr}^ along the south side of the channel, which 
 latter would be admirably adapted for distributing the water 
 along its whole course of forty miles. 
 
 The amount of water available fi"oin Corangamite is so large, 
 and evidently far in excess of all possible requirements of motive 
 ])ower, water supply, and irrigation, that a small proportion of its 
 depth need only be drained out, leaving ample water behind still 
 to present the appearance of a magnificent lake, as one-fifth of the 
 whole depth drained off would equal three times the contents of 
 the Yan Yean Reservoir, and would only reduce the level of the 
 water one foot. 
 
 Viewing the various beneficial objects attained in this scheme, 
 comprising the conversion of Lakes Corangamite and Gnarpurt into 
 fresh water reservoirs, whereby the unsold land all round would 
 have an enhanced value, irritration on an extensive scale — motive
 
 26 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 power and water supply to Geelong-, capable of unlimited exten- 
 sion — it must be apparent that the required expendituie (£134,250) 
 upon the necessary works would be highly reproductive, and of 
 incalculable importance to the industrial development of the 
 localities concerned. 
 
 Lake Colac is the finest body of fresh water in Victoria, having 
 a drainag-e basin of 75 square miles area, situated mostly in a hilly 
 sandstone formation. The proportion of drainag-e into it must be 
 considerably g-reater than that into Corang-amite. Its area is 
 about eight square miles, one-tenth that of Corang-amite and 
 Gnai-purt combined, situated at a level of 354 feet above the sea, 
 and having- an overiiow northward and eastward to the Barwon it 
 commands 300 square miles of the plains between Corang-amite 
 and the Barwon, and is consequentl}' admirably adapted for 
 irrig-ation and g-eneral water supply over this tract. The whole 
 amount of water available, as measured by the amount of evapo- 
 ration taken at 6 feet in dej)th over the surface, would be 41,000,000 
 cubic yards, which might be largely sup])Ieinented by catchwater 
 drains cut throughout its basin, and probably also by draining 
 the head waters of the Barwon above Buntingdale into the Birre- 
 gurra Creek that supplies it. The large area of land that this 
 lake commands, and that could be considerably enhanced in value 
 by the distribution of its waters by surface channels, warrants 
 a liberal expenditure for increasing its source of supply to the 
 utmost. 
 
 Burrambeet ranks scarcely infeiior to Colac as a fresh water 
 lake, having about the same area (8 square miles). It is supplied 
 princi]ially by the Burrambeet Creek, rising in the great dividing 
 range, on the south side of which its basin is situated, 'i'his lake 
 could be converted into a very capacious reservoir, by damming 
 up its outfall at the head of Baillie's Creek, and by increasing its 
 drainag-e area, by a catchwater drain from the I'^nm Creek at 
 Mount lloss, ten miles in length, to its western shore, by means 
 of which the Trewalla and heads of the i-liiiu and Springhill 
 (Jrecfks would hi; cut off, and the area of (h-iiiiiage trebled and 
 increased to about L'OO S(|uaro miles. This ih-niii, 3 feet wide 
 and same dejith, at Is. (Id. per cubic yard, would cost XT3'J0, 
 inclusive of two small dams across the creeks. An embankment 
 at the outfall of Burrambeet 15 feet high, and which would not 
 exceed one fjuartcr of a mile in length, would coiifiiin 2l',000 
 
 I
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATER. 27 
 
 cubic yards, which, at 5s., would cost £5500 : the total cost 
 would, therefore, be £0820. 
 
 The amount of water stored by this embankiuent (excluding- the 
 present contents) up to within three fieet of its top, would be 
 99,000,000 cubic yards, or about four times the capacit}'" of the 
 Yan Yean Reservoir, which would not be sensibly lessened by 
 increased evaporation, as the present area of the lake would not 
 be enlarg-ed, owing- to the defined banks. 
 
 This larg-e body of water spread over the additional drainage 
 area, would represent a depth of collected rain over it of 9 inches, 
 which considering- the nature of the gathering- ground being- at 
 the foot of the dividing- rang-e, is an amount to be depended on. 
 
 This reservoir would command an immense extent of plain 
 country, in the counties of Ripon and Hampden, including- also 
 the aiu-iferous country of Carng-ham; it could also be led by a 
 partly tunnelled channel into the northern auriferous district of 
 the county of Grenville, from whence it would command many 
 hundred square miles of auriferous country ; consiilering- the very 
 small cost of so large a reservoir, and also its extensive capabilities, 
 its realization would be very remunerative. 
 
 SUPPLY OF WATER TO THE PLAINS. 
 
 Storage reservoirs are manifestly unsuited upon the level plain 
 districts,/)f which there is such a large extent in Victoria, espe- 
 cially to the north; from their unbroken character they have a 
 diminished rainfall, and high rate of evaporation, and hence fre- 
 quently present a dried up appearance in the summer rime; the water 
 courses are few and far apart, and receive a very small amount of 
 drainag-e, from the level nature of the ground, and that only fi-om 
 their own vicinity; the soil being- frequently of a retentive charac- 
 ter, the rainfall rests upon the surface, till restored to the 
 atmosphere by evaporation, and when porous absorbs the rain to 
 considerable depth, as in the Wimmera District; in either case the 
 rainfall is almost wholly lost, and its collection for storage 
 unavailable. 
 
 An examination of the map of Victoria, will shew that upon 
 the plains generalh', there are veiy few main watercourses, and 
 these frequentl}' with an interval between them of twenty miles 
 and upwards, while there is an almost total absence of tributary
 
 28 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 creeks ; the Goulburn, Campaspe, Loddon, and Avoca, where 
 flowinfr through the plain country, form examples of this, while 
 the steep higher country, nearer the great dividing range, is com- 
 paratively well drained by numerous creeks ; these facts evidence 
 the relative cupacitv of level and steep country for drainage of 
 their surfaces; the plains from want of sufficient slo])e, have little 
 power to discharge their surface water, and hence the paucit}' of 
 tlieir watercourses, nevertheless, a vast amount of water passes 
 down through the plains from the higher country, in the form of 
 floods, which might be made available for them. The River 
 Loddon inundates an area of plain along its course for five or six 
 miles on each side, the diversion of which, and subsequent distri- 
 bution bj' various artificial channels, would render it available for 
 water supply and irrigation, to a large tract of fiat country ; the 
 Campaspe also delivers a very large body of water in the form of 
 floods, which all could be turned upon the adjacent plains, for 
 many miles on each side. 
 
 It is proposed by the author to divert the flood-water coming 
 from the higher grounds upon the plains by means of small 
 artificial channels of a trianerular section, 3 feet wide and 2 feet 
 deep (as shewn on the annexed sketch), led from natural lines 
 
 ^ A FZET 
 
 of drainage (hiniuicd uji, which shall traverse the jilains in the 
 general direction of their full, but in a zig-zag course (so as to 
 increase tlnMr frontage and usefulness), and bo further fed by 
 similarly formed branch catcliwafer drains, parallel with the 
 nearest natural watercourses, whereby it is e.xj)ecte(l that the main 
 centre ciianncls thus cut economicall}' with snuill sectional area, 
 will be further enlargr-d by the scouring action nf the Ixtdy of 
 water led suddenly into them, until they are converted into 
 sufficiently capacious watercourses, self-excavated. Many such 
 water-formed creeks exist in this colony, and are being formed 
 constantly on lanfl f-tripped of its soil and along wheel tracks.
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATER. 29 
 
 a sufficient velocity in the running- water being- the only requisite, 
 which on the plains will be attained by a large body of water 
 passing- down suddenly. 
 
 The plains thus intersected with main and branch drains thus 
 formed, can be made to discharg-e a considerable amount of their 
 surface water into them by means of a number of sub-catch 
 drains, cut by the ploug-h and enlarg-ed by the current of water 
 throug-h them after heavy rain. 
 
 With such a system of artificial watercourses thus economically 
 formed, a g-reat amount of surftice water which would be other- 
 wise evaporated may be collected even after average rain, and thus 
 may a vast extent of flat country in Victoria be rendered avail- 
 able for agricultural settlement which is now almost devoid of 
 water or watercourses. 
 
 These main channels, when enlarg-ed sufficient]}^ by the current, 
 from their still small sectional area and their comparatively low 
 rate of fall, will hence be capable of being- dammed up wherever 
 required by settlers or farmers, and at a very trifling- expense ; 
 and thus may form a series of elong-ated waterholes, periodically 
 fed from floods and surface drainag-e, irrespective of which they 
 will act as main water conduits, from which while flowing- sup- 
 plies can be drained to fill excavated tanks at various distances 
 on each side. 
 
 This g'eneral system of artificial watercourses has the advanrag-e 
 of conveying- water throughout a great frontag-e for settlement, 
 and which is available for ])rivate storage, at the expense of 
 parties requiring- it. Thus the cost of public storage reservoirs is 
 avoided, while that of the water channels is inconsiderable, from 
 their being mostly self-formed. 
 
 Facilities for irrigation will also be obtained by these channels, 
 the temporary damming up of which, at any desired point, will 
 turn the water while flowing over the adjacent fall of the land, 
 wherever its direction forms an angle with that of the channel, 
 which latter should, as a general rule, be laid out in a zig-zag 
 form, at a general angle of 46° with the line ot fall, not only to 
 permit of irrigating land on the lower side, but also to form a 
 catch for receiving drainage on the upper side. Irrigation will 
 also be promoted after heavy floods, by the overflow of the 
 channels on the land below them, the residue drainage of Avhich 
 will flow back, by means of the sub-catch drains into the main
 
 30 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 channels lower down ; it is hence important that they slioukl have 
 a devious coxirse. 
 
 The open ])lains lying between the Eivers Avoca and Campaspe, 
 comprising- an area of about 3000 square miles, could thus be 
 supplied with water from the floods of these rivers and the 
 Loddon, and from the Bendig-o and Myer's Creek lalling to the 
 north. 
 
 The floods thus turned upon this large tract would come oft' a 
 steep drainage basin of about 4000 square miles, one inch rainfall 
 upon the whole of which in one day would certainly be sufticient 
 to irrigate the jilains three-quarter inch dec]), and supply storage 
 water enough besides to All all the tanks and dams that could 
 possibly be required in the district. It is, however, most unlikely 
 that such a rain would occur over the whole basin at the same 
 time, although one inch and upwai"ds may be of frequent occur- 
 rence in one part of the basin, while at the same time there is no 
 rain in other parts; but this circumstance is highly' favorable, 
 as thereby the delivery of water is moderated and spread over a 
 greater period, jiroducing correspondingly longer beneficial effects. 
 
 It may be objected that the water stored in the tanks, Sec, will 
 be in a great measure lost by evaporation, but such can be almost 
 wholly counteracted by making them narrow and long, so as to 
 permit of their being covered over by logs and brushwood, which 
 will ]»rotect the walor from sun and wind. 
 
 It may also hap])en that in some parts of these plains the 
 surface may be of too absorbent a nature to hold water, but the 
 existence of Lakes Leaghur, Meering, Boort, and the Boga lakes 
 further north, although some of them are div in summer from 
 eva[)oratioii, tend to a dith'rcnt conclusion. 
 
 Apart from the question of obtaining water supply by various 
 means as above, tlie dive^sion of the fine permanent streams pro- 
 ceedings frf)m the AustnJian Alps, presents splendid facilities for 
 the imjtrovemcnt of large tracts of country, by constant irrigation 
 throughout the year. 
 
 Mr. Dawson, the district surveyor, re|)orts that the rich 
 central j)hiins of (iipj)s Land that are watered l)y the liivers 
 La 'I'robc, Thomson, and McAllister could i)e irrigated at a very 
 trifling expense l)y water led from the base of the mountains, and 
 that the value of the ImtkI would lie thereby increased from three 
 to four fold.
 
 COLLECTION ANJ> STOKAGK OF WATKR. 31 
 
 The Little River flowing northerly from the Bog-ong Ranges 
 into the Murray, into which its least or summer flow is about 100 
 cubic feet per second, is available by diversion for irrigation, and 
 for supplying water to the Yackandandah gold-fields. 
 
 The Ovens River discharging about GOO cubic feet per second 
 in the summer time (which is more than the Yarra), at 
 Wangaratta, is well suited for irrigation and water supply to the 
 large tract of country between it and the Murray ; likewise the 
 King- River, a tributary of the Ovens, and having a summer 
 flow of 160 cubic feet ])er second is similarly available for its 
 adjacent lands. 
 
 The River Goulburn could easily be diverted at Seymour so as 
 to supply the gold-fields of the county of Rodney and irrigate the 
 large tract between them and the Murray, embracing altogether 
 nearly 1000 square miles. A cutting, thirty miles long, from 
 Seymour to the gold-fields, six ieet wide and same depth, with a 
 triangular section Avhich would be considerably enlarged by the 
 action of the current, would involve 105,000 cubic yards of 
 excavation, which, at 5s. to cover occasional rock cutting, would 
 come to £20,000 ; from the gold-fields the water could be 
 conducted all over the country towards the Murray by inexpensive 
 open cuts, which would be enlarged by the action of the current ; 
 this desirable scheme would be of vast importance to these 
 extensive gold-fields which are almost undeveloped for want of 
 water. The Goulburn discharge at Sevmour last summer was 
 about 800 cubic feet per second, so that a stream as large as the 
 Yarra could be turned over the county of Rodney throughout 
 the year, if necessary. 
 
 There can be no doubt that were the plains of Victoria well 
 watered, wherever practicable, from the higher lands, and their 
 surface drainage increased by a judicious and economical system 
 of catch-water drains, by means of which still lower levels might 
 be supplied, the ret^ults would be of a most beneficial nature both 
 to pastoral and agricultural interests, and the production of food 
 would be considerably increased while its cost would be economized. 
 Certain evidence exists that for most localities an ample quantity 
 of water is obtainable, but its judicious application for each place 
 must regulate reproductive results.
 
 32 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 ARTESIAN WELLS. 
 
 The question of the adoption of artesian wells as a means of 
 water supply is one fraught with much difficulty, owing- partly to 
 the limited information regarding the g-eological character of some 
 districts and the small evidence reg-arding the extensive existence 
 of secondary formations, and of vast tertiary beds so necessary to 
 the absorption and storage of water within them. 
 
 The clay-slate and sandstone formations which have been 
 upheaved by plutonic roclis, occupy a large area in the colony, 
 of a very undulating character, and dip considerably below the 
 general surface where they .are overlaid with immense plains of 
 basalt, or with shallow beds of gravel and sand, freipiently covered 
 with recent basalt. It is possible that water may percolate 
 through the surface formations, and be conveyed over the clay- 
 slate, or sandstone floor beneath to lower levels nt great depths 
 below the surface, especially where tertiary beds intervene between 
 the surface basalt, but hitherto the only evidence obtained is from 
 the water-worn valleys through the basalt plains of 150 feet deej), 
 which frequently denuded down to the underlying slate-rock, 
 indicate only by occasional feeble springs the presence of water, 
 which is generally either salt or brackish. It would, however, be 
 premature, in the absence of the results of borings to much 
 greater depths, to arrive at definite conclusions regarding the 
 water-bearing (pialities of the basalt and underlying formations. 
 
 Those strata from which the most hopeful results can be 
 expected are evidently those alluvial beds of sand and gravel 
 whicii are in the leading valleys of the auriferous districts, and 
 extend to very considerable depths, covering the sites of ancient 
 watercourses, and offering many difficulties to mining operations. 
 
 It is not im])r()bable, however, that the |)lains in the Murray 
 basin may contain tertiary beds of great thickness, in wliich an 
 abundant supply of water could be obtained. Wells on the 
 Murray plains, on the New South Wales side, have been sunk 
 through rhiy and niiul till sand was reached, liut in every case 
 either .«alt or biackish water was found ; what tlie results would 
 be were the sinkings carried to considerable depths, is yet to be 
 ascertained. 
 
 Towards the wot of the colony, on the (ilenelg, an extensive
 
 COLLECTIOX AND STORAGE OF WATER. 33 
 
 limestone formation exists, overlying- sandstone, and extending 
 from the coast northward to the Murray, where it appears on the 
 river banks. 
 
 This rock probably extends throug-hout a considerable portion 
 of the dry Wimmera District, and would very likely aftbrd larg-e 
 supplies of water by means of artesian wells, as the rain upon the 
 surface of this district, which is very flat and sandy, is almost 
 altogether absorbed within the g-round, and probably percolates 
 through porous beds of sandy clays, gTavel, and sand, down to 
 the limestone beneath. 
 
 Various places along the sea coast, of similar formation, would 
 probably be available for artesian wells. 
 
 The enquiry into this important branch of the subject of water- 
 supply requires more definite determination of the nature, area, 
 and localities of the secondar}^ and tertiary formations, without 
 which no conclusive results can be arrived at. 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 In the supply of water to the gold-fields of this colony is 
 embraced its material progress, as, indeed, it may now be assumed 
 that the richness of a g-old-field is as much identical with its 
 water suj^ph^ as with its auriferous wealth ; any scheme, therefore, 
 that will effect the constant supply to the auriferous districts at 
 an economical rate, will certainly raise the production of gold 
 considerably. Storage of water by reservoirs must necessarily be 
 limited to localities, and hence they are restricted in their usefulness. 
 A g-eneral scheme is required by which a great area of the colony 
 can be commanded at high levels, to effect which economically and 
 within reproductive limits, is the great problem. The Australian 
 Alps, as above stated, form a great natural storage reservoir, from 
 which an aggreg-ate flow equal to the Murray in summer, drains 
 off in the driest time of the year ; to divert a portion of this 
 immense supply westerly along- the north side of the dividing- 
 range would effect all that could be required. From this source 
 an ample supply would be available, which would command all the 
 northern auriferous districts ; the absence of surveys, however, 
 prevent definite conclusion on the merits of this scheme. 
 
 It has been attempted in this treatise to demonstrate that 
 although the surface of this colony generally is unfavorable to 
 
 D
 
 34 PRIZE KS5AY. — COLLECTION' AND STORAGE OF WATER. 
 
 the generation of permanent streams, yet that an ample supply 
 of water exists requiring- only the judicious expenditure of capital 
 to render it available economically; the conclusions g-enerally come 
 to are based upon flicts regarding- the watercourses of the colony 
 obtained by the Survey Department, which, althoug-h so far as the 
 summer flow g-enerally is concerned, cannot be considered on the 
 whole satisfiictory ; bearing- in mind the larg;e drainag-e areas of 
 the various streams, it is, nevertheless, certain that an ample 
 amount of water is delivered into them throug-hout the year, 
 which, if conserved by an economic system of storage, would be 
 invaluable for agTicultural, pastoral, and mining purposes. In 
 order to ascertain the capacity of the vallej's of the various water- 
 courses for the storage of water at such levels as will command a 
 large extent of country beneath them, and will permit of the 
 construction of aqueducts leading to centres of population, where 
 required, it will be necessary to obtain such sections as will indicate 
 the relative heights above the sea of the beds of the various 
 watercourses, at frequent intervals. Were such levels carried out 
 from the coast as a base northwards up the valley lines to the 
 dividing range on one side, and from the Murray River south- 
 wards up its tributaries to the north side of the dividing range, 
 a network of relative levels would be established of incalculable 
 importance to all schemes for increasing- the water suj)})ly, as also 
 to general engineering and scientific pui-])oses. 
 
 FREDERICK ACHESOJV, C.E. 
 
 30th Seplcmlier, 1860,
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Table of Discharges and other particulars of the Rivers and 
 Creeks of Victoria, deduced from observations obtained by the 
 Survey Department. 
 
 Rivers and Creeks North of the Great Dividing Range. 
 Date of Observation, 2\st December, 1859. 
 
 Eivcr or Creek. 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area in 
 
 square feet. 
 
 1 Mean 
 ; Velocity 
 per second 
 in feet. 
 
 Discharge 
 
 per second 
 
 in cubic feet. 
 
 Mitta-Mitta River. 
 Little River 
 
 Near junction with 
 iMurray 
 
 Above j unction with 
 Murray 
 
 At Wangaratta 
 
 At Wangaratta 
 
 At Benalla 
 
 241-84 
 
 114-000 
 
 861-000 
 140-7 
 
 1-92 
 
 i 1-42 
 
 ] -693 
 1-09 
 
 464-3328 
 161-88 
 
 Ovens River 
 
 King River 
 
 596-67 . 
 153-3 
 
 Broken River 
 
 0-0 
 
 
 
 
 Mitta-Mltta River. — Rises in the Australian Alps, and derives a large 
 portion of its waters from the melting of snow on ranges at sources during 
 the months of September, October, and November, being period of highest 
 flood. Basin, 2000 square miles; length, 100 miles. 
 
 Little River. — Rises in the Bogong Ranges. Suitable for irrigation and 
 supply of water to Yackandandah gold-fields; receives a great portion of 
 its waters from the melting of snow on ranges at source, especially Bogong. 
 
 Ovens River. — Rises in the Great Dividing Range. Could be made 
 available for navigation for 30 miles from the Murray, by removal of dead 
 trees ; available for water supply to adjacent country, and irrigation. 
 Source in Dividing Range, between Murray district and Gipps Land. 
 Approximate length, 100 miles. 
 
 King River, — Rises in Mount Buller. Applicable for water supply to 
 neighborhood and irrigation. Approximate length, 50 miles. 
 
 Broken River. — Rises in the ranges near Mount Buller. Principal tribu- 
 tary Halland's Creek ; but slightly affected by snow ; applicable to watering 
 the tract of country between it and the Murray. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 PRIZE ESSAY. — APPENDIX. 
 
 Rivers and Creeks North of Great Dividing Raxoe — continued. 
 
 Khrer or Creek. 
 
 I^x:ality. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area In 
 
 square feet. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Velocity 
 
 per second 
 
 in feet. 
 
 Discharse 
 per second 
 in cubic feet. 
 
 Goulburn River ... 
 
 Above junction with 
 the Murray 
 
 1064-62 
 
 1.462 
 
 1556-004 
 
 Campaspe River (1) 
 Campaspe River(2) 
 
 
 0-0538 
 
 0-475 
 
 0-0255 
 
 A short distance 
 above junction with 
 Coliban 
 
 1-68 
 
 0-223 
 
 0-375 
 
 Campaspe River .. 
 
 Immediately above 
 junction with Coli- 
 ban 
 
 6-3 
 
 0-070 
 
 0-481 
 
 Campaspe River (3) 
 
 Immediately below 
 junction with Coli- 
 ban 
 
 89-34 
 
 •115 
 
 4-524 
 
 Campaspe River... 
 
 At Kchuca, its ter- 
 mination 
 
 211-8 
 
 0-00 
 
 000 
 
 Coliban River (1) 
 
 At Malmsbury 
 
 27-0 
 
 0-27 
 
 7-29 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Goulburn 7?; re/-.— Rises in the Great Dividing Range. Is considerably 
 affei-ted by the melting of snow at the sources. All the tributaries above 
 Sunday Creek permanent all the year, with only one or two trivial ex- 
 ceptions. Can be made navigable up to Seymour at a moderate outlay. 
 The water is very tine and clear. Basin, 6700 square miles ; length, 
 200 miles. 
 
 Campaspe River — (1) Rises in the Great Dividing Ranges, to the east of 
 Coliban, and flows over a slate country as far as the Five Mile Creek, and 
 thence to Kyneton over trap with but few springs. The floods rise rapidly, 
 owing to the steep watershed on the north side of ranges. Not permanent; 
 consists of a series of water-liolcs during summer all through its course. 
 
 (a) Kight hundred feet above the sea; diflVrence between summer level 
 and greatest floods about eight feet. 
 
 (3) Same remarks above aj)ply. This is the combined discharge of the 
 Coliban and Campaspe at their junction ; at this i)lacc an extensive storage 
 reservoir might be formed. 
 
 (Jiilihan llivir. — (1) Source at the Great Dividing l{:ingc, and runs north- 
 erly, receiving a.s tributaries the Little Coliban and the Kangaroo Creek above 
 Malmsbury, botli of which arc snpplieil by s])rings of good (piality, rising in 
 a high country of trap rock, and except in extraordinnr}' seasons of drought 
 flow throughout the year. This constant siipply nn"(irds great facilities for 
 nup|ilying the gold fleldn, Cafltlemaine and Rendigo. The watershed of 
 Coliban, above Taradale, is 160 sipiare miles, and well adBi)te<l for irrigation. 
 The Tea Tree (-reek is another tributary, about a (|inirti'r of a mile above- 
 the section at Taradale, and although it has a small watershed, it aflbrds a 
 never failing spring of good water.
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATER. 37 
 
 Rivers and Cheeks North of Great Dividing Range — continued. 
 
 lUver or Creek. 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Mean 
 Sectional Velocity 
 Area In per second 
 square leet. in feet. 
 
 Discharge 
 
 per second 
 
 in cubic feet. 
 
 Coliban River (2) 
 Coliban River (2) 
 
 Loddon River ( I ) 
 
 Loddon River (2) 
 
 At Taradale 
 
 6-6990 
 8-107 
 
 5-2 
 
 2-06 
 
 1-0 
 0.3762 
 
 0-0996 
 
 0-666 
 
 6-6990 
 
 Immediately above 
 its confluence with 
 the Campaspe 
 
 Two and a half miles 
 above junction of 
 Fryer's Creek 
 
 At Newstead 
 
 3-050 
 0-518 
 1-3719 
 
 
 
 (2) From Taradale to the junction with Campaspe River (25 miles) are 
 the largest tributaries, namely, the Back Creek, near Taradale, Jennings 
 Creek, and Myrtle or Cockatoo Creek, (this latter rises in the Mount 
 Alexander Ranges,) all of which join the Coliban on its west bank; they 
 cease to flow in dry weather. About eight miles below Taradale the 
 Coliban forms itself into a chain of water-holes, some of considerable 
 size, and apparently ceases to flow, at least its flow decreases from 
 Malmsbury to the junction, probably owing to evaporation or absorption 
 by the soil. There are three falls on this river— one 15 miles above 
 Malmsbury of 86 feet, one small fall between Malmsbury and Taradale, 
 and the other (the " Cohan " of Sir F. Mitchell) about 1 1 miles below 
 Taradale; the two first flow over trap, the latter over granite. Bed 
 of Coliban at Malmsbury over low water at Hobson's Bay, 1417 feet; 
 at Taradale, 1215 feet. 
 
 Loddon River. — (1) The river up to this point is fed by rainfall and is 
 destitute of springs, except a few in the trap country. Is fed by a number 
 of small creeks extending back from half a mile to ten miles. Owing to 
 the precipitous nature of the basin, the water-level is subject to rapid 
 fluctuations, rising in a few hours, after heavy rains, to a great height, and 
 subsiding in a few days. At the present time it is merely a chain of water- 
 holes connected by small rills, discharging only -518 cubic feet per second. 
 The valley of tlie river is well adapted for storage reservoirs, being hemmed 
 in on both sides by hills ranging from 150 to 200 feet high, which fall 
 back from the river in places and again approach close up, overhanging 
 its banks in frequently a precipitous manner, thus forming a number of 
 natural bays which might easily be converted into extensive reservoirs 
 for water supply and motive power, at small cost when compared with 
 the results obtained. 
 
 (2) Surface of country draining into river impervious and precipitous, so 
 that water is carried off" rapidly. Present state of river a chain of water- 
 holes, which might be dammed up and would contain a moderate supply of 
 water. River does not flow for some time in summer.
 
 88 PRIZE ESSAY. APPENDIX. 
 
 RiVEKS AND Creeks North of Great Dividing Range — continued. 
 
 Eiver or Cre«K. 
 
 LocaUty. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area in 
 
 square feet. 
 
 M can 
 
 Velocity 
 
 per second 
 
 in feet. 
 
 Discharge 
 per <econd 
 in cubic feet. 
 
 Loddon River (3) 
 
 At Newbridge 
 
 0-150 
 
 1-000 
 
 0-150 
 
 Loddon River 
 
 At the junction of 
 
 tlieSerpentineCreek 
 
 0-969 
 
 1-50 
 
 1-453 
 
 Avoca River 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 0-00 
 
 Avon River 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 0-00 
 
 Wimmera River ... 
 
 0-00 
 
 (3) The Loddon is supplied b}- drainage from a basin of 4800 square miles 
 and receives seven tributaries on its east and north banks, and eleven on its 
 south and west banks, none of which are permanent but form in summer a 
 series of water-holes, being almost entirely supplied by surface drainage 
 from off day-slate, sandstone and traji watersheds. 
 
 Avoca River. — Rises in the Amphitheatre Ranges and proceeds northerly 
 about 1 U> miles to within 16 miles of the Murray, where it falls into Lake 
 Bael Bael, which has no outlet. It only runs during the wet season. 
 
 Avon River. — Rises in Bald Hills, near Navarre, and has the Richardson 
 river and creek, Sandy and Irwell creeks for tributaries; flows northerly for 
 45 miles, and terminates in a swamp called Boloke ; is non-permanent. 
 
 ^Yimmcta River. — The main stream and most of the eastern tributaries 
 take their rise in the Pyrenees and the western tributaries from the 
 Grampians. This river takes a north-westerly and northerly course, pass- 
 ing through 130 miles of very flat country, and discharges into Lake 
 Ilindmarsh, which is 12 miles long and 5 miles wide and contains fresh 
 water. From this lake is au outlet leading into Lake All)acutya, whence 
 an outlet creek leads to a large jilain called Wirringree ; but this creek 
 has not flowed for many years, so that Lake Albacutya may be considered 
 the termination of the waters of the Wimmera. The supply to this 
 river is almost exclusively from siirfaci? drainage, hence it does not flow in 
 summer. 
 
 *,* The whole of the river* afwvr, anil their trihutarie.s, Jlow northerly anil with 
 the ejrref/tion of the Wimmera ami Avnca, which terminate in lakes without 
 outlet, eventually dischanjc into the Afuirai/, lahimj their rise in the Great 
 Dividinij Ranijc or npurs connected therewith.
 
 COLLECTION AND STOUAOE OF WATER. 39 
 
 RivEKS AND Creeks North op Great Dividing B.xnoE— continued. 
 
 River or Creek, 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area In 
 
 square feet. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Velocity 
 
 I)er second 
 
 in feet. 
 
 Discharge 
 
 per second 
 
 in cubic feet. 
 
 Murray River 
 
 Murray River 
 
 Murray River 
 
 Murray River 
 
 At Alburv, below 
 Mitta - Mitta and 
 Little River 
 
 BelowOvens junction 
 
 Above junction of 
 Goulburn 
 
 At Echuca, below 
 the Goulburn 
 
 2248-0 
 .5042-7 
 
 2479-9 
 
 1-185 
 0-59 
 
 1-596 
 
 2663-880 
 
 2975-1 
 2411- 
 
 3967-92 
 
 The Murraij. — The Murray receives the drainage of all the Victorian 
 rivers and creeks that flow northward from the Great Dividing Range, 
 saving such as terminate in swamps or lakes, as the Wimmera, Avon, and 
 Avoca rivers. It rises in the Australian Alps, at Forest Hill, and proceeds 
 northerly for 60 miles (receiving intermediately an east branch from Mount 
 Kosciusko) to the junction of the Cudgewong Creek, whence its course is 
 westward for 180 miles to the junction of the Goulburn, and thence north- 
 westerly to the western boundary of the colony for 320 miles, presenting a 
 general length of northern boundary of 560 miles, or measured circuitously 
 along its bends about 1600 miles. Its width from Albury to the Campaspe 
 at summer level, varies from 200 to 240 feet ; it is supplied above the 
 junction of the Mitta-Mitta to its source by permanent streams from the 
 Australian Alps, which convey spring water from the primitive granitiform 
 rocks constantly, and melted snow for three months in the year. The 
 aggregate of supplies amounted to 2037 cubic feet per second on the 21st 
 December, 1859, being fully one half of the whole summer discharge above 
 the confluence of the Edward River in the Wimmera district, and was 
 drained ofl'an area of only 2500 square miles, while the united basins of the 
 Mitta-Mitta, Little River, Ovens, and Goulburn, comprising 11.300 square 
 miles, or more than four times this area, delivered only 2778 cubic feet per 
 second at the same time, thus demonstrating the superior water-bearing 
 capacity of this basin at the source of the Murray to that of its great 
 tributaries. Below the junction of the Goul])urn the Murray does not 
 receive any tributary waters from the Victorian side during the dry season, 
 but it is considerably reinforced by the confluence of the Murrumbidgee 
 and Darling rivers from the Sydnej' side, which drain a considerable portion 
 of New South Wales. It finallj' discharges into the sea at Encounter Bay, 
 in the South Australian territory, through which it flows for one-third of 
 its length. It has been succes.sfullj- navigated up to Albury.
 
 40 
 
 PRIZE ESSAY. APPENDIX. 
 
 RivEKS AND Creeks South of the Gkeat Dividing Range. 
 Date of Observation, 2lst December, 1859. 
 
 River or Creek. 
 
 Glenelg River i Two chains below 
 
 I the junction of the 
 Wannon 
 
 Glenelg River i Just above the tidal 
 
 I influence 
 
 Wannon River, a 
 tributary of the 
 Gknelg 
 
 Eumeralla River... 
 
 Four chains above 
 its junction with 
 the Glenelg 
 
 At the Portland road 
 crossing 
 
 Mean 
 
 Velocity 
 per second 
 square teet. i in &«(. 
 
 Sectional 
 Area in 
 
 18-05 0-935 
 
 34300 0-122 
 
 12-40 j 0-786 
 
 126-00 ': 0-00 
 
 Discharge 
 
 per second 
 
 in cubic feet. 
 
 17-217 
 
 41-84 
 9-752 
 
 0-00 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Glenelg Eiver. — This river rises between the Victoria and Sierra Ranges, 
 to the west of Mount William, and is derived from springs and ordinary 
 rainfall; parts of it are dry during the latter end of summer, as for instance 
 at and ir. the neighborhood of Balmoral and Harrow; but adjacent to such 
 parts there are large deep pools of permanent fresh water. The quality of 
 the water generally speaking is good, although in summer brackish portions 
 are to be found. The bed is sandy, and the banks heavily timbered with 
 gum, and for the greater part precipitous and hi{>h. The portion of the 
 river between Dcrgholm and junction with Wannon could be made avail- 
 able for undershot water-wheels. The hciglit above the sea at Harrow is 
 about 314 feet, and at junction of Wannon 132 feet. Tlie difference at 
 Dartmoor between the summer and highest flood level is 49 feet, ascertained 
 last year in October, at the mouth of llie Wannon; on 21st December, 1859, 
 the difllrence wa.s 21 feet. 
 
 Waunon River. — Rises on the east of the Sierra Ranges, to the south-west 
 of Mount William, and is derived from sj)rings and ordinary rainfall; it 
 passes through Dunkeld, C'avendish, Bochara. and thence to Saiulford, 
 where it unites with tlie Glenelg; it scarcely runs at all in the latter end of 
 Bonimer between its cours*? and Cavendish, and but very little to the junction 
 of the(irange Burn, (whicii is a running stream in the driest seasons); from 
 this point to the junction with the Glinelg, it is available for undershot 
 motive power, and j)asHes through a large tract of suitable land for agri- 
 cultural pur|K)8es. 'I'lif (luulity of the water is very good from the source 
 to the junction of tlu; (Jrange Burn, and afterwards it is sliglitly brackisli in 
 place* to the Glenelg. The height of this river above the sea is at Tahora 
 alKiut 198 feet, and at Bochara, above the falls, about 385 feet. 
 
 Eumrralta //li-er.— Flows into Yainbuk Lake, which is the estuary. The 
 tide flows up Ave and a half miles, and boats can proceed this distance; at 
 lix miles the flats commence, and extend four miles upwards, averaging
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATER. 41 
 
 RivEUS AND Crekks South OF GuEAT DIVIDING Range — Continued. 
 
 liivcr or t'reek. 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area in 
 
 square feet. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Velocity 
 
 per second 
 
 in feet. 
 
 Discliarge 
 
 per second 
 
 la cubic feet. 
 
 Sliaw Kiver 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 0-00 
 
 Moyne River 
 
 Spring Creek 
 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 half-a-mile in width, and unfit for any purpose but grazing. 22 miles from 
 the estuary is the junction of Breakfast Creek from the westward; and at 
 45 miles it flows out of Buckley's Swamp, which is the drainage of a large 
 extent of countrj^ west and northward of Mount Rouse. 
 
 Slimv River — Flows into Yambuk Lake; a mere winter stream, passing 
 through and connecting various swamps and flats; has some permanent 
 good water-holes; rises about 30 miles from the lake, on W. Carmichael's 
 station. 
 
 Moyne River —Joins the sea at Belfast; has a shifting sand-bar, the depth 
 of water on which is sometimes only si.K inches, and seldom reaches four 
 feet in depth. The tide flows about three miles up, but boats cannot pass 
 Belfast except in winter. 13 miles from the bar are the falls, about 20 feet 
 over trap rock, available for a water-mill about six months in the year. At 
 17 miles is the outlet of Torrens Marsh, which extends about four miles; 
 this large flat has very good soil, but is deeply flooded in winter, only a 
 small portion could be made available for cultivation. It takes its rise 
 about five miles above Kangatong station, at 33 miles from the bar is a flat 
 in which is a small spring. 
 
 Spring Creek. — Takes its rise from springs on the north-east side of 
 Mount Rouse; by the bends in it the distance between its junction and the 
 Merri Rivulet is about 43 miles. P'our miles up is the junction of BuUabuU 
 Creek, a mere drainage. At Woolsthorpe, 1 1 miles upwards, it is an open 
 flat of good soil, averaging half-a-niile in width, and over six miles in length; 
 the whole of this might be made available for cultivation by cutting a drain 
 connecting the pools on this flat ; above the flat a dam might be formed, so 
 that it might in summer be irrigated if necessary. 15 J miles up is the 
 junction of Youl's Creek from the eastward, a mere drainage of very brackish 
 water; 18i miles Ware's Creek from the westward; 26 miles junction of 
 Back Creek, having very good water, and takes its rise from springs south- 
 west side of Mount Rouse; 28 miles McArihur's Creek from the eastward, 
 water very salt; 32 miles Buckland's dam, and jimction of Double Creek; 
 this double creek rims parallel for the distance of four miles, the diversion 
 of the two being a trap rock ridge about five chains wide; at 34 miles mere 
 flats of good soil, various widths, and extending nearly to the springs, all of 
 which would require draining to make available for any purpose save 
 grazing.
 
 42 
 
 PRIZE ESSAY. — ArPKNDIX. 
 
 Rivers ajjd Ckeeks South of Great Dividing Range — continued. 
 
 Klver or Cre«k. 
 
 Sectional 
 Locality. Area in 
 square feet 
 
 Mean 
 
 Velocity 
 
 per second 
 
 in feet. 
 
 0-25 
 
 Discbarge 
 per second 
 In cubic feet. 
 
 Merri Rivulet 
 
 Merri River 
 
 Parish of Langi 
 Gliiran, near Ararat 
 Near Green Hill, 
 Ararat 
 Chatswortli 
 
 
 ... 
 
 Hopkius River 
 
 Hopkins River 
 
 Hopkins River 
 
 Hopkins River 
 
 0-00 
 0-00 
 0*00 
 
 At Wangoom, above 
 the rai)ids, five and 
 a half miles from 
 the mouth, and at 
 Mr. Allen's 
 
 27-000 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Merri liivulet. — This rivulet is the drainage of a flat swampy country 
 westward of the telegrai)h lines. The banks below Drysdalo station are 
 very steep, high, and stony ; many springs along the hanks, and some few 
 permanent good watcrholes. 
 
 Merri River. — Joins the sea at Warrnambool. Boats can proceed to near 
 Woodford for a distance of 12 miles. At five miles from the bar it is joined 
 by the Yangery Creek, a mere drainage from stringy-bark country; 16 miles 
 from the bar is the junction of Manifold's Creek which forms the drainage 
 from Lake Carlcarronge: this lake could be easily made available for the 
 purposes of irrigation ; 18 miles from the bar is the junction of two creeks 
 — the Merri Hivulet and Spring Creek. 
 
 Hopkins Uiver. — Forms the eastern boundary of the county of Villiers; 
 the outlet to the sea is a narrow rocky bar one mile eastward of Warrnam- 
 bool ; the tide flows five and a half miles up, to which distance boats can 
 proceed ; at this spot arc rapids formed by large boulders and flat basaltic 
 rocks ; nine miles above the rapids Urucknell Creek joins it from the cast- 
 ward (Brucknell Creek has a narrow deep bed, very good water, and flows 
 throughout the year, and is the drainage of a large j)ortion of the impene- 
 trable scrub in the county of Heytesbury) ; half a mile above Brucknell 
 Creek are the falls, 40 to 45 feet in height ; three miles above the fails is 
 the junction of Kmu Creek or Black's Creek from the east. To this distance 
 from the rapids tlie jxmiIs^ are long and deep, and have good water; above, 
 the pools Ijccome much less, and the water ratlier brackish, and some too 
 salt for use. About .K) miles from Kinu CVcek is the junctidn of the Salt- 
 water Creek from the east and Muslim's Creek from the west. Miiston's 
 Creek takes its rise from a stniill Mat, with no apparent spring, about 12 
 miles north-east from Mount Jiouse ; it has very bad water in 8mall ])ool8 
 during summer, is easily flooded and soon subsides. The banks of the 
 Hopkins are high, steep, and stony ; it is liable to very high floods : in 1854 
 tlie height at Allansfonl bridge was 22 feet above summer level. Above
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF WATER. 48 
 
 Rivers and Creeks South of Great Dividing Range — continued. 
 
 River or Creek. 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area in 
 
 square feet. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Velocity 
 
 per second 
 
 in feel. 
 
 Discliarge 
 per second 
 In cubic feet. 
 
 Mount Emu Creek 
 
 Mount Emu Creek 
 
 Gnarkeet Chain of 
 
 Ponds 
 Curdie's Creek 
 
 26 yards above its 
 junction with the 
 Hopkins 
 
 Below junction of 
 Baillie's Creek 
 
 4-62 
 
 2-08 
 
 9-609 
 
 0-00 
 0-00 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Muston's Creek are four other minor winter streams from the westward ; 
 there are several places in this river could be made available for water mills. 
 The Hopkins rises in the southern slopes of the Pyrenees, about 80 miles 
 in a northerly direction from its confluence with the sea ; although its 
 northern portion ceases to flow at certain seasons, it nevertheless affords to 
 the counties of Hampden and Villiers a good supply of water for stock, 
 contained in water-holes from a few yards to a quarter of a mile in length, 
 and occasionally of great depth. 
 
 Mount Emu Creek. — Issues from the southern sheds of the Pyrenees and 
 from Lake Burrumbeet, and flows in a southerly direction as far as the 
 north-west angle of the county of Heytesbury, a distance of about 65 miles 
 in a direct line, but it is very tortuous in its course thither ; then it takes 
 a westerly course for about 20 miles to its junction with the Hopkins, about 
 10 miles from the ocean ; it derives its supplies in a similar manner to the 
 Hopkins. This creek, however, intersects a tract of country presenting 
 higher evidences of volcanic action than that through which the Hopkins 
 passes, and this may account for the presence and flow of water in this 
 creek during seasons while the other has ceased to flow. In its southward 
 course it receives the contents of copious springs ; northward, towards its 
 source, the supply is more from rainfall, although there are springs imme- 
 diately at its source. 
 
 Gnarkeet Chain of Ponds. — Rises on the south and east slopes of Mounts 
 Widderen and Bute, about 22 miles north from Lake Corangainite, into 
 which it falls ; the water, varying in quality, is contained in holes of limited 
 dimensions, many of which become dry in summer. The supplj' is chiefly 
 derived from ordinary rainfalls which, when unusually heavy, causes a flow 
 in the creek for a limited period. 
 
 Curdie's Creek. — Takes its source from Lake Purrumpete, as also from 
 springs and drainage from the southern and eastern slopes of Mount Laura 
 and Mount Naringal, then it enters an unsurveyed and densely wooded 
 tract of limestone country. It gradually increases in importance as it nears 
 the sea coast, fed by numerous supplies from the watersheds which divide 
 it from the Gellibrand on the east. Mount Emu Creek, Cudge Creek, and 
 the Hopkins on the west. The flow of water is permanent and copious.
 
 44 PRIZE ESSAY. APPENDIX. 
 
 RiTERS AND Creeks South of Great Dividing B.asge— continued. 
 
 Biver or Creek. 
 
 LociUity. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area iu 
 
 square feet. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Velocity 
 
 per secunj 
 
 in feet. 
 
 Discharge 
 per second 
 In cubic feet. 
 
 Gellibrand River... 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Bar won River 
 
 Rickett's Marsh 
 
 73 -.'iO 
 
 3-56 
 
 262-00 
 
 Ijcigh River 
 
 
 
 
 0-00 
 
 Moorabool River... 
 
 At junction with Lai 
 Lai Creek 
 
 0-46 
 
 0-193 
 
 0-0887 
 
 Werribee River ... 
 
 At Bacchus Marsh. , . 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 2-2 
 
 Lerderderg River, a 
 tributary of the 
 Werribee 
 
 At Bacchus Marsli .. . 
 
 
 
 3-25 
 
 REMAKKS. 
 
 Gellibrand River. — Rises in the ranges in the interior of the county of 
 Polwarth, and passes in a south-westerly direction to the sea, which it 
 enters 22 milts west from Cape Otway. Of this river little is known, 
 it having been but little explored, being situated in country difficult of 
 access. 
 
 Barwun River. — Takes its source in the Ci\\w Otway ranges, and falls into 
 the sea at Mount Colite, after traversing through 80 miles of country. It 
 has a drainage basin of 1432 square miles. 
 
 Leiijh River. — Flows from the Great Dividing Range soutlurly for 50 miles, 
 and joins the Barwon after draining 373 scjuare miles of country. 
 
 Muurabuol River. — Rises in Great Dividing Range, and flows southerly, 
 joining the Barwon at Fvansford. It is about 00 miles long, and has 
 a drainage basin of 342 square miles. 
 
 ]Virri/)ce River. — The total length of the Werribee is about 5G miles. At 
 Bacchus Marsh it attains a level of aiiout 400 feet above the sea; at Ballan 
 about 1600 feet ; and the liighest elevation of the Hhukwood Ranges, from 
 whence it takes its rise, is about 2000 feet. In the vicinitj- of Ballan it 
 often wholly ceases to flow during the summer months, as also as far down 
 as Bacchus Marsh. Tiie Korjamuneip Creek, ne.xt the IxTderderg River, 
 is the most constant tributary to tlie Werribee, having for itssourci- numerous 
 springs in the ranges. Above the crossing of the Ballan and Blackwood 
 roa<l it divides into two branches, of which Korwcinguboora is the most 
 permanent. Numerous mineral 8i)rings are to be found in the ranges at 
 source of this latter, and one of a-rated water of efUrvescing strength. 
 
 LerdcrtltTij Kivrr. — Is the most ])ernwinent tributary of the Werribee, and 
 has seldom l)een known to fail in the vicinity of Uacchus Marsh. Its 
 waters are yellow and muddy with the sludge of the Blackwood miners, to 
 whom it IH of great importance for nine months in the year. Advantage 
 has been taken of its waters at Bacchus Marsh for irrigating purposes with 
 iiioHt satisfactory results.
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAftK OF WATKIl. 45 
 
 Rivers and Creeks South op Great Dividing Ravqe— continued. 
 
 Hiver or Creek. 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area in 
 
 siuare feet. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Velocity 
 
 per second 
 
 in feet. 
 
 Dl8char^,'e 
 per second 
 in cubic feet. 
 
 Macedon River, or 
 Riddell's Creek, 
 atributary of the 
 Saltwater River 
 
 At Crossing of Rail- 
 way 
 
 
 2-5 
 
 Saltwater River, 
 
 Brocks' Hill 
 
 ... 
 
 
 2-5 
 
 main eastern 
 branch 
 
 
 
 Yarra Yarra River 
 
 At Hawthorn. 100 
 yards below bridge 
 
 1297-00 
 
 0-4128 
 
 535-00 
 
 WooriYaloakCreek 
 
 Near Bryerty's sta- 
 tion 
 
 82-28 
 
 0-61 
 
 50-19 
 
 Running Creek ... 
 
 Mooroolbark, four 
 miles above Saw 
 Mills 
 
 1-718 
 
 1-38 
 
 . 2-37 
 
 Running Creek ... 
 
 Two miles above 
 Saw Mills 
 
 11-8 
 
 I'lS 
 
 13-37 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Macedon River.— Source in numerous springs gushing from the base of 
 Mount Macedon. The Gisborne branch of this stream is by far the longest, 
 yet its discharge is so small at present as to be scarcely discernible. 
 
 Saltwater River. — Rises in the Macedon Ranges, the southern slopes of 
 which abound in springs, giving rise to several permanent streams, the 
 whole uniting form one stream about 13 miles above the junction of the 
 Saltwater River with the Yarra. At about eight miles up from this place, 
 on the north side of Braybrook, it does not flow in summer, but consists of 
 a series of large capacious water-holes of fresh water. At half a mile 
 below this, at the fords, are copious salt springs from the adjacent trap 
 formations which generate a flow of from five to ten cube feet per second. 
 Nearly from this point down the river is navigable, the water-level being main- 
 tained by tidal influence from the Yarra, Drainage basin, 500 square miles. 
 
 Yarra Yarra River. — The permanent streams which combine to form the 
 Yarra are distinguished by their copious flow of water at all seasons and 
 rise in granite or porphyritic ranges covered with dense and luxuriant 
 vegetation, of which the following are the principal as yet surveyed, — 
 rivers Plenty and Don, Badgers' Creek, Watts' Creek, AVoori Yaloak Creek, 
 and Running Creek, exclusive of which the upper basin contains a great 
 number of fine permanent streams, but little explored. The remaining 
 tributaries are merely receptacles of surface drainage and are not perma- 
 nent. The length of the Yarra to the sea is about 70 miles ; its drainage 
 basin, 1500 square miles. 
 
 Woori Yaloak Creek.— A tributary of the Yarra, rising from springs in 
 the Dandenong Ranges. It is a fine permanent stream. 
 
 Runnihy Creek. — Rises from springs in the Dandenong Ranges.
 
 46 
 
 PRIZE ESSAY. — APPENDIX. 
 
 GiPPS Land.* 
 Observations taken in February, 1860. 
 
 River or Creek. 
 
 LocaUty. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area hi 
 
 square feet. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Velocity 
 
 per second 
 
 iu feet. 
 
 Discharire 
 
 per second 
 
 in culjic feet. 
 
 Franklin River ... 
 Agnes River 
 
 One and a quarter 
 miles above Alberton 
 
 Ten miles above 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Albert River 
 
 j 36-00 
 
 Tarra River 
 
 i 22-5 
 
 Merriman's Creek 
 
 mouth 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Franklin River. — Flows southerly into Corner Inlet, from the Streletzski 
 Ranges whence it rises, it is navigable for a few miles and has a muddy 
 bottom where within tidal influence, but higher uj) the water is bright and 
 clear, flowing over granite, sandstone, schist and quartz pebbly bottom, and 
 in a larger volume than in the low country where the porosity of the ad- 
 joining land absorbs a portion of the discharge. In this river are to be 
 found many varieties of fish; in the lower part, near the mouth, are those 
 kinds pecidiar to salt water, and higlier up such as are entirely confined to 
 inland water. 
 
 Aynes River — Rises in the Streletzski Ranges, and flows southerly into 
 Corner Inlet, and is in all respects the same as the Franklin. 
 
 Albert River. — Rises in the Streletzski Ranges and discharges into an 
 inlet at Palmerston where Port Albert lies. It is navigable for vessels of 
 light draught up to Alberton, about seven miles from Port Albert. Its 
 length is about 20 miles ; the supply is from springs and surface drain- 
 age ; it is a(laj)ted fur irrigation and for water siijjply to the town.ship of 
 All)orton. The difference between suinincr and Ibuuls is about tiirec feet ; 
 the water is good. 
 
 Tnrra River — Flows southerly ahotit 2.') niiUs fn in the Streletzski Ranges 
 from which it takes its rise, and disdiarges into an inlet two miles east of 
 the All)ert. It is available fur water supply to I'ort Albert. Vessels of 
 light draught can proceed as far as Tarraville. 
 
 MvrrimanK Creek. — Is the boundary between North and South Gipps 
 Land, and is a small rivulet of pure, clear, well-lasted water, taking its 
 rise in a swamp, and flowing the entire year. Excepting during floods it 
 has seldom any open discharge into the sea, the gn ater jinrt of the water 
 being absorbed, and the remainder percolating through the ninety-mile 
 l>oach. 
 
 * The information relative to the Gipps Land streams is derived princi- 
 pally from Mr. iJawson's valuable reports.
 
 COLLECTION AND STORAGK OF WATKR. 47 
 
 OIPP8 LAND — continued. 
 
 River or Creek. 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area in 
 
 square feet. 
 
 Mean _^, , 
 Velocity Discharge 
 per second P^r second 
 in leet. '" cubic feet. 
 
 La Trobe River.... 
 
 La Trobe River 
 
 Thomson River 
 
 Avon River 
 
 Above junction with 
 the Thomson 
 
 Below junction of 
 the Thomson 
 
 Above junction with 
 the La Trobe 
 
 Stratford 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 401-31 
 
 674-1 
 
 250-0 
 
 72-6 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 La Trobe River. — Is of considerable importance, flowing from west to east, 
 and taking its rise in the Mount Baw Baw Ranges near the source of the 
 Yarra, which river it resembles much in its physical features. Before 
 entering the low country it is joined by a number of tributaries, many of 
 which are equal to itself in size, which abound in fish. After leaving the 
 ranges the La Trobe enters a magnificent country, meandering through 
 which, it is joined by the Thomson, which previously receives the waters 
 of the McAlister. These three rivers water what is essentially the garden 
 of Gipps Land, consisting principally of open plains fringed with light 
 timber, and sheltered from hot winds by the Australian Alps ; the whole of 
 this district presents peculiar facilities for being irrigated on a comprehen- 
 sive scale by water brought from the base of the mountains. The La Trobe 
 is navigable for small steamers as high up as Kilmany Park ; by clearing 
 away the logs and other obstructions, the navigation could be extended up 
 to the foot of the ranges, as the depth varies from two to four and a half 
 fathoms, and the width from 30 to 80 yards. As this river and its principal 
 tributaries take their rise in the Baw Baw Ranges and Australian Alps, 
 they are supplied from springs and the melting of snow in addition to 
 surface drainage, and are subject to sudden and heavy floods, especially in 
 the spring, when they sometimes rise in a few hours from 12 to 18 feet, 
 which is often solely occasioned by the eflfects of a few warm days melting 
 the snow on the mountains. The La Trobe flows into Lake Wellington, 
 which is fresh at all times. 
 
 Thomson River.— Is a tributary of the La Trobe, and rises in the Aus- 
 tralian Alps, being supplied therefrom by springs and melting of snow 
 besides surface drainage from its own basin ; it is navigable for small 
 steamers for a few miles above Sale, its depth varying from two to four and 
 a half fathoms, and width from 30 to 80 yards ; it has the McAlister for a 
 tributary, and with it is subject to the same general remarks that have 
 been applied to the La Trobe above. 
 
 Avon River.— 'Flows in a south-easterly direction, and discharges into 
 Lake Wellington, and although very wide and deep up to Nuntin Creek, is 
 comparatively a short river, and very little if at all attected by the melting
 
 48 
 
 PRIZE ESSAY. — APPENDIX. 
 G1PP8 LAND — continued. 
 
 River or Creek. 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Sectional 
 
 Area in 
 
 square Teet. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Velocity 
 
 per second 
 
 in feet. 
 
 Discharge 
 ptT second 
 in cubic Teet. 
 
 Mitchell River 
 
 Lucknow 
 
 
 
 497 "0 
 
 Nicholson River... 
 
 At township, lOmiles 
 
 6-72 
 
 Tambo River 
 
 up, 
 
 Crossing of Swift's 
 Creek road 
 
 
 
 22-00 
 
 Tambo River 
 
 One and a half miles 
 below crossing 
 
 
 ... 
 
 9-5 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 of snow ; the upper parts are on occasions subjected to very lieavj floods 
 rising from 18 to 25 feet above summer level, and flooding all Niuitin Plain ; 
 this, however, does not occur on the average above once in seven years, 
 and then the flood is soon drawn o9' by the width and depth of the river, 
 below which the depth varies from two and a (jnarter to six fathoms, and 
 the width from 80 to 150 yards. Within a mile of its mouth the Avon is 
 joined by the Perry River, which is onh* a chain of watcrholes, but rises to 
 a considerable stream during floods ; at its junction with the Avon it forms 
 an estuary navigable for two or three miles. 
 
 Milclicll Hirer. — Is formed by the confluence of the Dargo and Wangan- 
 garra rivers which, with their principal tributaries, rise in the Australian 
 Alps, and consequently owe a considerable part of this supi)ly during spring 
 to the melting of snow, and throughout the year to springs in those ranges. 
 The Mitdiell is joined further down by the Wentworth. flowing soutlmards 
 from the same ranges, and from them to its discharge into Lake King it 
 receives a number of minor tributary creeks, the general direction of all the 
 streams from the Alps to Lake King l)eing south-easterly. The Mitchell is 
 from four to five fathoms deep from its mouth for about seven miles up ; 
 the main stream passes through about 70 miles of country. 
 
 Nicholson River. — Flows southerly into Lake King, and is about 40 miles 
 long. It is navigable for about iO miles from its mouth, along which its 
 width varies from 15 to 150 yards, and tlie diptli from one to four and a 
 half fathoms. 
 
 Tamlxi liirrr. — Rises from si)rings, frf)m comparatively table land on the 
 Great Dividing Kange near Lake (hnco. and (low.s southerly from thence 
 until it di.Mcharges into Luke Kit g, traversing through about 70 miles of 
 country of granite formation exce|)ling a small tract of limestone country 
 near its source; it is fid by some few small rtmning streams, and at altotjt 
 12 to 15 miles at>ove Hruthen it is joined by anoihcr stream named the 
 Timbnrra, of nearly the same size as itself The Taniln) is very liable to 
 fl(K)d.H, from liruthen tipwards, rising many feet in a very short period, such 
 fliHHls iM'ing caused by heavy fails of rain and the melting of suow upon the 
 surrounding mountains and ranges.
 
 COLLECTION AXD STOHAGE OF WATER. 40 
 
 Giprs LAND — continued. 
 
 River or Creek. 
 
 LocalUy. 
 
 Sectional Velocity Plscliar^e 
 
 Area In .^ second ' . Per second 
 
 square feet. j„ f^,(,^ in cubic feet. 
 
 Snowy Eivei- 
 
 Genoa Iliver 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Snou-}/ River. — Is the longest in Gipps Land, but rises in New South 
 Wales, in the Australian Alps, or Snowy Mountains, and is subjected to 
 very heavy floods, often rising 20 feet in a night. Were it not for the snags, 
 it would be navigable for a very considerable distance from its mouth; it is, 
 however, difficult of access for any vessels excepting those of light draught, 
 as a bar of shifting sand stretches across tlie entrance. This river is admi- 
 rably adapted for the propagation of European iisli. 
 
 Genoa River. — Is the most easterly of all tlie colonial rivers. It rises in 
 ranges in New South Wales, and flows in a south-easterly direction to the 
 sea, which it joins about 12 miles west of Cape Howe, the easternmost 
 extremity of the colony.
 
 PLAN or agrari* domain. 
 
 ^u»t-l < 
 
 »**» mtrm TMim 
 
 c^mr ^ majtm wtrw . mAmiMK 
 
 9m\.\a 
 
 C^Jfy #0w# t^frtl 79tmwmr. 
 
 r-* "'...*?.'*.*'..... ft?7?. .. Xf5if.ff!W. . . 
 
 _i-Oi 6 
 
 Scale 
 
 !0 cKaini lo axi 
 
 loh. 
 
 REFERENCE. 
 
 Xo. A. K. 
 
 1 . Wmi ipccl*! ffrounil 'i6 
 
 fi. I ur iiorth-weit neUl 39 
 
 J, K»r iiorlli-oAiii rteld 39 
 
 4 . VMtiX ii|i«dAl ground 36 
 
 :>. KeAT Dorlh-rut a«ld 39 
 
 6. Near n'>rtli.wi»l rteld 39 
 
 7. North row pujtiurc V\ 
 
 8. Cotr p»(l<lock 13 
 
 g. HcMpltAl crofU 13 
 
 10. HomMl««rf 18 
 
 1 1 . (.'lovtr pAddock 13 
 
 Vl. Vln<)Brc) 36 
 
 18. OrcljAnl 36 
 
 T. 
 
 No 
 
 
 
 u. 
 
 
 
 I&. 
 
 
 
 16. 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 IH. 
 
 
 
 19. 
 
 (1 
 
 30. 
 
 u 
 
 •l\. 
 
 (1 
 
 33. 
 
 
 
 3S. 
 
 
 
 34. 
 
 
 
 3ft. 
 
 Luceni paddock 
 
 Home puddock 
 
 Kant Hlioep paaturu . . . 
 West iilityp pasture ... 
 South row pOAture . . . 
 
 WatcT mciulow 
 
 Noar douth-wcAt Itclit . 
 Near noiith-rait field . 
 South special itround . 
 FAr •owtli-fAnt field . .. 
 KAr Aoulh-wpst field. . . 
 Inn«r or prlvAtc roadi . 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 640 
 
 
 

 
 ESSAY 
 
 UPON 
 
 WITH REFEEENCE TO 
 
 ITS CLIMATE ADVANTAGES, AND THE GEOLOGICAL AND 
 CHEMICAL CHARACTER OF ITS SOILS ; 
 
 THE ROTATION OF CROPS, AND THE SOURCES AND ArPLICATION OF MANURES ; 
 
 THE ZOOLOGICAL ECONOMY ADAPTED FOR THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES ; 
 
 AND THE INTRODUCTION OF COTTON AND OTHER WARM-CLIMATE PRODUCTS 
 
 INTO AN AUSTRALIAN SYSTEM OF HUSBANDRY : 
 
 BEINO, 
 WITH SOME ADDITIONS, WHICH AKE PRINTED IN A LESSEE TYPE, 
 
 THE ESSAY WHICH BORE THE MOTTO 
 
 "AGRARIAN." 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY A PLAN OF A MODEL DOMAIN. 
 
 BY WILLIAM STORY. 
 
 E \l
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preliminary view of the existing culture of Victoria ... ... 53 
 
 Proposed system of culture in three branches ... ... ... 55 
 
 Domain arrangements... ... ... ... ... ... 59 
 
 THE FIRST, OR ARABLE BRANCH OF CULTURE. 
 
 Preliminary remarks on the Victorian course of cropping ... ... 62 
 
 Tabular statement of that course ... ... ... ... 63 
 
 Wheat ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 65 
 
 Potatoes... ... ... ... ... ... ... 66 
 
 Oarley and Rice ... ... ... ... ... ... 66 
 
 Clover ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 68 
 
 Wheat ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 65 
 
 Green crops, bulbs and roots, &c. ... ... ... ... 69 
 
 Oats and Kye ... ... ... ... ... ... 70 
 
 Pulse, &c., and Maize, &c., followed by catch Clover ... ... 71 
 
 Systematic catch cropping ... ... ... ... ... 71 
 
 Variation courses in cropping ... ... ... ... ... 73 
 
 Repetition mowings and grazings of the cereals ... ... ... 74 
 
 Concluding remarks on the arable culture branch ... ... 77 
 
 THE SECOND, OR GRASS LAND AND LIVE STOCK BRANCH. 
 
 Preliminary remarks on the land branch ... ... ... 78 
 
 The Anglo-Merino breed of Sheep ... ... ... ... 79 
 
 The Uishley breed ... ... ... ... ... ... 82 
 
 The old Lincoln breed... ... ... ... ... ... 86 
 
 The ancient Teeswater breed ... ... ... ... ... 87 
 
 The Dorset breed ... ... ... ... ... ... go 
 
 E 2*
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Eyeland breed 
 
 The Southdown, the Hampshire down, the Shropshire down, the 
 Cotswold, and some other breeds of Sheep 
 
 Concluding remarks as to Sheep 
 
 Keat cattle and dair_ving 
 
 The milking variety of shorthorns 
 
 Some other breeds of cattle ... 
 
 The Yak of Thibet ... 
 
 Concluding remarks on dairying ... ... ... ... 96 
 
 Horses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 96 
 
 The Camel family, including Alpacas and Llamas ... ... 97 
 
 The Kangaroo family ... ... ... ... ... ... 9" 
 
 The Goat family ... ... ... ... ... ... 98 
 
 Swine ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 99 
 
 The lesser fur-clad, and edible and useful animals ... ... 99 
 
 Poultry ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 99 
 
 Useful insects ... ... ... ... ... ... 100 
 
 Pond fish ... ... ... ... ... ... ... KO 
 
 Miscellaneous animal class ... ... ... ... ... 100 
 
 Perennial pasturage ... ... ... ... ... ... 101 
 
 Water meadowing ... ... ... ... ... ... 103 
 
 The soiling system of cattle feeding ... ... ... ... 104 
 
 TitE Tnini), on Victorian srEciAi. cni.TrRE nnANcn. 
 
 Preliminary remarks ... ... ... ... ... ... lOfi 
 
 Vineyard ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 107 
 
 Orchard and orangery... ... ... ... ... ... 108 
 
 Tea shrubbery 
 
 CfjfTof plantation 
 
 Sugar plantation 
 
 Hop ground ... 
 
 Allotment for Olivo grove and otlicr tree and shrub products ... Ill 
 
 Allotnunt for bicnniiil, triennial, and sub-prrcnniul culture, including 
 
 text ill- and dye jilaiitu, ^c. ... ... ... ... ... 112 
 
 Garden culture ... ... ... ... ... ... 11.3 
 
 Timber trees... ... ... ... ... ... ... 113 
 
 lOft 
 
 1
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 The acclimating of plants, and the introduction of new varieties ... 116 
 Dr. Priestley's letter as to the practice of Mr. Cooper, an American 
 
 farmer ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 117 
 
 The Horticultural paper of T. A. Knight, Esq., on new varieties ... 119 
 
 Cotton culture ... ... ... ... ... ... 125 
 
 Concluding remarks on the special culture branch ... ... 172 
 
 AGRICULTDRAL SUBJECTS DISCUSSED. 
 
 Irrigation 
 
 Agricultural chemistry as applied to manures 
 
 Night soil, sewerage, and homestead manures 
 
 Lime 
 
 Chalk 
 
 Gypsum 
 
 Composts 
 
 Charcoal 
 
 Bone manuring 
 
 Guano 
 
 Salt... 
 
 Marl 
 
 Artificial manures 
 
 Application of manures to the cropping of the Victorian course 
 
 Geological and chemical character of soils 
 
 Fencing 
 
 Fallowing 
 
 Draining 
 
 Australian landed economy 
 
 Educational and scientific institutions 
 
 Agricultural literature 
 
 Concluding remarks ... 
 
 173 
 
 178 
 179 
 
 IS."! 
 
 187 
 187 
 183 
 189 
 189 
 192 
 193 
 195 
 196 
 196 
 197 
 199 
 201 
 201 
 202 
 204 
 206 
 207
 
 ESSAY. 
 
 The agricultural statistics of the colony of Victoria, as g-iven in 
 the recent report on its resources, show, that of the three millions 
 of acres, Avhich in 1859 had passed into private ownership, less 
 than three hundred thousand acres had heen brought into cultiva- 
 tion, which was thus cropped: — 
 
 Acres. 
 
 Wheat 78,234 
 
 Oats 77,526^- 
 
 Barley 5,322 
 
 Eye 57^, Maize 480, Beans, Teas, and Millet 264| 802^ 
 
 Potatoes 30,026} 
 
 Turnips 332, Mangel-wurzel 185|, lied Beet 3^, 
 
 Carrots and Parsnips 96|, Cabbages 75 ... 692^ 
 
 Hay of the Cereals Wheat, Oats, and Barley ... 85,606 J- 
 
 Ilay of llye Grass and Clover, 556 
 
 Green Forage of the Cereals Wheat, Oats, and 
 
 Barley, 3,779^ 
 
 Green Forage of Maize 315}, Lucern 283, Clo- 
 ver and Vetches 328, Sorghum 600 J ... 1,027 
 
 Permanent Artificial Grasses 2,602^ 
 
 Gardens 5480 j, Orchards 3975, Vineyards 547^, 
 
 Tobacco 66^, Onions and other crops 288} 6,786 
 
 Land in fallow preparation for cultivation ... 5,998^ 
 
 298,9592 
 
 Wheat and potatoes, and also the cereals (as hay and green 
 forage), appear to have taken up proportionate areas in accordance 
 with my ])reconceived notion of a fair course of colonial cropping- ; 
 but the other crops are all in random quantities, the permanent 
 artificial grasses being surprisingly low in quantity, but oats beings 
 greatly in excess of any sustainable course of cropping. As the 
 bulk of the cereal hay, and much of the cereal forage was proba-
 
 54 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 bly oaten, it may be assumed that half the cultivated land of the 
 colony was in oats ; which are known to be the most impoverishing 
 crop of the cereals. 
 
 As tiiis result as to oats indicates a partiality for that crop, 
 which, if not checked, may become a vulnerable point in Victorian 
 husbandry, I shall, in the way of monition, state the prejudicial 
 effect which over-oating- had on an English arable parish, which in 
 olden time had been proverbial for the growth of its wheat and 
 oats. 
 
 That parish, in the days of Jethro Tull, had adopted his triennial 
 course of fallow, wheat, and oats in perpietual succession, and had 
 clung to it a century, when I became connected with its agency 
 management. My connection lasted thirty years, and save upon 
 some land which had remained a pasturage common for sixty 
 yeai-s, after the adoption of the course, and had therefore been but 
 little under it, I never saw a crop of oats which repaid the grower, 
 though the wheat crops continued good, and tully sustained the 
 wheat-growing reputation of the parish. On consulting old men 
 as to the cause of the oat failure, I found, that after a dozen 
 rounds of the new course, everybody's oats had failed, and the parish 
 had never yielded more than half crops since, but they all adiiiitted 
 that wheat had never failed. I attach more than ordinary impor- 
 tance to the experience of this parish, because owing to there 
 being coal and lime works in its neighborhood horse labor had 
 been all the while in great demand, and as a consequence, many 
 oat-fed horses had returned, in their contribution to its farmyard 
 manure much of the oat ingredient, though but little of the wheat 
 ingredient iiad been returned, because the parish was thinly popu- 
 lated, and nearly all its wheat was consumed in the mining 
 districts; moreover, the comparative goodness of the oat crops on 
 the newly broken up land, evidenced that the ancient oat growing 
 repute of the parish was well grounded, and my inference was 
 that oats, continuously grown in cpiick succession, do affect land 
 prejudicially, and that excessive oat growing is bud iuisljandry, 
 and is as such to be denounced. 
 
 The more recently jmblished statistics for tlic year ending the 
 yii't Marcli, 18(')0, shdw that the (pnintity of land tiicn in cultiva- 
 tion, had augmented to '>i->7,70ll acres, of whicli, almost a third 
 of the whole, viz., 107,078i were in wheat, and 55G6J acres in 
 pcrmunciit iirtificial grasses; bolli of tlicm very satisfactory
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 55 
 
 results. Another source of satisfaction is that, at a recent agri. 
 cultural show, Victorian wheat beat in fair competition the wheat 
 of South Australia, which by its admitted merit, at the great 
 English Exhibition of 1851, had won for that colony the leader- 
 ship in Australian agriculture. I was also gratified on averaging 
 the yield of the last year's wheat, to find that it reached 2l|^ 
 bushels to the acre throughout the colony ; which, considering 
 the primitive husbandry yet practised, contrasted favorably with 
 the general average of England. 
 
 This preliminary view of the existing state of Victorian culture, 
 appeared to me properly to preface an Essay, intended to suggest 
 a system of husbandry, adapted not only for Australia Felix (as 
 the colony was at first aptly named), but also for first-class land of 
 any other Australian colony, which may choose to adopt it. 
 
 The importance of the colony of Victoria, which nearly equals 
 in area the entire island of Britain ; the excellency of its climate, 
 and its soil; the conveniency of its position, and of its division by 
 the mountain ranges which bisect itj the uniformity in shape of 
 the Land Act sections, and the dignified size of the embryo domains 
 which will result from its maximum grants, under the recently 
 passed Land Act; the enlightened era in which the agriculture of 
 the colony has to be developed, and the commercial and filial con- 
 nection which subsists between "garden cultured England" and 
 the colony ; the vicinage of Victoria to China, Japan, India, and 
 the Australasian islands, which have long been the monopolizers 
 of special products, and the friendly and commercial relations of 
 the colon}^ with every country of the earth which has animals and 
 plants, worthy of Australian recej)tion and attention, to offer in 
 exchange for our Kangaroos and Orange-trees ; and the probability 
 that the mutual wants of the gold miner and of the agriculturist, 
 will lead to the effective co-operation of the two interests, and 
 result in the establishment of an extensive system of water con- 
 servation and supply, for systematic irrigation ; all concur in 
 demanding that the agriculture of the colony, (which has the 
 advantage of a de novo beginning,) shall, from the first, assume 
 dignified position as an inductive science, and be relieved from the 
 necessity of having to squat as a mere routine plough-tail craft, 
 unworthy of exaltation, when necessity for the primitive husbandry 
 of pioneer settlement shall have passed away.
 
 5G PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 The Alpine rang^es, to which I have before alluded, and which 
 so conveniently divide the colony into approximate moities, point 
 clearly to the inference that the sub-tropical products of cane- 
 sug-ar, coffee, spices, cotton, indig-o, pepper, &c., and the super- 
 varieties of rice and other products requiring" a given degree of 
 heat will have better develo])n)ent in North Victoria than in the 
 southern moiety of the colony; and that the cereals and Anglo- 
 Australian jiroducts will have better development in South 
 Victoria than in the northern moiety of the colony. This im- 
 portant feature in the geography of the colony is probably 
 predestined to g'ive a distinctive character to the agriculture of 
 each locality, and an Austral-Oriental feature to the moiety 
 having- its watershed towards the River Murray. 
 
 It is obvious from the quoted statistics, that though individuals 
 have made praiseworthy beginnings, the agriculture of A'ictoria is 
 yet inceptive, and has no ])retension to system. Being- anxious 
 that the recently ])assed Land Act and Victorian agriculture shall 
 start well together, I have bestowed some thought upon the 
 division and arrang-ement which will best adapt the Land Act 
 grants for the mixed system of husbandry which it will be my aim 
 in this essav to jiropound ; and in j)roducing- an arrangement 
 under which the cidtivators of maximum grants, and of miniuuuns, 
 and of intermediates, may pursue similar Inisbandry, and co- 
 operate, if so minded, in the establishment of a system suffi- 
 ciently universal to be ajtpealcd to as the standard practice 
 of Australia. 
 
 To be well based, Victorinn agriculture should be g-roumled on 
 English husbandry, so far as Anglo-Australian cropjting- and 
 objects are relevant; and on the best warm-climate culture of 
 other countries as to cropping and objects hitlunlo foreig-n to 
 Eng-lish culture, biit which the g-eniul climate mid the fine soil of 
 A'ictoria predisj)ose it to produce. 
 
 As tjje English term " farm " does not do justice to tlie tenure 
 of a Victorian grantee, who, by being luckily the owner as well as 
 cultivator of his g-rant, is not in the true sense of the word a 
 "iarmer;" I hhall reject these terms as nnsnomcrs in Victoria 
 and substitute in their stead those of *' domain " and ''agricid- 
 tnrist:" not that I have iiny dislike to the word farm, which is 
 dear to me liv association, niid becaiiMi it, rxemjtlifies in the 
 hterlin}^- dignity which has attached (»n Ihitish llnnicis, as a class,
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 57 
 
 the effect of free institutions in elevatinj^ botli character and 
 caUinji" ; for be it observed tliat neither the Avord fanner nor the 
 caUing- which it was intended to desifi-nato had aug-ht dig-nified 
 about them, when the word '^ farm " was jostled out of a Norman- 
 French vocabularv into the Enj^-Hsli hmg'uag-e, and as both the 
 caUing- and its fraternity are yet witliout dig-nity on the French 
 side of the Channel, the inference, that the digni^^y is altogether 
 of Britisli origin, is in my opinion justifiable. 
 
 Mixed husbandry is certainl}^ tiie best for the community, and 
 the safest for the husbandman, because it rarely happens tliat the 
 " plough and the pail," or the " fleece and the vineyard," are 
 despondingly bad at the same time. The Flemings have a 
 proverb, that " without forage no cattle ; without cattle no 
 manure ; and without manure no crops ;" and there are many 
 recorded instances in Avhich in trying times the profits of one 
 department of an establishment have met the losses of another. 
 The fruit of experience is always worth gathering-, and I am 
 inclined to think, that notwithstanding the amazing- development 
 which sheep-farming- and the patriarchal pastoral system have 
 received since they became Australian, the colony may experience 
 famine or become poverty bestricken in the midst of resources if one 
 department of rural economy shall be allowed to keep under the 
 due development of another. Time has been when Australian 
 flocks and herds were valueless, and ruin was the consequence, 
 because the colonists had no " wine and oil," or " butter and 
 cheese," or " g-rain and tillag-e produce," to fall back upon to meet 
 pressing payments in some cases of no great magnitude, probably 
 in many, for produce which their own land would have produced, 
 even of better quality than that in respect of which their overdue 
 bills (then working- ruinously) were given j and similar times as to 
 panic may recur again, but not I trust with ruinous results. 
 
 In a vista of the future, near enough for mental ken, I saw the 
 germ of Australian agriculture (a Victorian seedling) vegetate, 
 and watched it till it reached a sapling's g-rowth, and bud for 
 branching- into triune form. The first shoot bore affinity to 
 British arable culture, but was amplified by the admission of rice, 
 sugar-beet, maize, and sucli other warm climate productions as 
 fall in with an annual routine of field culture. The second shoot 
 bore affinity to British grass-land, and stock and dairy husbandry,
 
 58 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 as expanded by European soiling- management, and Australian 
 shepherding-; but it embraced in its scope g-reater animal variety 
 than had been attempted in the pre-existent rang-e of domestica- 
 tion of any one of the four older divisions of the earth. In the 
 third and aspiring- shoot I saw so little affinity to British ante- 
 cedents that I named it the Victorian special culture branch, 
 believing it predestined to give a fruitful and Aorfolk pine-like 
 crowning- to the goodly tree. 
 
 I shall now abandon metaphor and resume my leading aim, 
 which is, to instance in the division and proposed arrangement 
 and management of a well-selected South Victorian maximum Land 
 Act grant of 040 acres, which (in allusion to an agrarian-like 
 feature in the Act under which I assume its ownership to have 
 been acquired) I shall call " Agraria Domain," the proportionate 
 development of each of the three branches of Australian agricul- 
 ture, with the view of exhibiting their goodl}' projiortions, and of 
 showing into what a dignified and profitable possession, capital, 
 skill, and industry, aided by practical science and the climate of 
 Australia, can transform such a maximum grant. 
 
 The square-like shape of a ^'ictorian section facilitates not only- 
 convenient subdivision but uniformity with simplicity in arrange- 
 ment also. Much of the perfection to which Victorian agriculture 
 will doubtless in the seipiel arrive will j)r(ibubly, with propriety, 
 be attributed to the method and regularity in conducting opera- 
 tions wliicli judicious don):iin arrangements will induce. In that 
 of ''Agraria" I have aimed at giving areas to each of my three 
 departments w hich will ensure proportionate development, and at 
 j)lacing the lanil of each in a convenient, jmsition to be manag'ed 
 harmoniously as a whole. 
 
 'I'lie accompanying ]ilan and reference illustrate the subject; 
 and 1 may state that hy jiroportionate reduction or enlargement 
 the arrangement will adapt itself to any S(juaro area, however 
 larye or however small. 
 
 On rcvisiiiff for the press in Juno, 1801, I iiviiil myself of t lie o'lport unity 
 to ikIiI tliiit I hold it to \Hi the duty of a colony, and espeoially of such 
 a fuvored one as Victoria, which is in fact hkst with three climates, viz., 
 the temperate one of Soiilhern Victoria, which contrasts favorably with 
 that of Tasmania ; the Hiih-tropical one of Northern Victoria, which con- 
 tra»tii favorably with that of Queennland ; and the intermediate one of 
 (lippslanil, which combines the advaiitaKcs i>l both; to be as 8eir-siip])ortinjf
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 59 
 
 as its soil and these climate advantages will permit, and to aim also at 
 being as independent as it can of other communities, not only for its food 
 and clothing, but also for such articles of luxury as have come to he 
 regarded as essentials in common notions of enjoyment— as for instance, 
 tobacco and stimulants, in whicli parties having the means will indulge, 
 whether the precepts of morality pronounce that indulgence right or wrong; 
 and holding this view, and being persuaded that it is practicable to combine 
 with the culture of the cereals not only the soiling system of Europe, 
 but the production also of such of the textiles and the dye plants as are 
 strictly annuals, and peradventure to some extent, the production of cotton 
 also, in one harmonious annual course, 1 shall take a wide vegetable range 
 in quest of the objects of that course, and thereby make it a vehicle for 
 introducing Victorian agriculturists to the knowledge of the wide range 
 in cropping which awaits their selection. 
 
 It is well known that land delights in change of crop, and that it exerts 
 greater energy in tlie production of what is new to it than it does in 
 producing repetition crops of kind after kind, however congenial to the land 
 that cropping may be; and such being the case, I shall endeavor so to humor 
 the land under my course, by a regulated succession of changes, that it may 
 be kept up to its highest point of willing yield. It will be my endeavor 
 also, to establish such a rotation as will conduct the operations of a domain 
 with regularity through a longer period than is yet common in rotations ; 
 and to indicate the place among kindred or congenial cropping which may 
 be properly taken by posterior introductions into Australian husbandry, 
 without deranging the cycle of the course ; my anxiety being that no 
 special culture enclosure shall be unnecessarily crowded by any crop, which 
 can be made to submit to a strictly annual routine, because I have a pre- 
 sentiment that biennial, triennial, and sub-perennial culture will, ere long, 
 ramify to an extent greatly beyond present anticipation, and that the 
 special ground (numbered 22) which I shall set apart for that culture, will 
 always have many urgent demands on its space. It will be my aim also, to 
 subject double or catch cropping, and what I sliall designate cereal-pasture, 
 cereal-fodder, and cereal-soiling, yield to pre-arrangement, with a view to 
 proximate certainty in crop calculation. 
 
 My domain arrang-ement assigns 312 acres to the first, or 
 arable dejjartineat, being-, with a moiety of the private road, 
 exactly half the domain. This 312 acres is divided into eig'ht 
 rectangular fields, of 39 acres each, numbered 2, 3, 5, 6, 20, 21, 
 23, and 24 on the plan, being- an arrang-ement purposely for an 
 eight years' course of cropping-. It assig-ns 169 acres, being; 
 numbers 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 10, 17, 18, and 19, to permanent 
 grass and herbag-e land, in aid of the fodder and cattle food 
 contributions of the eight arable fields, which, under soiling- man- 
 ag-einent, will be the main source of suj)ply for the second ur
 
 60 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Stock and dairy department, and wliidi I liave placed purposely 
 near the homestead, to keep stock, when in pasture, in constant 
 \ievr, and so as to be soon seen and reached in the event of 
 disaster; and it assigns 159 acres, being numbers 1, 4, 10, 12, 
 13, 1?'2, and Co, to the third, or special culture department. 
 
 I have to premise that requirements of greater depth of soil 
 for some pui-jioses than for others, and esjiecial desirability of 
 aspect, and also water supply, may suggest deviations as to some 
 of the foregoing numbers, which ma}' lead to transpositions ; but 
 such deviations may be made without deranging the proportionate 
 areas assigned to each department, as, for instance, it may be 
 found that a change of sides between the orchard and the vine- 
 yard may be to mutual advantage, or both may change places for 
 the better with the cow pastures, or with some of the special 
 culture allotments, and if so, such transpcsitions ought to be 
 made. Spot adjustment will probably assign the lowest corner of 
 the domain as the place of the water meadow, in order that (on 
 the catchwater principle) it may receive the last benefit of the 
 water before it leaves the domain. 
 
 The less fencing, and the fewer the divisions, so that arrange- 
 ment is well effected, the better ; and I apprehend that the best 
 way to " speed the plough" will be to lessen the number of its 
 turnings when it is in operation. I have, therefore, given to the 
 arable fields a convenient length, in order that when the ditficul- 
 ties whicii have hitherto beset steam ploughing and mowing, and 
 some other operations, shall have been overcome, steam power 
 sliall not bo filmed uselessly away in a multiplicity of short 
 turnings. By ])loughing lengthwise of the iield, and working 
 other oj)erations crosswise, mure efiectual tillage will ensue than 
 would be the case if all the operations were periornicd in cither 
 direction. 
 
 As an cfiect of the precision in arrnngcnicnt, dcrivabh' from the 
 square shni)e of n section, I mny instanci' that by simply phmting 
 thirtv-eight lofty trees, of disfinctivc character, at equal distances 
 from each other, and from the end fences, along both sides of 
 each of the four (piarters of the arable land (as 1 have instanced 
 in the fields nunilx'red U and (!, as to the trees ], H, and 3 of their 
 series), n system of tree marking, or ground ready reckoning, 
 may be provided to adjust and jxrpetiiate the bounds of any acre, 
 or cf.nibination of acres, to rc^'idate not ( iily l■ub-(]ivi^ion in
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 61 
 
 cropping-, but also to reckon task work in reaping-, &c., &c., &c., 
 by mere sig-ht observation from a tree to its fellow tree in the 
 opposite fence, and counting- trees between point and point. • By 
 distinctive and contrastive character in trees, I mean that both 
 numbers 1, for instance, may be cedars, botli numbers 2, cork 
 oaks, and both numbers 3, larches, and so on ; an arrang-ement 
 which will enable the eye to recog-nize a fellow tree instantane- 
 ously by its outline, and so facilitate the turning- up of a division 
 furrow wherever it may be wanted. Ten sorts of trees will 
 suffice as markers, for numbers 11, 21, and 31 may each be the 
 beg-inner of a repetition series. I may observe that by planting- 
 three Lombardy poplars, or any three distinctive loft}- trees along- 
 the end fences of the arable fields (as I have also instanced by the 
 letters a, b, c, in the before-mentioned field No. 2), at equal 
 distances from the side fences, and from each other, they will 
 serve as fixed points, from which sig-ht observations can be taken 
 for dividing- an acre into halves and quarters when small quan- 
 tities mny be wanted for experimental or other purpose. A 
 similar arrang-ement may be carried into the allotments of the 
 special culture department. If preferred, posts, simph' numbered, 
 may be adopted instead of trees, but inasmuch as timber trees 
 must be g-rown upon the domain, the placing- them thus metho- 
 dically will be simply an exaction of double usur for their standing- 
 room. The more agricidtural operations can be systemized, the 
 g-reater will be the certainty consequent on experimental opera- 
 tions. I may add, that by noting- in the field the position of any 
 plant or object which has attracted attention in connection with 
 its nearest tree marker, a simple pencil note in a pocket book 
 will make that tree a clue to the location of such a plant or object 
 if it shall be wanted to be found ag-ain. 
 
 I have accommodated Ag-raria with a central private road, 
 because by it ever}^ field g-ateway may be made to open nearer to 
 the homestead than by any other arrang-ement, and all the fields 
 may be entered independently of each other. By keeping- the 
 entrance g-ates of this private road locked, cattle happening; to 
 g-et out of their pastures will, at all events, be kept within the 
 domain, and be saved the iutig-ue of wandering- many miles in 
 quest of a })ound, and the risk of infection by contact with dis- 
 eased cattle ; and as there would probably be no occasion for 
 other opening's into the domain thiin Ity these entrance g-ates, it
 
 62 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 may be kept as private and as free from trespass and intrusion as 
 may be wished. By placing- married workmen in cottag-es at 
 each gate, so many watch places will be provided ag;ainst depre- 
 dation. Moreover, the road will give the facility of tramway 
 arrang-ement for the conveyance of manure from the homestead to 
 and through the arable fields, and of conveying- forag-e and soiling- 
 produce from the fields-home in the way of back carriage. Paved 
 or claved channels for the conveyance of liquid manure, or of 
 water for irrigation, might be made along the road, and pipes for 
 the conveyance of purer water for cattle supply might be also laid 
 down along it ; and if, in addition to all these ])urposes, the spare 
 land of the road is made a grove of white mulberries, to supply 
 food for the silk worms of the domain, and to support an avenue 
 of vines (a double pui-pose to which the mulberry is applied in 
 Tuscany, Lombardy, and some other parts of Italy, and in France 
 also), the road will become a paying part of the domain. I shall 
 only add in regard to the road that I have set it out a chain in 
 width, and that it is placed so as to divide the domain into 
 quarter sections. 
 
 With regard to the homestead, I shall for the present content 
 myself with allotting the amj)le space of 13 acres, in the centre of 
 the domain, as its site. It ought to occupy a commanding 
 position, and though I have in the reference to the plan called 
 No. 10 the homestead, I should probably prefer either 0, 15, or 16, 
 if 10 happened to be flat and the others were convex. Any one, 
 liowcver, of the eight central fields might be adopted as the 
 homestead, without deranging the ])lan, otherwise than by the 
 transposition in the reference of two or three names to other 
 numbers than those with which I have connected them. 
 
 Such being the proposed division and arrangement of the 
 domain, I come now to its j)roposed culture, first taking the 
 arable (h'partmmt . It will be seen by the accompanying tabular 
 sfatemenf, that I have ainnul at uniformity in the (|uantity of 
 land yearly in tin* san)e crop, and at keeping fields in kindred 
 crop side by side in movement, not only during the course, but in 
 its repetitions also— as, for instance, the two wlunit fields; and 
 the two fields in othor cwnMil cropping will always be together, as 
 will also the clover field and the pulse followed by clover, and the 
 potjito field and its comj)anion field in green crop, Sic, in every
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 
 
 63 
 
 5S 
 
 SB •c o 
 
 
 is o u o 
 o.,o « 
 
 <u S - 2 
 
 
 S 2 '5'2- 
 
 ^ ■§ 2 
 
 e<^ 
 
 5 c 
 
 
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 OS j; 
 
 
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 •r'S'o ■=; 
 
 § o o a 
 
 M ►:< -1 ti. 
 
 ^ -o ^ 
 
 3>' 
 
 f = « c- 
 
 fe:^: 
 
 
 j; 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 Sfe 
 
 
 o. c. c o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 ca 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 €i5 
 
 
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 1 
 
 S 
 
 £ 
 
 
 a 
 
 >• 
 
 fe 
 
 X 
 
 fe 
 
 
 ' o — « — 
 
 'u^^itm^ ;mi^ 
 
 c» _ _ _ c^ 
 
 •Mfjvnf) puo3»s 
 
 •MiJtmD pjim 
 
 ■* to t* 00 a^ »o 
 
 O — — _, _ C)
 
 64: PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 recurrence, so long- as the course is abided by. Tiiis avrang-e- 
 ment, b}' concentrating- all similar cropping- and oi)orations into 
 one locality, will expedite them unicli. I have made wheat and 
 potatoes the cardinal crops of my course, because of their para- 
 mount importance as the chief food of man. It will be obvious 
 that first-class land only can be expected to sustain the course 
 which I am about to prescribe, anil I shall therefore^ in com- 
 pliment to my adopted colony, disting'uish it from any other 
 course which I may prescribe, b}- the dei>ignation of " The 
 Victorian Course." It may be rig;ht to explain that in adjusting- 
 the rotations which I sug-gest, I kept these deductions of expe- 
 rience constantly in view : " Fibrous rooted plants, which throw- 
 up seed stems with few leaves, thrive well after those with fleshy 
 roots and many succulent leaves on a branching- stem : as, for 
 instance, wheat thrives well after beans, vetches, or clover; and 
 barley and oats after potatoe.«, turnips, and carrots;" and ''per- 
 pendicular rooting- plants and such as root horizontally, should 
 succeed each other." 
 
 The far-famed four-course S3'stem of Norfolk, which was long- 
 the pride of British liusbandry, having- at length failed as to two 
 of its crojis, — and by that faihire proved that the course was too 
 short, — I have thought it rig-ht to extend my course to eig-ht years, 
 for Avhich I have, as before stated, jirovided eight equal sized 
 hclds. The course alternates between the cereals as to one moiety 
 of the cropj)ing-, and as to g-reen crops, roots, pulse, maize, and 
 clover, &c., as to the other, and runs thus: (1) wheat; (2) ])otatoes; 
 (3) barley and rice ; (4) clover ; (5) wheat ; (0) g-rcen crops and 
 roots, (fcc. ; (7) oats and rye; and («S) pulse, itc, and maize, itc, 
 followed by cutch clover; and then wheat ag-ain, and on in re])eti- 
 tion course. The cpiantity yearly in each ciop is intended to bo 
 uniform, and to stand thus : wheat, 7S acres; barley, 1!).J; rice, 
 lll.i ; oats, 1!)^; and rye, IDA; ])otatoes, 39; clover, 39; g-recn 
 cro])s, Sic, 39; and pulse, itc, followed by catch clover, 39 acres. 
 I assuMK! that it will take even an active cidtivator four years to 
 bring; his grant under cultivation, and that he will break up a 
 quarter section yearly. If liis capital is scant lie may bt^ niuch 
 ]ong;er, but of course the sooner lie (-an g-et it under ])rofitablo 
 yield the better. The tabular statement also shows the jiroposed 
 jireliminnry cropping- of tlie second and iIk- third dejiartments, 
 until thr'y resperfively take ) cniiaiierit de- fiiiatiim. in fixing-
 
 AORICULTUUK OF VICTORIA. 65 
 
 that preliminary cropping", my great object was to g'et the land 
 well tilled, limed, and manured, and to exact from it, in return, as 
 much as it can be made to yield towards tiie cost of" brin<>'in"- it 
 into cultivation. The freshness of the land, and the fact that it is 
 immediately to pass out of aration, concur in justifying* heavy 
 cropping- for the short period prescribed for the preliminary 
 process. 
 
 I shall now offer a few remarks on the crops which I have 
 adopted as those of the Victorian course. 
 
 (1 and 6.) Wheat being-, as I have before observed, the chief 
 food of man, has assig-ned to it twice the area allotted to any other 
 crop. I consider the arrangement of Providence by which land 
 bears wheat willing-ly and remuneratively longer in succession 
 than it is known to have done in regard to any other crop, very 
 benig-n. Land has sickened of clover, grown shy of turnips, and 
 reftised to g-row oats beyond a given repetition, but it has never 
 yet shown any symptom of dislike to wheat; and though in the 
 Norfolk course it has recurred every fourth 3'ear, approaching 
 a century, and that too in turnip and barley soils, which are not 
 the best for wheat, it is yet an acceptable crop to the land which 
 has been under that course. My own English experience enables 
 me to adduce the corroborative testimony of the parish under 
 Jethro Tull's course for 130 years, to which I have adverted at the 
 commencement of this essay, when calling attention to the 
 churlish and impoverishing tendency of oats. Wheat has been 
 found to respond so well to the application of lime, and to 
 luxuriate so much in growth after its favorite preparative, clover, 
 that it is universally allowed to be good husbiindry to lime clover 
 leys for wheat; and I shall therefore prescribe that practice in 
 my course, in order that the wheat crop may be periodically fed 
 with the aliment for which it has shown predilection ; and I have 
 also contrived so to place my catch crop of clover as that the 
 wheat crop shall have the benefit of the extra humus which 
 lime will manufacture from the roots and bottom-stems of the 
 catch-clover, and the vegetable remains of the preceding- pulse 
 crop. Experience has also taught that beans, peas, lentils, 
 vetches, and the pulse family generally, maize, millet, sorghum, 
 (which is also of the millet family), gramme (which is also of the 
 vetch family), buckwheat, hemj) itnd fiax, which, in my rotation.
 
 66 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 accompany the pulse crop?, are all fi-iendly precTirsors of wheat ; 
 so that if manure proportioned to the exhaustion consequent on 
 some of the supplemented cropping is applied with such of it as 
 has an impoverishing tendency, I think the wheat crop will not 
 be jeopardized by the extra duty imposed on the land by the 
 introduction of the catch crop of clover. 
 
 (2.) Potatoes, being next in importance to wheat as the food 
 of man, and especially important in a mining colony like Victoria, 
 demanded an entire field in my course, to which I have assented, 
 notwithstanding the known exhausting tendency of the crop, and 
 the fact that it has not hitherto occupied so dignified a position in 
 any English course considered orthodox. The extent to which 
 potato cropping has been carried in Victoria for some years past, 
 indicates the intention of the colonists to adopt it as a standard 
 crop ; and, looking to the requirements of a mining popidation, 
 they are right. I assign to the potato crop the first preference 
 share in the homestead manure of its year, for which it will yield 
 good return. As the climate of Victoria has been found to ripen 
 this crop at three periods of the year, that circumstance suggests 
 the feasibility of double crop])ing the field in ])otato rotation 
 between its wheat harvest and its barley seedness, a subject 
 to which T shall afterwards revert when 1 discuss the question of 
 double crop])ing. 
 
 (3.) Barley ajul liicc. — I am jiartial to a barley crop, and 
 willingly allow it half a Held in my course. It is liked l)y hind, 
 and is an orthodox croj) on suitable soils in every po]>ular course. 
 It has the merit also of having stood the test of the Norfolk 
 course, w/;?« symptom of failure; and, as an Anglo-Australian 
 pojtulation will always (despite teuijieriinrc leagues) be malt and 
 hop consumers, and as I have seen much first-class barley land in 
 Victoria, I shall venture to jjredict, that if Sir John IJarlrycorn, 
 Knight of the Sduthern f'ross, has justice done him by Victorian 
 brewers, "Uass's Straits ale" may ]ieiadventure in the sequel sur- 
 pass in potency and renown the beverage of "Mister English 
 Hass," famous as it is. 'I'lie ruslic ])roverb that ''IJarley likes a 
 feather bed," is much to the point, and the crop following as it 
 does in my course its favorite f)r('parative, potatoes, will experience 
 great benefit from the tilth demanded by that eroj). It has fre- 
 (juenfly occurred to me that posHil)ly the stij)pose(l non-adaptation 
 of Australian soils to barley growing originated in the injudicious
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. (iT 
 
 attempts in the early days of Australian settlement to grow it on 
 the stiff clays of Sydney localities, under the mere scratch surface 
 operations then in vog-ue, which could only end in failure. I have 
 seen splendid crops of first-class malting- barley grown in Essex on 
 strong; soils of g'reat tenacity, but the land was prepared for the 
 crop by a previous summer fallow, to give it that feather bed tilth, 
 without which barlej"^ cannot be successfully grown. Summer 
 fallowing- for the barley crop is a prominent feature in the agricul- 
 ture of Essex, and is perhaps indispensable in the humid climate 
 of England. 
 
 In regard to rice, to which I allot half a field, I am surprised 
 that it has yet to be introduced into the colony ; for, as a cereal, it 
 is second only in importance to wheat. An attempt of Sir Joseph 
 Banks, in 1798, to introduce its culture into England is re- 
 corded in the second volume of communications to the English 
 Board of Agriculture. His attempt demonstrated that at all 
 events as green food for cattle it was worthy of English culture. 
 He states that he had not observed any corn tiller so much as his 
 rice had done, for though at first it was thin on the ground, it 
 soon became a dense, compact bed of plants, with blades in some 
 of the kinds standing closer to each other than the thickest sown 
 barley ever did. These at the close of August had become from a 
 foot to eighteen inches high, and the plants still continued to tiller, 
 each root having by that time produced from ten to twenty offsets, 
 but no symptom of a rising stem was visible. In the middle of 
 September they had still continued to tiller and to lengthen in 
 blade, so that some were two feet long, but Sir Joseph having 
 been taken ill, was obliged to desist from observing further pro- 
 gress. A frost soon after followed, which cut the blade down to 
 the earth, and destroyed the hope of producing grain on that 
 trial. His sowing was in the open air, and his seed was of sevenil 
 mountain varieties from India. Had he used seed somewhat 
 acclimatised, and sown earlier, the result might have been more 
 favorable as to grain. I have read that a field of rice was, under 
 favorable circumstances, matured on the banks of the Thames near 
 "Windsor. The superior qualit}^ of rice grown in Carolina (where 
 it was introduced incidentally) to that of the countr}' which })ro- 
 duced the seed, is an encouraging- circumstance to Australian 
 cultivators. As a variety sufficiently hardy for South Victoria, 
 and to thrive without irrigation, would be a great blessing to the 
 
 1- 2
 
 6S PRIZK E?SAY. 
 
 colony, its introduction ou<rht to be an object of early attempt. 
 That which is successfully cultivated in Lonibardy may surely 
 (so far as climate is concerned) be expected to thrive in Victoria. 
 In Java it is the regrular practice to exact a green forage crop from 
 rice before a grain cro]>, and why not in Victoria ? A plant which 
 tillei-s to the extent of from ten to twenty offsets, will be found an 
 invaluable accession to the forage supply of the colony. There 
 can be no question but thai the super varieties of rice will succeed 
 in North Victoria, and that in favorable localities irrigation may 
 be applied to some extent. I may add that by simply revereing 
 the ends of the field when it comes a second time in rotation, 
 neither barley nor rice need be produced on the same land oftener 
 than once in sixteen years. 
 
 As rice will be a new product in Victoria, I avail mvself of the oppor- 
 tunity on revising for the press, to introduce the following quotation from 
 Stuart's Travels in North America, in 1830: "Kice was first introduced 
 into Carolina bj- a vessel from Madagascar, the master of which made a 
 present of a small quantity to a gentleman in Charleston, who sowed it in 
 his garden, where it grew luxuriantly. It was, in the beginning, raised on 
 the uplands, where, however, it turned out that cotton was a more profitable 
 crop ; but the water culture of this grain, which was subsequently intro- 
 duced, has rendered it a most valuable crop, both to the state and to 
 individuals. No grain yields more abundantly. From 40 to 70 bushels an 
 acre is an ordinary crop, biit 80 and 90 bushels are often produced on sucli 
 strong lands as have the advantage of being overflowed from a river or 
 reservoir. The water is not let in upon the field until after the second 
 hoeing, and it is kept on frequently for thirty days. Far more rice is pro- 
 duced in South Carolina than in any of the other states; but it is a /larrly 
 plant, and may be produced in any of the low lands, from the Mississipi to 
 the Delaware." 
 
 I also adduce with satisfaction, the testimony of Dr. Mueller, that he 
 found true rice, in n spontaneous state of growth, in the interior of Australia; 
 which I consider encouraging both as to rice and cot tdii, because, the Doctor 
 adds, that rice was usually concomitant, as a cultivated plant, with cotton. 
 
 (4.) (-'lovir being the best known preparative for wheat, the 
 l)est resting crop for hind, and ti rnelionitor of soil into the bargain, 
 well deserves an entire fielil. 'I'lic iNorfdik jinicticc of picffTring 
 cocksfoot gra.«!s (I)aetylis (ilonierata) to ordinary ryv grass as an 
 ndinixtiire with clover was an iniprovenient on the older juiirtice. 
 'I'lie old Miinnid \ nriety of clover has certsiinly leconie a precarious 
 crop on liind wliicli has often grown it, but tlie cimse 1ms not yet
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 69 
 
 been satisfactorily ascertained. Probabl}- the best remedy will be 
 found in a new variety. I apprehend that the hybrid species be- 
 tween Trifolium Pratense and Trifolium Repens, called Alsyke, 
 will, if taken alternately with the annual red (or in tertial succes- 
 sion with the perennial red, called cow«^rass, and the annual red), 
 so lessen the evil as to make it of little consequence in Victoria 
 where the land is all fresh. It is not unusual in Italian husbandry 
 to make a clover crop respond thrice to the demand of the scythe, 
 viz., an early spring- mowing- for soiling- supply; a summer crop 
 for store fodder, cut just before flowering-; and then the seed crop; 
 but some irrig-ation is required to effect so much. I shall after- 
 wards revert to clover when I come to the pulse field. 
 
 (6.) Green Crops, Bulbs, and Roots, Sj-c. — In the cropping of 
 the potato field, and of this its comi)anion field in rotation, I 
 foresee great climate advantage to the Australian agriculturist; 
 and I have a presentiment that winter will in the sequel become 
 the Australian harvest season for turnips, cabbages, and the hardy 
 brassicas, which, owing to the ravages of the aphis, have become 
 too precarious for culture as summer crops. When Australian 
 entomology shall have ascertained the degree of cold which these 
 aphis pests cannot endure, we can balk them of their prey by 
 timing successions of their dainties, when it will be death to them 
 to feed, should they happen to be otherwise than inert at crop time. 
 Swede turnips and yellow Aberdeens, and some other hardy turnijis, 
 and many British cabbages, and winter carrots, parsnips, British 
 rape, and other hard}-- brassicas, and perhaps chicory, white 
 mustard, kohl rabi, and some Scotch acclimatized beets, and other 
 forage plants, will all respond to Australian winter culture, and 
 yield crops sufficiently matured for soiling purpose, if not as store 
 products. It will be desirable to keep as much of the summer 
 season of this field as is practicable open for the cultivation of the 
 sugar beet, which will probabl}' become a staple product of South 
 Victoria. There are other beets worthy of summer culture, as are 
 also French and Gei-man cabbages, and man}' Spanish and Italian 
 and other south European esculents, of which we as yet know but 
 little. To what extent mangel-wurzel may by Scotch acclima- 
 ting be made a winter product of Victoria, is a matter of gi-eat 
 importance to the colon}', and worthy of inductive investigation. 
 Some summer turnips, carrots, parsnips, brassicas, &c., to keep up 
 a succession of soiling food will be indispensable where a large dairy
 
 70 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 is kept; for it is to be borne in mind that in Victoria the reverse 
 of" Eng^lish practice will obtain, and the storing of cattle food will 
 be for summer use, and not as in Eng-land, for winter supply, so 
 that however desirable beet-sugar culture may be in South Vic- 
 toria, its ground must be shared by the mangel-wurzel crop, if 
 a sufficient supply cannot be grown in winter, because cows must 
 have summer food. America will doubtless supply many edibles, 
 both for the winter and the summer cropping of this field. I 
 assign to this field the second preference share in the homestead 
 manure for the year of its rotation, I have contented myself 
 with mentioning such crops as occur to memory, as illustrating 
 the scope which I think may be taken in the winter and summer 
 cropping of this field, though I am aware many other plants can 
 and ought to be included, when its cropping receives matured 
 adjustment. Carrots which afford much hay fodder from their 
 tops when dried do so well in Victoria as to be in my opinion one 
 of the most important of our soiling plants, both for summer and 
 winter growth. 
 
 (7.) Oat.'i and Bye. — I assign half a fielil to an oat croj), 
 because of colonial predilection for it as cereal hay, and because of 
 its own inti'insic im])ortnnce as a grain crop in a colony wliere 
 many horses will always be kept. I may observe that, though 
 I suspect that over oating will become a vulnerable point in 
 Australian huslnindry, I am individually enileavoring to avert 
 such a sequence, for I only introduce the crop once in eight years, 
 and by simply reversing the ends of the field when it comes a 
 second time into this rotation, and nmking the oats follow the 
 rye, and the r)'e follow the oats, the same land will only be called 
 ujion to ])roduce oats once in sixteen years. A similar observation 
 may be made in resj)ect of the barley and rice field, and the field 
 in rotation for pulse, Sec. 
 
 Hye springs early, and has great merit as green food for sheep, 
 and in soiling practice. It tillers much and responds well to 
 rej)etition mowings, yielding greater bulk than oats. It is also 
 of (piicker growth, and will be found a ndiable resource in dry 
 seasons in aid of the |)astures of the donutin. The grain is exten- 
 sively used on tlie rontinent for (listillation, and there is no 
 reason why sterling Hollands shall not supersede the blue ruin 
 stuff made from nobody knows what. 
 
 (K.) PvUe, &c., and AJaizr, S:c., followed by catch clover. —
 
 AGniCULTURE OF VICTOIIIA. 71 
 
 The haulm of pulse is such a favorite food of sheep, and the 
 cropping is so genial to land and so necessary for many puiposes, 
 that its omission in a course of cropping would he an imperfection. 
 I, therefore, assign half a field for the growth of beans, peas, 
 gramme, vetches, lentils, and any other ])ulse found worthy of 
 Victorian culture, and the other half of the field for the growth of 
 maize, buckwheat, sorghum, hemp, flax, and the lesser millet, and 
 any other products suitable for annual field culture, which may 
 be thought desirable, and for which place has not been before 
 assigned. Maize, millet, buckwheat, sorghum, and the vetch 
 family have responded willingly to the yield of immature cropping 
 as green forage, before the render of their main crops j but to 
 what extent beans, peas, and lentils will do the like is a matter for 
 ascertainment. This field is one of those as to which, by simply 
 reversing the ends of the field when it ofiers itself a second time 
 in rotation, the same land will not be called upon to produce like 
 and like cropping oftener than once in sixteen years, which in 
 some cases may be a great advantage. 
 
 The husbandry of Italy suggests a catch crop of clover as to 
 both halves of this field, which I think worthy of introduction into 
 Victorian practice. It is this. Trifolmm incarnaHim, a variety of 
 clover of rapid growth, is sown in autumn, mixed with Italian rye 
 grass, which is of like rapidity as to growth. The sowing is begun 
 immediately after the preceding cereal crop has been harvested, 
 and the clover is ready for cutting as green food in the following- 
 spring, a fortnight earlier than lucern, and is, therefore, the more 
 valuable. Its adoption in my course, after the primal crops of this 
 field, will have the effect of bringing the whole 7^ acres coming 
 into wheat rotation into a clover ley preparation for lime. Though 
 I do not like the recurrence of clover so often as every fourth year, 
 which is a result of this catch croj), I may state as favorable 
 features in the case that all my clovers, and also their admixed 
 grasses, may be of different varieties, and made to alternate in 
 succession among themselves. The object is, however, very great j 
 there being not only the value of the clover crop for consideration, 
 but the great benefit of the clover ley preparation for wheat also. 
 
 Having broached the subject of catch cropping (as the practice 
 of taking two crops from the same land in a given period has been 
 aptly called), and having got through the cropping of my chief
 
 72 
 
 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 course, I shall now make a few observations on a subject which I 
 consider fraujrht with great good or with g'reat evil, as it is used 
 with judgment, or abused by injudicious management. If catch 
 cropping-s are allowed to jeopardize main crops, or if great produce 
 is exacted from the land without due replenish by manure, and so 
 as to incapacitate it for its routine duty, the evil may be greater 
 than the good, and incalculable mischief may ensue. Unques- 
 tionably the climate of Australia gives great facilities for catch 
 cropping, and for repetition mowings and grazings of the cereals, 
 and 1 am inclined to estimate Australian sunshine at a high rate 
 in connection with its husbandry. I observed it stated in the 
 report to which I have adverted, that potatoes, turnips, sorghum, 
 and mangel-wurzel had all been taken as second crops either 
 after oaten hay, or barley cut in the spring for green fodder; that 
 barley had been succeeded in the same year by sixty days maize ; 
 that peas, vetches, and potatoes had yielded crops at three periods 
 of the year (I suppose an early crop, a main crop, and a late 
 crop); and that jiotatoes after barley of the same year might be 
 depended upon. Other instances will, no doubt, occur as colonial 
 culture progresses, but those alread}' stated are very encouraging, 
 and indicate great capabilities both as to climate and soil. They 
 also suggest great scope both in crop rotation and catch crop])ing. 
 In regard to the ])otato field, it is my opinion that if British 
 rape is sown immediately after wheat harvest on that part of the 
 field which is destined to produce the third division of the ])otato 
 crop, it will sujjply much soiling food up to a late period in spring, 
 when it may be allowed to run up into seed, which will have time 
 to ripen l)efore the land will be wanted for the last division of the 
 potato crop. I mention British rape in preference to the cole 
 variety of the Continent, because I happen to have seen much of 
 its culture, and think it likely, from its habitat, to be the hiinlier 
 variety of the two; but I should advise the introduction of both 
 varieties, in order that tln-ir (•(unparative merits iiimv be tested both 
 as to cattle food and oil. I give to the rape croj) the last potato 
 land pur])os('ly for the production of oil. I have seen fann-nuide 
 rape cake of good fpuilify, and if the \ icfdriiiii agriculturist shall 
 not, for want of ninchiiierv, be al)le to make the best of his oil he 
 may, by mixing it with proper substances, increase the quantity of 
 of his cake, and convert it advantageously into beef and mutton. 
 Winter beet and niangel-wurzel may be taken from that jiart of
 
 AQRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 73 
 
 the potato field which is intended for the first division of the 
 potato ciop, because (even if immature and not of great weight) 
 they will come in opportunely for the dairy cows; and the bulk of 
 the field intended for the main crop of potatoes may be ])lanted 
 with hardy British cabbao-es of many varieties, to keep up a 
 constant succession of fusiform rooted brassica food, until the 
 ground must be cleared for potatoes. If this brassica and beet 
 catch crop is taken, it ought to have a liberal allowance of guano. 
 By planting the brassicas, rape and beet, in drills crosswise of the 
 field, and the potatoes lengthwise, both crops will to a great extent 
 have fresh land. 
 
 Half the winter crop of the companion field to that in potatoes 
 is intended to be Swede turnips and yellow Aberdeens, or other 
 hardy turnips; also hardy carrots, parsnips, chicory, white mustard, 
 and colza, followed by sugar beet as the summer crop of that half. 
 The other half of the winter crop is intended to be Scotch accli- 
 matised mangel-wurzel, followed by summer turnips, carrots, 
 ])arsnips, and chicory, and b}^ yams, onions, Strasburgh and French 
 cabbages, and by warm climate bulbs, roots, tubers, and plants 
 admitting of annual field culture, which may, on trial, be found 
 woi'thy of reception into the Victorian course of cropping. Guano 
 will be found to be an eligible manure for the winter cropping 
 of this field, because, as a stimulant, it will invigorate vegetation 
 in the winter, and the rain will well diffuse its fertilizing properties 
 in the soil. 
 
 My leading eight years' course is avowedly for land of first-class 
 staple only, be that land limestone formation, or of volcanic origin, 
 or a well proportioned admixture of clay and sand, known as a 
 clayey loam; and though the development of that course was the 
 leading aim of my essay, I shall prescribe the following rotations 
 for land less favorably circumstanced as to staple, making use of 
 well understood though untechnical terms : — 
 
 For an eight years' course on land of a loose textui-e, and of 
 insufficient staple for the leading course, I woiUd suggest — l,oats; 
 2, potatoes; 3, rye; 4, clover; 5, wheat; 6, green crops and roots, 
 and especially the Jerusalem artichoke; 7, millet, lentils, and 
 vetches in equal proportions; and 8, buckwheat, with vetches on 
 the land after millet; and then oats again, and on in repetition 
 course; liming the clover ley for wheat, and manuring heavily
 
 74 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 with homestead dung- for the potato crop and the green crops, 
 but adhering in this course to single cropping, because such hmd 
 will not sustain catch cropping. 
 
 For an eight years' course on a light loam (such, for instance, as 
 is known in England as a turnip and barley soil) I would suggest 
 — 1, oats and rye; '2, cloverj 3, wheat; 4, potatoes; 5, barley and 
 rice; li, peas, vetches, gramme, and catch clover; 7, wheat; and 
 8, turnips, mangel-wurzel, beet, cabbages, roots, and green crops, 
 but adhering in this course also to single croj)})ing, save as to the 
 catch clover. 
 
 For an eight 3'ears' course on a strong clay soil approaching 
 to stiffness, I would suggest — 1, oats; Q, clover; 3, wheat; 
 4, Swedes, mangel-wurzel, and potatoes; 6, barley; (3, beans, 
 vetches, rnaize, and sorghum ; 7, wheat ; and 8, rape and 
 cabbages, itc. 
 
 I now approach the very important question of repetition 
 gratings and v)Owings of the cereals as green crops and fodder, 
 before they are called upon to yield grain. That the cereals 
 possess vitality beyond most other plants, and exert an inherent 
 power to rej)air damage by frost or accident, by a process called 
 tillering, lias been long known, but the systematic application of 
 that power to profit in a cropping routine has yet to be made, 
 and probably Victoria will initiate the practice of subjecting this 
 ])rocess to inductive swtiy. 
 
 British husbandmen were probably the iirst to notice the 
 beneficial exercise of the tillering process. The wireworm grub, by 
 eating through the ncwly-germiiuited stem of wheat, did incal- 
 culable miscijief, and when the germ was eaten close oil' the plant 
 j)erished ; but if a particle of it was left the inherent power to 
 tiller, thougii previously inert, sent forth shoots which became 
 stems to till! original root, and jjroduced many cars of wheat 
 instead of one. Pursuing this hint of nature, an intelligent 
 farmer, who happened to havt! a thinly-sown cro]), cut it down 
 with sheep, to induce :i tiller to thicken his crop ; and this being 
 successful, it bcciiint' a ]»r!ictic(', wjiciirvn- flic saving of seed 
 was an object, to sow thin, and draw upon tli(* plants for seed 
 deficiency by u tiller. (!ircumstances, liowever, which have pre- 
 vented the IJritish farmer making inncli ol' tlic tillering property, 
 and of cereal vitality, do not obtain in Ausfialia; but the very
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 75 
 
 converse is the case. I'he British climate is moist, the season is 
 g-enerally wet, and when it does happen to be dry and favorable 
 at the time of depasturing- the j^rain crop, the farmer dare not 
 linger in the field for the sake of the food, but draws his flock off 
 as soon as his one object has been accomplished, lest a stern 
 British winter should oveitake him before his g-rain is ripe. Now, 
 the Australian cultivator, having- abundance of dry weather for 
 depasturing' his cereals, may make them regular sheep pastures, 
 if he chooses that course ; or he may mow them periodically for 
 soiling supply, if that answers his purpose better ; and having- no 
 dread of a British winter, he can calculate the sunshine he will 
 want to flower, seed, and ripen his grain ; and can induce the 
 flowering process just when he wants it to ensure the clearing of 
 the ground for the crop next in succession. 
 
 Up to the stage next precedent to that of flowering, the stem 
 and leaf, or blade-producing powers of a plant, are those which 
 govern its existence and impel it onwards to seed. If the 
 blade of a cereal is damaged or destroyed, it is re-produced, 
 perhaps stronger than before ; and the only consequence is delay 
 in the progress of the plant towards seeding. If the land is in 
 heart, and the plant is healthy, repetition grazings and mowings 
 will exact a great amount of stem and leaf, or blade produce, 
 before it need be allowed to push into flower. It is critical to deal 
 with a plant in flower, and destruction to it to interfere in a seeding 
 state, for the moment the seeding- power is called into operation, 
 the stem, leaf, and flower-producing functions all merge in that 
 of the seed-power, which thenceforward becomes the governing- 
 power of the plant. The exact point, either before or in the 
 flowering stage, at which cereals may be mown, with a certainty of 
 reproduction, is so important to the husbandry of Australia that 
 it ought to be an early subject of accurate investigation, it being 
 certain on the one hand that the more fodder is matured, before 
 it is cut, the greater is its value ; and, on the other, that the grain 
 is jeopardised if a fodder crop is taken a da}' later than natui-e 
 warrants. In a colony yet devoid of perennial pastures and 
 meadows, it is very important to be able to make the best of the 
 cereal supply, and to fix with certainty not onl}^ the precise time 
 of severance, but the number of mowings to which a crop will 
 profitably submit ; for, if the older colonists are right in their 
 supposition that, as a general rule, the cereal supply is to be the
 
 76 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 reliable resource of the colony for hay fodder, the enquir}' assumes 
 the g-reater consequence ; and it may be well to extend it to 
 sorghum, buckwheat, maize, the lesser millet, vetches, rape, and 
 all other plants from which it is intended to exact immature con- 
 tiibutions towards soiling- supjily; and to ascertain also the extent 
 to which the beets, and other similar plants, will submit to be 
 despoiled of their leaves without injury to their more important 
 products. All the cereals (unless rice shall prove an exception) 
 will admit of autumnal sowing- in Australia, and of growth 
 during its winter, so as to yield an immature scythe contribution 
 to the soiling- dejjartment in eaily spring. 
 
 Theorists reputed sound have stated that crops led oft' in a 
 green state, or mown before the seed was formed, might be 
 repeated time after time, and kind after kind, with safety ; it 
 being only (as they state) in responding to the production of seed 
 that soil is impoverishingly drawn upon : and it has, in conse- 
 quence of that statement, been inferred, that when cereals are 
 mown for hay before seeding, they take but little out of land. 
 My impression is, that that conclusion has been jmshed too far, 
 and that the eftect of the impulsive eftbrt of germination on the 
 land, has not been sufficiently estimated. 
 
 The seeds of most ])lants have a structure from which one stem 
 only can proceed, but the cereals which yield human food benevo- 
 lently depart from that structure. In tiieui the embryo plant is 
 so organised as that many stems spring from one grain. That 
 dej)arture is the origin of the tillering j)r()cess to wiiich I have 
 adverted, and its importance in a climate in which iiiU advantage 
 can be taken of such a benignant j)r()vision, is my motive for 
 giving it such a distinctive notice in tiiis essay. It will be a 
 singular coincidence if the ol't (|U()te(l observation of Swift, in 
 his (iulliver's Travels (which, bye-tiic-hye, was a theft of Swift's 
 from Habelais), " that the man who caused two stalks of corn, 
 or two piles of grass, to grow where only one grew before, is u 
 greater benefactor to nuuikind than all the jdiilosophers, ))oets, 
 oratoi-s, and ])o!iticiaiis, tliat r-ver existed," shall he first sy.stein- 
 ntically act<Mi upon in the hushaudiy of GuUivei-'s own country 
 (for Ifcvond (pieslion ('apt. V\ iiliam l)ainj)ior was the licmuel 
 Gulliver of Swift); and thai it shall be applied to the extent of 
 taking three cropj>ings from the cereals instead of one — viz., a 
 grazing of the blade crop liy slioej) to induce a tiller; a mowijig
 
 AGRICULTUUK OF VICTOKIA. 'Jl 
 
 of the succession slioot, as g-reen forage for soiling" supply, or 
 as dried foflder ; and in the sequel — the grain crop itself. 
 
 I have before stated that the Javanese exact a cereal fodder 
 yield from rice, as well as a g-rain crop ; and I think it important 
 to save land from the tantalization of several impulsive g-ei'mi- 
 nating- eftbrts, where one may suffice. The saving- of the seed 
 and labor ot several sowing's for an object which one sowing- 
 will effect, is also a consideration. 
 
 On revising for the press I have to add that the fact tliat the cereals 
 are to some extent biennials upholds my conclusion as to their ability 
 to respond to repetition croppings, and I am glad to be able to adduce 
 confirmation of that conclusion. Lawrence, in his Farmers' Kalendar, the 
 third edition of which was published in 1801, writes thus : — " Upon soils, 
 where wheat is apt to grow rank or winter proud, it is the custom to 
 feed it down in the spring with sheep, and in some parts of Kent and 
 elsewhere, even with bullocks and liorses, up to the month of IMay." 
 " Wheat, prevented by grazing from growing to seed, becomes to some 
 extent perennial, and endures as grass. It remains to be determined, by 
 experiment, to what degree it is advantageous to grow wlieat, barley, 
 and oats as soiling food, or as hay for cattle ; at any rate the nutritious 
 and fattening quality of such provender cannot be questioned." But 
 W. P. Taunton, Esq., in his prize essay on rye, published in the seventh 
 volume of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 
 carries the matter much further than Lawrence, and thus writes:— "I 
 have known an excellent farmer, who had abundance of manure from a 
 fully stocked yard and stable, to mow his wheat crop for stable food 
 currently twice, and in one instance thrice, in the summer, and afterwards 
 to ripen a crop of the grain of wheat in each case ; in many instances a 
 good crop ; but his fields were like a hot bed, and if he had not mown 
 them the wheat Avould have lodged and rutted on the ground. Wheat is in 
 truth the most nutritive and the most productive, though not the earliest, 
 of all the soiling crops ; and those few fortunate persons who complain 
 that their land is too rich for wheat would, if they were to cultivate wheat 
 thereon as a soiling crop, enjoy a most abundant and profitable return 
 therefrom." " The beautiful variety of barle}', called hordeum bulboaum, has 
 been found when in flower to raise its second crop of culms to perfection in 
 the same sunmier." 
 
 Though I do not subscribe, without reservation, to the dictum of Olivier 
 (a member of the French Institute), that the intervention of beans, or of 
 turnips, and such crops after wheat or oats, &c., is certain and complete 
 destruction to the Tipulae, Muscae, and other insects which prey upon the 
 roots of the cereals, because 1 know of too many instances in which tena- 
 cious vitality carried both insects and larva; existingly through adverse 
 alternation in cropping ; I am, nevertheless, willing to admit that a sys- 
 tematic alternation which limits cereal cropping to a single year, and
 
 78 rilIZE ESSAY. 
 
 prohibits even a kindred crop in succession, is likely to keep them much 
 under, and that therefore to that extent alternate husbandry is decidedly 
 beneficial as a counteracting agency both against insect rapacity and 
 vegetable malady. 
 
 The following quotation from an essay by Lawes, an agricultural chemist, 
 published in the Journal of the Koyal Agricultural Society of England, 
 well justifies the importanee which I have given to wheat and to the other 
 cereals in my Victorian course of cropping : — " The climate of Australia 
 combines in an eminent degree the small amount of rain and the high 
 temperature necessary for the i)erfect development of corn, and the wheats 
 imported from that island obtain a price in the market very much beyond 
 those of Knglish growth." 
 
 The colony of South Australia deserves the grateful remembrance of all 
 the Australian colonies for its masterlj' representation of the whole at the 
 great English Industrial Exhibition of 1851. I devoted a day to the ex- 
 amination of Australian exhibits, and chuckled at my anticipated con- 
 nection with a region which could produce wheat weighing as was stated 
 70 lbs. to the bushel ; and being, after a residence of two years in Victoria, 
 certain that all the cereals will become its staple products, and that the 
 soil of Victoria will enable its colonists to compete — as to wheat with South 
 Australia, as to rice with Carolina, and as to barley with England, I cannot 
 but regret that Victoria has nut by forethought provided cliampion samples 
 of all the cereals for the forthcoming English Exhibition, and that such an 
 eligible opportunity for announcing to the civilized world the great cereal 
 capabilities of the colony should have been thoughtlessly lost. 
 
 Tlic f^ccuud, or (jniKH land, and lice stock department of Aiis- 
 tniliiin husbandry, admits also of systematic manacrement, and 
 may he worked harmoniously and well, in conjunction with the 
 arable land, as I will show. I shall arranj^e the various objects 
 of Australian animal and zoological husbandry care into twelve 
 classes, and briefly treat of each ; prcmisinfj; that, according; to 
 the statistics to which I have licfore adverted, the live stock of the 
 colony numbered, on the 31st March, 1809, .0,578,413 sheej) ; 
 690,330 cattle ; 08,323 horses ; and 37,r.')() pip^s. Poultry and 
 the niinor cjuadrupeds are not stated. Over five millions of the 
 sheep bcloiifred to stpiatting' stations, and that circumstance shows 
 the extent to which the pastoral interest of the colony has de- 
 veloped itself. 
 
 I have assijj-iied to the live stock (lej)artment the olrtven fields 
 before mentioned, of which the two cow pastures together contain 
 62 acres ; the two sluiep pastures, 20 acres ; the two general 
 jtastures, 20 acres; the two hospital ("rofts, 13 acres; the j)er- 
 munent clover pasture, 13 acres ; the lucern j)asture, 13 acres ;
 
 AOUICULTUKE OF VKTOllIA. 79 
 
 and the water meadow, 26 acres. In all 169 acres, in addition 
 to the yield of the arable department, in the way of cereal herbag-e, 
 green forag-e, and hay ; and to the render of the two g-reen crop 
 and root fields, and of the two clover fields ; supplemented by 
 the straw and haulm of the grain and pulse crops : and when it is 
 considered that Sir John Sinclair estimates the straw yield of an 
 averag-e British crop of wheat at 30 cwt. to the acre, of rye also 
 at 30 cwt., of oats at 25 cwt., and of barley at 20 cwt. ; and that 
 on the data of Sir Joseph Banks, it may be safely assumed that 
 rice straw would at least equal that of wheat, it will be apparent 
 that under soiling- management, a large dairy and a goodly 
 number of breeding ewes and fatting sheep, may be kept on 
 agraria domain, and that its homestead manure will be con- 
 siderable. 
 
 Sheep constitute my first class of the animals of Australian care. 
 
 The annals of husbandry do not disclose any circumstance so 
 astonishingly interesting and successful as the shepherding of 
 Australia. That sagacious colonist of the mother colony, John 
 McArthur, having observed the effect of the Australian climate, 
 in improving the wool of the then mongrel sheep of New South 
 Wales, became an Australian benefactor to an incalculable extent, 
 by his introduction of the best woolled breed of sheep then 
 known. He was probably not aware that his pet Merino sheep 
 were descended from English flocks, which, in the days of the 
 Plantagenets, fed on the green but bleak Cotswold pastures of 
 England, and were then doubtless clad in the dreadnought fleeces 
 required for a British clime ; but which, in consequence of amal- 
 gamation with Spanish flocks, and the basking for three centuries 
 in the sunny pastures of Spain, resulted in the establishment of 
 the merino breed, predestined to produce a marvellous Australian 
 result. 
 
 Low, in his work on the Domestic Animals of Britain, questions 
 the English origin of the Merino breed ; but I think it very satis- 
 factorily evidenced, and will introduce a ie\\' remarks on that 
 head in support of my view. 
 
 In Knight's Pictorial History of England (vol. 2, p. 190), I 
 find it stated that " in 1438 a license was granted by Henry VI. 
 to a Portuguese agent in England, for leave to export to Florence 
 sixty sacks of Coteswold wool, to be worked up in clothes of gold
 
 80 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 and silver for the King of Portug-al," and that Edward IV. was 
 said to have presented King- John, of Arrag-on, with several 
 Eng-lish ewes and rams ; and Knijrht refers to Tnsser and other 
 authorities quoted by Anderson in his History of Commerce in 
 support of his statements. It unhickily liappens that my copies of 
 Anderson and Tusser have not yet arrived, and that there is no 
 copy of Anderson in the PubHc Library of Melbourne, so that I 
 cannot at present pursue the matter further than Low himself car- 
 ries it in the following- quotations, which I make from his own 
 work. *'In those Wolds (Cotswolds), says the translator of Cam- 
 den, they feed great numbers of flocks of sheep whose wool, beings 
 most fine and soft, is held in j)assing- great account among-st all 
 nations." " Stow writes that in 14(!4 King- Edward IV. con- 
 cluded an amnesty and league with King- Ilenr}-, of Castill, and 
 King John, of Arragon, at the concluding whereof he granted 
 license for certain Cotstvohl sheep to be transported into the 
 country of Spain, which have there since mightih* increased and 
 multiplied, to the Spanish profit, as it is said." And, in another 
 part of Low's work he says, '* it has been the opinion of many 
 that the Merino sheep of Spain have been derived from England." 
 " Baker, in his Chronicle, says, King Edward IV. entered into a 
 league with King John, of Arragon, to whom he sent over a arore 
 of Cotml erves anri four rainsy "From this slender incident it 
 were idU (says Low), to infer that the modern Merino owes its 
 origin to the sheep of England, though certainly the resemblance 
 of the Dorset breed of Enghmd, and jiartii-ulariy of the variety 
 termed the Pink-nosed Somerset, would seem to be sufficiently 
 striking to give some countenance to the su])p<)sitioii." 
 
 With due deference to Low, I think he does injustice to his own 
 premises by his idle deduction from his own quoted authorities. 
 The twenty ewes, which would j)robably yield an average of ten 
 pure English-bred rams yearly, or in that jiroporfion, as long as 
 any of them were kept aided by \\\e four rovis which were sent, 
 on this true Jnsonic expedition of the Golden Fleece were, in my 
 opinion, more tban sufficient to produce in three centuries, bv the 
 crossing of large Spanish flocks and the progressive ratio of in and 
 in breeding — the Merino breed as it stood in 17(54 — when it first 
 began to be mucli noticed. 
 
 Tliiit Spain, as well as ICngland, had, anterior to 1404, a fir)e- 
 wooled breed of sheej), is clear; and Sj)ain has yet other varieties
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 81 
 
 of sheep u-hicli are fine-wooled, but lack tlie brand of the "Pink- 
 nosed Somersets" with which the four Cotswold Jasons and tliciir 
 young-ster kin stumped their prog-eny b}' the Spanish ewes. 
 
 The Cotswolds of 14G4 appear to have been a different race from 
 tiie oldest of two breeds now known by that name, which appears 
 to have supplanted the finer-wooled flocks early in the last century. 
 Low surmises, and I think rig-htl}'', that the first Cotswolds were 
 of the Ryeland famih', and supports his view by a quotation from 
 Speed, who wrote in 10C9. " In Ileiefordshire, especially about 
 Lempster, and on those famous hills called Cotswolds, sheep are 
 fed that produce a sing-ular good wool, which, for fineness, comes 
 veiy near to that of Spain, for from it a thread may be drawn 
 as fine as silk." 
 
 Low ap]>ears to think that the Spanish Merino owed something' 
 to an earlier (^African) cross, which I think probable. His sug- 
 gestion that the oily secretion of the skin which characterizes the 
 breed is of African origin, is worthy of consideration, and I there- 
 fore call attention to it as a hint in what direction an Australian 
 Bakewell is to look for that property when he wants to clothe a 
 new Leicester carcass with a Merino fleece, which would, in my 
 opinion, be the best Australian alliance between wool and mutton. 
 
 " Several of our annsilists," says John James in his Hi-tory of the worsted 
 manufacture of England, published in 1857, "have narrated that in the 
 reign of Edward the Tliird, and again in that of Edward the Fourth, a 
 number of English slieep were, as a great l)oon, allowed to be transported to 
 Spain to improve the Spanish breed, thus denoting that the English wool 
 was then superior to the Spanish. Very conclusive confirmation on this 
 point is given by Capmany (in his ' Memorias Historicas sobre la Marina, 
 commerci y artes de la antigua ciudad de Barcelona,' of which an edition was 
 printed in 1779,) in a number of laws drawn up in the year 1438, by the 
 municipal authorities of Barcelona, for regulating the manufacture of cloth 
 from fine English wool {lanes Jincs de anyln terra)." 
 
 In another part of his work Mr. James says, "Proof may be adduced 
 that from a very early period English tV"ol was deemed to besiipcricr to Spanixli. 
 In the confirmation by Henry the Second to the weavers of London of their 
 guild, it was directed that if any weaver mixed Spanish wool witli ICnglish 
 in making cloth it should be burnt, phiinlj- implying that tlie I'nglish wool 
 was of superior quality. It seems probable that, after the time of Edward the 
 Tliird, the fleece of Spanish sheep had improved, in consequence of a number of 
 English sheep being permitted by that monarch to be exported to Spain. From 
 Capmany's History of Barcelona it appears that about this period English 
 wool was sometimes sent to that city to be manufactured into the finest 
 
 G
 
 82 I'RIZE ESSAY. 
 
 cloth then produced. Spain and Enghind were, in this age, the onl}- wool 
 growing countries in the world, but that produced by the former consisted 
 of an inferior staple, altogether unfitted in itself to make the delicate and 
 superior fabrics of riandcrs." 
 
 AVitli that triuin pliant demonstration of tlio idlrtirf!^ of Low's 
 insinuation to tlic contrary, I sliall pass on to the observation that 
 the Australian climate will co-operate with judicious crossinp; in 
 effecting' improvement in Austral-Merino wool, and that if no 
 Merino rams are used but those which have ]iretensions to sym- 
 metry, combined with ileece-clKirncter, and aptitude to fatten, 
 Australian-bred Merinos will soon a])])r()ximate to a great degree 
 of perfection, both in wool and mutton. 
 
 It is matter of surjirise, from what small and recent beginnings, 
 amazing results have proceeded. Bakewell, who fashioned the 
 new Leicester breed on an ideal standard as to perfection of his 
 own, and created a new era in shepherding, only began his piac- 
 tice in 1755. His first ram lettings in 17()0 only averaged seven- 
 teen shillings and six pence each, and for some years his general 
 price was a guinea; but in 1785 his price had risen to one 
 hundred guineas for his best rams, and in 1780 he made six thou- 
 sand two hundred guineas by his ram lettings, a practice which he 
 originated, and for which he was laughed at as a foolish innova- 
 tion. It is to be regretted that he (avowedly) paid no attention 
 whatever to wool, and thought only of the butcher, though liis dis- 
 ci])les have improved in that respect. 
 
 Ellman, the great improver of the South Down breed, only began 
 his improvements in 1780. He, however, wisel}' attended to wool 
 as well as mutton, and chalked out a path in which the shepherd 
 jtrinces of Australia ought to tread; and MacArthur demonstrated, 
 bv what he effected for the Au>n:d Moiiio breed within living 
 memnry, that "the four Cotswold rams, and twenty ('otswold 
 ewes," were aniply sufHcient to produce (by crossing the Anglo- 
 Spanish flocks pre-existing tluire), flic ;\nglo-Sp!inisli iMerino breed 
 extensive us it has in the courM- of toui- ccMtuiics become. 
 
 On revising for tlic prcsH, in .Imu', 1K(;1, 1 avail niysclf ol' the (ipiKirtimity 
 thus iifTordcd to atn|ilify my original outline of IIiIh liraiich of my subject 
 into the more finished sketch uiiieh I now present ; and I do that the more 
 readily because it is now ajiparent that long-wooled sheej), as well as the 
 Merinos und the other flne-wooled varieties, are hencctorlh to be objects of
 
 AGRICLLTUIIK OK VICTOIUA. 83 
 
 Australian care. I have also — under the iinprtssidn tliiit tlie Dishlcy blood 
 will be predominant in all the long-wooled and uiediuni-woolcd sheep which 
 will he imported from England — endeavored to unravel the mystery in 
 whicli Bakewell sought to envelope the origin of his breed, in order that 
 Australian breeders may have a criterion for judging to what extent 
 Bakewell's blood, or the l)lo()d of any cognate source, already pre-exists in 
 any sheep intended to he the subject of inductive exi)eriment. 
 
 From the days of the patriarch Jacob, who outwitted Laban in the cun- 
 ning bargain as to the marked animals, down to those of Robert Bakewell, 
 it appears to have been a recognised point in breeding that understood 
 causes were productive of given results, and that like produces like. 
 Bakewell, however, appears to have been the first known individual to 
 whom nature revealed her secret of moulding an animal to a given make, 
 and of perpetuating that make, with its newly coml)ined properties, in the 
 descendants of the animals so moulded lie operated not only upon sheep, 
 but also upon neat cattle, horses, and swine ; hut his greatest success was 
 in wliat is now properly called the Dishlcy breed of sheep — occasionally, 
 however, yet known by its original name of the new Leicester breed. I 
 have here to remark that Lincoln and Leicester, being adjoining counties, 
 had in common, at the commencement of the eighteenth century, a breed 
 of large sheep, which appears to have had a I-incolnshire origin ; though, 
 in loose nomenclature, it was by some authorities occasionally called the old 
 Leicester breed. The consanguinity of the old Leicesters with the old Lincolns, 
 and the better claim of ihe pastures of Lincwlnshire to the distinction cf having 
 fed up the breed to its great development in size and in wool, is, however, 
 now generally admitted. Bakewell inherited, with the lease of Dishley 
 Farm, which happens to be located on the Lincolnshire side of the county 
 of Leicester, his father's flock of sheep, in which, all authorities agree, the 
 old Lincoln type was predominant, and it is also agreed that that flock was 
 the nucleus of. the Dishley breed. It is, however, to be regretted that tlie 
 selfish policy of Bakewell led him to mystiiy the origin of his breed, and to 
 conceal from his contemporaries, and from posterity, the sources of his own 
 success ; a mistaken course, in which his memory received, in its passage 
 to posterity, that ring-straken brand which has marred his title to be 
 considered as a benefactor to the agricultural community. It luckily 
 happens, however, that the source of the Dishley blood is trackable, despite 
 the selfishness of Bakewell, as I will endeavor to show. Arthur Young, 
 who called at Dishley when he made his Farmer's Tour through the east of 
 England, in 1770. writes thus in his Tour : — " In the breed of his sheep Mr. 
 Bakewell is as curious, and I think, if any difference, with greater success 
 than in his horned cattle." — " 77(e breed is originally Lincolnshire; but Mr. 
 Bahewell thinks, and very justly, that he has much improved it. The grand 
 profit is from the same food going so much further in feeding those than 
 any others. Not, however, that Mr. Bakewell's breed is small ; on the 
 contrary, it is as weighty as nine-tenths of the kingdom ; for he sells fat 
 wethers at three years and a half old, at two pounds a head. He sells no 
 tups, but lets them, at from five guineas to thirty guineas for the season." 
 
 The following is the measurement, in the wool, of a three year old ram, 
 
 ,1 o
 
 84 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Stated, in Young's Tour, to have been measured on the 17th JIarch, 1770. 
 
 which I transcrilM?, in order to convey a notion of the size to which Bakewell 
 
 had then reduced his sheep : — 
 
 Ft. ins. 
 Ilis girt ... ... ... ... .5 10 
 
 His lieight ... ... ... ... 2 5 
 
 His breadth of collar ... ... ... I 4 
 
 His breadth over his shoulders ... 1 llj 
 
 His breadth over his ribs ... ... 1 lOj 
 
 The breadth of his hips ... ... 1 9J 
 
 Young's visit was .so opportune, and his words are so explicit, tliat 
 (referring, as tliey do to the period when Bakewell, after fifteen years of 
 inductive experiment, had finally modelled the breed to his mind, and was 
 known to be breeding in and in) they have always, to my mind, been 
 conclusive as to the Lincoln lineage of the Dishloy breed, notwithstanding 
 Bakewfll's insinuations to the contrary in some of the controversies in 
 which his want of candor involved him. My father, who was brought up a 
 farmer, adhering to the dictum of his father — who had Ix-en a Tecswater 
 breeder — always spoke of the Dishley sheep as I-ineolns, dwarfed, and made 
 symmetrical, by a wliite fine-wooled cross. What that cross was shall now 
 be the subject of discussion. 
 
 The wool of the Dishley breed is evidently a blend of a short-wooleJ with 
 a long-wooled fleece, and nature's brand to that purport will probably be 
 among early revelations of the microscope, now that it is being applied to 
 matters connected with wool Leicestershire tradition— which I gathered 
 when I went on pilgrimage to Dishley many years ago — states that the 
 Kyeland breed contributed the .short-wool ingredient to the blend, along 
 with the fineness in bone and aptitude to thrive on scant fare, which were 
 Bakewell's chief aims in that cross ; it being to be obsetved that, long 
 before his time, the Byeland breed had ac(iuired the repute of possessing, 
 pre-eminently, symmetry, with predisjiosition to fatten, and also fineness 
 in bone, which were Bakewell's favorite (pialilies. Tradition also states 
 that he bred occasionally from Dorset ewes, ami had a liking for that blood; 
 perhaps, therefore, it may be assumed that the short-wooled ingredient in 
 the Disliley blend was a compound of the IJyeland and the Dorset, in pro- 
 portifms within the powers of the microscope to reveal ; and if my surmise 
 is well grounded, the microscope nuiy be the key which, when applied to 
 nature's biand-nitirk on a Dishley fleece, will uidoek Bakewell's arcanum, 
 and let out lii< l<)ng-kei)t secret, which peradventuri-, after all, when known, 
 will amount to no more than this — that, in 1770, when he lia<l adjustiil his 
 Disldey bbxid, it bad in it fiO i)er cent, of old Lincoln, :w jwr cent, of mixed 
 liyeland ami Dorset, and the remaining 10 jier cent, of various tireeds, inter- 
 niiiigli-d for s]>ecial mutton ])oint». It is because the Dishley blood has 
 since become so diffused, that scarcely any Kiiglisli ilock of note is now 
 without it, that I have deemed it worth while to pursue this investigation 
 to the extent which I have. 
 
 William Marshall, an acute observer, who resided four years near Dishley
 
 AGlllCULTURE OF VICTORIA. 85 
 
 Farm, and liad several interviews with Bakcwell, at Dishlcy, thus writes in 
 his Kural Economy of tlic JNIidhmd Counties, published in 1790: — "The 
 manner in which Mr. Bakewell raised his sheep to the degree of celebrity 
 in which they deservedly stand is, notwithstanding the recentness of the 
 improvement, and its being done in the day of thousands now living, a 
 thing in dispute, even among men high in the profession, and living in the 
 very district in which the improvement has been carried on. Some are of 
 opinion that he effected it by a cross with the Wiltshire breed ; an 
 improLablc idea, as their form altogether contradicts it. Others that the 
 Ryeland breed were used in this purpose; and ivith some show of probability. If 
 any cross whatever was used, the Ryeland breed — whether we view the form, the 
 size, the wool, the flesh, or the fatting quality — is the most probable instrument of 
 improvement." — " The icool is shorter than long wools in general, but much 
 longer than the middle wools, the ordinary length of staple being .5 to 7 inches, 
 and varying much in fineness and weight." — " The origin of letting rams by 
 the season, in the midland district, may be traced to a ram let by Mr. 
 Bakewell, at a Leicester fair, about forty years ago, at the low price of 
 sixteen shillings, and his letting two more, on the same da}^ at seventeen 
 shillings and sixpence each ; and humble as was this beginning, it proved 
 to be the first stone of the foundation of a department of rural business that 
 has already risen to an astonishing height, and may for some length of time 
 continue to bring in a copious source of wealth to the country." — " Mr. 
 Bakewell this year (1789) makes, I understand, twelve hundred guineas by 
 three rams— brothers, I believe." 
 
 The importance of sheep in Australian husbandry, and my wish at this 
 early stage of that husbandry in Victoria, to manifest the title of England to 
 copartnery with Spain in the honor of having formed the Anglo-Spanish 
 Merino breed, which Providence appears to have predestined to be the 
 leading breed of Australia, and the urgency of the growing demand of 
 England for longer wool, and of a Victorian mining population for larger 
 and better mutton, has led me into details as to the blood of the two most 
 remarkable varieties of sheep, of known origin, as yet produced, viz., the 
 Merino, formed with the avowed object of producing fine wool, without much 
 care as to mutton (for the JNIerino monopoly remains to this day, in Spanish 
 policy, the mere wool guild which it was when the Anglo-Merino breed was 
 formed by the Anglo-Spanish cross) ; and the Dishley, formed expressly for 
 mutton — (for Bakewell is recorded to have said " that wool was no object 
 with him ; and that he did not care whether his sheep carried fleeces or not, for 
 that one thing only was wanting to ensure him an ample fortune — the 
 discovery of a breed of sheep without wool") As my object is that of 
 presenting systematic and scientific views to Australian shepherds as well 
 as to wool as to mutton, it is, I trust, somewhat more rational than Bake- 
 well's anti-wool crotchet. 
 
 Ellman, as I have before observed, aimed, in his celebrated South Down 
 breed, at a combination of wool and mutton ; but as mutton will always be 
 the predominating object with the British shepherd, whilst wool, on the 
 contrary, ought to be the paramount object in Australian shepherding; and 
 as I think it incumbent on Australians to form breeds expressly adapted
 
 80 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 for their own husbandry, I shall introduce to their notice four p:irticu!:ir 
 breeds, viz., the "Old Lincoln," and the "Ancient Teeswater," longwools^ 
 and the " Dorset," and the "Ryeland," shortwools, as deserving of especial 
 attention in any endeavor to attain excellence in the production of both 
 kinds of wool, and of improvement in mutton. 
 
 The " Old Lincoln " and the ancient " Teeswater" breeds, being the giant 
 families of the Ovis race, demand as such especial Australian notice. The fol- 
 lowing quotations from Arthur Young's View of the Agriculture of Lincoln- 
 shire, published by the English Board of Agriculture in 1808, will bring Aus- 
 tralians acquainted with two ancient sheep of the Olil Lincoln breed : — " Mr. 
 Graves, of Spalding, had a true old Lincoln sheep, that clipped the first year 
 23 lbs. of wool, and the second year 2-2.^ lbs. It was sold at Smithfield, at 
 Christmas, and weighed 40 lbs. a quarter. Of this sheep Mr Bakewell said 
 that he ate as much as three ; but that was mere assertion," " Mr. Trim- 
 mell, of Bicker, near Boston, killed a wether, of 67 lbs. a quarter at four 
 years old. He never ate any corn, oil cake, &c , but fed wholly upon grass 
 and herbage. Being turned with many other sheep into a field of clover, it 
 was observed to search for all the sow-thistles, and would eat no other food 
 wliilst any of them could be found ; and when the field became bare of food 
 the shepherd, guided bj- the sheep's propensity- for sow-thistles, gathered a 
 quantity for him at stated hours, three times a day, from 2 lbs. to 5 lbs. at 
 a meal. Standing on his feet, he measured only 2 feet G inches high, and 
 weighed, alive, 26 stone, of 14 lbs. ; he gained only 1 lb. the last month, 
 and tiien. thinking he had got to the top and quite ripe, he was killed on 
 the 13th October, 1791, being then a four shear slieep. The skin, hung up 
 by the nose, measured 10 feet 2 inches, from the point of the nose to the 
 tip of the tail, and was sold for seven shillings and si.xpence in the common 
 course of business. The carcass measured five feet from the nose to the 
 tail ; its rump or cushion, eight inches and a half in depth ; plate or fore 
 flank, the same thickness ; breast end, seven inches ; one yard five inches 
 and a half round the collar ; and weighed 67 lbs. a quarter. Tlie legs, cut 
 haunch or veni.son fashion, weighed 5() lbs each, whicii tlie butcher sold at 
 two shillings a pound, so that the two legs brouglit ten pounds." Young 
 does not give the weight of his fleece. 
 
 The following quotations from the more recent rejjort on the farming 
 of Lincolnshire, published in the journal of the Hoyal Agricultural Society 
 of England, will give a notion of Lincolnshire sheep farming in 18.51, 
 when the Old Lincolns had, in great measure by crossing, merged in 
 improved breedn of inferior size: — "The larger breeds chiefly occupy the 
 south-eastern quarter of the county, and are known as 'the Lincolnshire 
 long wools,' in contra-distinction to the C'olswold and improved O.xfordshire 
 breeds. They ))artakc largely of the peculiarities of both Cotswold and 
 IxiccHter, having the expansion of frame and nobility of apjuarance of the 
 one, combined, in a great degree, with the <pnilily of Ihsh, compactness 
 of form, lieauly of <(Uintenan<e, lightness of ofl'al, and inclituilion to fatten, 
 of the olliir ; but tluy far excie<l either in the weight of their wool. They 
 are usually kept until 27 to 33 months old, when their weight is from 
 2a lbs to 72 ibH. jxr (juarter; an<l the two clips of wool weigh together
 
 AGHICULTURR OF VICTOUIA. 87 
 
 about 20 to 25 lbs. Under good manaprcment this wool is of a quality 
 which rarely fails of obtaining a price equal to that of the lighter long 
 wools, or even jiure Leiccsters (e. e. Dishlcys) ; and there is, therefore, 
 perhaps no breed that can equal this in rapidity of growth, and propen- 
 sity to fatten, under a fleece so weighty and valuable. Some instances 
 of extraordinary weight may be stated : a wether sheep, killed in Ilolbeach 
 Marsh, in 1844, weighed 72 J lbs. per quarter. Ten wethers were produced 
 by one farmer, in the same locality and at the same lime, averaging up- 
 wards of 52 lbs. per quarter each ; and a ewe, from Long Sutton Marsh, 
 exhibited at the Suiithlield Club cattle show in 1846, weighed, when dead, 
 65J lbs. per quarter, or 262 lbs. the whole carcass. In the midland and 
 south-western parts of Lincolnshire, the sheep are more closely allied to 
 the true bred Leiccsters (Dishlcy's), the proportion of blood being esti- 
 mated at three parts Leicester to one of Old Lincoln, and are very compact 
 and well formed, with fine and good countenances, and rather close set but 
 beautiful wool. They can be generally fed off, at the age of 18 to 27 
 months, and are noted for their large proportion of lean meat ; if kept 
 longer, it is for the purpose of taking the fleece ; the two fleeces weighing 
 together about 17 lbs., and the carcass about 35 lbs. per quarter on an 
 average. A breeder in the neighborhood of Grantham showed a shearling 
 sheep of this class, which clipped 17 lbs. of wool, and weighed 22 stone ; 
 being one out of an even lot of 27. In the northern, and north-eastern 
 parts of the county, about one-fifth of the sheep are pure Lcicesters, and the 
 remaining four-fifths are descended from the original large Lincolnshire 
 sheep, crossed latterly with Leicester rams ; being thus neither too coarse 
 nor too delicate, uniting size with quality, and having heavier fleeces, 
 though of coarser quality, than those of the unmixed Leiccsters." 
 
 The ancient Teestvafer breed has passed by metamorphose into the modern 
 Cotswolds, and its kindred breed, the improved Oxfords; and a noble breed, 
 both for wool and mutton, the modern Cotswold has in consequence become. 
 It was long a moot point, whether the old Lincoln and the ancient Tees- 
 water were not of kindred blood • my father, who was born on the banks of 
 the Tees, and whose father had been also born there, thought not ; and 
 William Marshall, who was also a native of Yorkshire, and my father's 
 senior by twenty years, appears to have been of the same opinion, for he 
 thus writes in his Kural Economy of Yorkshire, published in 1788 : — "The 
 improvement (in the sheep of the vale of York) has been effected by the 
 introduction of rams of the Leicestershire and the Teeswater breeds ; the 
 former hired of Mr. CuUey (a spirited and successful disciple of Mr. Bake- 
 well), and the latter of Mr. Colling, and other attentive breeders in the 
 neighborhood of Darlington, on the banks of the Tees. Fortunately, per- 
 haps for the Vale, two of its most considerable farmers, to whom it is 
 principally indebted for its present improved breeds of stock, differ in their 
 opinions respecting the superior exccllencj' of these two breeds of sheep, 
 each of them propagating and encouraging his own favorite breed. Both 
 of them are excellent, though perhaps tcidtly different in their origin. Of the 
 Leicestershire breed I say nothing in this place, as I may hereafter have 
 occasion to speak of it fully. The Teeswater breed falls within the iuten-
 
 88 PRIZE ESS.AY. 
 
 tion of the present work. These sheep have been inhabitants of the banks of 
 the Tees time immemorial. I remember them twenty years ago, of enormous 
 size, resembling, when their wool was in full growth, the smaller breeds of 
 cattle rather than sheep. Their flesh nevertheless was of an excellent 
 quality ; their wool (.as long woolj fine, and of an uncommon length, singu- 
 larly adapted to the worsted manufactory. The present fashionable breed 
 is considerably smaller than the original kind ; but the}' are still much 
 larger, and fuller of bone, than the Leicestershire breed. Tlicy are not so 
 compact, nor so neat in tiieir form, as the Leicestershire sheep ; neverthe- 
 less the excellency of their flesh and fattening quality is not doubted, and 
 their wool still remains of a superior staple." 
 
 In these crossings between the Teeswaters and the Dishleys, which 
 Culley pursued ; and between the Teeswaters and the old Wiltshires, &c. 
 which the brothers Colling pursued ; and an amalgamation, which subse- 
 quently took place between the two new sorts, originated the modern Cots- 
 wolds, which take name froiu the Cotswold district, in which they first had 
 extensive introduction on wandering from their northern locality As the 
 Dishley breed had really Lincoln blood in them, it is evident from the 
 language of Marshall, that he considered the Lincolns and the Teeswaters 
 as being unconnected in origin. 
 
 The following quotation from Bailey's view of the agriculture of the 
 county of Durham, which is bounded on the south by tlic river Tees, will 
 bring Australians acquainted with ancient sheep of the Tecswater breed; 
 and will bring down the crossing operations of Colling and Culley some 
 years later than they were brought by Marshall : — "Sheep. — Teeswater 
 and Lticestershirc. — The lower part of tiiis county was formerly famed for 
 having the largest breed of sheep in tlie kingdom, many of them being from 
 50 lbs. to 60 lbs. a quarter ; one in ])arti('ular, a four shear sheep, bred by 
 Thomas Hutchinson, of Sockburn, killed and exhil)itetl at Darlington, the 
 22nd December, 1777, was r)2 lbs a quarter. I saw tlie carcass of this sheep, 
 and regret very much not having seen him when alive ; but I saw one 
 soon after belonging to ]\Ir. Dinsdale, of New.sham, that weighed 54 lbs. 
 a quarter, which was nearly the height of a Shetland i)ony. A lainb of the 
 Sockburn breed, five months and four days old, bred by Henry Hutchinson, 
 was killed at Stockton races in 1794, which weighed 22 lbs a quarter. 
 Soon after 1777 these great weighted sheep began to lose ground very fast, 
 a« the Dishley sheep were tlien making a rapid i)rogre8s ; Messrs, Culley 
 having l>een in the habit of letting tups for several years before, by which 
 means most of the i)riiu;ipal breeders had gotten crosses with the Disldey 
 sheej), and of course tiie size and weiglit of the original stoi k were much 
 diminished. Some time after tliis Hobcrt Colling began to visit Lcicester- 
 shire, and for several years aflerward.s hired some of tlieir best tni)8 ; he 
 also purcha.sed ewes of the most improved breeds, by whidi he has long 
 been in possession of n very superior sheep stock. Charles Colling, follow- 
 ing the footsteps of his brother, pursued the same course and with the same 
 success." 
 
 Tuke, in his View of the Agriculture of the North Hiding of Yorkshire, 
 publislied in 1800, states tliat " a Tecswater wether, rising tliree years old.
 
 AOUICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 89 
 
 bred by W. Powlcy, of Tliornton, was killed at Leyburn, in January, 1799, 
 the four quarters of which weighed 16 stone 11 lbs.— near 59 lbs. per quar- 
 ter; tallow, 1 stone 8^ lbs. He cut 6 inches thick of fat on the rib, and 4| 
 on the rump." Taking age into consideration, this extraordinary wether 
 appears to me to have been equal to the old Lincoln wether, to which I have 
 before alluded. 
 
 CuUey, who has the rcjiUtation of having originated the modern Cotswold 
 breed, by the intermixture of the Dishley and the Tees water blood, thus 
 writes of the Teeswater breed, in his Observations on Live Stock, of which 
 the 4th edition, from which I quote, was published in 1807:—" The Tees- 
 water breed differs from the Lincolnshire, in the wool not being so long or 
 heavy; in standing upon higher, though finer boned legs, yet supporting a 
 thicker, firmer, and heavier carcass, much wider upon their backs and sides; 
 and in affording a fatter and finer grained carcass of mutton, the two 3"ear 
 old wethers weighing from 25 lbs. to 35 lbs. per quarter; some particular 
 ones, at four years old, have been fed to 55 lbs. and upwards. Thomas Hut- 
 chinson, of Stockton, an eminent breeder and grazier, had a wether sheep, 
 which was killed at Darlington about Christmas, 1779. The four quarters 
 weighed 17 stone U lbs., at 14 lbs. to the stone, or 62 lbs. 4 oz. per quarter, 
 with 17 lbs. of tallow (after leaving all they could in the loins); which is the 
 greatest weight, by several pounds per quarter, I ever heard of a sheep 
 weighing. He was of the true old Teeswater breed. There is little doubt 
 but the Teeswater sheep were originally bred from the same stock as the 
 Lincolnshire; but, by attending to size rather than wool, and constantly 
 pursuing that object, they have become a different variety of the same 
 original breed. The ewes of this breed generally bring two lambs each, and 
 sometimes three. There are instances of even four or five, as was the case 
 with EdAvard Eddison's ewe, which, when two years old, in 1772, brought 
 him four lambs: in 1773, five; in 1774, two; in 1775, five; in 1776, two; and 
 in 1777, two. The first nine lambs were lambed within eleven months. This 
 breed is, at present, rarely to be found pure, except in the possession of 
 some old breeders." I think it possible that both CuUey and Bailey refer to 
 the same individual sheep, but that is immaterial ; I however call attention 
 to the difference in conclusion between Culley and Jlarshall, as to the origin 
 of the brei d, though CuUey's conclusion has not affected my own impression, 
 that the old Lincoln and the Teeswater breeds had not a common origin. 
 The prolific tendenej^ of the Teeswater ewes is an invaluable peculiarity, 
 which is, in my opinion, indicative of a distinct derivation, for the old 
 Lincolns do not possess that tendency. 
 
 Henderson, in his recently published Treatise on Live Stock, (after ad- 
 verting to the Lincolnshire and the Dishley breeds, and treating the Dishley 
 breed as a variety of the Lincoln breed, thus writes :— " The Cotswold, or 
 Teeswater breed, is the only other long wooled one that demands our notice, 
 owing its celebrity to Mr. CuUey's exertions in crossing the local animals 
 with the Dishley breed. It is distinguisliable from other long wooled breeds 
 by a large tuft of wool covering the forehead, and is the heaviest of the 
 species: likewise more compact, better shaped, and finer in the bone and 
 quality of mutton, than any other equal in weight. These sheep are next in
 
 90 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 repute to the Dis!ileys. and answer well to cross them with, but, like all 
 other animals of a larj:e mould, require good land, well sheltered, and a little 
 nursing in winter, with succulent food. They are very prolific, having 
 mostly two, and sometimes three lambs at once: even instances have oc- 
 curred of four or five being produced at a birth." I have to remark, that I 
 think Henderson has somewhat overstated the general prolific property of 
 the Cotswolds, and that, as his cited authority is solely that from Culley, as 
 to Eddison's ewe, which, it is to be remembered, was not a Cotswold, but an 
 old Teeswater, I do not think his text, in that respect, sufficiently supported. 
 Couples are, however, common in some flocks of Cotswolds, and I have 
 known instances of three healthy lambs at a birth. I have seen a few fine 
 Cotswolds in Victoria, and I think it likely that when irrigation shall make 
 food plentiful and certain, Cotswolds. being now aliundant in England, will 
 be largelj- imported into Victoria. Pure Teeswuters have been long exces- 
 sively rare. The last genuine Teeswater sheep seen by me were a remnant 
 flock, located in Leicestershire, which I rode several miles, thirty-three years 
 ago, purposely to see. The ram was aged and equal to an ass in size, and 
 had an amazing fleece. There existed, some j-ears ago, a feeling among 
 sheep breeders of the larger sorts, that, on national grounds, the purest of 
 the remnant flocks of the old Lincoln and the ancient Teeswater breeds 
 ought to be collected together and preserved from admixture with other 
 blood, as breeds worthy of revival, because of their pre-eminence in size, and 
 in length and weight of wool, over every other variety of sheep. I trust 
 that that feeling was acted upon, and that a score of the most symmetrical 
 of the ancient Teeswater ewes, with a couple of rams, accompanied by a 
 like selection of old Lincolns, will find their way into the I'ark Koyal of 
 Melbourne, and be there kept as pure breeds, for the use and benefit of 
 such of the sheep breeders of the colony as may have occasion to revert, 
 in sheep experimenting, to fountain In ad blood, in cases demaiuling carcass, 
 size, and extraordinary length in the staple of wool. 
 
 To the epicure liking of the citizens of I..ondon for early lamb, we are 
 indebted for the preservation of the fine wooled Dorset breed in a state of 
 comparative purity ; and if, as is probably the case, the Dor.sets represent 
 in ancestry, not only the pink nosed Som.'rsets, the known progenitors of 
 the ancient Cotswolds, which originated the Merino breed, but also the 
 Kyelands, which Bakewell is believed to have used in his cross, the lamb- 
 loving Londoners have in trotli, in their palate gratification, conferred a 
 boon on their antipodean brethren by that jtreservalion. Fifty years before 
 the era of Hake well, Dorset ewes had been found to arrive at early maturity, 
 to possepH great fecundity, and to make excellent nu)thers. This combina- 
 tion of qualities led to Dorset ewes in laml) liccoming very marketable ani- 
 mals, and to the extension of the breed in the counties contiguous to London, 
 for early lamb siipjily. The broad, deep, and cow-like formation in the loin 
 of the Dorset ewe, indicates the faculty of yielding milk in abundance; and 
 Dorset ewes do in fact exceeil every other English breed, \\\ tjie production 
 of milk, which makes tliem eligible as a cross for the IMcrinos; the ewes of 
 wbicb on the contrary, yichl but little milk ami have the rej)Ule of being 
 bad motliiTs. It is fuiil that the fecundity of Dorset ewes, indicates deri-
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 91 
 
 vation from warm climate flocks, whicli liave the faculty of producing twice 
 a year, lie that as it may, there are certainly English instances on record, 
 of two lambings of the same ewe within the space of a year ; and it is no 
 unusual thing for Dorset ewes to become impregnated whilst they are 
 nursing their young. Upon the whole, this valuable fine wooled breed 
 possesses so many properties desirable in Australian flocks, that I marvel 
 its introduction as a general breed has yet to be made. 
 
 Tomkins, the great improver of the Hereford breed of cattle, did much to 
 improve the Ihjehind breed of fine wooled sheep, located in Herefordshire, but 
 he did not succeed in his endeavors to enlarge it to the paying size, which 
 would have enabled him to compete with the Dishleys and the South 
 Downs. He got symmetry, but not size; and he pleased himself as to wool: 
 but he lived in an age and country in which mutton was at premium and 
 fine wool was at discount. Some flocks of his improved blood lingered long 
 in his locality, and, when I was making my agricultural survey of Hereford- 
 shire, I thought of securing a score of ewes and a couple of rams, as an Aus- 
 tralian speculation, lest his renovated blood should get altogether lost in 
 an influx of crossings with the Merinos, at the time John Bull (overlooking 
 climate drawback) was, a second time, engaged in his enthusiastic attempt 
 to supersede Spain, in a staple which Providence had reserved for his Aus- 
 tralian sons. Both Dorsets and Ryelands are admirable folding sheep, and 
 have been found to cross well witli Dishleys aud South Downs, and would, I 
 have no doubt, by interbreed, improve, both in wool and mutton, many 
 Austral-jNIerino flocks. Wool, in Australian breeding, should have at least 
 equal development with mutton, and I look forward to the combination of 
 care, keep, and climate, producing, when directed by intelligence, results in 
 Australian shepherding greatly in advance of present expectation. The best 
 Dorsets, the improved Eyelands, and the giant Lincolns and Teeswaters, 
 might all of them be introduced into Australian husbandry to advantage; 
 and it will be well to ascertain, by continued observation, what ameliorating 
 eflJect the climate of Australia will have, not only on the long wool &t the old 
 Lincolns and Teeswaters, but also on the wool of other varieties of sheep. 
 The Hampshire Down and the Shropshire Down are new varieties of sheep, 
 which are worthy of Australian notice, as exhibiting good combinations of 
 wool and mutton; the Hampshire Downs are the largest sheep of the short 
 woolled class, and, when pasturage and sheep keep shall, by means of irri- 
 gation, become abundant, size in sheep will become a greater object in Aus- 
 tralian husbandry than it is at present. The improved South Down flock of 
 Jonas Webb, has justly acquired great repute, and is well worthy of Aus- 
 tralian notice, but choice rams are very costly. With regard to Shropshire 
 Downs, which are short wooled and bear some resemblance to South Downs, 
 I was amused at being able, at a Victorian show, to renew acquaintance with 
 a Shropshire Down ram, which had here taken a South Down prize, to which, 
 though he was a fine sheep of his sort, and had to my knowledge taken high 
 English prizes in his proper class, he had no title. The Jonas Webb part of 
 the pedigree, tied round his neck, if not altogether fictitious, was very erro- 
 neous; and, though friend Webb might have overlooked his own metamor- 
 phose from a Cambridgeshire farmer into a Shropshire squire, he would have
 
 92 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 thought, with myself, that the awarding judges had been men of defective 
 vision. There are some Asiatic breeds of sheep worthy of being inquired 
 after, and, perhaps, of introduction, to impart special properties to Australian 
 flocks ; especially the purik breed of Thibet, which lamb twice, and admit 
 of being shorn twice in the same year. 
 
 1 do not contemplate providing domain accommodation for more than its 
 breeding ewes and its fatting sheep, because store and clip sheep may have 
 station care elsewhere, and so yield place and food to dairy cows, which 
 cannot be so well managed as at home: and it will be found that, when sheep 
 runs become of the moderate extent of a quarter of a geodetic square each («. e., 
 6,250 acres) many owners of maximum domains will, either in coparceny or 
 in severalty, occupy runs as outlying domain adjuncts; a mode of occupation 
 of much greater advantage, both to individuals and the community, than 
 any system of commonage. 
 
 Neat Cattle constitute my second animal class. Much as I am inclined to 
 encourage the growth of oranges in Victoria, I am, nevertheless, of the 
 opinion of an English sailor, alluded to by Sir John Sinclair in his Code of 
 Agriculture, who decided that a Cheshire cheese was a nobler })roduct than 
 a Seville orange. The sailor had liceu taunted by a Spaniard with a display 
 of oranges, which, the Spaniard said, his coimtry produced twice a year ; to 
 whiih the sailor retorted by holding up a great Cheshire cheese, and ex- 
 claiming: — " See what my country produces twice a day." 
 
 The cow is a rcmarkabl}' docile animal, and bears confinement so well that 
 I am satisfied dairying may be profitably conducted, under soiling manage- 
 ment, if the cows are kepi in well ventilated slieds by day, and have morning, 
 evening, and night pasturage, whenever tlie weather is dry and favorable. 
 Though Devonshire men will import Devons, Ikrelordshire men, Hcrcfcu'ds, 
 Lancashire men, Long-iiorns, and the generality of tlie colonists the im- 
 proved short iujrns; and ought, all of tiiem, to receive colonial contribution 
 towards their cost; my mind has been long made up, that the best breed for 
 Victoria, and probably for the other Australian colonies also, is the improved 
 short horns, of the vtilhiuy sort, with two points out of three to tiic mind of 
 the dairymaid and one to that of the butcher. 
 
 It will be Utoi)ian to exjtect tiiat cows of a breed i)re(lisposed to fatten, 
 will ])C such milkers as those which have the contrary juedisposition. 
 Nature is, however, acconnnodating; and though she will, properly, refu.se 
 to ordain lliat the fatting jiropensity sluill jtass exclusively to tiic males of a 
 breed, so as to make all the females great milkers, she will not decline to 
 fix a given combiinilion of the two projxrtics, descendibk' to both sexes, 
 when an Australian (Miarles Chilling shall have produced it. 
 
 As the improved short homed breed of raillr appears to me predestined to 
 Ixf the dominant breed, not only of Australia, but of the civilized world also, 
 a concise account of its origin, which happened to be in Ilolderncss, where 
 I nsidi'd several years in the early part of my professional life, may be 
 ncre|»tal)le. 
 
 lloidcrness tradition iittriluiti's the grc:il milking capacity of Ilolderncss 
 cows to the introduction, some ages back, (jf llolstein l)ulls, //(/ the port of
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 98 
 
 Hull, which greatly improved Iloklerness herds, and led to a fjreat demand 
 for Ilolderness bidl calves in other Yorkshire localities. Cleveland was in 
 those days a noted dairy district, and my father, on the anthority of his 
 father, who was a Cleveland farmer and breeder of short-horns, told me that 
 Cleveland cows had Dutch llolstein blood in thein, which they got with 
 Ilolderness bulls, purchased for the dairies of Cleveland ; and that it was 
 with Cleveland cows, of Holderness and Holstein lineage, that Charles 
 Colling and his brother Robert began, towards the close of the eighteenth 
 century, their amazing development of the short-horned breed. 
 
 The Agricultural Keport of the County of Durham, to which I have before 
 adverted, discloses, in the following paragraph, what a great result in a 
 particular case followed a lucky incident : — " In the spring of the year, Mr. 
 Basnctt, of Darlington, purchased a cow with a bull calf at her heels, and 
 putting her into a good pasture, she got so fat that it induced him to dispose 
 of her to a butcher in the August following, and the calf was sold to a 
 farmer in the neighborhood. At four years old he was purchased by Mr. 
 "Robert Colling, who, finding him to have a great propensity to get fat, sold 
 him to his brother Charles, who was then beginning to breed, and was 
 anxious to select those with the best disposition to fatten. For the same 
 reasons, and with the same view, he soon after purchased of Mr. Maynard, 
 of Ayreholm, a cow, and a heifer, her daughter. This bull and cow, selected 
 with so much judgment, are the original stock from which the celebrated 
 Durham ox, and the justly acknowledged superior breeds in the possession 
 of Charles Colling, Robert Colling, and Mr. IMason, are descended." 
 
 My father, who knew both Cliarles Colling and his brother, and their 
 stock, told me that the cow with a bull calf at her heels was a cottager's 
 cow, which he was allowed to feed in a grassy lane, where she happened to 
 be noticed by Mr. Basnett, and that the calf became the celebrated bull, 
 " Hubback," the common ancestor, not only of " Comet," the first bull which 
 sold for a thousand guineas, but also of all the Colling herd, which figure so 
 prominently in the short-horned herd books. " He was but little for a 
 Teeswater bull," said my father, " but he handled well, and was good in all 
 his points. His want of size was set down to his bad keep as a calf, for the 
 cottager's wife took care that her children shared better than the calf in its 
 mother's milk." 
 
 The origin of the modern improvement in the breed of Herefurds was 
 almost as incidental as was that of the improved short-horns. It was thus. 
 About 1769, Benjamin Tomkins, of Kings-pyon, in Herefordshire, began 
 breeding from two cows, called by him " Pigeon" and " Mottle," bought at 
 Kington fair for a dairy farm, of which Tomkins was the cowman. He 
 had noticed the propensity of both cows to fatten, and on marrying his 
 master's daughter, asked for, and had the two cows in dowr}' with his wife ; 
 and a famous dowry it proved to be to him. 
 
 The Herefords are not, however, adapted for dairj'ing, which is the crown- 
 ing purpose of the bovine race; and they must, theretbre, together with the 
 Devons, yield place in Australian husbandry to the milking variety of 
 improved short-horns, which is likely to become the universal breed of the 
 civilized world. When I made my agricultural survey of Cheshire and the
 
 94 PRIZK ESSAY. 
 
 Other dairy districts of England, I found the lonp-horns, which had long 
 held dairying supremacy, gradually becoming of the short-horned type, by 
 the introduction of short-horned bulls, and by the facile manner in which 
 that type was stamped on the progeny in the very first cross ; and when 
 I afterwards made my agricultural tours through Scotland, Ireland, and 
 France, I was surprised at the number of short-horned cows which met my 
 eye in every direction. I was much gratitied. also, ut finding, both in South 
 Australia and Victoria, more useful cows of my favorite breed than I 
 expected to find. 
 
 As an ounce of forethought, in the ordinary affairs of life, is worth more 
 than a pound of after-wit, because it maj' supersede, by anticipation, the 
 routine of costly experiment ; and as I see an error into which Australians 
 are falling in awarding prizes to fat bulls and cows at cattle shows, and in 
 purchasing at extravagant prices English prize bulls and cows of Smithficld 
 fame, which every nuin of experience knows are generally the fattest of the 
 fat, instead of those which have taken dairying prizes ; and as fatness is 
 inimical to fecundity in the female, and to labor in the male, and, moreover, 
 counteracts nature in her efforts to supi>ly milk ; and as we shall be long 
 without a beef -eating population in Australia, I do protest against paying 
 extravagantly high for that whicli is not only not yet wanted, but which 
 may for many years to come be positively injurious. Moreover, beef 
 will never be of the consideration in Australia at which it has arrived in 
 England, inasmuch as it will have to encounter far greater rivalry with 
 mutton than English beef ever had. The immense flocks of sheep which 
 will be kept for what is now justly regarded as the great staple of Australia, 
 will soon, in mere annual cullings, yield ample animal food for a nnich greater 
 population than Australia is likely, for many years to come, to have to eat 
 it. In addition to that, it is to be borne in mind, that decoini)osition is so 
 rapid in Australia, that however desirous a country bufchor might be, to 
 treat his customers with prime Christmas beef, he would scarcely venture 
 upo:i killing an ox until he saw his way to the disposal of the whole of it 
 in as many hours as an English butcher can allow days. The greater 
 portability, therefore, of sheep is of such moment in the rivalry between 
 beef and mutton, as almost of itself to settle the question between them ; 
 but, when it is remembered that alpacas, llamas, yaks, goats, kangaroos, and 
 hosts of fur-clad and other animals, together with vast 8U])]ilies of poiillry, 
 Hwine, calves, and fish, will shortly compete with both beef and mutton, it 
 will l)e obvious tiiat, in a country which for ages to come will bewitimut its 
 I/ondons. Manchcstcrs, and nirniinghams, &c., the breeding of cattle for the 
 mere proiluctiun of Incf cannot ])ay, and ought not, therefore, to be jH-rsisted 
 in, beyond making the best of aged cows and of the oxen in sur])lusage of 
 the (kniaiid for labor, and th.it hcncelbrth the ]irize bulls and cows to be 
 imported, and the awarding of colonial prize encouragement in the breeding 
 of neat cattle, ought to Ik; limited to those which have the milk-producing 
 faculty in fullest development, comhineil with symmelry and constitutional 
 jironenesH to keep in that store condition in which good keep will induce a 
 miiderate degree of fatness when the ox is to rest from his labor, and the 
 cow is to retire from dairy duty.
 
 AOH1CULTIJ1U-: or \ICToHrA. Oo 
 
 There are in England f^everal invaluable herds of improved short-horns, 
 in which the fatting propensity was never allowed to proceed to the extent 
 now necessary to ensure first class Smithfield prizes. Bailej', the judicious 
 author of the Durham l^eport, from Avhich I have twice before quoted, writes 
 thus : — "It has been alreaily stated, that tlie short-horned cattle were great 
 milkers. This cannot be said of the variety which lias such an aptitude to 
 fatten, for though they give a great quantity for some time after calving, 
 they decline considerably afserwards ; but the variety of great milkers is 
 yet to be found wherever the dairy is the chief object, and this variety is as 
 carefully preserved and pursued as the graziers do that of the fatting tribe. 
 It is very common for cows of this breed in the beginning of summer to give 
 thirty quarts a day, and there are particular instances of more. AVhere 
 the objo'ct is simply milk, they are probably superior to any breed in the 
 kingdom ; but in respect to butter and cheese there are some doubts as to 
 whether they are entitled to claim a superiority or not. as the quantity of 
 those articles does not depend entirely on the quantity of milk." 
 
 The yah of Thibet is an animal of the bovine race whicli appears to me 
 to be worthy of Victorian introduction. In addition to the three-fold yield 
 of milk, beef, and extraordinary hair, it yields also horns of superior length 
 and make, and has a tail which is used in India as an appendage of State 
 parade, and is therefore of commercial value. The yak is, moreover, used 
 as a beast of burden in Thibet, and having the repute of being strong and 
 sure-footed, I sec no reason why it should not in Australian husbandry 
 supply the place of the ass. The hair of its hump is in realitj' a kind of 
 fur. The Tartars have large herds of them, which are to them valuable, for 
 they live almost entirely on their milk. The male is five feet high, and has 
 much the form of an P^nglish bull, but its chief dissimilarity, with other 
 animals of its genus, consists in its sides being covered with long glossy 
 hair, which extends over the whole body except the head and legs, and hangs 
 from the flanks quite down to the hocks. The hair is in great request, and 
 is sold at a high price. The dhe, or cow, yields a large quantitj' of milk, 
 which is rich, and produces better butter than that of any other of the 
 bovine races of Asia. If, therefore, travellers have not over-stated the 
 qualifications of this animal, they are, in combination, so manifold as to call 
 for especial and early attention. 
 
 Before I pass on from the bovine race I must reitcrjite, that its paramotint 
 mission and crowning purpose in animal economy is dairy produce in the 
 cow, and labor in the ox, and that the great development and prominence 
 of its beef-yielding property, which Charles Colling and Benjamin Tomkins, 
 and their skilful compeers, induced in their varieties of tlie race, would 
 ha.ve been of little consequence elsewhere than in England, where an 
 increasing beef -eating population demanded additional supply ; and where 
 the climate permitted that supply to be stored several days, and in cool 
 weather a week, without spoiling, whereby a village butcher could risk 
 the killing of his weekly ox. I have also to observe, that excessive fatness 
 is disease, and that breeders have made that disease constitutional, by per- 
 petuating predisposition to it. It was noticed (said my father) that though 
 the mother of Ilubback (the originator of the Colling herd) was a young
 
 96 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 COW, she never bred after she got promotion out of the lane into good 
 pasturage, notwithstanding tlie great anxiety there was after she became 
 noticed for further calves. Sterility, the baneful adjunct of high breeding, 
 is of dangerous tendency in a dairying herd, and ought to he coimteracted 
 by vigilant care. 
 
 It is, therefore, prize bulls and cows from lierds of short-horns which have 
 the milking faculty preponderant, and especially trom the herds of Ilolder- 
 ness, which yet supply the vast city dairies of Loudon and Manchester, 
 &c., &c , with their best milking cows, which I am anxious to see imported 
 into Victoria, accompanied by English dairymaids of the cheese-making 
 districts. I have during a long professional connection with Cheshire and 
 the cheese-making parts of Sliropshire and Staffordshire noticed, on coming 
 in contact with factors, in their periodical cheese-purchasing visits, that 
 they were much more influenced in their buyings by tlie reputation of the 
 dairymaid, than In' either the soil or the lierbagc of the farm ; and, though 
 I have o])served that some pasturage and soils arc better adapted for cheese- 
 making than others, the result of my experience is, that more depends upon 
 the care and management of the dairymaid in the production both of butter 
 and clicese, than upon either the soil or the herbage of the land. It will be 
 absolutely necessary in Australian dairying to have buildings with re- 
 gulated artificial temperatures, adapted to the known requirements of 
 certain operations connected with the making and keeping of clieese and 
 butter ; and I have, in conclusion, to urge the introduction of the cleanly 
 system of the Flemings and the Dutch in their nianagcmcnt of cows into 
 Australian dairying. 
 
 Horses stand tliird in my animal classification. The vicinage of Victoria 
 to the fountain head of Arab blood, and the regular conmiunication l)etween 
 the colony and England, by wliich the best breeds of tJie mother ciuintry 
 can be easily imported, are much in favor of the colonists Tlie horses 
 of Victoria, in some points, surpass tlie generality of the farm-bred horses 
 of England, which I have heard attributed to the introduction of Arab 
 blood, via India, in the early days of Australian settlement. The diminutive 
 horse of Timor is one of the best of his sort. It is not perhaps generally 
 known, that the powerful dray horses of London arc thrown up to their 
 great size by the iiiteriiiixture of pony blood from the male side. It is my 
 opinion that brood mares of the medium sorts as to size and strengtii 
 would during the greater part of the year draw siietdily and well trains of 
 carriages to and fro along the tramways of the domain with manure out, 
 and with soiling food and other produce in, and do niueli other li^ht hus- 
 bandry work, witliniit injury cither to themsehcs or to their iirogeny; and 
 I would suggest, that as all the broofi mares need not foal at the same time, 
 it might le well so to regulate the horse-labor of the domain, as that the 
 hulk of it might be done by lirood mares, especially when steam-ploughing 
 becomes general. Horses will not, however, in Australian husbandry ever 
 arrive at the degree of importance assumed by their brethren in English 
 husbandry, inasmuch as in additi<in to o.xen, with which alone English 
 horses have hitherto had rivalrv in lalior, thi-v will in Australia have to
 
 ""Mc. 
 
 '''U 
 
 AGRICULTUUE OF VICTORIA. 97 
 
 compete with camels, dromedaries, yaks, alpacas, and llamas ; and last, 
 not least, with the steam-plough, and various other applications of steam 
 power, the era for wliicli is in the dawn. The Indian market for cavalry 
 horses will always, however, be an important one to Australia, and will 
 induce the impetus to horse-breeding, which is necessary to keep stud 
 arrangements up to any thing like English notions of due importance. If 
 it was not for that circumstance, I should have j)laced camels before horses 
 in classing the zoologicals of a Victorian domain, it being my opinion, that 
 a few years hence there will be only limited call (save for Asiatic war 
 service) in any of the Austruliiin colonies for horses at prices which will 
 remunerate the breeder. 
 
 The Camel family, in which I include as well the camel and the drome- 
 dary, as the alpaca and the llama, shall have my fourth place. " The ships 
 of the desert" appear to me to be expressly adapted for Australian hus- 
 bandry, and it is well that they arc comeatable on comparatively easy 
 terms as to purchase, for, judging by the cost of the Victorian railway 
 experiment now in trial, ages must elapse before railway transit can be 
 extensively anticipated, however great may be the yield of nuggets. The 
 formation also of great lengths of ordinary road way is tedious, and if 
 pressed hastily on becomes much more costly than might be the case under 
 leisurely arrangement. It ought to be, therefore, matter of thankfulness, 
 that when under the necessity of adopting the antiquated mode of pack 
 transit, we have the camel tribe at command. In Victoria, which will for 
 ages to come be a country of " rush " and migration, the substitution of 
 camel transit for the slow, cumbrous, and costly bullock-dray system 
 hitherto in use, will be a colonial blessing ; and one of its effects will be, to 
 relieve distant interior road boards from much premature expenditure, 
 because laden camels and dromedaries can trot up and down imeven land, 
 and over marshes where it would be impossible to urge onwards a loaded 
 dray. The alpaca and the llama are used as beasts of burden in their 
 native countries, and may be here made to discharge the duties assigned by 
 British husbandry to asses and to ponies, and as they both of them yield food 
 as well as wool, and that too more than sufficient to pay for their care and 
 keep, they are on that account to be preferred to either ponies or asses, 
 which yield labor only. In conveying dairy produce, poultry and game, 
 fruit and vegetables, and other produce, to distant gold-field markets, 
 alpacas and llamas, together with young camels and dromedaries, will be 
 found very serviceable, the alpaca and the llama being reported to be both 
 sure footed and docile. There can be no question as to the eligibility of 
 investment in camel tribe breeding, and the sooner it is set about as a 
 regular branch of Australian husbandry the better. 
 
 The Kangaroo familij shall have, as of right, my fifth place, aiul I marvel 
 that the domestication, propagation, and improvement of tliis interesting 
 family has not already become a department of Australian husbandry. 
 The large kangaroo is a noble animal, and is of more than ordinary value, 
 both as to flesh, fur, and hide, and as it will soon come into payable demand 
 
 H
 
 08 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 for British and Kuropean parks, and for zoological and other gardens, it 
 is time that this decided staple of Australian produce became duly 
 appreciated as such, and its domestication and propagation were set about 
 systematically. Sound principles of breeding and judicious crossing among 
 existing varieties will probably result in the formation of new varieties, 
 and in tlie better development of the family. Tlie marsupiutes constitute 
 a very interesting group of the animal kingdom, and some of those of 
 America will be found deserving of the tliought of the Australian breeder 
 in his persistent development of the whole group, and looking at the 
 easy terms on which Australia transferred his vast dominion to Great 
 Britain, I shall propound on behalf of Europe, that a trust to accomplish 
 that development of this, the first in import, of nature's animal gifts to 
 Australia, passed by implication with the transfer ; and that that trust 
 attaches on every delegation of self government by the British crown to its 
 Australian colonies. I trust, therefore, that in the zoological establishment 
 intended to lie located in the Hojal Park of Melbourne, kangaroo domes- 
 tication and breeding will be paramount objects of early care. I saw at 
 the great English Industrial Exhibition of 1851 a large pig. which had 
 been cured and made into good bacon, without dismemberment, save em- 
 bowelling; and though a pig is, perhaps, the awkwardost of all animals for 
 such an experiment, the curative artist had overcome his difficulties so well, 
 that I am impressed with the belief, that most of the edible animals of 
 Australia could be so cured. Ingenuity could scarcely devise either an 
 animal or a posture better adapted for preservation entire, as a festival 
 dainty, than a non dismembered kangaroo in a state of rest on his haunches. 
 With the small varieties there would be but little difficulty, and there can 
 be none whatever in curing the linunches and other ])rime parts in separate 
 joints, and in making prei)arations of the tail for soup. If therefore 
 John Hull shall really, as Mr. Michie's friend recently suggested, take a 
 liking for kangaroo sausages, (and Melbourne is really j^redestincd to vie 
 with old Bologna in the sausage trade, as Mr. Michie predicts.) there will 
 be, in troth, a new Australian staple in the kangaroo family, bolli alive and 
 dead. The curative chemistry of the colony at all events ought to be 
 encouraged, and it may be well to import with Aberdeen pickled and pre- 
 served fish and flesh, half a dozen professors of the curative art. 
 
 The Goal fiimihj, and especially the flue haired varieties of Cashmere, 
 Angora, Tliibef, and (^'alifornia. appear lo me to have cliiim to my sixth 
 place. I have, however, to testify that the goat of Britain is a mis- 
 cliicvous animal in jilantatious, and among young quic'<set fences, and 
 that he is under ban in his last strong liold — tlic mountains, by pro- 
 liihitory elausen in Welsh leases, wherever im|)rov(inent and English 
 culture are to be introdiUHcl. iVrhaps inefficient ilomesticiition was to blame 
 for some of this as much as the goat. It may much expedite the introduction 
 of the fine haired varieties, and lead to the general improvement of the goat 
 family, if instead of commerre with ordinary males, the females of the races 
 already in the cohmy are introduced to males of the more valuable breeds, 
 when those breeds shall have been iiii|iorted. Tlic milking fitcullv of the
 
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 99 
 
 goat (which may be called a miner's and the poor man's cow) is worthy of 
 thought in its development, and the size of the goat may probably be 
 increased to advantage. I observed when I visited English Brighton nian^- 
 goats employed in drawing the light carriages of invalids and children 
 along the sea beach, a service which they performed with great alacrity and 
 in an admirable manner. I mention the circumstance as a hint in case 
 Victorians, should have occasion to exact similar duty, and especially in 
 case the animal shall by crossing increase in size and strength. My note 
 book records that naturalists have held that goats and sheep will inter- 
 breed, and that the progeny will be fruitful, but I do not vouch that fact, 
 and I mention the matter merely as one worthy of inquiry. A combination 
 of hair and wool may be better for some purposes than either material alone ; 
 and I am sure that a fat mutton admixture would have improved all the 
 goat's flesh which it has been my lot to taste. The ancient Teeswaters, the 
 Dorsets, or the old Lincoln sheep are what I should first experiment with, 
 if I was induced to make the attempt. 
 
 Swine, which transmute refuse of every kind into valuable pork and 
 bacon, are entitled to my seventh place. 1 like the pigs, both of Victoria 
 and South Australia, but I trust that the fat mania will not be permitted to 
 spoil Victorian pork and bacon for sea use, which ought to be a leading 
 object in the husbandry of a maritime colony. Probably an artificial 
 moderation of temperature will be necessary in hot weather during the 
 curation process, to ensure a first-class article ; and if so, that temperature 
 ought to be provided. 
 
 The lesser fur-clad, and edible, and useful animals constitute my eighth 
 class, among which those which are indigenous to Australia shall, as of 
 right, have first place. Opossums, wombats, porcupine ant- eaters, and the 
 ornithorhynchus paradoxus, which will all pay for domestication and care, 
 will serve to indicate this class so far as Australians are concerned ; and 
 hares, rabbits, and beavers, together with ferrets, genets, and other vermin 
 destroj'crs, will sufiice to indicate the kind of alien immigrants which shall 
 have naturalization in the class ; which, when formed and placed under the 
 care of the male juveniles of the domain, will afford them fine scope for their 
 first essays in thought and labor. The English variety of rabbit called the 
 silver grey is to be preferred, because of the greater value of the skin in 
 Chinese estimation ; and I may remark, that rabbit warrens will probably 
 profitably pioneer the appropriation of loose sandy districts, by bringing 
 them imder ownership, and enriching them with rabbit dung, which is of 
 considerable value as a manure. 
 
 The poultry yard of a Victorian domain will be such an important concern, 
 and such an admirable field for feminine care, that I shall constitute it my 
 ninth class, giving, as of right, precedency in place to the emu, the 
 menura-superba, and native turkies, swans, geese, ducks, pheasants, and 
 such other feathered Australians as will submit to the degree of domestica- 
 tion required to pass them within the pale of the vast feathered com- 
 
 H 2
 
 100 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 munities which Victorian poultrv yards are predestined to become, wlien 
 the east and the west, the north and the south shall have sent their dele- 
 gates to mingle in the monster gabbles of Victorian domains. I was 
 interested, on a visit to English Warwick, with some ducks tinusually long 
 in the leg. which attracted my notice, and seemed to be quite at home with 
 other ducks in the mill pond under Warwick Castle. I was told by the 
 miller, that a gentleman curious in such matters had procured the eggs from 
 some place beyond the Cape, and had hatched them under English ducks. 
 Every egg had protluced its duck, and those in the mill pond had been sent 
 as a present to Lord Warwick. With China and India so near, and with such 
 facilities as the overland route gives for bringing out the eggs of game and 
 of other birds from England to be hatched here, who will venture to limit 
 the feathered subjscts of a thrifty Victorian dame, at the head of a first- 
 class domain poultry yard ! The Warwick miller could not tell me whether 
 the duck eggs had been subjected to any process to preserve vitality, and I 
 regret that I was unable to linger so as to pursue inquiry. The case, how- 
 ever, evidences that some feathered introductions may at all events be made 
 in the egg state. 
 
 The silk worm, the cochinella, and the bee, as the nucleus of a municipality 
 of lilliputian industrials, shall form my tenth class, with power to receive 
 such other tiny brotherhoods into membership as may be able to yield com- 
 mensurate return in the way of product, for their food, care, and cost. 
 
 As every grantee of a maximum domain will, as soon as practicable 
 provide capacious pond.s and reservoirs for the purposes of water storage and 
 irrigation, the economy of stocking those ponds and reservoirs with such 
 ^fish as can be brought into a state of semi-domesticity presents itself to 
 notice. Eish ponds have long been in Europe a branch of rural economy, 
 and several treatises have been written on their management. Change in 
 diet is at times salutary, and as a store of living fish becomes of consequence 
 and value in places remote from the sea coast, and distant from a river, I 
 shall introduce fish as my eleventh class, and instance eels, i)ike, perch, 
 dace, carp, and tench, the gnramier, tortoise, and crayfish, together with 
 such of the fresh water fishes of Australia, and Australasian rivers and 
 lakes, as can be brought to accjuiesce in tlie monotony of j)oiid life, as a fair 
 stock of freshwaters to begin witli. If it is true that the llounder and the 
 mullet have acceded )o iialurali/.ation in fresh water, they may be added. 
 In localities connected witii estuaries or with the sea coast, and ])eradvcn- 
 turc also in artificially made saline water pomls, the wafer collected for grans 
 land irrigation may be made to supplenw nt the fresh water yieM by contri- 
 butions of salt water varieties. 
 
 Ml/ twelfth will /»• II misrrlltinrnus cttiss, to consist of antelopes, gazelles, 
 Knglisli harts, and other kinds of deer, and of such other domesticated 
 animiiln as shall Ik; deemed worthy of introduction into Australian 
 husbandry, but which happen to be ineligilile for admission into any of the 
 foregoing classes, formed, as is evident, with a view only to profit. 'J'lie
 
 
 AGRICULTUKK OF VICTOIUA. 101 
 
 sliepherd's dog, together with hounds and some other dogs, and also the ass, 
 will fall properly into this class, though I do not see opening in Australian 
 husbancjry for the services of the ass, because it happens to have nothing 
 but labor to offer, whereas its laboring competitors, the yak, and the llama, 
 &c., offer also food, &c., &c , in addition to labor, and will of course have 
 preference. I may remark, in conclusion, that though I have confined my 
 attention exclusively to such zoologicah as will pay for breeding and feed- 
 ing, I am, nevertheless, inclined to countenance a given degree of encourage- 
 ment to the keeping uf animals for the objects of science, sport, or curiosity. 
 The English hart is so greatly superior, as an animal of chase, to that 
 cunning poultry thief the fox, that I trust Mister Keynard will never be 
 allowed to become an Australian immigrant, and that, when the last of the 
 dingoes shall have shared the fate of the last English wolf, Australian 
 Nimrods will resuscitate, at the antipodes of England, the sterling old 
 national sport of hart hunting, conjointly with that of African boks, 
 gazelles, and antelopes, and leave the fox to their English cousins, who 
 cannot have Australian choice. 
 
 I come now to the supply of food for the many zoological subjects which 
 I am appending to a domain, and to a consideration of my ways and 
 means for tlieir sustenance. Some permanent pasturage and meadowing is 
 essential where much stock is kept, and I think some modern notions on 
 the all-sufficiency of what is called the alternate grass and tillage system, 
 for stock supply, fraught with mischief. In prescribing the seeds to be 
 sown in the fields which I have set apart for permanent grass and herbage, 
 I was determined in the preference which I have given to English varieties, 
 solely because their alimentary properties have been well ascertained ; and 
 in my selection of sorts I was guided by the result of my own experience, 
 which has, in that respect, been much more than usually extensive. I am, 
 however, persuaded that in the course of years botanical science will reveal 
 to the Aiistralian husbandman many indigenous grasses and herbage plants 
 worthy of culture and improvement by hybridization, &c. ; for I entertain 
 too exalted an opinion of the wisdom and benignity of Providence and of 
 Nature, to suppose that such a vast region as Australia has not plants 
 especially adapted to the peculiarities of its climate ; but, until it shall have 
 been ascertained what those plants are, and what effect they will have on 
 animals of European origin, we must be content to walk in the safe path of 
 experience, and avoid labyrinths, unless and until they may be entered 
 without endangering the healthy existence of our flocks and herds. 
 
 For the hospital crofts, which I have provided for diseased and weakly 
 animals, producing-fomales, lambing ewes, rearing calves, and ready turn 
 out on occasional purpose, &c., &c., &c., and in which I would erect a cote, 
 where it would do not only for both crofts, but also for the adjoining field, 
 which, by reason of its position, I have called cote paddock. I would, in 
 imitation of medical practice, tempt appetite by the introduction of a few 
 herbaceous dainties beyond what I conceive to be necessary in other cases : 
 the following is the admixture of seeds which I would suggest : — One-eighth 
 white clover {trifolium rcpcns), another eighth cow clover {trifoUum pratcnse
 
 102 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 perenne, medium variety,) and alsyke {Irifvlium hybridum), combined in 
 equal proportions ; another eighth hop trefoil (JrifoUum procumbens), yellow 
 trefoil {trifoliuin minus), lotus major (great birds-foot trefoil), lotus coruicu- 
 latus, medicago lupulina, creeping vetch (I'lc/a sepium), wild thyme, trifolium 
 incarnatum, and any other clovers than those specified, in colonial use, 
 mixed in equal proportions ; and anotlier eightli lucern, saintfoin, burnet, 
 yarrow, parsley, and plantain, in equal proportions, making the pasturage 
 half herbaceous ; another eighth the perennial variety of rye grass called 
 Stickney's (alter an Iloldenness agriculturist who began its cultivation), 
 which is of surpassing merit, and had the commendation of Sinclair, the 
 coadjutor of Sir Humphrey Davy, in the '' Hortus Grumineus Wvbur/iensis ;" 
 another eighth kangaroo grass and tlie best of the indigenous grasses and 
 herbaceous plants of Australia, because it will be in these crofts that 
 young Australian animals will have their domestication and pasturage ; 
 and the remaining two-eighths the twelve English grasses called anthuxan- 
 thum odoratum, dacti/lis ylomeralu, phleum pratensis, alopecurus pralensis, cyno- 
 suius cristutus, avena pralensis, the three festucus — ovina, ptatensis, and 
 duriuscula, and the three puas — pratensis, trivialis, and ncmoralis, combined in 
 equal proportions, making the pasturage luilf gramineous. I am aware that 
 some of the lierbaceous plants named arc not perennials, but, as tliesc crofts 
 will be always eaten bare, and be thereby kept from seeding, the biennials 
 and triennials will tliereby acquire a considerable degree of longevity, so 
 that when, in tlie course of nature they do disappear, tiie white clover and 
 other creepers, togetiier with the grasses of tillering habit of growth which 
 happen to adjoin them, will soon usurp possession of tlie relinquished 
 ground, and keep up the pasturage. The non perennials are, however, 
 introduced too sparingly to be detrimental to the formation of an early and 
 a well stored pasturage 
 
 For l/ie vow pastures I would suggest two-eighths cow clover, one-eighth 
 alsyke, and one-eighth white clover, lucern, saintfoin, burnet, yarrow, and 
 plantain, combined in equal projxirtions, making them also half herbaceous ; 
 another eighth Stickney's rye grass, a sixteenth darlylis ijlomeratu, another 
 si.xteenth alopecurus pratensis, phleum pratensis, J'estuca pratensis, and poa 
 pratensis, in equal proportions, and the remaining two-eighths the seven 
 other English grasses prescribed for the hosjiital crofts. The creeping 
 propensity of wliite clover will lead to its extension wherever there may be 
 failures, and that circumstance will account for the preponderance which I 
 have given to alsyke ami cow clover. Moreover, hungry cows require a 
 better bite than white clover alFordH. 
 
 For the sheep pastures I wonlil suggest tlirce-sixteentlis wliite clover, one- 
 eighth alsyke, u sixleenlh cow clover, and an eighlli lucern, sainlfoin, 
 burnet, yarrow, j)lantain, medicago lupulimi, and hoj), and yellow trefoils, in 
 e<|ual proportiouH, and making them also half herbaceous ; anolher eighth 
 Stickney'H rye grass, an<l the remaining three-eighths the twelve other 
 English grasses ])rescribi'd for the hospital (rrofts, in e(|ual ]iro]iortions. 
 
 For the general pasturen (i.e. lioine paddock and cote paddock,) I would 
 ■uggeHt one-eighth white clover, one-eighth cow clover, one-eighth alsyke, 
 and one eighth lucern, sainfoin, burnet, yarrow, plantain, medicago lupu-
 
 CA^•c 
 
 ^l-iBO 
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 103 
 
 lina, and hop and yellow trefoils, iu equal proportions, making them also 
 half herbaceous ; one -eighth Stickney's rye grass, another eighth kangaroo 
 grass and the best of the indigenous grasses and herbaceous plants of 
 Australia, and the remaining two-eighths the twelve other English grasses 
 prescribed for the hospital crofts, in equal proportions. 
 
 Fur the clover paddock, I would suggest two-eighths cow clover, two- 
 eighths white clover, two-eighths alsyke, and two-eigiiths hop trefoil, yellow 
 trefoil, lotus major, lotus corniculatus, creeping vetch, medicago lupulina, 
 lucern, sainfoin, burnet, yarrow, plantain, Stickney's rye grass, and dactylis 
 glomerata, mixed in equal proportions : — an admixture of other plants with 
 the clover making the pasturage more palatable, and, perhaps, adding to its 
 nutritive and salutary properties also. 
 
 For the lucern paddock, I would suggest six- eighths lucern, one-eighth cow 
 clover, white clover and alsyke mixed in equal proportions ; and the remain- 
 ing eighth, — hop trefoil, yellow trefoil, lotus major, lotus corniculatus, 
 creeping vetch, medicago lupulina, saintfoin, burnet, yarrow, plaintain, Stick- 
 ney's rye grass, and dactylis glomerata, mixed in equal proportions. 
 
 In regard to the meadow, as there are over a h\mdred British and European 
 and other perennial grasses and herbaceous plants, worthy of introduction 
 into Australian husbandry, and, as I am persuaded, as I before observed, 
 that many indigenous grasses and herbaceous plants will, in course of years, 
 be found worthy of culture ; I would suggest the carrying of the floating 
 gutters of the meadow, across it from east to west, at equal distances, and 
 so as to divide it, in the first instance, into twenty-six plots of an acre each, 
 which might, by three floating trenches cut at equal distances from north 
 to south, be subdivided, so as to form 104 equal sized plots, by which 
 arrangement that number of distinct varieties might be separately culti- 
 vated without confusion, if that number was thought desirable ; and every 
 plot might be seeded too, should there be a demand for seed. Why should 
 Victoria have to send to England or to Scotland for its grasses and her- 
 baceous seeds, save on the first supply and for new varieties, or on change 
 of seed. 
 
 The meadow would of course, be formed in the lowest corner of the 
 domain, as the common receptacle of the surplus water from every other 
 part, and the division arrangement, which I have suggested, would test by 
 contrast the comparative value of each plot, all being under similar culture, 
 and would decide also which would pay best for water, if it happened to be 
 scarce. In fixing my proportions of the various plants intended to con- 
 stitute my pasturage, I have taken the number of seeds, and not either their 
 weight or measure as my criterion, because some seeds are very much more 
 bulky than others, and some again are much heavier than others ; so that 
 neither weight nor measure alone secures satisfactory adjustment. Some 
 years ago when the price of grain was very low in England, and cattle and 
 sheep were paying better than arable culture, I was intrusted with the con- 
 version of extensive tracts of arable land into permanent moadowing and pas- 
 turage. The extent of the operation called for great care, and I placed myself 
 in correspondence with Mr. Sinclair, (the coadjutor of Sir Humphrey Davy in 
 their celebrated Bedford experiments, and in the production of the Hortus
 
 104 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Graniineus Woburncnsis), and also with Mr. Stickncv, an old Holdcrness 
 friend (who had written on the subject in the communications to tlie English 
 Board of Agriculture, and had introduced the perennial variety of rye-grass 
 which bears his name into general husbandry), on several matters of detail, 
 one of which resulted in my adoption of a mode of seed distribution grounded 
 chiefly on weight, but applied also to measure, where I thought that 
 necessary. I caused the seeds of carefully weighed packages of an eighth of 
 an ounce each, of every kind which I was about to sow, to be counted, after 
 which the process of multiplication gave me the number of seeds in a pound, 
 and by keeping a record of every counting I had no difficulty in prescribing 
 either by weight or by measure the seeds for every individual field in any 
 pre-arranged proportions. I found it necessary to sow heavy seeds and light 
 seeds by themselves, which I did by sending a row of sowers one after another 
 with mixed seeds of equal weight, to ensure better distribution, but I made 
 one harrowing cover them all. The operation was very nice, and I therefore 
 awaited the opportunity of a calm moist evening, and iiscd only a light 
 whitethorn bush harrow, followed by a roller ; and as grass seeds are hardy, 
 and I invariably adopted autumnal sowing, they soon germinated, and I 
 experienced no difficulty in the humid climate of England, in getting in a few 
 months fair pasturage. I never sanctioned sowing grass seeds for permanent 
 meadows or pastures, along with a grain crop ; and I iiave a record in my 
 note-book, that in the course of years I paid over a thousand pounds for 
 grass and herbage seeds so sown, which indicates that my operations were 
 greatly in advance of mere experiment. I was in the main successful, and 
 though I had reason in some of my first sowings to be dissatisfied with the 
 vitality of some of my costliest seed, I got over that difficulty afterwards by 
 a testing germinating process before sowing ; and by holding my seedsmen 
 responsible under their guarantees. It is to be borne in mind that the more 
 deeply-rooting a plant is, in its habit of growth, the greater will be its value 
 in Australian husbandry; and that as Nature, when left to herself, invari- 
 ably provides an admi.xture of sorts, to keep up a successionul s>ipply in 
 her pastures, for the varying seasons of the^-ear, it will, in the formation of 
 artificial pasturage, be wise to profit by the wisdom of such a considerate 
 provision. More moisture, however, than tho climate of Australia yields is 
 essential to good nieadowing and pasturage ; and unless and until irri- 
 gation l)ecome8 part and jtarcel of regular Australian husbandry I cannot 
 venture to ])re<lict that aught like the evergreen pasturage of old England 
 will greet the eyes of Australian husbandmen, or giatify the palates of their 
 Bhecp and cows. 
 
 I reganl the system of giving succulent herbage to cows and sheep, &c , 
 \inder cover, to which the term sinlnKj has become attached, as a great result 
 in modern husbandry, an<l as iK-ing jieculiarly adapted for Australian cli- 
 mates, where night jtasturage nniy be indulged in throughout great part of 
 the year. The feeding of cow.<t with regularity at stated periods, undercover, 
 and in a regulated temperature in well ventilated sheds, and the exercise of 
 driving tliem to their ponture in an evening after milking, and bringing them 
 home to milk in early morn, cannot be otherwise than beneficial to their
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 105 
 
 health and a great improvement on the fly-tormenting practice of day pas- 
 turage; and it is a great argument in favor of tlie soiling system, that it is 
 applicable, not only to cows, but also to sheep, horses, camels, and goats. 
 Its economy in food, and the greatness of the additional manure supply, to 
 wliich its adoption will lead, are both of them important objects ; and it is 
 to that additional supply that I look for the share of the Iiomestcad manure 
 whicli will be called for by the special culture department, which it is 
 obvious will yield little manure of its own. Having in an earlier part of 
 this essay, adverted summarily to tiie cropping of the Victorian course, I 
 shall in this place content myself with the statement, that all the cereals 
 in a green state, the clover and vetcli families, all the gramineous and 
 herbaceous plants, and particularly lucern, sainfoin, burnet, plantain, 
 parsley and yarrow, the tops as well as the roots of potatoes, turnips, beets, 
 chicory, carrots, and parsnips ; cabbages, lettuces, celery, rape, and other 
 brassicas ; gourds, water-melons, marrows, and pumpkins ; pulse and lentil 
 crops (as well green as dried), and maize, millet, buck-wlieat, hemp-seed, 
 sorghum, and gramme, &c. (in both states), and also rape seed, cotton seed, 
 and linseed made into cake, and preparations from other oil and fruit refuse, 
 may all be made to supplement that course in soiling supply. The great 
 caie of the cultivator will be, so to time the succession of his supplies as to 
 avoid superabundance one montli and scarcity another. Of course the due 
 storing of roots and of dried fodder will be a paramount object of care. 
 
 Sir Jolm Sinclair, who was attached to the soiling system, stated that one 
 acre of cut clover was equal to two pastured, even of the same crop in the 
 same field ; and he instanced a case in which thirty- three cattle were soiled 
 from the 20th of May to the 1st October, on 17^ acres ; when it would have 
 taken 50 acres to have pastured them in the field ; from which he inferred 
 the saving of land to be, in that case, 32^ acres, being in the approximate 
 ratio of two to one. 
 
 Curwen, the English agriculturist, M'ho was the first to practise the 
 soiling system on an extensive scale, published an account of his proceed- 
 ings, and succeeded in his object of keeping working horses and milking 
 cows, in great measure, on steamed potatoes, supplemented by turnips, 
 rape, cabbages, kohl-rabi, and carrots ; in some cases, also, steamed. It was 
 the then enormously high price of hay which led him to the system. 
 
 The Rev. W. L. Rham, in his Dictionary of the Farm, states that a cow 
 or an ox requires three acres of English grass land for pasturage and hay, 
 for its keep the year round ; but that, by raising clover, lucern, sainfoin, 
 tares, and other green crops, three cows could be fed with the produce of one 
 acre, especially if a portion was in turnips or other succulent roots. 
 
 The Americans, long ago, adopted soiling in dairy management, using 
 green maize, buck-wheat, oats, and rye ; and they also applied the system 
 to sheep. Quincy, one of their senators, who practised soiling on a large 
 scale, enumerates six advantages as resulting from it, viz., the superior 
 condition of the cows, sheep, and cattle, under that management ; greater 
 production in milk, improvement in the quantity as well as quality of 
 manure, saving in land, saving in fencing, and saving in food. An 
 experiment is recorded in the American farmer which showed that 17 acres
 
 106 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 of land, under the soiling system, had supported as much stock as had pre- 
 viously required 50 acres, which is singularly corroborative of the state- 
 ment of Sir John Sinclair ; for I have groimd for believing that the two 
 statements are grounded on separate premises. 
 
 Soiling appears to have found its way into English husbandry from the 
 Flemings, who are now fully developing it in connection with their clever 
 liquid manure arrangements. Though it obtained footing in Hertfordshire 
 and Kent, two centuries ago, it is only of late years that it took permanent 
 position in Britisii husbandry, and became an adjunct of stall feeding, which, 
 however, it now leads. It is rapidly gaining ground also on the Continent 
 of Europe, because it is considered peculiarly adapted for warm climates ; 
 and if in the climate of England (as I have seen stated), lucern has risen to 
 the flowering process three or four times in the year, a variety of sainfoin, 
 called the double bearing, has flowered, and even ripened its seed twice in the 
 year, common red clover has, as a rule, flowered twice, and occasionally, 
 even thrice in the year ; Italian rye-grass has well ripened two crops of seed 
 in the year, and, when abundantly manured, done even more than that, 
 may we not fairly reckon upon an abundance of food and a great develop- 
 ment of the soiling system in the genial climate of Australia Felix, when it 
 shall have the impulsive co-operation of a well organized system of 
 irrigation. 
 
 T'he third, or Victorian special culture branch oj' Australian 
 Misbandry, admiti of as mucli system and reg'ularity in its 
 iiianafiernent as the other two. It is of ani])le mag'nitude, and 
 will <:ive an Austral-Oriental import to the whole. 
 
 Humboldt has remarked that eliniate heat is not so dependent 
 on latitude as has been thcnj^ht, and it is evident to an observant 
 mind that local inHuences and as])ect, as well as latitude, are to 
 be considered in the endeavour to acclimatize new vegetable 
 productions. The isotliernr.d, or line of equal heat which would 
 pass through Australia ab.tut latitude 30°, would cross America 
 about 30*^, and Europe about 40°. The climate of Australia 
 is therefore better ada])ted for tro])ical products in a given latitude 
 than is that of America ; and I aj»|)rehend that, if aceliimiting- is 
 conducted with care, and comparatively liardy varieties are 
 selected, many tropical products mav be reconciled to a North 
 Victorian habitat. 
 
 The (Jolony of Victoria beinjr sittnito between the parallels of 
 34° and 4U° will, dotibtless, produce in jierfection most of the 
 staple products of Fiance, Italy, Spain, Greece, and South 
 Europe J of the medium climates of Asia, and esj)ecially those of 
 the favoured countries of Persia, IS'orthern India, and China; of
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 107 
 
 the best regions of America, and especially those of Virginia, 
 Carolina, Georgia, Florida, California, Brazil, and Chili ; and also 
 many of the special products of Northern and Southern Africa, 
 and especially of that mother country of culture, — Egypt. It is 
 obvious, therefore, that Australian husbandry will anon embrace 
 the culture of the choicest products of the earth. The banana is 
 reported to have ripened at Adelaide, and I myself, when at 
 Adelaide in 1859, visited the orangery (of several acres) of His 
 Honor Mr. Justice Gwynne, in which trees laden with fruit looked 
 full as hardy and thriving as apple trees in an English orchard. 
 I had thought it advisable, before coming out, to visit the 
 vineyards of France, but I saw none there which surpassed those 
 of South Australia. The Indian shrub Nopal (cactus opuntia). 
 which supplies food for the cochineal insect, and the white 
 mulberry, which is the best food for the silkworm, will both of 
 them admit of easy culture in Victoria, so that the production of 
 cochineal and silk will, ere long, be among the objects of Victorian 
 special culture. 
 
 The proportionate quantity of Agraria Domain assigned to 
 special culture is 159 acres, being five allotments of 26 acres each, 
 in addition to the homestead and the private road. I thought it 
 desirable to keep the land of each of the three departments from 
 interference with the others ; and the following enumeration and 
 classification of the objects intended to fruit the special culture 
 branch will show its scope and its importance as providing 
 abundance of light and healthy out-door employment for the 
 female labor of the domain, and for children, when strono- 
 enough, to assist in gathering fruits and produce, and the drying 
 of tea, and making preserves, &c., &c., Sec. The numbers on the 
 plan which have reference to this department are 1, 4, 10, 12, 13, 
 22, and 25. 
 
 I assign the special culture allotment numbered 12 to the 
 vineyard, intending that raisin and table grapes and the currant 
 vines of Zante, as well as wine grapes, shall be objects of vineyard 
 culture. The progress in Australian husbandry of tbis department 
 has been astonisbingly rapid ; a vineyard of 26 acres is of itself 
 a little heritage, and, if well managed, will be foiind to be a source 
 of great profit. The fact that the colony has charge of its own
 
 108 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 distillery laws and export duties is veiy encourag-ing- to intending 
 emisrrants. The vine is so easily propagated, and comes so soon 
 into profit, and is moreover so comparatively light in its labour 
 demand, that it is in ni}' opinion exactly the thing- for the man 
 of slender capital. 
 
 I assiirn the allotment numbered 10 to the orchard and the 
 orang-erv, intending- that Eng-lish and French apples and pears, 
 for the manufacture of cid(T and peri-y ; and the production of 
 npjiles, pears, plums, penches, apricots, nectaiines, chenies, 
 (juinces, almonds, fig-s, loquats, filbert and Spanish nuts, and 
 black mulberries, which are all legitimate objects of a Victorian 
 orchard, shall, tog-ether witb orang-es, citrons, and lemons, and all 
 other fruits adapted to the climate of Victoria and admitting' of 
 orchard culture, yield produce in the shape of jams, preserves, 
 dried fruits, and liquors, in productive rivalr}- with its neig-libor 
 the vineyard. I have an impression that such an orchard will be 
 even more profitable than the vineyard, especially if the mining 
 population of the colony shall, like that of Devonshire and 
 Cornwall, take a liking for cider and perry, and if fruit wines and 
 brandies shall come into general consumj)tion. As the tamarind, 
 the date, the chesnut, and the walnut grow to a large size, it may 
 answer a double purpose if they are planted in the pastures as 
 shade and shelter trees, and yield their orchard room to more 
 portable trees. I find in my notebook a statement (on the 
 authority of Widdington, who wrote on the agriculture of .Sjiain) 
 that the chirimoya, a tropical fiuit, comes to jiorfoct maturity in 
 the open gardens of Motril, in Spain ; a cheering jiiece of 
 ititelligence to the agriculturists of Victoria, for if such a fruit has 
 become natiiraliz(Ml in Sjiain, it and m;iiiy otlier tr(ij)icais may be 
 expected to succeed in ISorth \'ictoria. 
 
 I assign the allotment numbered 4 to the following purposes: 
 a tea shrulibery, a ciitiee i)lantati(iii, a sugar plantation, and a lioj) 
 ground, in such ])roportions as shall lie tnuud most in accordance 
 with the views of the cultivator. 1 was much pleased with the 
 iin])ioved appearance which the climate of I'Vauce had given to 
 Homo English hops in tin! neighboili(MMl of T'ontaiubleau, ami 1 aiu 
 iiuj)ressed with the; belief that Victorian hop grounds will sur[)ass 
 in yield and profit those of England. b'elief from the heavy
 
 AORICULTUnK OK VICTORIA. 100 
 
 English duty is a dirpct pvemiinn to the Victorian grower. Coffee 
 and stigar may, perlia])S, Iiave to be rehnquished in Soutli 
 Victoria, except in favorable locations, but there can be no 
 question as to tea and hops; probably coffee and sugar will in the 
 sequel become staple products of North Victoria, and hops and 
 tea of the southern districts. 
 
 On revisin.s; for the press. I embrace the opportunity of introducing the 
 following additional remarks on tlie culture of this allotment. 
 
 Coffee is very susceptible of frost, and must, in South Victoria, have 
 assigned to it very sheltered and choice position. Brazil at present pro- 
 duces half the coffee grown. The consumption of coffee is on the increase, 
 and if its cultivation gets footing in Victorian husbandry, it will, I apprehend, 
 be as a North Victorian product ; though, as it is grown in Spain, it ought 
 to be tried, on a small scale, in favored localities of South Victoria. 
 
 Tea may be successfully grown in either division of Victoria, and it will 
 be advisable to have a small i)lantation on every domain, because it is not 
 only a portable article, but it is also one which does not spoil should the 
 market happen to be otherwise than immediate. I am, however, impressed 
 with the notion that very extensive tea culture is not advisable in Australia, 
 because when the Chinese and the Japanese become sensible enough to see 
 their own interests, they will extend the production of their own peculiar 
 commodity ; and there being no doubt of their ability to tea the world, and 
 to produce tea at less cost (by reason of their command of cheap labor) 
 than Australians can at all events for many years to come ; and as I have 
 an impression also, that by the time Australians are in a condition to com- 
 pete with China and Japan, in the European market, they will find the true 
 China plant universally introduced into European shrubberies and pleasure 
 grounds, as a half useful and half ornamental shrub wherever it will thrive, 
 a circumstance which will help to keep the price of tea low. 
 
 Saccharine i)roduce has become so essential an article of civilized con- 
 sumption, that every known mode of Sugar culture ought to have trial in 
 Victoria. Hitherto the cane of the east, the maple of the west, and the 
 beet-root of Europe have been the plants chiefly cultivated for sugar; but I 
 apprehend the vegetable world has other plants to offer for sugar production, 
 and that Australian husbandry will have a wide saccharine range. It ought 
 to be cheering to Australians to know that in the West Indies, which have 
 long been called par excellence the sugar colonies, the cultivation of sugar 
 was an introduction bj' the Spaniards from Europe ; though there is ground 
 for supposing that some plant which produced sugar was there indigenous. 
 
 The sugar-cane is propagated by laying cuttings or slips of the cane 
 horizontally. There are four varieties cultivated in America, viz., the 
 African, the Otahcite. the West Indian, and the ribband cane. The Otaheite 
 grows luxuriantly, and ripens earlier than the West Indian, but it does not 
 contain so nmch saccharine matter as the other kinds. The ribband cane 
 is anew variety. It abounds in saccharine juice, and does not require so
 
 110 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 long a season for ripening as the other kinds, and it admits of American 
 cultivation two degrees further north than any other kind. The sugar-cane 
 is a comparatively hardy plant, and is cultivated much in the same way as 
 maize, which it resembles wlicn growing. The abundance of the crop 
 depends upon the number of joints that ripen before the frost, so as to allow 
 the saccharine juice to granulate to sugar. A slight frost favors the 
 fermentation which is necessary to the formation of sugar from the. sap, 
 though a severe frost destroys the vegetation of the cane. The crop when 
 growing has a beautiful appearance. The sap is so rich in the stalk of the 
 cane as to have almost the consistence of syrup, and sugar exists there as 
 nearly in a complete state as it can be in solution. An acre properly 
 managed will yield a hogshead of 1200 pounds. A sugar establishment is 
 necessarily expensive, by reason of its need of houses and mills where the 
 plantation is large. It has, however, been found that sugar can be grown 
 profitably on a small scale, and without extraordinary capital, and I have 
 therefore determined on including its production, to a given extent, as part 
 of domain culture ; leaving it to capitalists to establish an extensive 
 plantation system conjointly with the production of cotton in large areas. 
 
 The pine-apple, to which I shall afterwards advert, abounds in saccharine 
 matter, of fine aroma, which would, I apprehend, yield much more sugar 
 than the best French beet. Some attention is due, in Australian husbandry, 
 to the saccharine secretion known as Austr.ilian manna, yielded by the 
 eucalyptus viminalis, and also to the exudation, resembling raw sugar, 
 which occasionally incrusts the bark of the myoporum platycarpum. I 
 suspect, in regard to the pine-apple, that it will acquire .an ad valorem 
 value of its own greatly above a mere sugar i)rice. Sugar succeeds best with 
 a mean temperature of 77°, but it may be cultivated with advantage when the 
 mean is not under 67°. No product, however, makes so grateful a return for 
 heat as saccharine matter, in whatever shape it is produced The sorghum 
 saccharatum is sufliciently hardy to thrive in South Victoria, and as it yields 
 both sugar and cattle food, it is in consequence a very valuable product. 
 Four centuries ago sugar was only used as a medicine, and could only be 
 purciiased by the ounce from an apothecary ; whereas in the year 1828 the 
 production was 441, .'500 tons, of which nearly half was the growth of the 
 liritish West Indies alone; and that production had in the twenty-two 
 years which elapsed between the years 1828 and 18.50, augmented so as to 
 yield, for tiie latter year, the almost trebled quantity of 1,24.1,000 tons. 
 Tea, and some other oriental productions may, in the coiirse of years, be 
 BUpcr.seded in use by some other jjroduct, or become of limited demand ; but 
 saccharine matter is so essential in every department of domestic economy, 
 and its refuse is so valuable for the feeding of cattle, that it is sure to be a 
 staple product wherever soil and climate are congenial to its growl li. I am 
 imjircssed with the belief that if j)roper care is evinced in the selection of 
 adapted Iwalities, and they arc i)repMred by skilfid drainage aiul subsoiling 
 operations, and are accompanied by irrignlion so as to urge on vegetation 
 at critical stages of growtii, there will be found a sufTlciency of sunshine, at 
 ail events in a North \'ictorian climate. nf)t only for the iirofital)le cultivation 
 of cane-sugar, but also for that of nuiny tropical and sub tropical i)ro-
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. Ill 
 
 ductions on which Victorian cultivators have not as yet reckoned. Cane- 
 sugar will, I apprehend, be most profitably cultivated in plantations of a 
 square mile each, in alternation with cotton plantations of a like extent, as 
 outlying parts of domain management, in cases where super energy and 
 capital happen to lead in that direction. 
 
 Hops, as a Victorian product, stand very high in my estimation. The soil 
 and the climate of South Victoria are so admirably adapted for the hop, 
 that the sooner it is introduced into Victorian husbandry the better. Frost, 
 the arch-enemy of the English hop, is not severe enough in Victoria to do 
 harm ; and the only adverse influence of which I am appi'ehensive is 
 atmospherical turmoil. I have however placed the hop plantation on the east 
 side of the domain, for the purpose of being as well screened as may be from 
 hot winds and their devastating dusts, and it must have especial screening 
 on its west and north sides — perhaps the j'oung larches, ashes, and oaks, to 
 which I shall advert as wanted for hop-poles, cannot be better placed than 
 as a plantation screen for the hops which they are predestined afterwards 
 to uphold. I have to observe that though the hop was indigenous in England, 
 the cultivated variety was probably an introduction from the Netherlands, 
 for the name is of Dutch origin. Strong cloth has been manufactured from 
 the fibres of tiie hop vine, and in spring time country people, in some hop 
 growing districts, dress young buds of the hop in the manner of asparagus, 
 and consider them an agreeable vegetable. These circumstances enhance 
 the value of the plant, and as the colony has, as I have before remarked, 
 the control of its own excise duties, it will be in the power of its legislature 
 to confer on its hop grower the great boon of exemption from an onerous 
 tax, which amounts to £17 12s. 9jd per ton. 
 
 The four foregoing products, of coffee, tea, sugar, and hops, will well 
 occupy the special culture allotment, numbered 4. If the domain is located 
 in South Victoria I should apportion the cropping thus: — hops, twenty 
 acres; tea, three acres; sorghum and other cane-sugar, one acre; coffee, 
 half an acre; hop pole screen plantation, one acre; and a row of sugar 
 maples, within the boundary avenue, half an acre. But if the domain is 
 located north of the 37th parallel, I should then apportion the cropping 
 of the idlotment thus: — cane-sugar, twenty acres; coffee, four acres; tea, 
 one acre ; and hops, one acre. 
 
 T assig-n the allotment numbered 1 for o-roves — of the nopal 
 cactus, as cochinella food ; of olives and other oil-producing' 
 shrubs and trees 5 of pepper vines ; of carob trees ; of indig-enous 
 trees and shrubs found worth}' of culture, either as commercial 
 products or for economical use, as, for instance, the Australian 
 india-rubber tree and the cabbag'e palm ; of groves of senna trees, 
 camphor trees, tallow trees, American india-rubber trees ; of all the 
 medicinal shrubs and trees which will pay for cultivation ; and of 
 cork oaks, and the best wood for cooperage use. It was my 
 intention to have entimerated several other trees and shi-ubs which
 
 lie? PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 yield produce of great value, and which I think will thrive in 
 Victoria ; but as this is an essay only, and not a treatise, and as I 
 have instanced sufficient to show the class of products assigned to 
 this allotment, and to indicate the rang-e of the special culture 
 department, I shall for the present forego that enumeration. 
 
 On revising for the press I have to add, that tlie olive, to which I shall in 
 South Victorian domains appropriate ten acres of the special culture allot- 
 ment numbered 1, (thouirh in those of North Victoria I shall only appro- 
 priate five acres, because I think northern sunshine maybe more profitably 
 applied on tree and shrub products which cannot be so well ripened in 
 South Victoria) is so truly a warm climate essential, and has been so long 
 a favorite and a paying product in Italian, Spanish, and French husbandry, 
 that it has, in my estimation, a right to proportionate position in that of 
 Australia. In addition to the products before mentioned I may instance 
 various species of cotton which reach tree dignity, and are in consequence 
 to be cultivated as perennials, as proper to have growing space in this allot- 
 ment, as also white mulberry trees as silkworm food, in case the private road 
 of the domain shall be insufficient for the supply, or other trees are preferred 
 as vine supporters. 
 
 There being man}' valuable jiroducts of field cnlturo which 
 cannot be taken in an annual rotation, because they woidd stoj) 
 the onward move of the course, I assign the special culture allot- 
 ment, numbered 22, for such products. The pine njiple, for 
 instance, which in a genial climate recpiires oidy the sim]>le 
 culture of a Swede turnip, and propagates itself jtroiitably for 
 ten years by offsets, is a crop in point. For its a1»un(liinc(' of 
 saccharine matter and the flavor of its fruit, and for the iH)re of 
 its leaves, which, in T'liina, is manuf:ictui'('d into cloth, the pine 
 !i])|)I(' is a very valiiabk- product, iiinl drscrvcs the curly iittciitioii 
 of the Austialiiin cultivator as a field crop. It is bardi<!r than is 
 generally sujiposcd. 'J'lic varieties of the onion which have the 
 faculty of otl'sct reproduction, and Midi otjicr edibles as liave that 
 faculty — biennials, triennials, and sub-])erennials deemed sufh- 
 ciently imjtortant for occasional culture ; madder and cassava, 
 which each re(|nin; three years for profitable cropping-; the dye 
 plants, naflron, weld, wond, and indigo; pojipies for opium, to- 
 bacco, rhubarb, arrowroot, candanioii, licpioiice, and ginger; 
 nnise, coiinnder, cjiraway, and such oflier sf^ids as may bo in 
 commercini re(jucst ; lavender, burnet, sainfoin. New Zealand 
 flax and otlier textiles, and also cotton of sub-perennial habits
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 113 
 
 of gT-owtli, and teazles, all occur to me as deserving admission 
 into this allotment, in which they may be indulged in a little 
 rotatory cycle among themselves, and have the advantage of 
 change of ground without interfering with the great eight years' 
 course of the domain. 
 
 The private road will, in fact, become a grove of white mul- 
 berries as silk-worm food, and their suj)])oi'ted vines will profitably 
 supplement the vineyard yield. 
 
 A garden of six acres will form an important part of the home- 
 stead, and as variation in aspect may be of great service in the 
 acclimating of new introductions, I shall suggest the placing of 
 the garden in borders round the homestead, as I have marked on 
 the plan ; and because the introduction of warm-climate products 
 will, in Australia, exceed in number and importance other garden 
 products and objects, I have assigned greater width to the 
 northern border on that account. Every intelligent agriculturist 
 is also a horticulturist ; and it will be highl}' commendable to 
 endeavor the union of the two departments of culture in the 
 Australian colonies. Goody Hortulana is a fitting spouse for a 
 Victorian Adam, but I must caution the stripling against the 
 blandishments of a syren who delights in raree shows and fetes, 
 wastes time and money in showy trivialities, and assumes occa- 
 sionally in ])lacards and newspapei^s the name of a matron of 
 sterling dignity to which the bedizened syren has no pretence. I 
 may with propriety designate not only the garden management 
 of the homestead, but also the management of the whole 159 acres 
 assigned to the special-culture department of the domain, as a 
 system of horticulture united to the agriculture of Victoria. 
 
 On revising for the press in June, 1861, I avail myself of the opportunity 
 to introduce a few remarks on the culture and management of timher trees, 
 which, in consequence of their having been long recognized as a branch of 
 British husbandry, and timber products being of great importance in com- 
 mercial conmiunities, fall properly into the special culture department of 
 my sj'stcm ; and this I do willingly, because I hold it to be the duty as well 
 as the interest of the owner of a domain to keep up a supply of timber 
 proportionate to the extent of that domain, and because also, as timber 
 requires many years for maturity, and great mischief to tlie community 
 might ensue if its growth was neglected. I have also to urge that in 
 the case of Australian grantees, I consider participation in the supply 
 of timber, growing in a Colony when it became a British possession, as 
 
 I
 
 114: PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 having created in consideration of value received a trust for posterity to 
 keep up that supply; and in doing so I shall advise tlie intermixture of 
 British and European, Asiatic, Australasian, African, and American trees, 
 among the best of those which happen to be indigenous to Australia. 
 As a Victorian domain of 640 acres is a very different thing from a little 
 English farm, and as the circumstances of the two countries are so contra- 
 riwise affected as to atmospherical condition. I shall not hesitate to advise 
 the planting of the four miles of the boundary fence of the domain with 
 what in England would be called hedge-row timber. Few Englishmen will 
 deny that the hedge-row trees of England have in the main added much to 
 its picturesque beauty, and to the charm of English scenery ; though it 
 must be admitted that hedge-row trees in England are in many cases in 
 excess, and in some very detrimental to the interests of rent paying tenants. 
 The climate of England, moreover, is moist, and the intervention therefore 
 of thickly timbered hedge-rows round small indosurcs interrupts that free 
 circnlati)!! of air which is absolutely nccessar}- to dry a saturated soil in a 
 country where the evaporative process is sluggish in the extreme ; but in 
 Australi I the climate is so dry that that process is faultily quick, and in 
 nine cases out of ten requires counteraction; moreover, as it is likely that 
 for generations to come the owner and the occupant of a domain will be tiie 
 same personage, an English tenant's case of hardship will not apply. The 
 shade resulting from avenues of forest trees along road sides will bs very 
 agreeable to travellers, and will not only act beneficially on the climate by 
 inducing moisture and atmospherical reciprocation in the interchange of 
 oxygen for nitrogen, but it will screen the interior of the domain from 
 much of the atmospherical turmoil of the hot winds and their damaging 
 dusts, evils to whieli the Australian colonics arc liable. Timbered land, 
 and espe;ially that wliieii abounds in deciduous and large leaved trees, by 
 attracting and condensing moisture from tiie atmosphere in warm weather 
 exercises a bemficial effect in its locality, it being an ascertained fact that 
 extensive forests influence the descent of rain by tlieir attractive power on 
 passing clouds, and of course a well timbered domain will to a given extent 
 exercise a similar influence ; and considering also the reciprocal benefit of 
 salubrity in the atmospliere derivable from a commingling of animal and 
 vegetable respiration in a warm climate, it is obviotis that the production of 
 timber sliouhl be encouraged by every well organized ccmmiimity and form 
 part of its husbandry, even apart from iiuestions of jiroflt and utility. The 
 Americans arc beginning to liml out that they have been too lavish of 
 their wood, and that timlKrtd land ia in some positions of greater value 
 than that wliiili has b<cn cleared at great cost, and that fliey have more- 
 over done climate miscliief iti some localities, riantations of larcli, ash, 
 and oak, which in a young state have l)ecn found to answer in EnghuKl 
 better than others for hop poles, and I have no doubt will answer Cipnilly 
 well a8 supporters of vines and of other tendril plants grown in Australia; 
 may have an a<'re plot of the »|>ecial culture allotment numbered 4 
 assigned to them, where they will be near their jilaceof use. Tiic mountain 
 aHli to which the late Mr. Wedgwood, of Maer, son of the great potter, 
 called my attention, as llu' best of all ICnglisii woodliiml prnijiice lor pottery
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 115 
 
 crates, liappens to be also well adapted for barrel boops, and as I hapjjen in 
 consequence of his advice to have planted it extensively in some plantations 
 which I made thirty years ago, in the neighborhood of the Staflfbrdsliire 
 potteries, I can bear testimony to the great profit at which it speedily 
 arrived, to its beauty and use as ornamental underwood in game preserves, 
 and to the supply of winter food which its berries yielded to several valuable 
 English birds, which will probably ere long yield to Australians the tribute 
 of song in exchange for an Englisli diet. As pottery ware and even porce- 
 lain works of art will in due time become Australian manufactures as a 
 consequent of the fine quality of Australian clay, a matter M'hich was 
 tested by the elder Wedgwood, in the medallion, of which an engraving is 
 given on the title page of Governor Phillip's voyage to Botany Bay, pub- 
 lished in 1790, about which Mr. Wedgwood, the son, on presenting me 
 with a medallion portrait of his father, made from the same clay, told me 
 that his father had said that he had never seen any article of China manu- 
 facture which equalled as to material the Botany Bay clay, and which he 
 therefore predicted would become a valuable import from the Colony. 
 Though it may be long before tlie master mind of a Victorian Wedgwood 
 shall Prometheus like breathe artistic life into Victorian clay, and send it 
 to vie with the art creations of Englanil, Sevres, and Dresden, &c., it may 
 be well to be providing crate wood and barrel hoops, so that no incon- 
 venience may be felt when those articles come into actual dnnand, and that 
 is why i have gone out of my way to mention the medallions and to advise 
 the planting of mountain ash as a useful tree. Planted half a chain asunder, 
 the boundary fences will afford space for 640 trees, and I would specially 
 instance as worthy of place among them the blue gum of the colony, the 
 cork oak, the English ship building oaks, and such of the oaks of America 
 as bear the best edible acorns, or are the best adajjted for ship building, the 
 red cedar, and the Kauri pine of East Australia, the Norlblk Island and 
 New Zealand pines, and the best of the pine family generally ; together 
 Avith a selection from such of the timber trees as Avell of Australia as of 
 other countries, as are suitable for a protecting screen against the hot winds, 
 in order to combine protection with ornament and profit. Many ashes and 
 mountain ashes, oaks of the lesser varieties, limes, larches, elms, and other 
 useful trees, and especially such as are best adapted for casks and cooperage 
 use, which are likely hereafter to be in great demand, may be planted at 
 the distance of a chain from each other along the west fences, of numbers 
 8, 9, 14, 16, 17, and 22, as hedge-row trees, where they will be productive of 
 good by yielding shade, as the sun happens to be east or west of the pas- 
 tures ; the north and east fences of number 19 may be devoted to New 
 Zealand flax, and to osiers and willows, &c., which delight in moisture and 
 will pay well for growing. 
 
 Shade and shelter trees dispersed over the range of pasture lands, after 
 the rate of a tree per acre, will give to them a park-like appearance, and 
 Avill aid materiall}- in checking evaporation. Trees which answer two pur- 
 poses will of course be preferred, and I would instance tamarinds, date 
 palms, cabbage palms, milk trees, bread fruit trees, cocoa nut palms, cacao 
 nut trees, cashew nuts, walnuts, and chesnuts, Peruvian bark, and service 
 
 I 2
 
 11() PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 • 
 
 trees, the bombax ceiba, alluded to in cotton culture, cedars, horse chesuuts, 
 locust trees, beeches. Chili pines, Norfolk Island pines, Weyniouth pines, 
 silver firs, and oriental and occidental planes as particularly worthy of place 
 in this parkish district ; and of c mrse if there should happen to be any 
 indigenous trees or i)romisin2: saplings growing on it they will be allowed 
 to remain, though I ronteinplate the conii>k'te clearance of timl)cr from the 
 arable land, and from that assigned to the special cvdture department. I 
 may remark, that in my annual visits to London for many years, I noticed 
 that planes throve tlie best of an_v of the trees planted in the city squares 
 and gardens, and seemed to relish their position. I never heard this ac- 
 counted for, but the fact is certain ; and after it had attracted my notice I 
 made a point of examining every planted square I fell in with, whether it 
 was at the west end, the east end, or on the Surrey side of the city, and I 
 invariably found planes to be the most thriving of the trees, and next to 
 them thiir kindred tree, the sycamore. I mention the circumstance as a 
 hint to Australian citizens, that both varieties of the jdane appear from that 
 peculiarity to be proper for trial in their city squares, avenues, and pleasure 
 grounds ; both have the merit of being umbrageous, which is a greater 
 object in Australian cities than in London Limes are the best of all 
 English trees for avenues, and 1 used to be delighted when in England at 
 the immense number of bees which at sunrise in summer were always find- 
 able gathering honey from the opening flowers of the lime ; where tlicrefore 
 bees are kept lime trees have an additional value. 
 
 Tlic (irclimaliiHi of plants and the Introilitclion of new varieties are so 
 important in the infantine state of Australian hushandr}', that I deem the 
 fiul'ject worthy of a few special remarks, or rather of a series of extracts; 
 for I sh.dl, on these subjects, jirefer presenting the observations of others 
 rather than my own, because I am myself partial to Ibunlain-head authority 
 in experimental matters. 
 
 The acclimating pliability of nature is well illustrated by Dr. Thomson, of 
 Edinburgh, in his treatise on brewing and distillation, by tlie remark that 
 the cuticle of Norfolk barley is thinner than that f>f East Lothian barley, but 
 that when Norfolk barley is sown in Scotland for several successive years 
 its cuticle, in conseijuence, becomes tliicker tlian it was at its inlroductit)n. 
 
 rhiHi|>s, ill Ills lli.storv of Cultivated N'egetables, makes tliis pertiiii'iit 
 observatiuii: "It is wortliy of remark that two vegetables of so nnicii 
 consequence in the commerce of ijamaica as tlie coflee tree and the sugar 
 cane shouM iiiive found their way to that hot climate tlirongh the tem- 
 jK-rate zone of ICurope, where they could never Inive arrived at i)erfeclion. 
 Tlie colFee tree was planted at Eulliam, in Middlesex, fourteen years before 
 it was known in Jamaica ; and the sugar cane was jilanted in England fifty 
 years previously to its being cultivated in that island, which may now be 
 justly styled the London sugar and coflee garden." 
 
 'J'he celehrated Dr. I'ritsticy, in a letter to Sir .luhn Sinclair, as president
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 117 
 
 of the English Board of ARriculture, written in 1797, and puhlished in tiie 
 first volume of the communications to that board, thus speaks of Mr. Joseph 
 Cooper, an American farmer, of the neighborhood of Philadelphia, wlio 
 may be cited as the type of a class of men much wanted in Australia, in 
 the present stage of its husbandry: " He thought," said Priestley, " philo- 
 sophically on his subject, and had had extraordinary success in a variety 
 of plans w-hich were then wholly new, and which promised to be of great 
 benefit to his country and the world." 
 
 Tlie doctor's letter is not a long one, and as it gives us a glance at 
 American culture a century ago, when it was but little in advance of that 
 which now obtains in Australia, I shall introduce more of it than I at first 
 intended, because of its thoughtful good sense and its exemplifying my 
 belief that thoughtful heads will be a greater acquisition to Australia than 
 even horny hands, notwithstanding the premium price which the latter 
 appear inclined to forestall. The observations of Mr. Cooper are, in fact, a 
 little manual in their way; and though I do not subscribe without some 
 reservation to all his conclusions, and think that he carries his theory in 
 regai-d to change of seed and of plants beyond a judicious verge, there is 
 nevertheless much to the point in all his observations. 
 
 " I have," writes Priestlo}', " Mr. Cooper's leaA'e to communicate to you 
 his observations and experiments relating to an opinion and practice which 
 has prevailed, I believe universally, but which he is satisfied is ill founded. 
 Plants, it is said, will degenerate unless the soil in which they grow be 
 changed. It is therefore thought to be necessary from time to time to get 
 fresh seeds and roots, &c. from distant places. Mr. Cooper, on the contrary, 
 has for many years been in the habit of selecting the best seeds and roots 
 of his own ; and though he has continually sown and planted them in the 
 same soil, every article of his produce is greatl}- superior to those of any 
 other person who supplies this market, and they seem to be still in a state 
 of improvement. This, without his knowing it, is the very same plan that 
 was adopted by Mr. Bakewell, in I'^ngland, with respect to animals. He 
 kept improving his breeds by only coupling those in which the properties 
 he wished to produce were the most conspicuous, without any regard to 
 consanguinity, or to any other circumstance whatever. 
 
 " Mr. Cooper was led," adds Priestley, " to his present practice, which he 
 began more than forty years ago, by observing that vegetables of all kinds 
 were very subject to change with respect to their time of coming to ma- 
 turity, and other properties, but that the best seeds never failed to produce 
 the best plants. Among a great number of experiments he particularly 
 mentions the following : — 
 
 "About the year 1746, his father procured seeds of the long watery 
 squash, and though thej- have been used on the farm ever since that time, 
 without anj' change, they are at this time better than they were at the 
 first. 
 
 "His early peas were procured from London in the year 1756; and 
 though they have been planted on the same place every season, they have 
 been so far from degenerating that they are preferable to what they were 
 then. The seeds of his asparagus he had from New York in 1752, and
 
 lis PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 though they have been treated in tlie same manner, the plants arc greatly 
 improved. 
 
 " It is more particularly complained, that potatoes degenerate when they 
 are planted from the same roots in the same i)laee. At this Mr. Cooper 
 says he does not wonder, when it is customary with farmers to use the best, 
 and plant from the refuse ; whereas, having observed that some of his 
 plants produced potatoes that were larger, better shaped, and in greater 
 abundance than others, he took his seed from them only ; and the next 
 season he found that the produce was of a quality superior to any that he 
 had ever had before. This practice he still continues, and finds that he is 
 abundantly rewarded for his trouble. 
 
 " Mr Cooper is also careful to sow the plants from which he raises his, 
 seed at a considerable distance from any others. Thus, when his radishes 
 are fit for use, he takes ten or twelve that he most approves, and plants 
 them at least one hundred yards from otlu-rs that blossom at the same time. 
 In the same manner he treats all his other plants, varying tlie circumstances 
 according to their nature. 
 
 " About the year 1772, a friend of his sent him a few grains of a small 
 kind of Indian corn, not larger than goose shot, which protluced from eight 
 to ten ears on a stalk. They were also small, and he found that few of 
 them ripened before the frost. Some of the largest and earliest of these he 
 saved, and planting them between rows of a larger and earlier kind, the 
 l)roduce was much improved. He then planted from those that had pro- 
 duced the greatest number of the largest ears, and that were the first ripe ; 
 and the ne.xt season the produce, with respect to quality and quantity, was 
 preferable to any that he had ever planted before l^-om this corn he has 
 continued to plant ever since, selecting his seed in the following manner : — 
 
 " When the first cars are ripe enough for seed, he gathers a sufficient 
 quantity for early corn, or for replanting, and at the time that he wishes 
 his corn to be generally ripe, he gathers a sufficient quantity for the next 
 year's planting; having particular cure to take it from stalks that are large 
 at the bottom, of a regular taper, not very tall, the ears set low. and con- 
 taining the greatest number of good sizable ears, and of the best qualify ; 
 these he dries quickly, and from them he plants his main crop ; and if any 
 hills be missing, he replants from the seeds that were first gatiiered, which 
 lie says will cause the crops to ripen more regularly than they connnonly 
 do, and which is of great ailvantage. Tiiis metliod he has jjractised many 
 years, and he is satisfied tliat it has been tlie means of increasing the 
 quantity and inijiroving the (luality of his crojjs beyond what any person 
 who had not tried the experiment could imagine. 
 
 "Farmers differ much with respect to the distance at wlilili they jilaiit 
 their corn, and the number of grains they put in a hill. Diflerent 8oils» 
 Mr. Cooper observes, may require difrerent jiractices in liolh these respects; 
 but in every kind of soil tiiiit he has tried, lie finds ih.il plaiiling the rows 
 nix feet asunder each way, as nearly at right angles as may be, and leaving 
 not more than four stalks in a hill, jiroduets the best crop. The common 
 method of saving seed corn, by taking the I'lirs from the liea]», is attended, 
 he Huys, with two disudvuntages ; one is the taking the largest ears, of
 
 AOItlCULTURE OF VICTOHIA. 110 
 
 whicli in general only one jirows on a stalk, which lessens the produce ; and 
 the other is taking ears that ripen at different times. 
 
 " For many years Mr. Cooper renewed all the seed of his winter grain 
 from a single plant, whicli he had ohserved to he more productive, and of 
 a hctter quality than the rest, which he is satisfied has been of great use. 
 And he is of opinion, that all kinds of garden vegetables may be improved 
 by the methods described above, particular care being taken that different 
 kinds of the same vegetables do not bloom at the same time near together, 
 since by this means they injure one another. 
 
 " It is alleged, that foreign flax-seed produces the best flax in Ireland ; 
 but Mr. Cooper says, that when it is considered that only the bark of the 
 plant is used, ami that this is in perfection before the seed is ripe, it will 
 appear that his hypothesis is not affected by it. 
 
 " Mr. Cooper had the following instance of the naturalization of a plant 
 in a different climate: — lie had some water-melon seed seat to liim from 
 Georgia, which he was informed was of a peculiarly good quality; knowing 
 that seeds from vegetables which grow in a hot climate require a longer 
 summer than that of Pennsylvania, he gave them the most favorable situa- 
 tion that he had, and used glasses to forward their growth, and yet few of 
 them ripened well. But finding them to be of an excellent quality, he 
 saved the seeds of those that ripened the first ; and by continuing this 
 practice five or six years, they came to ripen as early as any that he ever 
 had." 
 
 We have now the deductions of the great vegetable physiologist, Thomas 
 Andrew Knight, for our guidance ; and I was so much struck with the 
 harmony between the "thought" of Cooper and the "science" of Knight, 
 as exhibited in the foregoing quotation, and in that which 1 am about to 
 extract from Knight, that I thought it desirable to introduce both, as 
 corroborative of each other on a subject of so much importance in the 
 present stage of the agriculture and horticulture of Australia. 
 
 " Nature," writes Knight, in a paper read before the Horticultural 
 Society of England, in 1806, "has given to man the means of acquiring 
 those things which constitute the comforts and luxuries of civilized life, 
 though not the things themselves ; it has placed tlie raw material within 
 his reach ; but has left the preparation and improvement of it to his own 
 skill and industry. Every plant and animal, adapted to his service, is made 
 susceptible of endless changes, .and, as far as relates to his use, of almost 
 endless improvement. Variation is the constant attendant on cultivation, 
 both in the animal and vegetable world ; and in each the offspring are con- 
 stantly seen, in a greater or less degree, to inherit the character of the 
 parents from which they spring. 
 
 " No experienced gardener can be ignorant that every species of fruit 
 acquires its greatest state of perfection in some peculiar soils and situations, 
 and under some peculiar mode of culture : the selection of a proper soil and 
 sitiuition must therefore be the first object of the improver's pursuit ; and 
 nothing should be neglected which can add to the size, or improve the flavor 
 of the fruit from which it is intended to propagate. Due attention to these
 
 120 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 points will in almost all cases be found to comprehend all that is necessary 
 to insure the introduction of new varieties of fruit, of eiinal merit with those 
 from which they spring ; but the improver, who has to adapt his produc- 
 tions to the cold and unsteady climate of Britain, has still many difficulties 
 to contend with ; he has to combine liardiness, energy of character, and 
 early maturity, with the improvements of high cultivation. Nature has, 
 however, in some measure pointed out the path he is to pursue ; and. if it 
 be followed witli patience and industry, no obstacles will be found, which 
 may not be either removed, or passed over. 
 
 '* If two plants of the vine or other tree of similar habits, or even if 
 obtained from cuttings of the same tree, were placed to vegetate, during 
 several successive seasons, in very different climates; if the one were planted 
 on the banks of the Rhine, and the other on those of the Nile, each would 
 adapt its habits to the climate in which it were placed ; and if both were 
 subsequently brought, in early spring, into a climate similar to that of 
 Italy, the plant which had adapted its habits to a cold climate would in- 
 stantly vegetate, whilst the other would remain perfectly torpid. Precisely 
 the same thing occurs in the hot-houses of this country, where a plant accus- 
 tomed to the temperature of the open air will vegetate strongl}' in December, 
 whilst another plant of the same species, and sprung from a cutting of the 
 same original stock, but habituated to the temperature of a stove, remains 
 apparently lifeless. It appears, therefore, that the powers of vegetable life, 
 in plants habituated to cold climates, are more easily brought into action 
 than in those of hot climates ; or, in other words, that the plants of cold 
 climates are most excitable : and as every quality in plants becomes here- 
 ditary, when the causes which first gave existence to those (lualitics con- 
 tinue to operate, it follows that their seedling offspring have a constant ten- 
 dency to adapt their habits to any climate in which art or accident places 
 them. 
 
 " Hut the inlhicnce of clinuite on tlie habits of jdants will depend less on 
 the aggregate quantity of heat in each climate, than on the distribution of 
 it in the difTerent seasons of the year. The aggregate temperature of Eng- 
 land, and of those parts of the Russian Kmpire that are under the same 
 parallels of latittide, probably docs not differ very considerably; but, in the 
 latter, the summers are extremely hot, and the winters intensely cold ; and 
 the changes of temperature between the dilferent seasons are sudden and 
 violent. In the spring great degrees of heat suddenly operate on plants 
 which have ln-cn long exjioscd to intense cold, and in wiiich excit.ibility has 
 accumulated during a long period of almost total inaction: and the progress 
 of vegetation in in consequcnee cxtremily rapid. In the climate of ICngland 
 the spring, on the contrary, advances with slow and irregular steps, and 
 only very moderate and slowly-increasing degrees of heat act on ])lanls in 
 which the i)owers of life have scarcely in any period of the preceding winter 
 been totally inactive. The crab is a native of both countries, and has 
 adapted alike its habits to both ; the Siberian variety introduced into the 
 climate of Kngland retains its habits, cx])ands its leaves, and blossoms on 
 the first approach of spring, and vegetates strongly in the same Icmpcratiirc 
 in which the native crub scarcely shows signs of life ; and its fruit acquires
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 121 
 
 a degree of maturity, even in the early part of an unfavorable season, which 
 our native crab is rarely or never seen to attain. 
 
 " Similar euuses are productive of similar effects on the habits of cultivated 
 annual plants ; but these appear most readily to acquire habits of maturity 
 in warm climates ; for it is in the power of the cultivator to commit his 
 seeds to the earth at any season ; and the progress of the plants towards 
 maturity will be most rapid where the climate and soil are most warm. 
 Thus, the barley grown on sandy soils, in the warmest parts of England, is 
 always found by the Scotch farmer, when introduced into his country, to 
 ripen on his cold hills earlier than his crops of the same kind do, when he 
 uses the seeds of plants, which have passed through several successive 
 generations in his colder climate ; and in my own experience, I have found 
 that the crops of wheat on some very high and cold ground, which I culti- 
 vate, ripen much earlier when I obtain my seed-corn from a very warm dis- 
 trict and gravelly soil, which lies a few miles distant, than when I employ 
 the seeds of the vicinity. 
 
 " The value, to the gardener, of an early crop, has attracted his attention 
 to the propagation and culture of the earliest varieties of many species of 
 our esculent plants ; but in the improvement of these he is more often 
 indebted to accident than to any plan of systematic culture ; and contents 
 himself with merely selecting and propagating from the plant of the earliest 
 habits which accident throws in his way, without inquiring from what 
 causes those habits have arisen : and few efforts have been made to bring 
 into existence better varieties of those fruits which are not generally pro- 
 pagated from seeds, and which, when so propagated, of necessitj'^ exercise, 
 during many years, the patience of the cultivator before he can hope to see 
 the fruits of his labor. 
 
 " The attempts which I have made to produce early varieties of fruit are, 
 I believe, all that have yet been made ; and though the result of them is by 
 no means sufficiently decisive to prove the truth of the hypothesis I am 
 endeavoring to establish, or the eligibility of the practice I have adopted, it 
 is amply sufficient to encourage future experiment. 
 
 "The first species of fruit which was subjected to experiment by me was 
 the api)le ; some young trees of those varieties of this fruit, from which I 
 wished to propagate, were trained to a south wall, till tlicy produced buds 
 which contained blossoms. Their branches were then, in the succeeding 
 winter, detached from the wall, and removed to as great a distance from it 
 as the pliability of their stems would permit, and in this situation they 
 remained till their blossoms were so far advanced in the succeeding spring 
 as to be in some danger of injury from frost. The branches were then 
 trained to the wall, where every blossom I suffered to remain soon expanded 
 and produced fruit. This attained in a few months the most perfect state 
 of maturity ; and the seeds afforded plants, which have ripened their fruit 
 very considerably earlier than other trees, wliicli I raised at the same time, 
 from seeds of the same fruit, which had grown in the orchard. In this expe- 
 riment the fecundation of the blossoms of each variety teas produced by the farina 
 of another kind, from which process, I think, I obtained in this and many similar 
 experiments an increased vigor and luxuriance ofgroivth ; but I have no reasons
 
 122 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 whatever to think that plants thus generated ripen their fruit earlier than 
 others which are obtained by the common methods of culture. I must, 
 therefore, attribute the early maturity of those I have described to the other 
 peculiar circumstances under which the seeds and fruit ripened from which 
 they sprang. 
 
 " I obtained, by the same mode of culture, many new varieties, which are 
 the olTspring of the Siberian crab and the richest of our apples, with the 
 intention of aflording fruits for the press, which might ripen well in cold 
 and exposed situations. The plants thus produced seem perfectly well cal- 
 culated in every respect to answer the object of the experiment, and possess 
 an extraordinary hardiness and luxuriance of growth. The annual shoots 
 of some of them, from newly grafted trees in mj- nurser}', the soil of which 
 is by no means rich, exceeded six feet and a half in height in the last season ; 
 and their blossoms seem capable of bearing extremely unfavorable weather 
 without injury. In all the preceding experiments some of the new varieties 
 inherited the character of the male, and others of the fvmalc parent in the greatest 
 degree ; and of some varieties of fruit (^particularly the gulden pippin) I obtained 
 a better copy by introducing the farina into the blossom of another apple, than by 
 sowing their own seeds; I sent a new variety (the Downton pippin) which 
 was thus obtained from the farina of the golden pippin, to the Horticultural 
 •Society last year ; but those specimens afforded but a very unfavorable 
 sample of it, for the season, and the situation in which the fruit ripened, 
 were very cold, and almost every leaf of the trees had been eaten off by 
 insects. In a favorable season and situation it will, I believe, be found little^ 
 if at all, inferior to the golden pippin, when first taken from the tree ; but 
 it is a good deal earlier, and probably caimot be preserved so long. 
 
 " I proceed to experiments on the grape, whicli, tliough less successful 
 than those on the apple in the production of good varieties, are not less 
 favorable to the preceding conclusions. A vinery in wiiich im fires are 
 made during the winter affords to the vine a climate similar to that which 
 the southern parts of Siberia aflbrd to the apple or crab-tree ; in it a simi- 
 larly extensive variation of temperature takes place, and the sudden tran- 
 sition from great comparative cold to excessive heat is productive of the 
 same rapid progress in the growth of the plants, and advancement of the 
 fruit to maturity. My first attempt was to combine tlie hardiness of the 
 blossom of the black cluster, or liurgundy grai)e, witii tlie large berry and 
 early maturity of the true sweetwater. The seedling jjiants produced fruit 
 in my vinery at three or four years old, and tlie fruit of some of them was 
 very earl}- ; but the bunches were short and ill-formed, and the berries 
 much smaller than those of the swietwater, and the blossoms ditl not set by 
 any means so well as I had hoped. 
 
 " Sul>»tiluting the white chasselas for the sweetwater, I obtained several 
 varieties whose blossorns a])])ear i)erfectly hardy, and capable of setting well 
 in the open air ; and the fruit of some of them is ripening a good deal earlier 
 in the present year than that of either of the parent jjlants. The berries, 
 however, arc smaller than those of the chasselas, nn<l with less tender and 
 •lelicate skins ; and, though not without considerable merits for the dessert, 
 they arc generally best calculated for the press : for the latter i)urpo8e, in a
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 1C3 
 
 cold climate, I am confident that one or two of them possess very great 
 excellence. I sent a bunch of one of those varieties to tlie Horticultural 
 Society in the last autumn, and 1 propose to send two or three others in the 
 present year. 
 
 " I have subsequently obtained plants from tlie white chassclas and sweet- 
 water, whose appearance is much more promising ; and the earliest variety 
 of the grape I have ever yet seen sprang from a seed of the sweetwater and 
 the farina of the red frontignac. This is also a very fine grape, resembling 
 the frontignac in color and the form of the bunch ; but I fear its blossoms 
 will prove too tender to succeed in the open air in this country ; a single 
 bunch, consisting of a few berries, is, however, all tliat has yet existed of 
 this kind. The present season also affords me two new varieties of the vine 
 with striped fruit and variegated autumnal leaves, produced by the white 
 chasselas and the farina of the Aleppo vine : one of these has ripened 
 extremely early, and is, I think, a good grape. When perfectly ripe, I pro- 
 pose sending a bunch of it for the inspection of the Horticultural Society. 
 
 " In all attempts to obtain new varieties of fruit, the i)ropagator is at a 
 loss to know what kinds are best calculated to answer his purpose ; and 
 therefore I have mentioned those varieties of the grape from which I have 
 propagated with the best prospect of success. My experiments are, 
 however, still in their infancy ; and I do not possess the means of making 
 them on so large a scale or in so perfect a manner as I wish ; nevertheless, 
 the facts of which I am in possession leave no grounds of doubt in my mind, 
 that varieties of the grape, capable of ripening perfectly in our climate 
 when trained to a south wall, and of other fruits better calculated for our 
 climate tlian tliose we now cultivate, may readily be obtained ; but whether 
 the mode of culture I have adopted and recommended be most eligible must 
 be decided by future and more extensive practice. 
 
 " I have made experiments similar to the preceding on the peach ; but I 
 can say no more of the result of them, than that the plants possess the most 
 perfect degree of health and luxuriance of growth, and that their leaves 
 afford satisfactory evidence of the good quality of the future fruit. I am 
 ignorant of the age at which plants of this species become capable of 
 producing blossoms ; but the rapid changes in the character of the leaves 
 and growth of my plants, which are now in their third year, induce me to 
 believe that they will be capable of producing fruit at three or four years 
 old. 
 
 " I shall finish my paper with stating a few conclusions, which I have 
 been able to draw in the course of many years' close attention to the subject 
 on which I write. 
 
 " iVew varieties of evert/ species of fruit will generaUij be better obtained by 
 introducing the farina of one variety of fruit into the blossom of another, than 
 by propagating from any single hind. When an experiment of this kind is made 
 between varieties of different size and character, the farina of tlie smaller kind 
 should be introduced into the blossoms oj the larger; for, under these circum- 
 stances, I have generally (but ivitli some exceptions) observed in the new fruit 
 a prevalence of the character of the female parent; probably owing to 
 the following causes — The seed-coats are generated wholly by the female
 
 ]24 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 parent, and these regulate the bulk of the lobes and plantule; and I liave 
 observed, in raising new varieties of the peach, that when one stone 
 contained two seeds, the plants these afforded were inferior to others. The 
 largest seeds, obtained from the finest fruit, and from that which ripens 
 most perfectly and most early, should always be selected. It is scarcely 
 necessary to inform the experienced gardener, that it trill be necessary to 
 extract the stamina of the blossoms from which he proposes to propagate, some 
 days before the farina begins to shed, when he proposes to generate new varieties 
 in the manner I have recommended. 
 
 " When young trees have sprung from the seed, a certain period must 
 elapse before they become capable of bearing fruit, and this period, I be- 
 lieve, cannot be shortened by any means. Pruning and transplanting are 
 both injurious ; and no change in the character or merits of the future fruit 
 can be effected during this period either by manure or culture. The young 
 plants should be suffered to extend their branches in every direction, in 
 which they do not injuriously interfere with each other; and tlic soil should 
 just be sufficiently rich to promote a moderate degree of growth, without 
 stimulating the plant to preternatural exertion, which always induces 
 disease.* The periods which different kinds of fruit-trees require to attain 
 the age of puberty are very varied. The pear requires from twelve to 
 eighteen years ; the apple, from five to twelve, or thirteen ; the plum and 
 cherry, four or five years ; the vine, three or four ; and the raspberry, two 
 years. The strawberry, if its seeds be sown early, affords an abundant crop 
 in the succeeding year. My garden at present contains several new and 
 excellent varieties of this fruit.f some of wliich I shall be liappy to send to 
 the Horticultural Society." 
 
 The coincidence in thought and in illustration between (^ooper and Knight 
 is remarkable ; and yet it is evident that both were original. Knight, in 
 illustrating the extremes of heat and cold which plants can endure without 
 injury, has these remarks: "In Jamaica and other mountainous islands in 
 the West Indies, the air upon the mountains becomes soon after sunset 
 chilled and condensed, and, in conse(iuencc of its superior gravity, descends 
 and displaces the warm air of the valleys; yet sugar canes are so far from 
 being injured by tiiis sudden decrease of temperature, tluit the sugars 
 of Jamaica take a higher jtrice in the market than tliose of (lie less elevateil 
 islands, of which the temperature of the day and niglit is subject to nnich 
 less variation." " The mango, (mangi)'irii Inilini,) tliough a native of a very 
 hot and briglit climate, and capal)le of bearing, with apji.ircnt b> ncflt, tlu; 
 hot drying winds of Bengal, vegetates freely and retains its he.iltli in 
 
 "• The soil of an old garden is peculiarly dislniclive." 
 "t Tlie hautboy strawberry does not ajii)ear to i)ropagate readily with the 
 ftthcr varieties, and may j)ossibly belong to an originally ilistinct species. I 
 have, however, obtained .several offspring from its farina; but they have all 
 produced a feeble and abortive blos.toin. If nature, in any instance, permits 
 the existence of vegetable mules (but this I am not inclined to believe), these 
 plants seem to be beings of that kind."
 
 AOHICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 125 
 
 comparatively low temperature, and under a cloudy atmosphere. Tlie 
 plants which I possess si)raug' from seeds, in October, 1818, and are now, 
 (December, 1819,) shooting strongly, although in a temperature rarely so 
 high as C0°. Mr. Turner, in his Journey to Thibet, states that he found 
 the mango growing in latitude 27° 50', in Eoutan, in the same orchard with 
 the apple tree; the apples ripening in July, and the mangoes in September." 
 
 What I am anxious to impress upon Australians in this early stage of 
 their husbandry, is the cultivation of habits of patience and perseverance, 
 along with the cultivation of the products which they wish to introduce, for 
 the exercise of which they will have abundant scope. Dr. Walker has 
 recorded as a curious fact, that though the yew tree is a native of Sweden, 
 all the yew plants sent from Paris to plant Le Notre's designs, died at. Stock- 
 holm the first winter. My inference from that fact is, that French accli- 
 mation had in that instance so revolutionized the French variety as to have 
 unfitted it for direct resumption of habitat in its own connatural country. 
 J)e Leuze has observed that though it is difficult to form vegetable collec- 
 tions in northern countries, industry conquers obstacles, and the more i)re- 
 cautions are necessary to secure plants from the rigor of a climate, the more 
 will culture be perfected ; and Loudon has well remarked, that nothing 
 could be more extraordinary in the way of gardening than the well known 
 fact, that though a centurj- ago there was scarcely such a thing in any part 
 of Russia as a garden, there had been for the last fifty years more pine- 
 apples grown in the neighborhood of Petersburg than in all other coun- 
 tries of the Continent put together. But my crowning illustration on this 
 subject shall be the record of old Parkinson, that our English ancestors, in 
 the days of Queen Elizabeth, had the patience to reconcile the laurel or 
 bay cherry, which is now as hardy as if had been " a native Briton," to an 
 English habitat, by defending their bantling "from the bitterness of the 
 winter, by casting a blanket over the top thereof !" 
 
 Cotton culture being the coronal topping of the aspiring special branch 
 of Australian husbandry, and recent events in America having attached 
 unusual interest to a product likely to be, as an Australian staple, second 
 only in commercial importance to wool, and the culture of that product 
 being unknown in English husbandry, I am induced to go somewhat more 
 into detail as to it than I thought myself called upon to do in regard to 
 any other vegetable product. 
 
 Cotton, it is well known, is the wool or down which surrounds the seeds 
 of a plant botanically named gossypium, of which the consumption is 
 enormous ; and though I have arrived at the conclusion that cotton culture 
 in Victoria will be best experimentally commenced in the sixteen millions 
 of acres situate between the River Murray and the 37th parallel of south 
 latitude, and shall, as a consequence of that conclusion, propound that 
 cotton, as well as cane-sugar, will be most profitably cultivated in planta- 
 tions in northern Victoria, set apart especially for the purpose, and cropped 
 in alternation with each other : I am nevertheless of opinion that much 
 may be done, as to both products, in favorable locations in other parts
 
 126 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 of the colony, as parcel of domain culture ; inasmuch as room may be made 
 for such of tlie perennial varieties of cotton as reach tree dignity in the 
 special culture allotment numbered 1, and for the less permanent varieties, 
 intended to be cultivated as sub-perennials, in the special culture allotment 
 numbered 22, whilst such of the varieties as will submit to striotlj' annual 
 cropping may pass through the Victorian course, along witii sugar beet, in 
 the summer cropping of the field, classed as the sixth in my arable rotation; 
 or along with hemp, tlax, and other textiles, in the summer cropping of the 
 field classed as the eighth in that rotation ; or along with the cropping of 
 both fields, if demand for cotton shall so require. 
 
 The manufacture of cotton into cloth is unquestionably of remote 
 antiquity, though it appears that that of linen preceded it, for it is recorded 
 of Solomon (2 Chronicles i. 16), that his merchants received linen yarn, at 
 a price, from Egypt. There has been much controversy as to whether the 
 wrapping cloths of the Egyptian munmiics were made of linen or cotton ; 
 but the microscope, in the hands of Dr. Thomson, has demonstrated that 
 the material so used was linen, and not cotton. Herodotus, however, who 
 wrote about 445 years before the Christian era, expressly states that the 
 Indians possessed a plant which, instead of fruit, produced wool, of a finer 
 and better quality than that of sheep, of which they made their clothes ; so 
 that cotton culture, and the manufacture to which that culture has given 
 rise, have a clear antiquity of more than two thousand years. 
 
 The cotton plant was earl}' grown in Egypt, and also in the island 
 of Tylos, in the Persian Gulf " In Upper Egypt," writes Pliu}', " towards 
 Arabia, there grows a shrub which some call gossypium, and others xylon, 
 and from which the stutfs are made wliich we called xylina. (Xylon, it is 
 to be observed, was the Greek name of the cotton plant.) It is small, and 
 bears a fruit resembling a nut, within which is a downy wool, whicii is spun 
 into thread. There is nothing to he preferred to these stuffs for whiteness 
 or softness; beautiful garments are made from them for the i)riests of 
 Egypt." Pliny, in his description of tlie island of Tylos, (following the 
 Greek naturalist Theophrastus,) enumerates among its remarkable pro- 
 ductions " wool bcarhig trees," with leaves exactly like those of the vine, 
 but smaller ; these trees, he says, bear a fruit, which bursting when ripe, 
 di8j)lay a ball of downy wool, from which are made costly garments, of a 
 fabric resembling lintii. 
 
 It is clear also that tlie manufacture of cotton was in use in ^lexico before 
 its con<iuest by the Spaniards; for history has recorded that Cortes was 
 presented with garments of cotton, and with cotton clolli to cover his huts; 
 and cotton cloth has been discovered among thcrdics found in their earliest 
 tombs, HO that sonic siiccies of cotton are cK'.irly iiKligcnous in America. 
 
 Amf)ng the peculiar incidents of cotton culture wliicii I have noted in my 
 researches on the sultjcct, are the revival of that culture in Egypt, by Ali 
 I'asha, in the year IH'21, al^er a iliscontiiniance of fifteen hundred years, 
 and the extraordinary fact, (if fact it be,) that the celebrated Sea Island 
 variety should, after migrating from the East to the West Indies, viii 
 Eurojie, iind becoming famous in the West, re-migrate from the West 
 Indies to its original eastern cliinc, lii'i nourbon, and lie received under its
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 127 
 
 novel name of Bourbon cotton, as an invalualile acquisition to the flora of 
 the very region whicli gave it birtli ! 
 
 We know nothing earlier of the culture of cotton in Europe, than that 
 it was introduced into Spain from Morocco, by the Moors, in the tenth 
 century, and that it was established in Italy in the fourteenth. The cotton 
 manufactories of England, which arc comparatively modern, were long 
 supplied with the raw material from the Levant, and subsequently from the 
 West Indies It is stated, in Wilson's account of the " Province of Carolina, 
 in America," published in 1682, " that cotton of the Cyprus and Malta sort 
 grew well, and a good plenty of the seed was sent thither ; " which I quote 
 to show that if the gossi/pium barhadense is in reality identical with the 
 gossyputm herbaceum, (as Baiiies intimates, and states that the Sea Island 
 variety was probably of Persian origin,) it is much more likely that the 
 West Indies should have received it, in the progress of colonization, from 
 Persia, via Cyprus and Malta, than that Persia should have been its 
 recipient from the West Indies. 
 
 The general introduction into use of Arkwright's spinning machinery, in 
 1769 ; the establishment of the factory system, in 1785 ; and improvements 
 soon afterwards effected in other machinery and in the arts of bleaching and 
 calico printing ; gave, in combination, the astonishing impetus to the cotton 
 manufactures of England, which has resulted in the production of the 
 most wonderful industrial development of all ages and of all countries ; and 
 though, in justice to India, I have recorded the true birth place of the cotton 
 manufacture, a patriotic feeling impels the addition, that its majestic 
 growth was wholly due to English nurture. 
 
 In the year 1781, the aggregate importation of cotton into Britain from 
 all parts of the world was only 5,198,778 lbs.; but, in 1789, when the 
 American States were intending to participate in cotton culture, it had 
 augmented to 32,576,000 lbs., which were thus supplied : — 
 
 lbs. 
 
 British West Indies 10,128,000 
 
 French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch colonies ... 15,600,000 
 
 Surat and the East Indies :. 2,000,000 
 
 Isle of France and Bourbon ... 148,000 
 
 Smyrna and Turkey 4,700,000 
 
 32,576,000 
 
 In the j'car 1833, the importation of cotton into Britain had augmented 
 to 303,656,837 lbs, of which 33,139,050 lbs. were from the East Indies, being 
 somewhat over the entire supply of the year 1789; which shows that, in 
 the 44 years which had elapsed between the two dates, cotton culture had 
 greatly progressed in India, though not in the surprising ratio at which it 
 had progressed in America ; for the American States cxiiorted, in 1791, only 
 19,200 lbs, which was their then entire produce, — the States having at 
 that date no cotton manufacturing estaldishments of their own : but, in 
 the year 1833, the quantity exported from the States had augmented to 
 216,000,000 lbs., after retaining 39,000,000 lbs. for the employment of their 
 own looms.
 
 1C8 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Tlie proiluction of cotton has augmented amazingly since the year 1833, 
 in various parts of the world ; but the American States retain the lead 
 which they had then taken, and have, of late years, supplied Britain with 
 six-sevenths of all the cotton manufactured there. 
 
 The quantities of raw cotton consumed in the chief manufacturing countries 
 of the world in 1S56 vSays Simmonds in his Dktioiiary of Trade Products, 
 published at London in 1858') were, /« millions of pounds, as follow; — Britain, 
 920; Russia, Germany, Holland, and Belgium (together) 256; France, 211 ; 
 Spain, 48 ; countries bordering on the Adriatic, 39; ilediterrancan and other 
 countries, 56 , and the United States of America, 2C5 ; — making a total of 
 1795 millions of pounds! 
 
 Tlie following transmigrations of a small parcel of cotton wool evince 
 the importance of the cotton plant, and the ramifications of the trade to 
 which it has given rise. The parcel, after a voyage from India to London, 
 was sent to Manchester to be manufactured into yarn ; after which it made 
 its first appearance in Paisley to be woven; thence it was sent into Ayrshire 
 to be tamboured ; after which it made its second appearance in Paisley to be 
 veined ; after that it was sent to Dumbarton to be hand sewed ; after which 
 it made its third appearance in Paisley, whence it was sent to Renfrew to 
 be bleached ; after wliicli it made a fourth appearance in Paisley, whence it 
 was sent to Glasgow to be finished ; after which it was despatched by coach 
 to London. The time which intervened between the package of the wool 
 in India and its arrival as cloth in the merchant's warehouse in London, 
 after its many northern excursions, was three years, in the course of which 
 it had travelled five thousand miles by sea, and one thousand by land, and 
 had contributed to the support of one hundred and fifty people, who, how- 
 ever, by their combined eflbrts, had increased its value full two thousand 
 per cent. ! 
 
 It luckily liapi)ens for Australians tliat the English East India Company 
 were induced, in 1788, to attempt the extension and imi)rt)vement of cotton 
 culture in their Indian provinces, where, as I have stated, cotton culture 
 originated, and where the process of manufacture had arrived at such a 
 superlative degree of perfection as that the epithet "a web of woven wind" 
 applied to Dacca m\isiln, was scarcely Inperbolical, inasnnich as wc have 
 the testimony of an English missionary that Dacca muslins were so ex- 
 quisitely fine that, when laid on the grass and the dew had fallen upon 
 them, they were no longer visible : and also that, sinniitaneously with the 
 proceedings of the company in India, the introduction of cotton culture was 
 efTected in Georgia and Carolina, where, it is to i>e borne in mind, that ctilture 
 had not pre-existed. From tlie>e sinuiltaneous movements, Australian agri- 
 culturislH can reap tlie Ix-f.efit, as well of thecomiiany'sexiieriencc as of that 
 of the American Stales alHo, and can tlnTchy see the imiiortance of care in 
 jireparing cotton for tlie ICnglish market; for it was un(|ueslionably owing 
 to the prejudices of thi' Iliiuioos against innovation in their antiijuated 
 motle of culture and market preparation, and the greater attention of the 
 American planters to the i»rei)arative recjuirements of their English cus- 
 tomers (combined with the fortunate incidents of the almoRt accidental 
 acquinuH 111 by the AmericuiiH of the Sea Island variity of cotton, luid of
 
 AGRICULTUKK OF VICTORIA. 129 
 
 the invention in 1793, by Mr. Eli AVliitney, of Massachusetts, of an imple- 
 ment called a saw-gin, with which a man could effectually cleanse from seeds 
 and dirt 3 cwt. of cotton in a day, without the injury to its staple which 
 beating in the old waj' occasioned) ; whilst Hindoo culture and management 
 remained stationary, that the American plant unexpectedly grew into a 
 giant whilst the East Indian plant, originally of greater promise, got 
 stuntedly dwarfed. 
 
 The great cotton district of America comprises the States of Virginia, 
 Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, 
 and Florida, and (overlooking the elongated part of Florida, because it is 
 insufficient in breadth to entitle the mass cf the district to claim much in 
 respect of its own southern position), may be considered as lying between 
 the parallels of 30° and 36° north latitude. I have, in an earlier part of this 
 essay, adverted to the statement of Humboldt, that mere latitude is not to 
 be relied upon as an infallible criterion of climate adaptation for particular 
 products, inasmuch as many influences have combined to give to Australian 
 climates great advantage over those of America, which lie in approximate 
 position ; and it being admitted in physical geography that the isothermal 
 line which would pass through Australia about latitude 35° would cross 
 America about 30°, it will 1 apprehend, as a consequence, be found on investi- 
 gation that, for cotton growing, the soil and climate of the land of Victoria 
 which lies between the 34th and the 37th parallels are as eligible as those 
 which lie between the 30th and the 36th of the North American continent. 
 If climate heat beyond a given degree had been of greater avail than it is 
 in cotton culture, it is obvious that the East Indian plant would have been 
 the giant and the American the dwarf; for all accounts agree that cotton is 
 moderate in its requirements as to moisture, in which alone the American 
 States had the advantage over much warmer East Indian provinces : and 
 though it is true that the best varieties of cotton at present in cultivation 
 which happen to have had a tropical origin are very sensitive to the in- 
 fluence of frost, it does not folbw, as an inevitable consequence, that new 
 varieties originating in cooler climates from those tropical originals will, 
 of necessity, retain the extreme temperature susceptibility of their hot 
 climate precursors. The fact is, that the aversion of the Hindoo cultivator 
 to innovation of any kind, and adhesion to an imperfect system of market 
 preparation spoilt the commodity which India produced in greater perfection 
 than America, and thereby threw the immense advantage of a lucrative 
 branch of husbandry into the hands of the Americans exclusively, because 
 they compelled their slaves to attend to the requirements of their English 
 customers, and invented (as we have seen) a saw-gin to perfect a pre- 
 paration which the East India Company failed to obtain from their coolies 
 with the obsolete machinery which those coolies persisted in using. The 
 consequence was that the better material became, under competition, the 
 half-price article, and the result, in the sequel, was the monopoly by 
 the United States of six-sevenths of the entire supply of Britain, leaving 
 only a single seventh for the produce of India, Brazil, the West Indies, 
 Egypt, and the rest of the world conjointly, a circumstance which, in 
 my mind, indicates great peril in any resort to coolie labor and coolie 
 
 K
 
 130 
 
 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 mauagement in the introduction of cotton culture into Australia, and 
 points to the conclusion that coolie management and labor are only 
 to be resorted to when better is not to be had. I should much prefer 
 the introduction of emancipated negroes with their families from the 
 cotton-growing States of America, and, as I approhcnd one great conse- 
 quence of the American crisis will be a disruption of the slavery tie in 
 the southern States, free negro labor will become abundant, and, conse- 
 quently, cheap enough for Australian importation ; and it is to be remem- 
 bered that that labor is already skilled in the cultivation of the article about 
 which we are now so anxious. 
 
 As the cotton plant, though intertropical as to climate, is certainly in- 
 digenous in Asia, Africa, and America, and that, too, beyond strictly tropical 
 bounds, and as Dr. Mueller, in his Fragmcnta Phi/tograpliite Australia; pub- 
 lished at Melbourne in 1859, thus describes a plant, "Malvacea; Gossypiura 
 Australe," I assume it to be indigenous in Australia also ; and as the cotton 
 jilant (un the authority of Royle) has been found flourishing in such far 
 distant islands as the Galapagos, the Sandwich, the Seychelles, Java, 
 Borneo, and other islands of the Indian Ocean, and also in the islands of the 
 Chinese coast extending up to Japan, and as cotton has yielded to successful 
 culture in Sicily, Naples, Malta, Spain, the Levant, Egypt, IMorocco, China, 
 Persia, and many other places, as well as in India and America, and has 
 thriven in Turkey as high as the 45th parallel of latitude ; and as, on the 
 authority of Stuart, an American travel'er from whom I shall quote, it has 
 to some extent supplanted tobacco culture in the comparatively northern 
 State of Virginia ; and as the Sea Island variety, though considered In- 
 some to be a native of the arid climate of Persia, has attained its greatest 
 present development in the comparatively ungenial climates of Georgia and 
 Carolina, cotton cannot be so nice in its climate requirements as some 
 authorities surmise : and I hold it to be the duty of the Executive of Vic- 
 toria to demonstrate to England forthwith, by a series of trustworthy 
 observations and experiments in well-selected districts, that several profit- 
 able varieties of cotton do not require more climate heat for their perfect 
 develoi)ment than favoured localities in northern Victoria and in Gipps 
 Land, at all events, possess. Experiment in southern Victoria may await 
 until the result of the fir^t process shall have vouched the cotton-growing 
 capaliilities of the colony in the afflrmativc. As the 45th ])arallel of latitude 
 is the highest jioint which I have seen instanced in cotton growth, 1 shall 
 quote mv authority, which is that of Dr. Jennings in his I'amHi/ Ci/clopadia, 
 publisheil in Ist2: "Cotton although a native of the torrid zone, is yet 
 jiro(luce(l in Turkey as far as 45 degrees north latitude." There is evidently 
 a prcflisposifion in Engliind, gronndi<l probably (m erroneous impression as to 
 climate re(iuiremenf, to acclaim Quecnslaml as pre-eminently the cotton 
 colony of Australia ; so that, if Victorians are supine and do not lucidly ex- 
 hibit in fair rivalry the climate advantages of their splendid district north of 
 the mountain ranges, they arc not to be surprised if Madame Queensland 
 laughingly aii])ropriates to herself the Austral cottonian wreath, regarflless 
 of the rights of older sisters to coparceny in its wear. I have to add, that 
 Hoyle has cited Astrakhan, in lalit iide If.' , in the Eastern liemispherc, as
 
 AOIIICULTUHE OF VICTORIA. l31 
 
 his extreme latitude as to eastern culture, and lias mentioned latitude 37° 
 as his American extreme, being in both cases a degree beyond m^' instances; 
 and 1 notice that riiillips, in my extract from him, intimates that a species 
 of cotton plant has been found in America in latitude 40°, so that Mistress 
 Tasmania need not despair of sluiring with her juvenile sister an occasional 
 right to the wear of the gossypium wreath. 
 
 The River Murray leaves the colony of Victoria (of which it is for .OGO 
 miles the northern boundary) near the 34th parallel of latitude, and between 
 that river and the 37tli parallel is situate the sixteen millions of acres of 
 splendid cotton-climated land to which I have before adverted. A glance at 
 the map of the colony of Victoria prefixed to this essay will show the posi- 
 tion of the mountain ranges which so eligibly divide the colony precisely 
 where convenience would desire. I have always considered the position of 
 those ranges as the finest jihysical feature of the colonj- (apart from any 
 appreciation resulting from their auriferous and other mineral treasures), 
 and tliat the dual climate blessing which emanates from that position confers 
 just title to the epithet Australia Felix, which was first bestowed on the 
 colony as its name. It is obvious that no English garden was ever better 
 protected by judiciously placed walls than the bulk of this highly favoured 
 district is by the position of the ranges, and as the whole of the north ^'ic- 
 torian watershed is northernly towards the Murray, it is apparent that, if it 
 Avere possible to move the colony round, as on a pivot, to obtain a sunny 
 aspect, that which a benignant Providence has kindly bestowed could not be 
 improved upon. The district in question has, moreover, the rare Australian 
 advantage of being well watered by the numerous rivers and rividets shown 
 on the map, which originate in the ranges and flow into tiie Murray. 
 
 As I do not see how Queensland can have cheaper labor than Victoria might 
 have, and as there can be no doubt as to the soil capability of Victoria in its 
 southern as well as in its northern division, the question as to the capability 
 of Victoria to compete with Queensland in cotton culture appears to me to 
 be simply, what are the climate requirements of the various profitable 
 varieties of cotton, and to what extent does Victoria possess land able to 
 meet those requirements ? I have seen a statement that cotton may be 
 grown to advantage Avhere the mean summer heat averages 74°, and the 
 mean winter heat is not less than 46°, if the climate afibrds at least eight 
 calendar months between the frosts of spring and those of autumn. With 
 these requirements I apprehend more than half the colony of Victoria could 
 comply, seeing that the report on its climate, included in that on its resources, 
 to which I have elsewhere adverted, states that in Melbourne the mean tem- 
 perature of the air was for the years 1858 and 1859, 57-8°, and that the mean 
 temperature of tlie surface soil of Melbourne for a year had amounted to 
 60-58°; it being to be observed that the mean of the summer and Avinter 
 heat (74° and 4C°) stated to be those required for the advantageous growth 
 of cotton, is 60°. I have also seen a Melbourne statement, that, up to a 
 given period in 1860, 365 consecutive days had yielded a mean temperature 
 in Melbourne of 72-,^)° for the summer portion, and 45*3° for the winter ; 
 which, if correct, is not disparaging, but on the contrary trends to the assu- 
 rance that in localities further north thnn Melbourne, and especially in those 
 
 K 2
 
 132 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 which have the advantage of protection by the mountain ranges, combined 
 with a northern aspect, and the Murray watershed, many of the more deli- 
 cate varieties will succeed. We have, moreover, the statement of Humboldt, 
 that the gossypium herbaceum is successfully cultivated in the temperate 
 zone, where, with a mean summer heat of 73° to 75°, that of winter is not 
 less than 46° or 48°; so that the success of cotton culture to some extent 
 in Victoria may be safely predicted. It is matter of notoriety that in the 
 great North American cotton district, the temjierature of many winters gives 
 an average much below 46°, and I have seen statements which reduce the 
 average duration of the cotton growing season, over a moiety of the great 
 North American district, to seven months certain, and, in some other places, 
 to eight ; whereas the average of the bulk of the colony of Victoria can, I 
 apprehend, be sustained at nine, and, in the district below the 37th parallel 
 of latitude, and in favored parts of Gipps Land, at ten months. 
 
 It may tend to success, if. in the introduction of cotton into Victori:i, 
 preference is given to seed grown in the northern states of Virginia, Carolina, 
 and Georgia, because the plants produced from such seed are likely to be 
 liardier and less sensitive as to temperature than plants grown from seed of 
 warmer regions; and I think it probable that sixty years of Virginian and 
 Georgian culture has constitutionally so modified the Sea Island variety 
 there grown as to have adapted even it for some Victorian habitats, not- 
 withstanding the supposition that failure might he feared as the result of 
 an attempt to introduce that variety into Southern Victoria direct from the 
 much warmer regions of either Persia or the West Indies, to one of which 
 its origin must be assignctl. It is only of late years that the climature 
 department of agriculture has had phiiosoj)hical consideration. 
 
 A cotton plantation at the gatiiering season, when the globes of snowy 
 wool are seen among the glossy dark green leaves, is said by travellers to be 
 singularly beautiful; and in the hotter countries, where the yellow blossoms 
 and the ripened fruit are seen at the same time, the beauty of the plantation 
 is considered to be greatly enhanced. 
 
 American cultivators of cotton have hitherto confined their attention to 
 three varieties, which, though in fact perennials, are, owing to the abund- 
 ance of slave labor, somewhat prodigally cultivated, as if they were mere 
 annuals. These varieties are the Nankin, the wool of which is yellow ; 
 I'pland Georgian, the wool of which is wiiite, but which variety is also 
 called "green seeil," from the color of its seed; and the Sea Island, tlie wool 
 of which is a yellowisli white, and tlie seed black, whicli has caused the 
 variety to Ik; occasionally called the black seed kind. 
 
 Ajiart from the importance of cotton as a textile product, it is to he borne 
 in mind that cotton seed contains n large quantity of almost colorless oil 
 along with a brown resinous substance which colors the oil when expressed. 
 The seed has l)een employed in cotton growing countries to make pectoral 
 emulsions, becaiise of the oil which it contains, combined with mucilaginous 
 and Haccharine i)rin(iples; all of which, being nutritious and non-reiiugnant 
 in taste, are tiniversally employed in India and China in the feeding of cattle. 
 The oil is :ilso used at a lamp oil. 
 
 Uriti»h utteiiLion huvint; been called to the oil of cotton seed, an apparatus
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 133 
 
 was constructed to free the seeds from the short down or fuzz in which they 
 were enveloped, before subjecting tiiem to pressure in the oil press. The oil 
 is described as being of a brownish color, witli a slight tinge of green, and 
 has been compared to oil expressed from partially scorched linseed, and it 
 has been suggested that it might be useful in woo! dressing. Dr. Anderson, 
 the chemist to the Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland, is reported 
 by Dr. Royle to have had sent to him the refuse cake obtained after the 
 expression of the oil, which he thus described : " The cake had a brown 
 color, and contained large fragments of the husk of the seed. It was very 
 brittle, and broke much more readily than linseed cake ; moistened with 
 water, it appeared to be much less mucilaginous than that substance. Its 
 taste was not unpleasant." In its analysis, Anderson pursued the method 
 usually employed for linseed cake, determining simply those constituents 
 upon which its feeding value was believed to depend, viz. : — 
 
 Water ... ... ... ... ... 1119 
 
 Oil ... ... ... ... ... 9-08 
 
 Sugar ... ... ... ... ... 10-70 
 
 Albuminous compounds (nitrogen, 3-9.5) ... 24-69 
 
 Ash* ... ... ... ... ... 5-64 
 
 " By comparing these results with those of linseed cake, Anderson (observed 
 Royle) found that this substance possessed very considerable feeding pro- 
 perties. The quantity of oil contained in linseed cake varies from 9 to 11, 
 and is sometimes even as high as 12 per cent.; the quantity of nitrogen is 
 about 4-5 per cent. These being the most important constituents of oil cake, 
 and those by which its value is to be mainly determined, shewed that though 
 the analysis fixed the value of cotton cake below that of linseed cake, it was 
 nevertheless sufficiently high to make it a substance of very great importance 
 to agriculturists." 
 
 I consider this valuable seed property of the plant as greatly enhancing 
 the importance of cotton culture in Australia, because of the additional 
 supply of cattle food and oil which will result from that culture, when it 
 shall have been introduced into Australian husbandry. 
 
 Akin to cotton as a product is the down of a tree of magnificent growth 
 called Bombax Ceiba, which is said to attain the height of 100 feet, and 
 which, having a fine spreading top, is fomiliarly called the umbrella tree. 
 Though not of the gossypium family, it appears to me to call for notice in 
 Australian husbandry, because it produces a silkj' cotton like down, very 
 soft and white, which has been found useful for stuSing pillows and beds, 
 and supplying the purposes of feathers and down, though found to be too 
 short and brittle for spinning purposes. It grows on the coast of Guinea, 
 where it is held in veneration by the negroes, and it has been found also in 
 the West Indies, and in South America and elsewhere. Vegetable intro- 
 ductions may be made at such a comparatively light cost, that I shall 
 
 * The ash contained— 1-32 silica -, 2-19 phosphates ; 0-15 excess of phos- 
 phoric acid.
 
 134: PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 consider Australian husbandmen supine if such a shade tree as this for 
 Australian pastures is not permitted to compete among the sylvans of 
 Australian husbandry. 
 
 The seed of the herbaceous and barbadense varieties is. when cultivated 
 as an annual in northern latitudes, planted in March, April, and May, and 
 the crop is gathered in August, September, and October. In America, it is 
 common to plant in rows four foot asunder, and sixteen inches between plant 
 and plant in the row, on the Jcthro TuU or drill system ; but in India the 
 cultivation has hitherto been very slovenly conducted on the broad cast 
 principle, and without the least regard to crop rotation ; and as the plan- 
 tation is neglected at every stage of its growth, and there is also negligence 
 even in the gathering of tlie crop, and in the process of detaching the seed 
 from the down, the consequence is that Indian cotton is never worth half tlie 
 price at which American cotton of the same kind sells. 
 
 It being important in cotton-growing to obtain as great a length of staple 
 as is compatible with strength in texture in some cases, and siikiness in 
 others, recourse nmst be had, in Australian husbandry, to the Sea Island 
 variety (which is pre-eminent among cottons for its length of staple), in the 
 endeavor to produce hybrids between it and the more promising varieties of 
 the gossypium Austr.ile of Mueller, and the hardier varieties of the gossy- 
 pium acuminatum, herbaceum, and arborcum, and of sui-h other species 
 and varieties as shall be found, on trial, to tlirive best in Australia : and I 
 would, in the way of encouragement, remind Victorians liow eflcctively 
 Nature co-operated with Science in hybridising, in the instance of alsyke, in 
 the clover I'amily, its two choicest products of whitr and red. 
 
 Tlie following documents and extracts throw light upon early cotton 
 culture, when it was, as it were, in the sapling stage of its growth, and are 
 therefore interesting to those who have it in charge to expand the c/os.s;/- 
 pium Australv into the most gigantic species of its genus, speaking meta- 
 phorically, and in a commercial point of view. 
 
 "A very interesting set of experiments (says Y)v. Koyli') in crossing one 
 cotton witli another, was made by Dr. Thompson, at Sydney, and in the 
 ncipliborlinod of Moreton I5ay ; and some cotton has been grown at Holwarra, 
 near West Maitland. 'I'lie ])lants were, when young, attacked by a grub, 
 but many rcrovcred from lliis, grew steadily, and became from .'JJ feet to 
 .') feet high, branching, busliy jjiants, bearing on an average about thirty 
 pods each; and it was remarked that the liot winds of tlie season when the 
 experiment was made did not seem to injure tlie plants. But cotton plants 
 (continucH Koyle) are able to bear a good deal of heat wlien they have not 
 iK'cn j)revious]y exjiosed to nnuli moisture ; an<l as the experiment was 
 made in rich alluvial land, tlicy were, no doubt, able to dr.-iw sufficient 
 nutriment from tlie soil. Tlure can be no doubt tliat cotton jilants may 
 exist through n long range both of temperature and of atmospherical 
 muisture and drynes.M." 
 
 As the following quotations from Dr. Iloylc's "Illustrations of the Botany 
 of tlie Himalaya Mountains," published in 1830, uphold to some extent my
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 135 
 
 supposition, that the Colony of Victoria may fairly indulge in the idea of 
 competing with Queensland in the production of good commercial cotton, 
 I shall here introduce them : " In a cultivated state, cotton is now distri- 
 buted over a A'ery wide expanse of the globe, on hotii sides of the Equator ; 
 on the north extending as far as the southern shores of Europe, and on the 
 south to the Cape of Good Hope ; in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, it is 
 found, both in the Friendly and the Society Islands ; nearly under the Line, 
 it is cultivated in the islands of Celebes, Java, Timor, and the Se^'chelles, 
 as well as in Kutung, where the best is said to be grown ; extending north- 
 wards up to the Malayan peninsula, along the coast of Teuesserini into the 
 Burmese territory, and from this westward into Siam and Cliina, where 
 there is a peculiar species. Cotton is common in every part of India ; a 
 wild species was found in Ce3'lon, and another in Silhet, by Dr. Roxburgh. 
 From India the cotton plant seems to have travelled by the way of the 
 Persian Gulf, into Arabia as well as into Persia, and from thence to Syria 
 and Asia Minor. From Arabia, it was probably introduced into Egypt via 
 the ancient commerce of the Red Sea with India, whence it seems to have 
 spread into the interior of Africa, and to both its Avestern and its northern 
 coasts. The islands and shores of the Mediterranean long supplied Europe 
 with all the cotton it required. During the reign of Napoleon, he caused 
 it to be introduced into Corsica, Italy, and the southern parts of France ; 
 and Mr. Kirkpatrick cultivated it near Malaga, in Spain." " Cotton in culti- 
 vated as hir/h as 37° oj' north latitude in America; bcijond 40° in Europe; and 
 even as far north as 46° near Astrakhan" "With regard to latitude, the 
 cotton of Java, under the Line, is almost the worst in the market, while 
 that from Guiana and Brazil, within a few degrees of the Line, is the second 
 in quality ; and that from Jamaica, in 20° north latitude, which is more 
 costly in production, is 30 per cent, worse than that from Demerara, 14° 
 more to the southward ; while the cotton of Georgia and the Carolinas, 
 nearly at the northern limit of its extension, is the best that is produced ; 
 and the cotton of Egypt, of which the cultivation, with returning civiliza- 
 tion, has returned to the country by which it was first made known in 
 Europe, is of excellent quality." " It would appear, therefore, that not 
 only is temperature necessary to be considered, but also the due balance 
 between the supply of moisture to the roots, and its escape by the perspi- 
 ratory surfaces of the leaves, as well as all the varied processes of a judicious 
 culture, in addition to the choice of the species or variety to be cultivated 
 in any particular localitj'. In the choice of seed, it does not follow that 
 that which is best suited to one climate is the kind most eligible for intro- 
 duction into another, where the requisites of soil and climate may be neither 
 identical nor analogous. Dr. Bohr and Mr. Bennett mention that even in 
 the same field, some plants were ten times more productive than others, 
 and that a variety which was sterile in one situation became fertile when 
 removed to another, Avhich did not appear more favorable ; while a kind 
 that in one bore but little cotton, became most productive in a neighboring 
 farm. Much, therefore, may be done in improving the kinds wliich already 
 exist, by ascertaining with precision the parts of the country where the 
 best cotton is already produced, the peculiarities of soil, climate, and culture,
 
 136 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 selecting the most prolific plants, and extending their cnltivation, to the 
 exclusion of less fertile and inferior kinds ; exchanging the produce of one 
 place with that of another, and in selecting and preserving the best kind of 
 seed. Doing, in fact, what is everywhere done by all who are interested in 
 the improved cultivation of grain, vegetables, fruits, or flowers ; and though 
 some varieties are diflScult to propagate by seed, yet others may be ccn- 
 tinned sufficiently long to attain the permanency of species, instead of the 
 liability to change of varieties." 
 
 " Tlie commercial value of cotton" (says Dr. T?oyle in his Treatise on the 
 culture and commerce of cotton, published in 1851) "depends as well on the 
 length, strength, and fineness, as on the softness and equality of the fibre. 
 But these essential qualities are modified by color and cleanliness ; that is, 
 freedom from knots and impurities, so that there may be less waste in spin- 
 ning. Formerly color had great influence, but now the great distinction is 
 into long stapled and short stapled. Sea Island, or long stapled cotton, is 
 the most highly esteemed of the cottons ; and is remarkable, as well for the 
 length and fineness of its fibre, as for its silk_v softness. Amongst white 
 cottons it is distinguished by a slight yellowish tinge. It sells from Is. 6d- 
 to 2s., and has sold as high as 7s. a pound. The quantity is limited, from the 
 peculiarity of the physical circumstances required for its production. The 
 fibres are equable, about an inch and a half in length. Uplands, or short 
 stapled cotton, under which names are now usually included the produce 
 of the interior of Georgia and Carolina, as well as of Alabama, Mississippi, 
 Louisiana, and Tennessee. It used to be, and is sometimes still, called 
 bowed, from the cotton of Georgia having formerly been cleaned with the 
 Indian cotton bow. Though shorter in the staple, and unequal, this, which 
 is white in color, is much esteemed, and forms the bulk of the cotton of 
 commerce. Tiie staple is from an inch, to an inch and a quarter in length. 
 The best Egyptian cotton ranks next to the Sea Island in quality and 
 length of staple, thougli it is not usually so well cleaned. It was only about 
 the year 1821 that the Pasha began cotton cultivation, by importing seed 
 from America, the Me<litcrranc:in, and Brazil. These difll'rent kinds may. 
 therefore, be met with in cultivation there ; tliough the Sea Island yields 
 the best kind of Egyptian cotton, which is there called Maho. It has a staple 
 of one and a quarter to one and two-thirds inches in length. Some ex- 
 cellent cotton has been sent from Tort Natal, and some from the west coast 
 of Africa ; that from the Island of Bourl)on used formerly to be much 
 esteemed. The West Indies supplied England with the hulk of its cotton in 
 the eighteenth century, but the cultivation was neglected when sugar became 
 more jirofltahle. West Indian cotton is l<uig stiijiled, silky, and might be 
 produced of a quality equal to Sea Islauil. Boiirhon cotton is the same 
 Hpe(!ies as that whieh is cultivated in the West Indies. South American 
 cotton was, in 178it, couHidcred by Bryan I'",(iwards as the finest grained and 
 most perfectly cleaned of that which was then brought to the English 
 market; especially that of the Diitcli plantations of Berbicc, Deuierara, 
 Surinam, and Cayenne. The IVrnamhuco was afterwards sent of so fine and 
 superior a quality, as to be highly estecmeil ; and its price ranked next
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 
 
 137 
 
 to the Sea Island. The staple is long and fine, f?enerally well cleaned, and 
 glossy ; some with a yellowish tinge spins into a stout yarn, which is much 
 esteemed by hosiers. East Indian cotton varies much, and is all short 
 stapled ; but it is esteemed for its color, though it is generally sent in 
 a dirty state to market. Much cotton is cultivated in the countries sur- 
 rounding the Mediterranean Sea. It is generally the produce of Indian 
 species of the plant, though American seeds have been introduced into 
 other places than Egj'pt. The cottons cultivated in Asia Minor and Greece, 
 are generally known as those of the Levant and Smyrna cottons. The Italian 
 cottons are produced in Sicily, in Calabria, near Naples, and in Malta ; 
 those of Calabria and of Castellamare are the best, and are probably the 
 produce of an American species. A Nankin cotton is cultivated in Malta, 
 and used there. Most of these cottons are employed for native manu- 
 factures, in the countries where they are grown, or are exported for the 
 use of the manufactures of the continent. They seldom reach England, 
 except when the price of cotton is very high." 
 
 " The foregoing account of the several varieties of cotton may be appro- 
 priately concluded with the following tabular statement of the kinds and 
 prices of cotton, as named in commerce, from the places of export." 
 
 Species of Cotton. 
 
 Commercial kinds of Cotton. Prices per lb. in 1849. 
 
 Gossypium Barbadense < 
 
 Gossypium Peruvianum 
 or Acuminatum 
 
 Gossypium Indicum or 
 Herbaceum 
 
 
 d. 
 
 
 d. 
 
 Sea Island 
 
 9 
 
 to 
 
 24 
 
 Egyptian 
 
 6 
 
 — 
 
 n 
 
 New Orleans 
 
 5« 
 
 — 
 
 8 
 
 Mobile and Alabama 
 
 5^ 
 
 — 
 
 rh 
 
 Uplands 
 
 H 
 
 — 
 
 6| 
 
 Demarara and Berbice 
 
 5i 
 
 — 
 
 8 
 
 "West Indian 
 
 H 
 
 - 
 
 6f 
 
 Peruvian 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 6| 
 
 Pernambuco 
 
 6 
 
 — 
 
 6f 
 
 Aracali and Ceara ... 
 
 6i 
 
 — 
 
 7 
 
 Maranham and Para 
 
 6 
 
 — 
 
 6! 
 
 Bahia and Maceio 
 
 6 
 
 — 
 
 6| 
 
 La Guazana ... 
 
 5i 
 
 — 
 
 6 
 
 Carthagena 
 
 4f 
 
 — 
 
 4f 
 
 Smyrna 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5} 
 
 Prime Surats 
 
 5 
 
 — 
 
 5i 
 
 Common Surats 
 
 3| 
 
 — 
 
 5 
 
 Madras 
 
 4 
 
 — 
 
 .5 
 
 Bengal 
 
 n 
 
 — 
 
 3^ 
 
 " The cotton plant," (says Baines in his History' of the Cotton Manufacture 
 in Great Britain, published in 183.5,) " in all its varieties requires a dry and 
 sandy soil. This is the universal testimony of travellers and naturalists. 
 It flourishes on the rocky hills of Hindostan, Africa, and the West Indies, 
 and will grow where the soil is too poor to produce any other valuable crop. 
 A mixture of siliceous and argillaceous earth is the most desirable, with
 
 138 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 a preponderance of the former. A marshy soil is unfit for the plant ; and 
 so little congreniality has it for moisture, that a wet season is destructive to 
 it. Of the several diseases to which cotton is subject, and whicli make the 
 crop a precarious one, the most fatal is the blight produced by wetness 
 at the roots. The plant flourishes most, and produces cotton of the best 
 quality, on the sea coast. It was mentioned, as long since as the twelfth 
 century, by an Arabo-Spanish writer, that in Spain the sea coast was found 
 best suited to the cotton plant. The same fact is fomiHarly known to 
 the cotton planters of India, China, Demerara, and "Western Africa. And 
 above all, the proximity to the sea is found to be indispensable to the 
 growth of the best cotton, by the experience of the planters of South 
 Carolina and Georgia, who raise the finest cotton known, namely, the Sea 
 Island, on the sandy coasts and low islands of the sea, and who find the 
 same cotton degenerate, in length of staple and in quality, when grown 
 inland. To this rule tliere are, however, two exceptions. The Pernambnco 
 cotton, which is second only to the Sea Island in value, tliough still much 
 inferior, is said by Kuster to be injured by proxhnity to the sea, and 
 improved as the planters recede from it. In Egypt also, it is reported 
 by St. John in his travels, that ' the cotton of the upper provinces several 
 hundred miles from the sea, is superior to that of the Delta.' " 
 
 " The celebrated Sea Island cotton," (sa3's Baines in another part of his 
 history,) " is much longer in the fibre than any other description. It 
 is also strong, and even of a silky texture, and has a yellowish tinge. Its 
 seed is black ; whereas most of the other American cotton is produced from 
 green seed. It is of the annual herbaceous kind, and tiiough introduced 
 from the Bahama Islands into Georgia, it is supposed that Persia is the 
 native country of the Sea Island species. The soil, and situation of the 
 low sandy islands, which lie along the coast from Charlestown to Savannah, 
 were found extremely congenial to the plant ; and from them the cotton 
 which it produces derives its name. The quantity raised is however 
 limited, by the peculiar combination of circumstances requisite for its pro- 
 duction ; and only a very small proportion of the cotton grown in the 
 United States is of tliis kind ; nor is the quantity at all on the increase. In 
 the year 180"), the exjmrt of the Sea Island cotton was 8,787.059 lbs., and in 
 the year ending the .'Jotli Sijitemher, 18.T>, it was only 8,743,:i73 lbs. This 
 cotton bchig, from tlie situation in which it is grown, nnich exposed to the 
 incknicncy of the weatlier, varies greatly in (jualify, the finer sorts bringing 
 often three times the price of t lie damagi'd sorts. 
 
 The following scnsibU- httrr on the growth of cotton, by Dr. Mueller, was 
 recently laid on the table of the Ix!glslativc Assembly of the Colony of 
 Victoria, by the Ibm. .1. II. Brooke: — 
 
 " M(il)(iiirne Botanical and Zoological Gardens, 
 " isiii Ai)ril, 1861. 
 "Sin, — In compliance with your rccpust, I have the honor of submitting to 
 you some brief obHcrvalions in reference to the contemplated culture of 
 cotton for commercial purposes in Australia.
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 139 
 
 " From the well-established fact, that cotton is successfully produced in 
 favorable localities, not only of the countries within the tropical and sub- 
 tropical zone, but also northward as far as the border of the Mediterranean 
 sea, in Soutli Carolina, and Northern China, it may be inferred tliat through 
 a great part of the Australian continent, and more particularly along its 
 littoral tract, the cotton plant will find a climate most favorable to its 
 development. 
 
 "Whetlier in the cooler temperature of Victoria the important commodity 
 can be produced in such luxuriance as to render it available for factories, 
 remains yet to be ascertained, judging from the fact that the mean annual 
 temperature of the vicinity of Melbourne falls considerably short of that of 
 most cotton-growing States, and relying on the somewhat isolated observ- 
 ations tliat a number of plants of the Sea Island cotton, grown in the Botanic 
 Garden of Melbourne, failed to produce cotton, or ripened their seed-vessels 
 only exceptionally or imperfectly. Since however, the northern part of our 
 colony experiences a much warmer climate, although subject to great ranges 
 of the temperature, and since the eastern part of Victoria, under the favor 
 of an aerial and oceanic current from a wide tropical sea, enjoys a climate 
 so mild that palms and several other types of tropical vegetation are 
 observed to descend to a latitude nearly as far south as that of the city of 
 Melbourne, we may feel justified in predicting a successful issue of any con- 
 templated experiments to raise cotton in those more genial parts of this 
 colony. And here I would draw special attention to the promising features 
 which are held out for such enterprises by the basaltic plains along the 
 Murray, and b}' the diluvial banks of the lower Snowy River, the Genoa, 
 and other eastern streams of Victoria. 
 
 "In New South Wales the gossypium, has been proved to be very pro- 
 ductive of fruit, at least as far south as Maitland; and even the mean 
 temperature fixed for the cultivation of some varieties of the herbacious 
 cotton plant is almost at a par with tliat of Port Phillip, for it appears that 
 the intense heat of the summer, (for instance, in Louisiana, Mississippi, and 
 Alabama), under the favor of dew and frequent showers, is sufficient to 
 ripen the cotton fibre in regions otherwise subject to frost during the 
 winter, 
 
 "No doubt, however, can be entertained as to the perfect suitability of both 
 climate and soil of tropical and sub-tropical Australia for supplying cotton 
 in vast quantity to the commercial world. Extensive trap-downs (occa- 
 sionally at moderate distance from available shipjiing places), and the 
 alluvial deposits in the vicinity of the coast, and along many rivers, as well 
 of Eastern as of Northern Australia, are equally inviting to the cultivation 
 of the cotton plant. 
 
 "Moreover, even from Arnheimsland towards Central Australia, many 
 tracts may at a distant period become available for the above purpose, as is 
 sufficiently demonstrated by the fact that I discovered there, the true rice 
 in a spontaneous state of growth, rice being usuallj^ concomitant as a 
 cultivated plant to that of cotton. 
 
 " The climate of North-Western Australia, however, would in all probability 
 prove too oppressive during the summer months to Europeans for field
 
 140 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 labor, and it would probably be needful, to give impulse to any design of 
 establishing cotton plantations in Arnheimsland, whenever that part of 
 Australia will be re-occupied, by rendering labor from other countries of the 
 torrid zone available for the purpose. 
 
 "But whilst it is pleasing to anticipate that Australia (at least as a whole) 
 will offer to future colonists almost unbounded fields for adding cotton as 
 one of the most important articles to her exports and to her manufacturing 
 resources, it remains as jet to be shown whether, at the present price of 
 cotton, the labor in a country so extensively auriferous as ours cau already 
 be brought to bear on a competitive development of this important future 
 source of employment, comfort, and wealth in this part of the world. Yet 
 it must be borne in mind that some of the juvenile and aged portion of our 
 laboring population would in the cotton field obtain that more easy manual 
 work which neither the ingenuity of machinery can supersede, nor the task 
 of furthering to the surface the mineral treasures of this country can 
 readily and with equal certaintj- offer. 
 
 "It will, therefore, be a wise measure to give, as contemplated by Govern- 
 ment, the utmost encouragement to the establishment of cotton fields 
 wherever the soil and the climate appear promising, and to await mean- 
 while the results of experiments, which may possibly be more favorable for 
 the practical solution of the labor question connected with the establish- 
 ment of cotton plantations than has been hitherto anticipated. 
 " I have the honor to be. Sir, 
 
 "Your most obedient Servant, 
 
 "Fekd. Muei-ler, 
 
 " Government Botanist. 
 " To the Hon. J. II. Brooke, 
 
 "President of the Board of Land and Works." 
 
 I have to rcmirk, in regard to the foregoing letter, that I do not construe 
 it as being discouraging, inasmuch as the partial failure of the Sea Island 
 plants in the Botanic Garden at Melbourne might have been feared, be- 
 cause, with the exception of the hirsutum family, tlie Sea Island variety is 
 more i)articular in its climate and other reciuirements than any other gossy- 
 pium. It will be seen by the foregoing extracts from Hoyle and Baines, 
 wliich I have introduced purposely to vouch tiie jjcrlinence of my remark, 
 that, according to Koylc, "the (luantity [of Sea Island cotton ])r(iduced] is 
 limited, from tlie peculiirity of the physical circunistuncos required for its 
 production;" and tliat according to Baines, "owing to the piculiar com- 
 bination of circunistances required for its production, tlie quantity grown 
 was very limited," even in its own peculiar Sea Island districts, so that the 
 culture of Sea Island cotton had not increased during the twenty-seven 
 years wliich had elapsed between 180.5 and la.'l2. Probably the application 
 of Mr. Sengrave's prescript ion of salt mu<l mixed with broken sea shells 
 and sand, with some atmospherical protection, mi^ht induce Melbourne 
 plants to ripen their bcimI and jiroduce good cotton of even this variety. 
 The experiment ou^ht to be tri(<l, at all events to an extent sullicient to 
 mature a few plants for experimenting with.
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 141 
 
 Phillips, in his " History of Cultivated Vegetables," thus writes of cotton : 
 " From Arabia it would naturally travel towards China, through all the 
 countries which lie below the 40th degree of north latitude; but as a species of 
 the cotton plant has been found in the same latitude in America, it confirms the 
 opinion that most plants spring spontaneously within a given distance of 
 the poles, and that their varieties originate from the nature of the soil, or 
 accidental impregnation from plants of a similar species." And Phiilijis 
 adds that "NieuholF, who was in China in 1655, states that cotton grew in 
 great abundance in that country, and was then one of the principal articles 
 of its trade, the seed having been introduced into that empire about five 
 hundred years previously ; and that Siam produced most beautiful cotton, 
 of which hose and other articles were manufactured, exceeding even silk for 
 lustre and beauty, the seed of which silky cotton had been sown in the Antilles, 
 where the plants flourished, and yielded this delicate floss in abundance." 
 " Calico, or cotton cloth, is so called from Calicut, a city on the coast of 
 Malabar, Avhere the Portuguese first landed on tlieir discovery of the India 
 trade route " 
 
 "A considerable number of varieties of cotton (says the editor of a 
 Cyclopaedia published by the Societv for the Diifusion of Useful Knowledge) 
 is certainly cultivated, although little is correctly known about them. In 
 some of them the cotton is long, in others it is short ; this has its seed white, 
 and that nankeen-colored. One may be cultivated advantageously where 
 the mean winter temperature does not exceed 46° or 48", and another may 
 require the climate of the tropics. This is just what happens with all 
 cultivated plants. Some vines will produce only sweet wine, others only 
 hard, dry wine, and some are suited only for the table ; some potatoes are 
 destroyed by a temperature of 32°, while others will bear an average English 
 winter. Only one kind of wheat produces the straw from which the fine 
 Leghorn plaits for bonnets is prepared. But to multiply such instances is 
 unnecessary. There can be no doubt that the quantity of cotton will 
 depend upon climate, in part, and upon the specific properties of diflJereut 
 varieties, also, in part." 
 
 "Brazilian cotton (saj's Chambers, in his Information for the People) was 
 first imported in 1781. Pernambuco cotton is very valuable, generally 
 fetching a price next to that of Sea Island. The value of cotton for 
 manufacturing purposes is reckoned by the length, strength, and fineness 
 of the staple or fibres. The 'long stapled' or more valuable cottons are 
 Sea Island, Brazilian, West Indian, and Egyptian; the 'short stapled' or 
 inferior qualities are the upland cotton of America, the Orleans, Mobile, and 
 Surat cottons." 
 
 I shall take my example of European cotton culture from the husbandry 
 of Sicily, a country which much resembles the colony of Victoria, both in 
 its climate and its soil. The variety of cotton which is there cultivated is 
 of the herbaceous species, which being sown in March, begins to flower in 
 July ; healthy plants are stated to rise from three to four feet in height.
 
 142 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 The seed is sown in lines three feet distant from each oilier, in clusters of 
 half-a-dozen in a place two feet apart in tlie lines, and the plants are after- 
 wards thinned to the strongest in a place. The land is irrigated once or 
 twice a week, by means of furrows between the rows. The flowering season 
 is usually over by the middle of September, and then the ends of the shoots 
 are pinched oft", in order to determine the sap to the capsules, which are 
 subsequently collected by the hand as they ripen. This tedious process 
 generally lasts until the end of November. Tiie cotton and the seeds are 
 then separated by manual labor, the cotton being packed in bags for sale, 
 and the seeds being either bruised for oil or eaten, being considered both 
 wholsome and nutritious. The cropping rotation of the Vale of Lorento, 
 near Vesuvius, which is somewhat celebrated for its cotton farming, runs 
 thus: — 1, maize; 2, wheat followed by beans, which ripen in March; 3, 
 cotton ; 4, wheat followed by clover ; and 5, melons followed by Prench 
 beans, thus yielding eight crops in five years. As water is commanded in 
 the vale, it is distributed, as in Tuscany and Lombardy, to every kind of 
 crop. Tlie course of cropping might be bettered by extension, and the 
 information would have been more satisfixctory to me, had it been explicit 
 as to whether the seed was consumed as human food or by cattle. 
 
 The following extracts, from the reports of the East India Company, throw 
 light upon eastern cotton culture ; and 1 give publicity to them now, along 
 with the foregoing autliorities, in order that, until Australian cultivators 
 can have fuller details than 1 am at this time able to present, tliey may not 
 be wholly without the experience of the past to guide them in the coming 
 e'mergency. The series may be considered as well illustrating the progress 
 of a very persistent though unsuccessful attempt by tiie Company to cope 
 with tiie southern states of America in the production of cotton for the 
 English market. My object in their selection from a scarce book of 431 
 pages being to describe the progress of Indian cotton culture, from its 
 revival in 1788, in the language of the parties concerned in it, with the 
 view of applying Indian experience to Australian benefit. 
 
 In a letter from the Court of Directors in England to the Governor- 
 General in Council at Bengal, the Company tlius write in 1788:— "We 
 earnestly call your attention to tlie article of cotton, witli n view to aflbrd- 
 ing every encouragement to its growth and improvement in general, but 
 l)articularly to the sjieeies manut'aetured into tlie finer sort of thread in use 
 for the HUpcrior goods of the Dacca fabric, as we learn tliut many of our 
 orderH for those assortments have not been able to be executed lor want of 
 sucli fine thread. 
 
 " We liavc, in compliance with tlie wishes of the manufacturers, come to a 
 resolution of imjiorting .loo.noo pounds weiglil of Itroadi and Surat cotton, 
 or cotton of the produce of llengal of a siniihir (juaiity ; you will, thertfore, 
 concert with our Hervtiiils iit Bombay the means of carrying tliis resolution 
 into eft'ecf, and furnish us with every needful information respecting the 
 article, as to its growth, (|uality, cost, tin- ([uantity which is cajiahie of 
 being prijcured for cxj)orlati()n, (lie political and coniiiierciiil eflectR that
 
 AGRrCULTUIlE OF V^ICTORIA. 143 
 
 would arise from such exportation, and any other particulars you may deem 
 it necessary wc should be informed of." 
 
 The following account of the cotton used in the cloth manufactures at 
 Surat is extracted from a letter written in 1790, by the Governor in Council 
 at Bombay to the Governor- General in Council at Hengal : — "Cotton is 
 produced from seed, and throughout this country the seed is nearly the 
 same in quality. Only one kind of cotton is used in the cloth manufactures, 
 but this varies considerably in value according to the part it comes from, 
 the difference arising in a great measure trom the soil, and also, in some 
 degree, from the manner in which the cotton is extracted from the pod. 
 This last reason particularly affects and lessens the value of the Cownaghur 
 cotton, it being always more full of dirt and leaf than that of any other part, 
 and the soil being poorer the becas grow much smaller. 
 
 " The seed, which is usually put into the ground as soon after the first 
 fall of rain as the earth is sulficiently softened to be easily cultivated, is 
 sown in straight lines and as regular as possible, so that the shrubs may 
 shoot up single and about a foot asunder. The ground is kept Avell M'eeded, 
 and (except a sufRcient moisture to soften it, so that the young roots may 
 easily strike downwards) free from the water, carefully allowing none to 
 lodge on the surface, it being pernicious both to the seed and shrubs. 
 Cotton is seldom sown after the end of August in and about the Guzerat, 
 from the great uncertainty of having sufficient rain at the time when the 
 shrub most requires it. When the shrub is well advanced and strong, it 
 requires no other moisture than the dews, which fall very heavy in this 
 part of the country as soon as the cold season sets in, which is about the 
 beginning of November. In three or four days after the seed is sown the 
 shrub makes its appearance, and in five or six bears two leaves. 
 
 " In November and December the bud appears, which flowers in four or 
 five days. The flower after continuing about the same time falls, and the 
 pod appears, which ripens in about twenty-five or thirty daj's, but requires 
 both sun and heavy dews to bring it to perfection. When ripe it bursts 
 open on three sides and discovers the cotton. Five or six days after the 
 pod is open the cotton is ready to gather, but may remain upon the shrub 
 for ten days without injury. 
 
 " It is customary here to gather the cotton ten days after the pod opens, 
 and then allow ten days more for other pods to ripen, and so continue 
 gathering as they come forward till the month of April, by tiie end of 
 which the cotton is all ofi" the ground. The cotton that is taken from the 
 shrub the first and second time of gathering is the finest, and it afterwards 
 gradually diminishes in quantit}-, as the vigor of the shrub becomes more 
 and more exhausted. At the season for flowering and budding, the sun 
 and dews are much required, cloudy and rainy weather destroying the crop. 
 
 " Cotton ought not to be sown two succeeding seasons in the same ground, 
 though it does not injure the ground to sow grain of different kinds, such 
 as do not, like rice, require much water in it ; yet, letting the earth be 
 fallow one season, having it well cleared of weeds and roots, and thoroughly 
 opened so as to irnbibe the rains, much improves it, and makes it yield a
 
 144 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 good crop of the finest cotton the next year, provided the season is not 
 unfavorable. Among the poorer planters it is customary to sow cotton 
 every year in the same land, but it generally lessens the crop considerably, 
 both in quality and quantity. 
 
 " The seed lur planting nmst be thoroughly cleaned of the cotton, which 
 is generally done in this country by rubbing it over a cott, close and well 
 strung with coir, the cotton and bad seed remaining on the cott, and the 
 good seed falling through. 
 
 "Seed for transportation to other countries should not Ix; separated from 
 the cotton, but covered with it, be put into dry sweet casks, and placed in 
 a dry part of the ship or vessel conve3'ing it, not in the hold, as the heat 
 will be too great and the air foul, nor exposed to wet or damp air, but in an 
 open, airy, thorough dry situation, and it will in that state preserve for 
 two or three years. If separated from the cotton it decays in a short time ; 
 and moisture, of course, occasions a premature vegetation. Tiie cotton is 
 cleaned of seed by small wheels, and the seed, when extracted, is used for 
 sowing and feeding cattle." 
 
 Remarks on the culture of cotton at the Island of Bourbon, in 181 1, state 
 that " the cultivation of this valuable plant in this colony is of recent 
 date, and has only been followed since the years 1788 and 1789. Towards 
 the year 1796 the plant began to degenerate, and a greater quantity of cotton 
 was produced of a yellow than a white color. This was at first attributed 
 to a want of rain, and afterwards to the impoverishment of the soil. But 
 observations and experience has since shown, tliat the cotton, shortly after 
 flowering, was pierced by an insect which deposited its eggs in it ; for in 
 the yellow cotton a blemisli is constantly found, apparently cau.sed by the 
 animal, which alters the color of the wool, and occasions its api)earance 
 before the time required by the nature of the i)lai;t. 
 
 "Cotton thrives best in warm low grounds, too much rain is hurtful to it, 
 not only because excess of vegetation prevents the tree from producing so 
 great a number of pods, but also from the injury sustained by the wool from 
 the wet. Strong grounds suit cotton pretty well, and it succeeds tolerably 
 well also on sloping gioiuids. Flat, free, and too rich soils, particularly 
 those whicli retain humidity, have been found little suited to this culture. 
 The shrub nourishes luxuriantly, the leaves ami pods become formed, tlie 
 former are large and of a dark green, but the tree jiroduces little fruit. 
 Tliese observations are often made at Bourbon where the nature of the soil 
 is much varied. 
 
 "Sandy mixed grounds of vigilalile lartlis arc v(r\- jiropcr for thi- culture 
 of cotton : it thrives there admiialtly, HUi)port8 droughts easily and lives to 
 a great age, although harassed by tlie axe, storms, and had wet-'ds. 
 
 " It is a common saying at Bourbon, ' no csquine no cotton.' This assertion 
 is well founded, f(-r a few years since the esquine had given j)lace to a very 
 thick kind of dog-grass, of wliich the fibres multiplying to excess necessarily 
 smother tliose of the cotton-trees. 
 
 " Tiie branches of the dog-grass arc; coven d willi sninll hrillle leaves, 
 whieli llie wind takes oil', and wliich stick to the hub.kB of the cotton. If
 
 AQRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 145 
 
 the Inisk fall it is soiled by these bits of grass, which increases the trouble 
 of cleaning. The esquine, on the contrary, has a smooth elevated stem. 
 Its leaves do not come off, and its flower is neither in a branch downy or 
 bearded, inconveniences which are found in many herbs from which it is 
 necessary to cleanse the cotton tree. Its roots are remarkable, inasmuch as 
 they do not extend beyond an inch, so that they cannot in the least incom- 
 mode those of the cotton tree. In fine, the esquine has the advantage of 
 forming a carpet, which covers the soil and protects it from the heat of 
 the sun, and receives the husks which fall without soiling them. We have 
 also at Bourbon the custom of planting peas in the cotton-grounds, which 
 offer the same advantages as the esquine, and moreover procure a useful 
 pulse in domestic economy. ' 
 
 " At Bourbon they cultivate two kinds of cotton ; one with a black smooth 
 seed, eas}' to detach from the wool, and for this reason most esteemed. It 
 results from this property, that the milling and cleaning are quicker, for 
 crushed seed forms the principal dirt of the milled cotton. The silk of the 
 cotton with black and smooth seed is inferior to that with white seed. 
 This last kind is softer and more delicate ; the difierence is perceivable to 
 the touch : the other is more rougli, and gives way less easily under tlie 
 pressure of the hand. But the cotton with white seed is much more difficult 
 to cleanse from it." 
 
 " When the cotton-plant has reached the height of an inch, and the 
 seminal leaves have generally made their appearance, it is necessary to 
 inspect the rows, to replace the seed in those holes where this may not have 
 taken place. When the plants are three inches high, the number in each 
 hole must be reduced to two ; unless it be apprehended that either of the 
 two may die, then three or four should be left. Whilst the plant is young 
 great care must be taken to keep it clear of weeds, that it may not be 
 impeded m its growth. If the cotton- tree has been planted in November or 
 December, it liears in si.K or eight months ; if in winter, it is more back- 
 ward, and only produces in May or June. Until that time it requires 
 nothing more than clearing from weeds. Its greatest produce is at eighteen 
 months or two years. It is gathered between the months of June, August, 
 and September. It has been known to produce a few pods in October and 
 November, and some trees have sometimes after their great crop, given a 
 small one in the month of May following ; but at this period, as after 
 September, it is a mere gleaning. When the cotton-tree is in its greatest 
 vigor the weeds do not appear to affect it much." 
 
 " At Bourbon, about the month of April, the cotton-tree begins to .shed its 
 leaves. This fall precedes the blossoming ; fifty days after which the 
 gathering begins. The blossoming varies from a month to a month and a 
 half; but, in general, the earlier it takes place the more abundant is the 
 crop. The earth sliould not be hoed when the pod bi'gins to open, lest the 
 dust should soil the wool." 
 
 " The dry soil, and climate of Guzerat," (say the Governor and Council of 
 Bombay, in a communication to the Court of Directors, in 1812,) "are very 
 favorable to the cotton-plant, for it is found to grow in the most sterile 
 
 L
 
 146 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 districts, though less luxuriously ; and the great demand and consequent 
 high prices given of late years, have contributed much to the more extensive 
 cultivation of the commodity, particularly further to the northward. 
 
 " The cotton-seed at Surat. which is all of the black kind, is sown annu- 
 ally in drills, at the distance of about one foot between each plant, after the 
 first rain (say in July\ the groimtl having been previously wl-II cleaned and 
 all the roots of the former crop carefully grubbed out, after which it arrives 
 at maturity without any further care. Groiuid whicli has been one year in 
 fallow is always found to produce more abumlantly. 
 
 " There are three gatherings of cotton in one season. The first commences 
 from the middle to the end of February', and yields always the finest wool, 
 being the pods taken from the tops of the shrubs ; the second, fifteen days 
 later, is inferior ; and the third inferior to the second, and is pulled from the 
 lower part of the bush." 
 
 " With regard to rearing cotton on Salsctte, it will appear from a report 
 from the collector on that island, that they entertain no doul)t of their being 
 much land on Salsctte which, according to the description contained in the 
 printed directions forwarded by your Honorable Court, is well suited for the 
 cultivation of cotton, as all the soil in the hilly districts seems to be of that 
 nature ; that Bourbon plants of cotton are partially flourishing in hedge- 
 rows and elevated spots where the earth is free, but notwithstanding this 
 favorable circumstance, every attempt that has been made to cultivate this 
 production on Salsette has failed. Pr. Scott, a jiroprictor of land in tlie 
 island, had once many acres in cotton, but after a few years he gave up the 
 cultivation ; and they have been given to understand that it has since been 
 tried by the late Ordasec Dady and llormasic-e I5t)manjee, also proprietors 
 i)f land there, who have Ijoth expended much money with no better success," 
 
 " These failures are attributed to the same cause as those which have 
 rendered many of the agricidtural spec\ilations in India abortive. The 
 Hindoo laborer will never yield any adequate return for his wages when 
 employed in agricultural concerns, even with the utmost vigilance of the 
 farmer. The severe labor of working the soil, and every other duty incident 
 to this calling, require a very strong interest to induce that attention to it 
 whicli is absolutely necessary. This is entirely wanting in the day-laliorer ; 
 nor is there any circumstances in his connection with his emi)loyer which 
 gives him mutives cither of sympathy or dc'iJendiiice, which might excite in 
 him sutDcient attention to tlie work he is en^^iiged in." 
 
 " There are two species of the shrub-cotton," (writes Air. Bernard Metcalfe, 
 un agent of the Company, in ISl.'i, who iiad resided several years in 
 Georgia and New Orleans, and had l)cen sent out to instruct the Hindoos 
 in colton-dcaning, market jireitaration, and management, as practised in the 
 American States) vi/. : "The black and the green seed, in each of M-hich 
 there are, probably, as mimy varieties as of the gooseberry or any other 
 Hlirub. Tlie black seed is only cultivated in the West Indies and the Brazils, 
 iM-cause the labor requireil in sejiarating the cotton or staple from the 
 ■ecfl is neither so difllcult nor so tedious as the gre( n seed. The cottons 
 grown in India ar<' for the mioj<I part a vaiicty of ijic ^jrten sectl, of "hicli
 
 AGUICULTURK OF VICTORIA. 147 
 
 some are more easily cleaned than others. Those that may be regarded a 
 staple commodity of the country are principally found in the Company's 
 possessions, in the Guzerat and the Broach, in the Maratta dominions, and 
 the Ceded Districts of the Nizam : they are likewise cultivated to a con- 
 siderable extent in the province of Bundelcund and the Kohilla country, as 
 well as in the Southern Districts of the Peninsula. In fact, the cotton- 
 plant is indigenous in most countries within the tropics, and cultivated in 
 much higher latitudes, neither rcciuiring a very rich, nor impoverishing a 
 lighter soil. It has this singular property, of producing the finest staple 
 where the waters are brackish. The Georgia Sea Island, the Surinams, and 
 Demeraras are all grown on the border of the sea, .and the prime qualities 
 only as far inland as the influence of the sea-air and tide-waters extend. I 
 have often regretted not having the means or opportunity to ascertain how 
 far the lands in that great delta of the Suuderbund, and particularly the 
 provinces adjacent, which after the secession of their waters during the 
 eastern monsoon are so strongly impregnated with salt, would not produce 
 cottons of an equally tine texture with those above-mentioned, and which in 
 England always bear so high a price. The presumption is, the attempt 
 would be successful, provided the black seed was procured from Demerara 
 or Georgia. 
 
 "The cottons grown in the Ceded Districts are a variety of the green 
 seed, to which they adhere Avith great strength, and are in consequence 
 difficult to clean. The capsule and seed are both small, and the fibres of the 
 cotton have the appearance of having interlocked in their growth. In con- 
 firmation of this, the American saw-gin sent out by the Company to 
 jSIadras, which was imported from Charlestown, and no doubt constructed 
 there by a regular gin-maker, and competent to cleaning the bowed 
 Georgias, woiild not when the attempt was made to clean with it the 
 district cottons, discharge the seeds, but became immediately choked. In 
 fact, it was observed, those I had built on the same principle succeeded much 
 better. But it was not from the introduction of any new machinery, but 
 rather the improvement of that already in use, more particularlj' by intro- 
 ducing greater precautionary means in the first stages of its manipulation, 
 the gathering in from the field (or as the Americans call it the picking), 
 that I grounded my hopes of an 3^ improvement of the district cottons: for 
 their principal deterioration is less from the quantity of seed in them, than 
 their being specked and fouled with broken leaf. Any improvement of the 
 cottons at present cultivated, after the experiments that have been made, it 
 is evident must be by resorting to these means ; and even then will only be 
 limited, for the cottons generally throughout India are of so short a staple, 
 that with all the care that can be given them, they will never have a much 
 higher character. A more ciroctual improvement would no doubt be to 
 send them the seed of a new and different variety of the plant." 
 
 The following account of an early experimental jdanting of Bourbon 
 cotton on the peninsula of India is interesting to young beginners in the 
 same line : — 
 
 "The spot selected for the trial was chosen from its local convenience for 
 
 I ^
 
 148 TRIZK ESSAY. 
 
 superintendence ; the soil a sandy loam, the general character throughout 
 these districts. It afforded the means of irrigation ; but these were not 
 availed of. as it appeared desirable to ascertain tlie product of the soil 
 without such assistance, which would have added very materially to the 
 expense of cultivation, independent of the difference of rent of the land, 
 which, if possessing means of irrigation, averages ten rupees per bcgah ; if 
 not. four rupees jier begah is a fair estimate. The seed was sown in rows, 
 distant three feet from each other, preserving the same distance of plants in 
 each row. The sowing commenced at tlie end of July, 1816, after the first 
 heav}' rains were over. Bejaree was sown by drill, in the usual manner, at 
 the same time with the cotton. The sowing of Indian corn with the cotton 
 is recommended at the Isles of France and Bourbon, as affording protection 
 to the tender plants from the heat of the sun until the grain l>e ripe, by 
 which time they have aciuircd sufficient vigor. In the present case the 
 bejaree answered the purpose equally well ; and as the plant yields no 
 return the first season, the crops of bejaree ought to pay the expense of 
 rent and cultivation. 
 
 •'The after-rains of 1816 were very scanty, and the plants remained in 
 an apparently sickly and dwindled state until the rains of 1817, when they 
 l)ut forth most luxuriantly ; so much so, that it was found lu^cessary to 
 remove every alternate plant, wliich left a space of six feet between each : 
 still they were subsequently too crowded. I think eight feet would be a 
 good distance. Tlie flowering commenced early in September, and the 
 cotton l)egan to ripen in November. The gathering of the first crop was 
 finished by the middle of January : a secoml crop may be expected in the 
 montli of May, but I imagine a very scanty one. Opinions are divided on 
 the Island of Bourbon, whetlicr the plant should then be cut down or simidy 
 left to the o])eratiun of nature. Tlie preference can only be decided by 
 experience, and I would, of course, recommend tliMt one-half of the planta- 
 tion be iiruneil, leaving the other to its natural state. 
 
 " There are two kinds of cotton cultivated in Bourbon ; one producing a 
 black seed, which is very easily detached from the cotton ; the other a white, 
 adhering so firmly to the staple, that the latter is torn from it, leaving the 
 ends of its fibres in the seed, whicli gives it the white ai)pearftnce. No 
 sample of the wlilte seed lias lieen hitherto received. The culture of cotton 
 has been introduccil in the Islands of Bourbon and Mauritius witliin the 
 last tliirty years. It woulil be desirabli' to know from whence the seed was 
 origiii.illy iniported : in all ])roltal)ilily it <"aiiie from some of the French 
 West India Islands. It is not unreasonable infer, that the IVrnambuco, 
 Sea Island, ami otiier suj>erior de8crii)lions of ctitton, might be 8ucc;es«fiilly 
 cultivated in liiis ]irovince." 
 
 "The cotton at present cultivated" (writes Mr. Kandall, of the Company's 
 Hervice, in a memoir upim cotton culture, in 1S19), "in the territories 
 under Madras is not, generally speaking, of the bi'st kind : nincli of tlie old 
 native cotton is poor in ])rodiice aii<l bad in staple. 'I'hc most saleable 
 cotton-seeil for India would lie from New Orleans, Hr.izil, and Honrbon, being 
 the most ]>rofitable kinds of cotton, white in color, long sla]i1cil, uiul pro-
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 149 
 
 ducing the most wool from the pods, also the easiest cleaned from seed 
 and the least troublesome in cultivation. These seeds, however, require 
 after planting the nourishment of water during the hot months, and should 
 be watered twice every week. Even the Surat and Ahmood cotton-seeds, 
 for a change, would be better than what at present are used, which seem 
 exhausted or worn out. In agriculture, it is well known that a change of 
 seed is very beneficial in increasing both quantity and quality. The mus- 
 ters of cotton and seed sent with tliis paper are the produce of Brazil, or 
 what is called kidney cotton, and Bourbou. Bourl)oii seed may be planted 
 between small ridges of soil in open field, if tlie fields can be watered by 
 wells, tanks, springs, or nullahs branching from large streams. Tlie Brazil 
 or kidney cotton is a tree which grows from ten to twelve feet in height, and 
 which produces an immense number of pods, having the finest wool enveloped 
 about conglomerated seeds, each pod having from six to ten seeds so con- 
 glomerated. This kind of cotton will succeed and thrive well on the banks 
 of tanks, nullahs near springs, wells, and small streams of water : it is a 
 very valuable kind of cotton. When the seeds are to be planted they are 
 of course to be separated, so that each pod will produce six or ten-fold only 
 in plants." 
 
 " Tlie pods of Brazil cotton are large ; the cotton separates easily from 
 the seeds ; tlie wool is very close enveloped round the seeds, thereby pre- 
 venting pieces of leaf and dirt obtaining an easy entry. The Brazil cotton- 
 tree is hardy, and after being exhausted makes good fire-wood. It lasts 
 about seven years from the time of planting, and, when well up, is not easily 
 injured by weeds ; but it requires watering certainly twice in a week 
 during very hot weather ; in the rainy season it requires little or no attend- 
 ance : it should at times be pruned of dead wood. I conceive from 500 to 600 
 plants will rise well upon an acre, and when full grown will produce each 
 tree not fewer than five or six hundred good pods. I have myself counted 
 even a thousand pods upon a large tree ; but in all calculations it is best 
 to be moderate, as least likely to deceive ; I have, therefore, calculated only 
 five hundred plants upon an acre, each full grown plant to yield five hundred 
 pods. Two hundred and thirty pods, in general, will make a pound weight; 
 and when the wool is separated from the seed, the produce of fine clean 
 cotton is from one-quarter to one-third of the weight of every pound gross, 
 cotton and seed. Tiie muster now sent containing pods of Brazil cotton was 
 actually planted and reared by myself. When I weighed thirty-six pods of 
 the Brazil produce, the gross weight was 887 grains. After separating the 
 wool from the seed, the wool weighed 234 grains, the seed 653 grains, not a 
 particle of leaf or dirt in it. Tiiirty-six pods of Bourbon weighed gross 
 294 grains. After separating the wool from the seed, the wool weighed 80 
 grains, the seed 214 grains. Tlius, it seems, Brazil cotton produces about 
 twenty-five or twenty six per cent, wool; Bourbon twenty-seven per cent. 
 Mr. Metcalfe found that old native cotton produced only twenty -two per 
 cent, of wool ; and he declared, justly, that it cleared or separated most 
 tediousl}', and was quite a vexatious proceeding. But tlie most remarkable 
 circumstance is, that old native produce is not more than 301!js. of clean 
 cotton an acre. So small a produce has always surprised me, and caused a
 
 150 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 suspicion that my information was not correct ; yet, after every enquiry, 
 I have not been able to find a better result. The Brazil cotton is about, 
 taking the lowest calculation, seed and wool 10S.5 lbs. an acre, or 271] lbs. 
 clean cotton free from seed ; perhaps Bourbon may produce something more 
 or less, depending upon how the shrubs come up, and thrive. To suppose 
 that the natives of India, of tlicniselvcs, will undertake any new scheme, is 
 contrary to long and wide-spread experience. Tliey are the children of very 
 inveterate customs and prejudices." 
 
 "As to reasoning with the.n about the benefits of any new system or 
 scheme, except in a very few instances, it is a vain attempt and a mere 
 ■waste of time. They will coolly listen to such conversations, and then they 
 will start the most absurd objections, give innumerable excuses, talk about 
 their old customs, express dislike to innovation, laugh at the idea of increas- 
 ing what is called by Europeans their comforts, and at last go away deter- 
 mined not to try anything new." 
 
 Among memoranda, on tiie culture and trade in cotton, in the East Indies, 
 made in 1828, are the following statements , " The cotton shrub is indigenous 
 throughout the peninsula of India, from Ceylon in the south to the foot of 
 the Himalaya mountains in the north, and various kinds have long been 
 known to the native cultivators, viz annual, biennial, and cotton of several 
 years' duration. Some kinds scarcely reach the height of one foot, others 
 attain ten or twelve feet, and some a still greater height. The species 
 •which is most generally, indeed it may be said universally, in cultivation in 
 India, is an annual shrub, a variety of the green-seed kind, yielding a 
 white pod ; l)ut even of this variety there are many sub-varieties, of some 
 of which the wool is more easily separated from the seeds than of others. 
 There are, likewise, cotton-plants with brown, yellow, ash-colored, and 
 iron-grey pods. Some of the species have black seeds, some green seeds, 
 and there is cotton found with red seeds. 
 
 "The introduction into India of new and better species, and of improved 
 modes of preparing cotton for the European markets, has at various times 
 during the last thirty years engage.l the attention of the Court of Directors 
 and of the In<lian Governments, and also of the private residents, and the 
 following kinds of foreign cotton, and jjrobably others, have become objects 
 of cxperinunfal cultivation in various parts of India, viz.. Sea Island cotton, 
 Barbadoes cotton, Brazil cotton, Boiirbon cotton (l)otli of IJie grcen-sccd 
 kind and the black seed varieties), and cotton from China. 
 
 "It would be matter of gratification, if it could be said that success liad 
 attended these endeavors, but the native cultivators do not a])jiear to have 
 given any or at most very little attention to the subject." 
 
 " The delicate fabrics of Dacca were at all times manufactured entirely 
 from the cotton of that district, which is the finest of all the cotton pro- 
 duced in India, and is probably the finest in the world ; but the growth of 
 this particular kiml of Dacca cotton is limited to a space of about forty 
 miles in length by less than three in breadth, along the banks of the Megna, 
 about twenty mihs nortli of the sea. An atlemjit was made in the years 
 17IH) and 17!)l to cncourag"' the cuUivation of this hpecies of Dacca
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 151 
 
 cotton in tlie other parts of Bengal, and the collectors of the revenue, 
 with the residents at tlie commercial factories, were directed to distribute 
 the seeds amongst the native cultivators ; but tlie endeavor failed of 
 success." 
 
 "Besides the general defect of shortness of staple, Indian cotton is liable 
 to objection on account of its not being sufficiently cleansed from the seeds, 
 leaves, and other matters. To remedy which the Court of Directors 
 obtained from America patterns of the most approved machines in use in 
 Georgia and Carolina, for separating the wool of the cotton from its seeds ; 
 and they also, in the year 1813, engaged the services of Mr. Bernard Met- 
 calfe, but this person, after residing in India some time, finding that his 
 endeavours to induce the natives to use American machines were fruitless, 
 gave up the employment and retired from India altogether." 
 
 " We are informed," say the Court of Directors, in a communication to 
 the Governor-in-Council at Bombay, in 1829, " that at least three-fourths 
 of the cotton which is manufactured in Britain is the produce of Georgia 
 and New Orleans, in the United States of America, being known in mercan- 
 tile language as Georgia upland cotton and New Orleans cotton, and is 
 exclusively the wool of the species of cotton which produces a green seed ; 
 and we arc further informed, which is exceedingly material in tlie present 
 consideration, that the Bombay cuttons, particularly those of the growth 
 of the districts near Surat and Broach, are little or nothing inferior to the 
 upland American descriptions above named, the item of cleanness alone 
 excepted, and that such Indian cotton might readily be brought into 
 competition with the upland American. We are aware that it has been 
 stated in a letter in your commercial department, that the seed of the cotton 
 which is cultivated near Surat is black ; but as the cotton usually grown 
 throughout India is almost universally of the green-seed species, and we 
 find that the seeds which are very commonly intermixed with the cotton 
 imported into London from Bombay, are also green, we think it probable 
 that your information may not have been correct on this point. But 
 whether the seed of the Surat cotton be green or black is of secondary 
 importance, as the produce which it yields, wlien carefully prepared, is 
 much esteemed in the British market." 
 
 " Experience has convinced us, that the improved cultivation of Indian 
 cotton, so as to render it fit for the British market, will not be effected 
 merely by the countenance and occasional encouragement of Government ; 
 we have therefore resolved, that an experimental plantation for cotton shall 
 be established, at the expense of tlie State, within the territories under your 
 authority. Tlic manner of carrying this into operation we are disposed to 
 commit entirely to your judgment and local knowledge. It appears, 
 however, that it will be advisable, in the first instance, that a piece of 
 ground, either in the possession of Government or to be hired for the 
 purpose, should be selected in the most suitable place that can be found, 
 (say to the extent of perhaps two hundred Englisli acres,) and that a 
 person, either native or European, of competent skill in this branch of 
 agriculture, should be entrusted with its management at a moderate salary.
 
 152 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 under the general superintendence of the collector of the district, or the 
 magistrate, or the commercial resident, as you may appoint. 
 
 "The first object to be attempted should be careful cultivation 
 of cotton raised from seed of the best of the indigenous plants of India, 
 such as the Bhyratta kupas of Bengal, or the best kinds at present grown 
 about Surat or Broach, which vrill give suflBcient employment for the first 
 season ; and before a second season shall arrive we will endeavor to furnish 
 you with a supply of green seed from Georgia and New Orleans, which you 
 will afterwards cultivate exclusively, or in addition to the native kinds, as 
 experience shall render advisable." 
 
 " We have before shown, that the cleaning of the cotton from its seeds and 
 impurities is a point of nearly equal importance with that of improving its 
 staple. Upon a former occasion we transmitted to India machines for 
 cleaning cotton, of the best construction at that time in use in the United 
 States of America, and we also engaged the services of a person who had 
 long resided in Georgia and was skilled in the use of them, but the object 
 failed of success. We understand that the excellent condition* in which 
 American cotton is now brought to market, is owing to the almost exclusive 
 use of a machine of more modern invention, called Witney's saw-gin, 
 which is represented to be so simple in its construction and so easily 
 worked, that the cleaning of the cotton, which was formerly performed by 
 separate tradesmen, is confided to the management of slaves. 
 
 " Altliough it is our desire that your attention should be chiefiy given to 
 the improvement of the native cotton, which we have particularly specified, 
 and to the introduction of tlic upland American cotton, we see it right to 
 suggest to you the expediency of further attempting, on a small scale, in 
 different parts of the territories under your government, the cultivation 
 of all the finer sorts of foreign cottons in different situations as to soil, and 
 particularly in districts bordering on the sea-coast. 
 
 " We shall endeavor to procure various kinds of cotton-seed and transmit 
 them to you for this purpose." 
 
 " My attention," writes .Mr. Henry St. John Tucker, a niemlur of the 
 Court of Directors, in a valiialile paper on the supjjly of cotton from Britisii 
 India, communicated to a committee in I8i.'!t, '.' has lately been called to the 
 important question of extending the imporlalion of cotton-wool from British 
 India, both witii a view to the great national object of rendering Great 
 Britain, as far as possible, independent of foreign supply, in the first 
 instance, of a raw material, upon which lier most valualjle manufacture 
 ilependa and also with a view to add to tlie agricultural resources of India, 
 and in HO doing, to facilitate the means of remittance from our extensive 
 possession.H in the Kast, which incur annually a political ai d connnercial 
 
 • "The American cotton is not only free from any admixture of seeds, 
 but is also divcHtcd, in the ?nost com|)l(te nuinner, of ])rok( n fragnunts of 
 the pods ami other extraneous matters, as well as of discolored and damaged 
 headM. Indian cotton, on the contrary, is greatly mi.\ed with both."
 
 AGRICULTUHK OK VICTORIA. 153 
 
 debt to the mother country. I shall therefore submit, in a summary way, 
 the results which I have been enabled to obtain by consulting the public 
 records, and by personal communications and correspondence with those 
 individuals (Dr. Wallich, of the Botanic Garden, and others,) who appeared 
 to me likely to possess the best information on the subject. 
 
 " 1. There are two species of the cotton-plant producing the wool which 
 is used in our manufactures; the gossijpiuni Barbadcnse and the yussypium 
 herbaceum : and there are persons who maintain that an essential difference 
 exists, not merely in the botanical character of the two species, but in tlie 
 strength and durability of the filament wliicli these plants produce. It is 
 Avell known that the ijussi/piiim Barhadense is grown generally in America 
 and the West Indies, and may be designated the cotton of the West, while 
 the species herbaceum is a native of Asia, and may be distinguished as the 
 cotton of the East. 
 
 " 2. There are several varieties of each species, produced probablj' by a 
 difference in situation, soil, climate and culture ; and although the two 
 species, with their several varieties, have an original and natural site, there 
 is reason to believe that they can be cultivated indifferently, in any tropical 
 situation favorable to the production of the plant generally. 
 
 " 3. The cotton of the West, as the raw material of our manufactures, has 
 hitherto borne, and still bears, a much higher price in the markets of Europe 
 than the cotton of the East ; although it is contended, that the fabrics wove 
 from the latter surpass, in the essential character of strength and durability, 
 those which are manufactured from the cotton of America. 
 
 " 4. Without insisting upon the superiority of the eastern cotton as a 
 natural production, its inferiority as an article of commerce, and its conse- 
 quent depression in price, may be accounted for by the following circum- 
 stances, which operate in a greater on less degree in deteriorating its quality 
 and merchantable value. 
 
 " First. The best variety is not generally cultivated for exportation. 
 
 "Second The best situations are not always chosen for its cultivation. 
 
 "Third. The mode of culture is essentially defective, the natives of India 
 being in the habit of growing different articles of produce upon the same 
 land at the same time, with little regard to a rotation of crops ; and owing 
 to this injudicious husbandry, and to carelessness and mismanagement in 
 other respects, the shrub, which under proper care is elsewhere rendered 
 biennial, triennial, and even perennial, is in India found to be an annual 
 only.* 
 
 "♦ By some authorities it is considered judicious husbandry, to root up 
 the plants every second or third year, and to change the seed periodically. 
 The natives of India, where the plant is an annual, rarely, I believe, take 
 the precaution to procure seed from other quarters, although this is known 
 to be beneficial, both in rural economy and in horticulture. Where the 
 cotton plant is biennial or triennial, it is said to yield the best produce in 
 the first year, and so far the Indian cultivation may be right in allowing 
 the shrub to die off annually; but it still may be highly useful to change 
 the seed and to practice a more useful husbandry.
 
 154 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 " Fourth. The cotton is not properly cleaued and separated from the seed 
 the rauchinery empUiyed for this purpose heing very insufficient, and greatly 
 inferior to that now in use in America* 
 
 " Fifth. In consequence of the defects in tlie machinery, the essential oil 
 of the seed is liable to be expressed and sulfused over the cotton, to the 
 injury of its color and quality. 
 
 " Sixth. The cotton being produced generally at a great distance (in 
 some instances not less than a thousand miles) from the place of export, and 
 the state of the rivers at the season of gathering the crop not admitting of 
 its being conveyed the whole distance by water, it is frequently warehoused 
 for months at intermediate stations, and a whole season is often lost before 
 it can be packed and screwed for exportation. 
 
 " Seventh. During its progress to the place of export in loose bags or 
 bales, partly by land and partly by water, it is much exposed to the incle- 
 mency of the weather ; the bales arc often rendered wet or damp f by the 
 heavy rains which prevail in tropical climates, and the cotton seldom 
 arrives at its i)lace of destination without some discoloration and partial 
 damage, incidental to its conveyance in open carts and ill-secured boats, 
 during a long land journc}' and tedious river navigation. 
 
 " Eighth. Although attempts arc made to clean the cotton, and remove 
 the seed and particles of the pod and leaf, before it is submitted to the screw, 
 this is never done effectually, and the extreme compressurc to which the 
 cotton is then subjected by this powerful machine, with a part of its seed 
 and impurities still adhering, must tend to injure the fibre. 
 
 " Ninth. The heat and moisture of the hold of a ship during a long 
 voyage, in which great alternations of temperature are usually experienced, 
 may also tend to injure the quality of the article. 
 
 "Lastly. It may be observed, that the practice heretofore common in 
 some of our provinces, of receiving the cotton in payment of rent and 
 revenue, was calculated to make tlie cultivators more solicitous to increase 
 the quantity than to improve tlie quaUtij of the article. Their necessities, 
 moreover, may be supposed to have compelled them often to gather their 
 crop unseasonabli/, for the purpose of making these payments in kind ; and 
 it is well known that cotton gathered in wet weather is liable to be 
 materially deteriorated in quality and value. The practice of receiving 
 payments in kind has been discontinued at Bombay ; but effects arc often 
 felt long after the original cause has been removed. 
 
 "• It has been urgi'd, that tlic saw-gin tears and injures the filament, 
 and so i)erhapH it does ; liut although iiand-jiicking i.s very es.sential to aid 
 in cleaning tiie cotton, it cannot become a substitute for macliinery. In 
 India, wher.' labor is so cheap, the process of cleaning tiie wool ought to be 
 well executed ; but the churker (or cylinders) used for separating the wool 
 from the seed is n very nide machine, and leaves much to be done by the 
 hand. 
 
 "t It has iK'cn alleged, tint the natives ponutimes 'dunij)' tlie cotton in 
 order to increase its weight ; but the defect may be referred, with greater 
 probability, to other causes."
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 105 
 
 " 5. Without assuming the superiority of the Eastern cotton as a natural 
 production, the greater degree of strength and durability of the fabrics 
 made from it may be referred, perhaps, to the following circumstances. 
 
 " First. The thread spun with care by the liand is probably more perfect. 
 
 " Second. The operations of the loom, wlien conducted carefully by the 
 hand, are not so liable to injure the fibre as the process carried on by 
 machinery. 
 
 " Third. The process of blanching the brown web is effected in India 
 by steam and the solar ray, and the texture of the fabric is not liable to be 
 injured by the use of muriatic acid or other chemical solvents. 
 
 " Fourth. The fabric, for the purpose of being rendered more even and 
 beautiful, is not exposed to the very delicate operation of singeing off the 
 ends of rhe thread and other excrescences. 
 
 " Fifth. The raw material is not economized in our Eastern manufactures 
 in any way to diminish the firmness and strength of tlie texture. 
 
 " 6. The Bairati hiipas, the finest variety, perhaps, of the Eastern cotton, is 
 produced only in small quantity in the districts north-west of Dacca, and is 
 never exported, I believe, as an article of commerce. Its favorite site seems 
 to be the high banks of the Ganges (or as it is called in a pan of its course, 
 the Pudnah), and its tributary streams ; but as the country adjacent is liable 
 to annual inundation, the tract of land applicable to its cultivation is not 
 extensive.* This variety, which is also called by the natives Dest/ (of the 
 country), would seem to be as the name imports, the indigenous cotton of 
 Bengal, producing those unrivalled fabrics, which have been known and 
 highly valued in Europe from the earliest period of autlientic history. 
 
 " 7. Other varieties (the Bogha kupas, &c.,) are found in Bengal Proper, 
 and are used in its domestic manufactures ; but the cotton which is 
 exported to Europe and China from Bombay and Calcutta, tmder the 
 denomination of Surat and Bengal,^ is produced chiefly in the tract 
 of country lying between the rivers Jumna and Nerbudda, and extending 
 westward to the Gulf of Cambay. Cotton is also grown in the southern 
 
 " * Many years ago I resided in this part of the country, and was induced, 
 from the great superiority of the Bairati kupas, to send the seed, with a 
 model of the churker, to my native island (Bermuda), but the cultivation 
 of cotton was not prosecuted in that island. The fibre of the Bairati is 
 extremely fine, silky, and strong, but tlie staple is very short, and the wool 
 adheres most tenaciously to the seed. I have in my possession a specimen 
 of the thread, which has been above forty years in this country, and is 
 apparently still perfect. 
 
 " j- The cotton exported from Calcutta as Bengal, bears a great variety of 
 names on the spot {Jahon, Kineh, Banda, Ciichaura, &c.) derived from the 
 place of growth or the principal marts to which it is brought for sale ; but 
 although the quality is verj' different, owing to a difference in soil, culture, 
 and management, the cotton is all, I believe, of that description which 
 Dr. Hamilton Buchanan designates hill cotton. The cotton of Surat differs 
 from it only in consequence of the difference in local circumstances.
 
 156 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 parts of the Peninsula, and is exported from Madras under the denomination 
 of Tinnevelly ; but the quantity produced is not very considerable, and the 
 strong durable fabrics manufactured in the Northern Circars are made from 
 cotton obtained from the territory of Berar and the neighboring districts. 
 I may add, that attempts have been made to cultivate cotton on the 
 Malabar coast, although it is understood that they were not attended with 
 such success as to lead to a belief that the situation is favorable for the 
 growth of the article.* 
 
 " 8. An experiment was made a few years ago, under the auspices of Lady 
 Hastings, to introduce the cultivation of two varieties of the Western 
 cotton (the Barbadoes and Brazil), at a place called Futtcghur, in the 
 vicinity of Calcutta ; but although the cotton produced was reported to be 
 of good quality, the experiment was upon too small a scale, and bore too 
 much the character of mere garden cultivation to furnish any decisive 
 result. It may be observed at the same time, that the thread spun from 
 this cotton was not considered by the Indian manufacturers to be bj' any 
 means equal in quality to that obtained from their own native cotton, it 
 lieiiig estimated by them at eightf and ten per cent, below the value of the 
 latter. This would seem to favor the notion that there is an essential 
 difference in the Jibre of the Eastern cotton ; nor can it be disputed that the 
 Asiatic fabrics,^ from whatever cause, are superior in strength and 
 durability to the manufactures which are produced from the cotton of 
 America. 
 
 " 9. The Bairati kupas, although its fibre be fine and silky, and admirably 
 calculated for the manufacture of the muslin or thinner tabrics, has the 
 disadvantage of a short staple, while the wool adlicres so closely to the seed 
 that it is with difliiculty .separated ; and this variety is otherwise, perhaps, 
 too costly a production to enter largely into our manufactures. 
 
 " 10. Athough some of the finest cotton is produced in islands and situa- 
 tions within tlie infiucncc of the .sea, this circumstance does not appear to 
 be essential to the perfection of the plant, since a large portion of the 
 
 "* Attempts have also been lately made to cultivate cotton in the pro- 
 vince of Cuttack, but I understand that they have not succeeded. More 
 recently the cuUivaticm of the plant has i)ecn undertaken in the Island of 
 Saugt)r, but sulTicient time has not elapsed to enable me to ascertain the 
 result. Dr. Waliidi is sanguine in his anticipations of success ; and, in 
 fact, it is well known that tlie plant likes an alluvial soil jmd I lie lU'iglihor- 
 hood of the sea." 
 
 " f Brazil eight i>er cent, worse, Barbadoes ten per cent, lloth plants 
 have, under culture, been found to be triennial (/.<■. tliey [irodnce for three 
 years) The shrub will last longer, but is not jirodnt'tive after the tliinl year." 
 
 " X The na-ikeens of China are, i)erliai>s, the stoutest cloths manufactured 
 from cotton ; and yet we do not know the plant which produces the wool, 
 nor are wo agreed whether the color 1k! natural or artifhiiil. The wool of 
 the ffnnHi/pium rrligiomim has much the same color, hut il is not supposed 
 tlial the nankeens are made from this cotton.
 
 AOniCULTUUK 01' VICTOniA. 157 
 
 article used in our maufactures is grown in districts very remote from the 
 sea. Still it is of importance, tliat the cultivation of the article should be 
 promoted as much as possible in situations which are near the coast, or 
 which have an easy communication with our sea-ports, because any difBculty 
 or delay attending its exportation not only occasions expense, but in many 
 cases renders the cotton liable to deterioration in quality and value." 
 
 " The color of tlie seed is a distinguishing character in cotton ; but 
 nature is arbitrary, if not sometimes capricious, in her arrangements, and 
 the black and the green seed are converted into each other by a change 
 of place and circumstances. The Sea Island cotton, wliich bears so high a 
 price in our markets, is from the black seed, but I am told that, if it be 
 transplanted to the upland or back country, the black seed in the second 
 year becomes green, and the length and quality of the staple undergo a 
 great change. Upon the whole, however, the green-seed cotton appears to 
 be that which enters largely into the great bulk of our manufactures, and 
 to which our attention should be chiefly directed." 
 
 It is remarked, in a communication from Bombay, in 18-34, that, "the 
 wliite-seeded perennial cotton, the New Orleans, and the Egyptian, appear 
 to be deserving of particular attention in future experimental cultivation. 
 
 "The American kinds which have been grown in India have the creamy 
 color common to Indian cotton, but that is no disadvantage. The growtli 
 in the United States is white. 
 
 "The Egyptian specimens are full as brown as the merchantable cotton 
 imported from Egypt; but that color is not a disadvantage, as the cotton 
 bleaches well. The .seed cultivated in Egypt with so much success of late 
 years, is understood to have been from Pernambuco, in which country the 
 produce is remarkably white." 
 
 I shall now illustrate the growth of that great American plant of the 
 Southern States, which has so completely outgrown and overshadowed its 
 Oriental rival as to have made it, by contrast, a comparatively insignificant 
 affiiir. Little did the loyal fugitives of the Bahamas think, when in 1786 
 they sent a few friendly packages of their cotton seed, in the way of remem- 
 brance, to the Sea Island friends which they had left behind them, of the 
 immense commercial crop which that seed was predestined to produce ; and 
 as I like much to connect effects with their causes, whenever I have data 
 for so doing, I have great pleasure in introducing a short series of American 
 authorities, which appear to me to have that purport, to Australian notice, 
 premising that I think it singulai*, that tliougli America had several indi- 
 genous species of the gossypium family of its own, and one <if them, the 
 gossypium acuminatum, which liad yielded the kidney cotton variety of 
 Brazil, which was, from its first being known in cotton culture, deemed 
 pre-eminent in value, the States should have nursingly trained the three 
 immigrant varieties, of the Sea Island, the upland Georgian, and the Nankin, 
 into the pride-stem of cottonian greatness, to the utter disparagement of 
 their own invaluable species, which appear to me to have well deserved 
 greater experimental attention than was bestowed.
 
 158 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 The following letter by Thomas Spalding, an early Georgian cotton cul- 
 tivator, is interesting from the light which it throws upon the early days of 
 cotton culture in America : — 
 
 " It is known to many that cotton was cultivated far domestic purposes, 
 from Virginia to Georgia, long anterior to the revolutionary war. Mr. 
 Jefferson speaks of it in his Notes on Virginia. Bartram speaks of it in 
 his Travels as growing in Georgia, and I have understood that 22 acres 
 were cultivated by a Colonel Dellegal, upon a small island near Savannah, 
 before the revolution ; but this was the green seed, or short-staple cotton. 
 Two species of the same family then existed in tliis country, the real green 
 seed, and a low cotton resembling it in blossom, both being of a pale yellow, 
 approaching to white ; one with seed covered with fuzz, the other with fuzz 
 only on the end of the seed. To explore the first introduction of the short- 
 staple cotton into this country would now, in all probability, be impossible ; 
 but we may very well suppose it was by one of the southern proprietary 
 governments, and possibly from Turkey, the trade of which country with 
 England was then of much higher consideration than it has subsequently 
 become ; nor would it have escaped those proprietors, tuany of whom were 
 enlightened men, that the climate of Asia Minor, where cotton grew abun- 
 dantly, was analagous to the climates of the provinces south of Virginia. 
 
 "Just about the commencement of the revolutionary war. Sir Kichard 
 Arkwright had invented the spinning-jenny, and cotton spinning became a 
 matter of deep interest. In England, cotton rose much in price; its various 
 qualities attracted notice, and the world was searched for finer kinds. The 
 island of Bourbon was alone found to produce them, and yet the Bourbon 
 cotton greatly resembled in its growth our green seed cotton, although it 
 cannot be its parent plant, for all attempts at its naturalization in Georgia 
 (which were many and repeated) have failed. It gave blossoms, but was 
 cut off by the frost in the fruit, nor would it rattoon or grow from the root 
 the next year, in wliich too it resembles the green seed cotton of our 
 country. This is all I am able to say. and jK-rhaps all that is necessary to 
 be said of tlie short-staple cotton. 
 
 " The Sea Island cotton was introduced directly from the Bahama Islands 
 into Georgia. The revolutionary war that closed in 1783, had been a war, 
 not less of opinion and of feeling, than of interest, and had torn asunder 
 many of the relations of life, whether of blood or of friendshiii. England 
 offered to the imhappy setthrs of this country who had folhiwed her for- 
 tunes, home but in two of her jirovinces : To the provincials of the north 
 nhe ofllred Nova Scotia ; to the provincials of the south, the Bahama 
 l!«lan<l8. Many of the former inhabitants of the Carolinas and Georgia 
 ]>a8sed over from Florida to the Bahamas, with their slaves. Hut what 
 could tlicy cultivate? The rocky and arid soil of tliose islands could not 
 (fTow sugar cane; coflTeo would grow, but prodiiceil no fruit. There was 
 one plant that would grow, and produced abundantly : it was cotton. The 
 ■t'Cfl, as I have been often informed by respectable gentlemen from the 
 lialianuis, was in the first instance i)rocured from a small island in the West 
 Indies, celebrated for its cotton, called Anguiila. It was, therefore, long 
 alter its intrndiiclion into tliis conntry, called Anguiila seed.
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 150 
 
 " Cotton, as I liave already stated, had taken a new value by the intro- 
 duction of the spinning machines into England. Tlie quality of the 
 Bahama cotton was then considered among the best grown ; new life and 
 hope were imparted to a colony and a people with whom even hope itself 
 had been almost extinct. This first success, as is natural to the human 
 mind, under wliatever influence it may act, recalled the memory of the 
 friends they had lut't behind tlieni. 
 
 "The winter of 178G brought several parcels of cotton seed from the 
 Bahamas to Georgia ; among them, in distinct remembrance upon my mind, 
 was a parcel to Governor Jatnall, in Georgia, from a near relation of his, 
 then surveyor general of the Bahamas ; and another parcel at this same 
 time was transmitted by Colonel Roger Kelsall (who was among the first, if 
 not the very first, successful grower of cotton) to my father James Spalding, 
 then resident on St. Simon's Island, Georgia, who had been connected in 
 business with Colonel Kelsall before the revolution. I have heard that 
 Governor Jatnall, then a young man, gave his seed to Nicholas TurnbuU, 
 lately deceased, who cultivated it from that period successfully. I know 
 my father planted his cotton seed in the spring of 1787, upon the banks of 
 a small rice field on St. Simon's Island. The land was rich and warm, the 
 cotton grew large and blossomed, but did not ripen to fruit ; it however 
 rattooned, or grew from the roots the following year. The difficulty was 
 now over ; the cotton adapted itself to the climate, and every successive 
 year from 1787 saw the long-staple cotton extending itself along the shores 
 of Georgia, and into South Carolina, where an enlightened population, then 
 engaged in the cultivation of indigo, readily adopted it. All the varieties 
 of the long-staple, or at least the germ of those varieties, came from that 
 seed ; differences in soil developed them, and differences in local situation 
 are developing them every day. The same cotton seed planted in one field 
 will give quite a black and naked seed ; while the same seed, planted in 
 another field, different in soil and situation, will be prone to run into large 
 cotton with long boles or pods, and with seeds tufted at the ends with fuzz. 
 I should have great doubts if there is any real difference in these apparent 
 varieties of the long staple cotton ; but if there is, all who observe must 
 know, that plants, where thej- have once intermingled their varieties, will 
 require attention for a long series of years to disentangle them. 
 
 " Subsequently to 1787, as the cultivation of cotton extended and became 
 profitable, every varietj' of cotton that could be gleaned from the four 
 quarters of the globe has been tried, but none of them save one has resulted 
 in anj-thing useful. James Hamilton, who formerly resided in Charleston, 
 and who now resides in Philadelphia, was indefatigable in procuring seed, 
 which he transmitted to his friend Mr. Cowpor, of St. Simon's Island. Mr. 
 Cowper planted some acres of Bourbon cotton ; it grew and blossomed, but 
 did not ripen its fruit, and perished in the winter. Mr. Hamilton sent a 
 cotton from Siam ; it grew large, was of a rich purple color both in foliage 
 and blossom, but perished also without ripening its fruit. 
 
 " Nankin cotton was produced at an early period, by Secretary Crawfurd. 
 It was abundant in produce, the seed fuzz}", and the wool of a dirty yellow 
 color, which would not bring oven the price of the other short-staple
 
 IGO 
 
 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 cottons, but I knew it to produce three cwt. to the acre on Jekyl Island, in 
 Georgia. The kidney seed cotton, which produces its seed clustered 
 togetlier like a kidney, with a long strong staple extending from one side of 
 the seeds, and which I believe to be the Brazilian, or Pernanibuco cotton, 
 was tried, and was the only new species upon which there could have been 
 any hesitancy ; but this too was given up, because not as valuable, and not 
 as productive. I have given the names of gentlemen, because I had no 
 other means of establishing facts. 
 
 " Your very obedient Servant. 
 
 " Thomas SrALniNG, 
 
 " Darien, Georgia." 
 
 The Hon. W. B. Seabrook. the corresponding secretary of the Agri- 
 cultural Society of South Carolina, in a valuable report on the causes which 
 contributed to the production of fine Sea Island cotton, published in 1827, 
 says : — " The plantations of the gentlemen whose letters are under review 
 are similarly situated, four of thera being indented with creeks, and located 
 on large rivers ; and all of them, in point of effect, exposed to the salutary 
 action of the ocean's spray. In proportion to the distance from the seaboard 
 and to the want of a free circulation of air from tiie south, is in general the 
 downward graduated scale of coarseness in the cotton produced. These 
 causes operate increasingly as you recede from the ocean, until a point 
 is reached at which long cotton cannot be profitably cultivated." 
 
 " Salt appears to be one of the principal causes of making the cotton fine 
 in quality and long in tlie staple. Hence, and from the sandy nature of the 
 soil, the sea coast is so favorable to the growth of cotton ; and iience it 
 is established, that salt mud is the best manure for a cotton plantation. 
 The cotton of Mr. Burder and his fivvored associates, is indebted for its 
 celebrity to the combined requisites of fineness, strength, and evenness 
 of fibre. Upon wiiat principles are these distinguished properties dependent? 
 These planters use, nut only extensively, but almost exclusively, salt mud. 
 Tliis manure is known to impart a healtiiful action to the I'otton plant ; 
 to maturate rapidly its fruit, and to produce staple, at once strong and silky. 
 Mr. William Seabrook, from a steadlast adherence to the aitplication of salt 
 nmd, has literally converted a pine barren to as fruitful a soil as Kdislo 
 Island can boast. That silicious and argillaceous soils, in the order nar- 
 rated, are the Ixist ada]ited for cotton, every cultivator of this article is 
 well aware. From experiments by Captain Bailey, a member of this society, 
 it has been clearly demonstrated that .salt added to a com])ost, in the ratio 
 of one bushel of salt to every sixty bushels of compost, has been attended 
 with the most decisive advantages in relation to tlu- <|Mai:tum and ({luility 
 of cotton. For every description of soil in which sand predominates, he felt 
 warranted in averring that salt clay mud was the manure which would 
 eflect the double pur|io8e of a ]irolitable harvest, with its desirable 
 corrilativL'— a fine ((uality. Salt clay mud acts rather negatively than 
 ]io.«titively. It does not add very materially to the product of cotton ; but 
 from itH conservative and niaturative power the fruit, which the combined 
 operation of soil and season nuiy have disclosed, it is nearly certain of
 
 AGniCULTURE OF VICTORIA. IGl 
 
 retaining and ripeninnf. In a propitious season stimulating manures will 
 yield a larger crop tliau salt mud ; but, for a series of years, the latter 
 will more certainly repay the industry and skill of the planter. For the 
 cultivation of the best cotton tliere are two other requisites besides a sandy 
 soil, proximity to the sea, and salt clay mud as a manure : — First, very 
 great care is necessary in the selection of the seed ; and second, there must 
 be diligence in weeding, pruning, and in every part of the cultivation. The 
 seed should be selected from the most perfect, early stalks, produced on the 
 best land ; and it is indispensable frequently to change the soil and situa- 
 tion, in order to keep up the quality of the produce yielded by any par- 
 ticular kind of seed." 
 
 "Whitney's cotton gin" (says an authority quoted in papers relating to 
 an American tariflT), " has hardly been of less importance than Arkwright's 
 machinery." And " American cotton is not only freed from any admixture 
 of seeds, but it is also divested in the most complete manner of the i^ods and 
 other extraneous matters, as well as of discolored and damaged heads. 
 Indian cotton, on the contrary, is generally mixed with both." 
 
 "Cotton (writes Stuart, who travelled in America in 1830) is most exten- 
 sively raised in the southern States, and has, even in some of the counties 
 of Virginia, supplanted the culture of tobacco." " The black seed and green 
 seed cotton are the two kinds generally cultivated. The black seed is 
 of superior quality, and thi-ives best near the sea coast ; that of the finest 
 quality on the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina. The green seed 
 is more prolific, is not so liable to be damaged by the inclemency of the 
 season, and is better adapted to inferior or exhausted land. Cotton is 
 cultivated as an annual plant, growing sometimes as high as six feet, and 
 throwing out a number of branches, on which form large and beautiful 
 whitish-yellow blossoms. It is kept perfectly free of weeds, and is thinned 
 carefully with ploughs in the form of scrapers. The process of picking 
 commences in September, and is renewed again and again as it ripens, at 
 successive periods. A laborer will cultivate, with ease, more than twice 
 as much cotton as he can collect. The ordinarj^ quantity picked in a day 
 is between 50 and 60 lbs. Children from eight years old can be employed to 
 advantage to pick the cotton. On the cups of the flower balls or co-coombs, 
 or, as they are here called forms, grow three or four elliptical seeds, three or 
 four times as large as a wheat kernel, and of an oily consistencj'. The cotton 
 is the down with which these oily seeds are generally enveloped. The 
 gathering season often continues for three months, or more, until it is 
 necessary to burn the old stalks, in order to commence ploughing for a new 
 crop. The quantity of oil that cotton seed yields has been estimated at 
 about one gallon to one hundred pounds of seed. The cotton in the seed 
 undergoes an operation called ginning, performed by a machine discovered 
 by an American, which detaches the down from the seeds and blows it 
 away, while the seeds fall down by their own weight. It is then packed in 
 bales, which being pressed are ready for exportation. The quantity of cotton 
 produced on aii acre varies from 1 400 to 800, or 6ou pounds, 700 pounds being
 
 162 PKIZE ESSAY. 
 
 a fair average crop. The price of cotton is extremely variable, the green 
 seed fluctuating from sixteen pence sterling to five pence, and the black seed 
 from one shilling to one dollar per pound. Much ot' the soil of South Carolina 
 consists of swampy land, which is devoted to cotton and rice " 
 
 The following remarks on the culture of cotton in the United States 
 of America were published in 1829: "The preparation of cotton-land 
 requires most particular attention. It must be repeatedly ploughed and 
 frequently harrowed, say twice or thrice, until it is thoroughly pulverized : 
 drills four feet apart, in some instances three, are then made with a plough, 
 into which, if the soil be poor, old well-rotted stable manure is placed, and 
 at the distance of one and a half to two feet, a hole, not exceeding one 
 inch to one and a-half inch in depth, is made with a hoe, and a handful 
 of seed dropped therein, which must be in)mediately covered with the soil. 
 The planting generally takes place between the 20th April and 10th May ; 
 the earlier the better, in order that the cotton may be matured before the 
 appearance of the fall-frosts. The richer the soil, the larger and better 
 the crop, as with every vegetable. When the plants are about one inch 
 above ground, they are thinned with the hand, leaving four only. At a 
 later period, and when all danger from worms, &c., is well over, they are 
 again thinned, and two only are left to bear ; from these, by hoeing or 
 ploughing, the weeds must be kept clear, until the bolls are perfectly ripe 
 and begin to open, whicli occurs during September and October, As they 
 expand freely, llie cotton must by hand be picked clean from the boll, and 
 being a little damp, exposed for a day or two, in a dry situation, to the rays 
 of the sun. 
 
 "The quality of cotton first picked is always the cleanest and best. To 
 save trouble, it is customary with some planters to defer picking out any of 
 the crop till the whole of the bolls be ripe, and have expanded and become 
 dry by the influence of frost or cold weather. This plan is tob" deprecated, 
 for the bolls open most irregularly : those first expanded are left to be 
 injured by rains, dews, and decayed leaves, &c. When the crop is picked 
 from the boll, it is spread over the floor of a room (shoidd the cotton be 
 damp) til! it is dry, and is then sent to the gin, when the seed is extracted 
 from the fibre. During the first week in August some planters, when the 
 crop is not too extensive, top each j)lant to tlic first eye, leaving six branches 
 only to bear. This increases tlie qtiantity and quality, but forces the plant 
 to throw out suckers, which are most difllcult to keep under. 
 
 "Stiff clayey soils require more seed than light sandy ones. Tlie plant 
 being very delicate, requires the united efforts of several shoots to force its 
 way through the surface, whidi often becomes packed and hard. Where 
 seed is abundant, a large handful should always be sown in each hole ; 
 where it is scarce and the land light, a small quantity may sufllce. Two 
 hundred Knglish acres would reciuire from tight hundred to one thousand 
 bushels of seed-cotton 
 
 "An acre will proiluce froni one thou.Hand wix liiinclrid to two thousand 
 pounds of seed-cotton, or four hundnd to five hundred pounds of clean or 
 ginned cotton ; but this is a large yield. Generally, on average soils, from
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 163 
 
 one thousand two hundred to one thousand six hundred pounds of seed- 
 cotton, or cotton in the seed, are i)roduced to the acre. Our bales weigh 
 from three hundred and fifty to four hundred pounds." 
 
 The following statement, on the best method of cultivating New Orleans 
 cotton, was published in 1836 : "The cultivation of cotton is simple and 
 easily understood, so that a few general directions will suffice to describe 
 our manner of preparing a cotton-field, and the care and attention requisite 
 to keep it free from weeds and grass. 
 
 " As to the most suitable soil for growing fine cotton, I would prefer that 
 \thich is rich, light, and dry ; but it is generally thought, that new land does 
 not produce as fine a quality of cotton, as that which has borne one or two 
 crops of grain previously. The situation should be such that there is no 
 danger of an overflow of water, which would seriously injure the plant. 
 In preparing the ground we use tlie plough entirely, and lay off the rows 
 from four to si.x feet ; and where the soil is as rich as the alluvium of the 
 low grounds on the Mississippi, even eight feet is not too much. We open 
 the ridges by running a narrow drill, by plough or otherwise, and sow the 
 seed in it as we would grain, covering it lightly with a harrow. 
 
 " The plant on its first appearance, and for some weeks, is extremely 
 delicate and easily injured by careless working. The rows, at first thickly 
 covered with plants, nuist in about ten days be thinned out, so as to leave 
 the stalks single, at the distance of eleven inches or a foot from each other : 
 or as some of the plants may be lost or destroyed, we generally leave two 
 or three together ; but in about two weeks more, at furthest, they must be 
 reduced to one, as experience has proved that the plants will not flourish 
 if at all crowded. While thinning the rows, great care must be taken to 
 clear them of all grass and weeds : in the early age of the cotton this 
 is done with the hoe. In a short time after, to facilitate the work, we use 
 ploughs between the rows, where every thing must be kept down, and not a 
 blade of grass should be suffered to grow. The only art in making a good 
 crop of cotton is in the rule, not to suffer any thing to grow among the 
 plants until it is fully matured. 
 
 " The time of planting, or rather sowing our cotton, varies according to 
 the season Generally we begin from the 1st of April to the 15th ; as a rule, 
 I would say as soon as there is no further danger of frost. These general 
 observations, I trust, will be sufficient ; indeed it is impossible to fail in 
 making a cotton crop, provided the ground be kept perfectly clean and tlie 
 plants be not crowded. The quality of the cotton depends more, perhaps, 
 upon care and attention in gathering and drying it, than upon the culture 
 of the crop. 
 
 "From the 1st of September, or sooner, the bolls begin to mature and 
 open successively, until winter has stopped the vegetation of the plant. 
 As soon as the boll has completely opened, the cotton, which then hangs 
 partly out of its shell, and has become almost dry, must be gathered by 
 hand. Care must be taken by the picker to take hold, with his fingers, of 
 all the different locks of the cotton, so that the whole comes out at once, and 
 without breaking off" any of the dry leaves about the boll. If anv fall upon 
 
 M 2'
 
 164 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 the cotton before the gatherer (or picker, as we call the laborer) has 
 secured his handful in the bag which hangs out at his side, it must be care- 
 fully taken ott". It is necessary to use a close bag to gather the cotton : for 
 the plant, though slill flourishing, has on it many dead and dry leaves, 
 which are easily shaken down ; and it is this leaf which the spinners object 
 to so much, and which will always lower the price and quality of cotton. 
 After gathering the cotton, it should, as soon as possible, be exposed to the 
 sun on scaffolds, and thorouglily dried ; and if not immediately ginned and 
 packed, must be stored in secure barns. 
 
 '•I deem it useless to enter into a description of our gins and presses. 
 I will only observe that a cylinder of sixty rags ought not to make more 
 than six hundred to eight hundred pounds of clean cotton in twelve hours : 
 if made to run faster, the cotton would not be so clean, and the fibres might 
 often be broken or cut by the too rapid motion of the rags." 
 
 I shall close my cottonian extracts with the following short series, which 
 have reference to other districts than India and the American States, It 
 pleases me much to think, that the seed sown by the African Society has 
 been long productive of good fruit; and as I think cotton culture will 
 furnish to the free African abundance of that light kind of labor, in which 
 his poor bonded brother has shown himself an adept, I shall heartily avail 
 myself of the opportunity which resumption of cotton culture, in my field 
 of mental labor will yield me, of supplementing the directions of the 
 African Society by a contribution of my own. especially intended for African 
 regions, in the way of return for any benefit wliich may accrue to Austra- 
 lian beginners from the African directions, until an Australian Cotton 
 Grower's Manual sliall appear in print. 
 
 "Previous to the year 1800," says Koger Hunt, in his Observations upon 
 Brazils Cotton Wool, published in 1808, " rernainbucocotton was estimated 
 by the British manufacturer, chiefly for the fineness and silkiness of its 
 staple ; but at that time a large proportion of it was much reiluced in value, 
 by the quantity of stained cotton, as well as leaf, seed, and other kinds 
 of dirt, which it contained. 
 
 "About the period above mentioned, insitectors appear to have been 
 appointed in that i)art <»f the Brazils, for the purpose of remedying the 
 complaints upon these points, and from that time all the cotton from 
 rernambuco lias been greatly improved in cleanness and evenness of color ; 
 but by some mismanagement, the greater part of it lias been gradually 
 losing that soft, fine, silky texture, which formerly constituted its principal 
 value, and a large portion of the import for some time jiast has been 
 comparatively coarse in tlie staple and less bright in color. 
 
 *' It may therefore be worth while, at our entrance ujion the new relations 
 which are likely to Hubsist between Cirrat Britain and the I'ortuguesc 
 government establiHln'd at tlie llraxils to entpiirc into the causes of this 
 alteration in the qtnility of l'ernamb\ico cotton, with a view to the recovery 
 of its former valuable i»roj)erties. and combining them with llu improvement 
 which has taken place in cleanness and evenness of color.
 
 AOniCULTURE OF VICTORIA. 165 
 
 " The writer of these observations being unacquainted with the interior 
 management of the cotton plantations in rernambuco, is unable to say how- 
 far that part of the change alluded to, which relates to the fineness of the 
 staple, may in any degree be owing to that invariable tendency which all 
 vegetables have to degenerate, by inattention to the essential points of 
 frequently varying and interchanging the seed and the soil : he will there- 
 fore deem it sutRcient merely to have liinted at the necessity of these 
 requisites being duly attended to, and confine himself to such causes of the 
 change which has taken place in the general properties of this cotton as 
 are more obvious, pointing out Avhat appears to him to be the proper 
 remedies, as he proceeds. 
 
 "The first and most material defect is, the state to which the cotton is 
 reduced by the new mode of cleaning. Formerly (before this mode was 
 adopted), it appeared to have undergone no operation but that of hand- 
 picking, and was therefore, with the exception of being freed from the seed 
 and some part of its other imperfections, sent to market in nearly the state 
 it was gathered from the plant, which is the most favorable state cotton can 
 be in for all manufacturing purposes, as the fibres will then separate with 
 the application of a very small force, and thereby the process of carding (the 
 first which it undergoes, and on the perfection of which all the rest depend) 
 is rendered not only more easy, but much more iierfect ; whereas, by the 
 new mode of cle\ning, whatever it be, the fibres of the cotton are so 
 entangled and matted together, as to produce a degree of stitfness and 
 adhesion particularly unfavorable to the operation in question. It requires 
 double the force in carding to separate the fibres, the effect of which is, to 
 break the staple, and thereby to increase the proportion of waste usually 
 made by the flyings from the cards ; and after every degree of skill and 
 attention on the part of the manufacturer, it is at last impossible to separate 
 them so perfectly as to produce in the spinning a fine clear even thread. A 
 further objection to cotton-wool in this state is, the additional stress which 
 it lays upon the machinery, the efiects of which are to reduce the quantity of 
 Avork capable of being produced by a given power, and to increase the wear 
 and tear, which in both cases adds to the expense of the article produced. 
 
 "Upon the subject of color, the want of that silky brightness which 
 formerly characterized Pernambuco cotton, appears to arise from a part 
 of the stained cotton being in the new mode of management so mixed up 
 and incorporated with the good, as to prevent the possibility of its being 
 afterwards detached, and thence a dinginess of color is communicated to 
 the whole, besides the essential properties of the staple being injured in 
 whatever proportion the stained cotton bears to the perfect. Thus it is that 
 all the rernambuco cotton, to which these objections apply, is reduced, in 
 point of value to the mantifacturer, to nearly the scale of the inferior sorts, 
 such as Surinam, Demerara, &c., namely, two-pence, three-pence, and 
 four-pence per poimd, it being, for the reasons before mentioned, inapplicable 
 to the finer branches of manufacture or to any purpose for which the above 
 sorts are not nearly as well calculated. 
 
 " To obviate tliese defects, it is recommended that, in gathering the crop, 
 particular care be taken to keep the stained and dirty cotton separate
 
 166 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 from the more perfect ; which may be done, for the most part, by each 
 laborer having two bags (or svich other vessel as there may be in usfc), one 
 for the stained and inferior, the other for the good cotton, in order by 
 preventing their being mixed in the first instance, to avoid the necessity 
 of any of those operations in cleaning, which produce that adhesion of the 
 fibres, and that defect in the color so generally complained of. It is then 
 recommended, that the prime part of the crop should, as far as the state 
 of labor will admit, and after the seed has been carefully separated, be 
 finally cleaned and prepared for the bag by hand-picking only, without the 
 use of sticks to beat or shake out the dirt (called by the West India 
 planters switching), or any other machinery whatever, it being in this stage 
 that the mischief complained of (no doubt) takes place. 
 
 " A due attention to these particulars, would materiall}' increase the 
 value of the principal part of the crop, and would probably bring some of 
 the finest marks into competition with Sea Island Georgia, which would 
 produce a further advantage upon such marks of one penny to three-pence 
 per pound ; and it is suggested that the stained and inferior cotton, after 
 having undergone as much cleansing as circumstances will admit, would 
 always find a market in England, at a price which would probably more 
 than reimburse the planter for the extra labor bestowed uj>on the first qua- 
 lity. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the practicability of what is 
 here recommended must depend greatly upon especial care being taken, that 
 in separating the seeds from the cotton they be not broken, and thereby 
 mixed with the wool, which, whenever it happens, must necessarily render 
 the process of hand-picking tedious and expensive. 
 
 " After what has been said relative to Pernaml)uco, it cannot be needful 
 to ailvert so particularly to the other sorts of Brazil cotton : it will be sufll- 
 cient to point out their faults, and refer to the management recomniendeil 
 above for the remedy. 
 
 " Maranham has, of late years, been for the most part coarse in the staple 
 and dirty, an<l the dirt so incorporated with the wool as to be dithcult and 
 expensive to separate. 
 
 " Bahia cotton has retained its proiHTties better than the two former 
 sorts ; but its faults always were, and still are, a great deficiency in color, 
 owing to the stained cotton not being taken out, and many bags having 
 much whole seeds, leaf, and other kinds of dirt in them, which admit of an 
 easy remedy by the mode suggested, of gathering the stained cotton 
 separately from the good, in tiie first instance ; and as the pernicious 
 method of cleaning adopted in rernamhuco does not a])pear to be in use at 
 Bahia, this cotton would then come to market in the state ajiproved by the 
 Britisli manufacturer. 
 
 " The writer Ix'ing anxious to be I'lilly understood, will Iiitc rfi)eat that 
 the great i)rin('ipli' ()f what he wishes to reconunend is, that after tiie cotton 
 is gathered from the j)lnnt and the seed carefully sejiarated, the prime part 
 of the crop should undergo as little other change from the state it is in when 
 gathered, as is consistent with its being l)agged i)erfectly clean, as every 
 process beyond that of iiand- picking has an unavoidable tendency so to 
 c<innect the fibres as to make them diftlcult of separation, and also to
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 167 
 
 deprive the cotton of that bright silky appearance, which formerly was the 
 distinguishing character of the Brazil cotton-wool. He will also repeat 
 the recommendation, that the stained and inferior part of the crop be 
 rendered as clean as the state of labor will admit, and sent to market under 
 a separate mark or title ; and will conclude by requesting the planter 
 always to bear in mind, that the difference in price, in the British market 
 between coarse and fine, clean and dirty cotton, falls wholly upon himself 
 the duty, freight, and all other charges (commission excepted), being upon 
 the weight or package, and not ad valorem. 
 
 " The above remarks upon I'ernambuco cotton apply with still greater 
 force to nearly the whole of the import from Surinam, the mode of cleaning 
 which (judging from the state of the cotton) must be still more objectionable 
 than that used in Brazil, most of the Surinam of late years, possessing not 
 only a more tenacious adherence of the fibres, but the staple being actually 
 broken, apparently by some kind of machinery introduced to supersede the 
 necessity of hand-picking (probably the gin used in America). This will 
 account to the Surinam planter for that gradual approximation in price 
 between Surinam and New Orleans cotton, which has been taking place for 
 some years past, not from any improvement in the latter, but by the former 
 being reduced in value, by the mode of cleaning, at least two-pence to three- 
 pence per pound. It may be observed that color is not a subject of com- 
 plaint in Surinam cotton, which for the most part is more perfect in that 
 respect than any other sort. 
 
 " Nearly the whole of the Demerara and Berbice planters appear, of late 
 years, wisely to have abandoned the injurious practice of switching their 
 cotton, and it now only remains for them, by the method herewith recom- 
 mended, to divest it of the stain and dirt, which is more or less a subject 
 of just complaint against the greater part of what now comes from these 
 colonies. Such marks as have come clean and even colored since the 
 practice complained of has been discontinued, have generally sold higher 
 than the best Surinam, and in some instances at the price of Pernambuco." 
 
 "Since the observations which 1 printed in 1808," adds Mr. Hunt in 
 some further observations printed by him in 1828, "Brazil cottons have 
 undergone some improvement. In consequence of the very extensive and 
 growing application of the American Upland Georgia and New Orleans 
 cotton to the purposes of the British manufacturers, added to the intro- 
 duction of cotton from Egypt, since the year 1823 (which competes with the 
 Brazil and other black-seed descriptions), there has been such an abundant 
 supply of long-stapled cotton in proportion to the consumption, as to have 
 reduced the prices of that class, at the present moment, to within twenty 
 per cent, of the American green-seed cottons, taking the average price 
 of each class ; whereas, previous to the import of Egyptian cotton. Brazils 
 and other black- seed cotton generally ranged fifty per cent, above the 
 American. If any further attempt should be made to improve the culti- 
 vation of cotton in India, the question occurs, how far it might be advisable 
 to try the black seed, as an experiment, in the first instance, for the purpose 
 of ascertaining the difierence in the expense, compared with the quantity 
 produced of each class.
 
 168 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 "With regard to the leading descriptions of cotton at present produced in 
 India (viz., Bengal and Surat, including in the latter the whole of the 
 imports from Bombay), the Bengal may fairly be considered to be out of use 
 ■with the British manufacturer. Surat cotton, such as a good portion of the 
 imports of 1817 to 182G consisted of (that is, good, clean, bright-colored, 
 thomil cotton), would always find a consumption to a certain extent ; 
 which, of course, would be increased if the staple could be a little improved 
 by the introduction of seed from America, particularly from New Orleans. 
 The best quality of the Bombay cottons have always been considered to be 
 the Broach and the Surat, which in good seasons are equal in staples to 
 middling bowed Georgia. But the cargoes from Bombay, which have been 
 arriving for the last twelve to eighteen months, have, from their almost 
 entire want of every property estimated by the British manufacturer, been 
 the cause of many of those who were previously in the habit of using Surat 
 cotton turning their backs upon it ; and it can only be by a very great 
 improvement, particularly in cleanness, that they can be expected to return 
 to it. It appears to me, that the cause of the depreciation is principally 
 owing to the very slovenly way in which the crop is gathered from the 
 plant ; and without a thorough reform in that particular, it will be of little 
 use introducing new seed, or increasing the expense of cultivation in other 
 respects. If the crop be carefully gathered when in a proper state 
 of maturity, agreeably to the instructions in mj' observations for the benefit 
 of the Brazil planters, it will require comparatively little other cleaning, 
 beyond freeing it from the seed by the American gin, in its most improved 
 state." 
 
 The following directions for the culture of cotton in Africa, were printed 
 by the African Society, after Mr. Hunt's publication of 1808; "Cotton 
 grows in any soil that is not over moist. The common opinion, however, 
 that it flourishes most in barren or impoverished land is erroneous. It will 
 doubtless grow in tiiin arid soils not exhausted by previous cultivation, yet 
 tliere cannot be a doubt that it will prove more productive in good or mid- 
 dling land, consisting of a loose dry moidd free from clay or marl. If the 
 inclination of the land be suflicient to carry off the wati-r, the labor of 
 trenching and draining which is necessary in level lands will be saved. As 
 no ])lant requires so little rain as cotton, the close vicinity of high 
 mountains is injurious to it, while it is beneficial to the coffee. On the other 
 hand, the saline air of tlie sea-shore, which generally destroys coffee, is 
 favorable to cotton. 
 
 " 'Jhe land for cotton must be clcareil in tiic dry season, and the operation 
 dhould comnience in suflicient liiiie to allow the wood and brusli which have 
 been cut down to dry, so as to be burned before the rains set in. The pro- 
 cess of cleaning need not be ilescribi'd. It would, howe\er, be a great 
 iniyirovemcnt of Die metliod wliich jirevaiis in Africa, if tlie underwood 
 and small wood were grubbed out, and the large wood were not only cut 
 down, but its branches lopped ofl', and its trunk also cut into such logs 
 as may be easily removed and heaped together for burning. The more 
 comi»letely the ground is clearc<l, the more productive is the cotton likely
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 169 
 
 to be. It certainly, however, would not answer to grub out the larger 
 stumps and i-oots ; tliey must be left to rot, which they would do in a few 
 years. 
 
 " In situations where the rains are not violent, the cotton seed is generally 
 put into the ground at the early part of the rainy season. But in places 
 differently circumstanced, this operation is deferred till the rains are within 
 a month or two of their termination, Avith a view both to guard against an 
 over-luxuriant vegetation, whereby the plants might exhaust their strength 
 in branches and leaves, and to avoid the injurious consequences of rain at 
 the time the blossoms are appearing and the pods forming. In Africa, the 
 best time for planting the seed must be regulated by experience, and by the 
 result of exjieriments to be made at all seasons, from March to September ; 
 but the earlier the seed can siafehj be sown the better. 
 
 " In Georgia and Carolina, considerable labor is bestowed in ploughing 
 and harrowing the ground, and forming ridges raised pretty high with 
 trenches between. This, no doubt, assists vegetation, and at the same time 
 serves to carry off the water from the flat lands. The same thing is done, 
 though less carefully, Avith hoes in Demerara and Berbice, but it is seldom 
 done in the West India Islands There, however, the fields are regularly 
 laid out and the holes opened in straight lines. The distance between the 
 holes varies from five feet in poor soils, to eight feet in rich soils. The holes 
 are made by loosening the earth for about eight or ten inches or a foot 
 square, and five or six inches deep. 
 
 " From six to fifteen seeds, spread longitudinally, may be put into each 
 hole, and covered over lightly Avith earth, not above one or tAvo inches deep 
 at most. The more moist the ground is the more lightly should the seed be 
 covered, otherwise it will be apt to rot. The plants will generally show 
 themselves in from five to nine days, but sometimes not before fourteen. 
 When they have four distinct leaves, half the number in each hole may be 
 drawn, and these must afterAvards be graduallj' reduced until one, and that 
 the most vigorous and healthy plant, is left in each hole. 
 
 " For the first six Avceks the plants are of slow growth and very tender, 
 and they must be carefully kept clear of Avceds until they become of a 
 sufficient size to suj^prcss all extraneous groAvth. It would be of great 
 service, also, that the cartli should be occasionally draAvn up about the roots 
 until the blossoms appear, Avhcn this operation is no longer necessary. At 
 the end of six weeks, if not before, the plants if luxuriant ought to be 
 topped or pruned, by breaking or cutting off an inch or more from the end 
 of each shoot, which makes the stems spread and throw out a greater 
 number of branches ; and this operation, if the plants are A-ery luxuriant, 
 will require to be performed a second or CA-en a third time, Avith a knife, on 
 tlie stem and branches. 
 
 '* The blossoms generally appear in about eighty days after the seed has 
 been planted, and sometimes later, and the first pods arrive at maturity in 
 about three months from that time. The blossom of the green seed when 
 it first appears, Avhich is generally in the morning, is Avhite, and remains 
 of that color for the first twelve hours ; but it changes the folloAving night 
 to a beautiful crimson, and drops oft" Avithin thirty-six hours of its first
 
 170 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 appearance. That of the black seed, or Sea Island, undergoes the same 
 change with the green, but when it conies out it is of a deep yellow color. 
 
 " The cotton should be fully blown before it is picked. This may be 
 ascertained by its separating easily from the pod or husk. Wlien it adheres 
 to the pod and must be forced from it, the cotton will be of an inferior 
 quality. Great care should be taken to gather it as free from trash or dirt 
 of any kind as possible, which will save much trouble afterwards in the 
 cleaning. Cotton ought not to be picked after rain or while wet, as in that 
 case it will be stained and of little value. 
 
 " In gathering the crop, particular care should be taken to keep the 
 stained and dirty cotton separate from the more perfect, which maj' be done 
 by each laborer having two bags, one for the stained or inferior, the other 
 for the good cotton. The value of the latter would be greatly increased, 
 and even the inferior would always find a market in England. 
 
 " The ni xt operation is that of separating the cotton-wool from the seed. 
 Of all the modes of effecting this, hand-picking is doubtless the best, because 
 the most favorable state in which cotton can be for all manufacturing 
 purposes, is, with the exception of being freed from the seed, that in which 
 it is gathered from the plant. Whatever serves to entangle or mat the 
 fibres is injurious, because when matted, they require in carding a greater 
 force to separate them ; and the effect of this is to break the staple, and 
 otherwise to produce waste and inconvenience to the manufacturer; besides 
 which, a fine, clear, even thread, can hardly ever be produced from matted 
 cotton. 
 
 " The process of separating the seed from the cotton-wool by the hand is 
 in general attended with so much expense as to be impracticable ; though 
 in Africa, perhaps, from the cheapness of labor, the difficulty may be less. 
 Machines have therefore been substituted for this purpose, called gins, 
 of which the common foot-gin is probably at present the best for Africa. 
 
 "There is another kind, calculated to work by cattle, wind, or water, 
 which may hereafter be produced with advantage, but would be found too 
 expensive and complicated at first. 
 
 "The black secil being loosely attached to the wool, is easily separated 
 by the gin without injury to the staple. 
 
 " The green seed, on the contrary, adheres so closily to the wool that it 
 can only be sejiarated l)y a saw-gin, which cuts the stajile and depreciates 
 the cotton one half, but W hand-pit kvd it woiiM he more valual)lc. 
 
 "The green seed is more productive than tiie black, luit tiu' wool of the 
 latter is of considerabl}' higher value. 
 
 " It is hardly necessary to observe that that mode of ginning is to be 
 preferred, which fends least to break the seeds and entangle the fibres of the 
 cotton. 
 
 "After tiie cotton has l>een ginned, it should be carefully exaniiniil and 
 firecrl from all MKjtcH, liroken seeils, stained wool, &c., as its value in Kuroj)e 
 much dc-pends upon the condition in which it is packed The usual iiiodc 
 of jiacking is this. A bag is Ruspendcd through a round hole in the lloor 
 «if the cotton house, its nioiitli having been |ireviously distended by a hoop. 
 Into this bag the cotton is thrown by small quantities, and pressed down by
 
 AOIIICULTURE OF VICTOniA, 171 
 
 a stout man standing in tlie bag with a pretty heavy pestle of hard wood. 
 From two hundred weight and a half to two hundred weight and three- 
 quarters, should be compressed into five yards of bagging. 
 
 " In America, four acres of cotton and four acres of provision are gene- 
 rally the proportion planted for each laborer, and which therefore each 
 laborer is capable of managing. To pick fifty pounds of cotton in a day is 
 considered as a fair task for one person. 
 
 " The plants should be cut down every year, within three or four inches 
 of the ground. The time for doing this, which must be in the rainy season, 
 ought to be regulated by the same circumstances which regulate the plant- 
 ing of the seed at first, and that the subsequent management, in this case, 
 will also be the same as has already been pointed out in the case of the 
 plants Irom the seed. 
 
 " It would be a great advantage, if every third, fourth, or fifth year at 
 farthest, the plants were to be grubbed out, and their place supplied by 
 means of fresh seed brought from a distance. This would prevent the 
 cotton from degenerating, which it never fails to do when it has been 
 propagated in the same ground for many years without a change of seed ; 
 and would, of course, preserve its quality and maintain its reputation in the 
 European market. Great care should be taken to prevent a mixture of the 
 diiferent kinds of seed in planting : each kind should be kept perfectly 
 distinct. 
 
 " The process called sivitching, or beating the dirt out of cotton by means 
 of sticks, ought if possible never to be resorted to. The necessity of having 
 recourse to this expedient, which can only arise from previous negligence, 
 ought to be obviated by the means already pointed out ; it deteriorates the 
 quality, and consequently lowers the price of the cotton. 
 
 " In the gathering and hand-picking, and even ginning of cotton, great 
 use may be made both of young children and infirm people, who are 
 incapable of exertion of any other kind." 
 
 The following pertinent remarks on cotton appeared recently in the 
 London Times, and were subsequently inserted in the Melbourne Argus: — 
 " It is not that cotton will grow only on particular soils, like cinnamon or 
 pepper, the article can undoubtedly be produced in fifty different regions 
 of the globe, nor is there much reason to doubt that any quality desirable 
 could be imparted to the crop, by cultivation and skill. This is not the 
 secret of the matter. The real difficulty is that America has got fair 
 possession of the market, and supplies us with cotton so excellent in quality, 
 and so nearly sufficient in quantity that only narrow margin is left for fresh 
 competitors. Coming to figures, we may state that the weekly consumption 
 of the kingdom, in 1860, was probably about 48,000 bales; of these nearly 
 41,000 came from the United States, about 2000 from Brazil, 1800 from 
 Egypt and the West Indies, and 3200 from India. There is the whole case 
 clearly explained. America sends us six-sevenths of our entire supply, and 
 maintains that vast supply so well and so successfully that the market is 
 all her own." "All that we can gather from the American example is 
 encouraging. That wonderful trade, which now yields the United States a
 
 172 PRIZE E?SAY. 
 
 revenue of fullv £40,000.000 a year, is as purely artificial as a trade can be. 
 The plant was imported, and the labor was imported. Everything was 
 accomplished by industry and enterprise ; and what has been done once can 
 be done again. Take a soil and climate favorable to the growth of cotton, 
 and the cotton trade can be created to a certainty. It was not even a work 
 of time ; seven years sufficed to raise the produce of cotton in America from 
 500 lbs. to 18,000,000 lbs., from a single bale to 3G,000 bales. It must be 
 remembered, however, that this feat was only accomplished by untiring 
 energy and abundant capital. The enterprise was amply remunerative, but 
 no negligence was admitted in the work. The southern States fairly gave 
 themselves up to cotton planting, and made cotton their sole staple, at the 
 cost of all earlier products." 
 
 There does not, however, appear to me to be the slightest necessity for 
 such an ultra course in Australian husbandry. All that I shall advise is to 
 make cotton the chief Australian vegetable textile product, so long .as its 
 culture will pay equally well with any other product in the like demand, 
 and similarly circumstanced in its requirements as to capital and labor, but 
 not to an extent which might impede the due development of the other 
 seions intended to be engrafted on the aspiring branch of our noble Anglo- 
 Austral tree. 
 
 In bidding adieu for the present to the important subject of cotton, I maj'- 
 state that the foregoing remarks and their illustrative extracts are culled 
 from a manuscript work on the subject, on which I have for some j'ears 
 employed my leisure hours, from a conviction that the importance of cotton 
 culture would in my time induce Australian attention to it, and that a 
 concise treatise on the subject was needed, that of Kovle. which extends to 
 607 octavo pages, being too verbose for the majority of readers, and the 
 history of Baines, which extends to 544 pages, being fuller on manufacturing 
 details than of those on culture ; and I may add that what I now print, save 
 to the extent of half a dozen pages, has found its way to the press thus 
 early solely in consequence of my wish to aid promptly in the endeavor to 
 improve the American crisis to Australian advantage, and to call attention 
 to the promising inrlication that Victoria possesses cotton growing capa- 
 bilities in great plenitude. 
 
 The scope and importance of the sjHcial cnltMn^ branch of Anslalian 
 husbandry being now apj)arent, I shall close this dcjiartnunt of my subject 
 with the observation that though I liave allottid in ni}' agrarian domain, as 
 adjusted for South Victorian management, so much, as a moiety of tho 
 whole, for the area of my lower branch, and have circumscribed the range 
 of my middle branch within a lesser area, and of my aspiring branch within 
 one utill less ; I have, nevertheless, in cropping import, apiiroached so near 
 to a true tertial arrangement as that, wliiii Australian experience shall have 
 taught me what will most profitably fruit, my aspiring branch in a North 
 Victorian domain I can, by assigning one of the cow pastures to the duties 
 of the water meadow and adding the site of fliat Jiicadow to the special
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 170 
 
 culture department, and curtailing in length the eight arable fields, and 
 expanding correspondingly in width the four special culture allotments, 
 readily, by mere reduction in the scale of dairying, which is essentially a 
 South Victorian product, so enlarge special culture management as to obtain 
 an absolute equilibrium in the tertial management of all my three branches, 
 in the positions in which that equilibrium shall appear advantageous. 
 When, however, it is considered that the eight arable fields are charged 
 with the duty of providing tiie soiling and store food, and the grazing crops 
 of cereals and clovers, for the middle branch, and of providing also land 
 space for such of tlie textile and dye, and medical and commercial products 
 of the special branch, as are adapted for annual rotatory culture, and are, 
 moreover, jointly with the middle department, charged with the duty 
 of providing manure for all the land in special crop, the approach to true 
 tertial proportion is much nearer, even in a south agrarian domain, than 
 may at first sight appear. 
 
 Having thus sketched in outline the three hranches of our noble 
 Ang'lo- Austral jilant, I shall now discuss some important matters 
 which my subject sug-g^ests. 
 
 Irrigation is predestined to be a prominent feature in Australian 
 husbandr}-, and thoug-h it may seem paradoxical it is nevertheless 
 my impression that irrig-ation will be more general, and will be 
 earlier and better developed in Australia than it would have been 
 had its rivers been without drawback and fluvial at all seasons of 
 the year. The spur of necessity is an excellent goad for onward 
 move ; and I was much struck in a survey of the badlj'-watered 
 districts of England, which I made before I left it, at the 
 superiority of the contrivances for raising' water to the surface, 
 and for conserving' it when there, to those of better watered dis- 
 tricts. The pumps and cattle ponds evidenced that the men 
 who constructed them understood their business, and they were 
 generally very judiciously placed. The necessity for water con- 
 servation will lead to expert practice, as well as economy, in 
 Australian water management ; and I shall predict that miles of 
 river-bed, when skilfully deepened where excavation happens to 
 be soft, and consequently comparatively cheap, will be found to 
 make excellent reservoirs 5 that the application of clay to porous 
 places, to prevent percolation, and the construction of dams, to 
 preserve elevation in rivers at present of little use, will lead to the 
 irrigation of thousands of acres, which without water would have 
 remained desert; that the hitherto incalculable waste of water, by 
 exhalation from an unnecessarily expanded surface, will be
 
 174 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 reduced amazing-ly bv the confinement of that water within 
 contracted, but deeper, surflice bounds; and that the aug-mented 
 capacity derivable by many existing- lag-oons, from judicious 
 embankment, will justify the cost. A shallow lagoon is a 
 nuisance, but deepened into an Eng-lish mere it may become a 
 blessing:, and a source of wealth to its locality. Laijoons indicate 
 the natural levels of a district, and many of them will doubtless 
 be found worthy of conversion into jniblic reservoirs. They oug-ht 
 all of them to be carefully examined in seasons of drought, with a 
 view to prospective deepenings of the deep places, and by removal 
 of the excavated stuff to the nearest shallows, make decided land 
 of them, and thus lessen the surface exposed to evaporation, I 
 have an impression that when the ratio at which evaporation pro- 
 gresses shall have been correctly ascertained, the extravagance of 
 the Australian evaporative oblation to the clouds will be thought 
 astounding. 
 
 Telford, the great self-taught engineer, in a communication to 
 the Shropshire Agricultural Report, published in the year 1803, in 
 which he expounded his views in reg-ard to the improvement of 
 the navigation of the river Severn, (an object then mooted), writes 
 thus : " The second plan is to collect the flood-waters into reser- 
 voirs, the principal ones to be formed among the hills in Mont- 
 gomeryshire, and the inferior ones in such convenient ])laces as 
 might be found in the dingles, Sec, along the banks of the river. 
 By this means the imj)etuosity of the floods might be greatly 
 lessened, and a sufficient quantity of water preserved to regulate 
 the navigation of the river in dry seasons, and to answer many 
 otlier useful jiurposes, such as the forming of ponds for inland 
 fisheries, the supplying artificial canals, and the watering of land. 
 I'his, it is thought, might even prove the simplest and least expen- 
 sive mode of regulating naviga])lo rivers, especiallv such as are 
 immediately on the borders of hilly countries." The idea was 
 worthy of Telford. The Yan Yean reservoir of this colony may be 
 considered as an iHustration of 'I'elford's thought. 
 
 I observed, with ph-asui-e, a statement in the Kepoit on the 
 resources of Victoria, bjifure adverted to, that in the Hamilton 
 district "good water could be obtained wiierever tried for, at an 
 average depth of seventy feet." Tiiut circtimstance indicates that 
 there is, at all events there, a vast subf^'rraneous collection of 
 water, raisablc to the surface by conijiaratively Himj>le nuichinery,
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 175 
 
 and it streng-thened a conclusion, to which I had arrived in Eng^- 
 land, that, though the exhahition of a warm climate having great 
 surface exposure would account for tlie disappearance upwards of 
 much water, it was, nevertheless, probable that more than was sus- 
 pected, found its Avay, by percolation, to subterranean receptacles. 
 It hap])ens luckily for the Victorian agriculturist, that water is 
 essential for gold washing-, and that its storage for that purpose 
 has become an object of colonial concern. That circumstance has 
 operated beneficially in procuring- him a golden ally in his fellow 
 colonist, the miner, who has had his ap])lication for aid responded 
 to ; and I think it probable that the gold fields water vote may 
 initiate the adoption of Telford's fine conception as to a general 
 system of water storage along the mountain range, which so con- 
 veniently bisects the colony. The diffusion of water, like the dif- 
 fusion of knowledge, becomes enhanced in proportion to the eleva- 
 tion of its source ; a lofty conception being worth a thousand 
 grovelling ideas, and a gallon of water at the mean altitude of the 
 range being of greater value for many purposes, than ten thousand 
 gallons of the same water woidd be at the mean level of the surface 
 of the colony. The books of the Sj^lenham Crystal Palace concern 
 would, if referred to, as to their fountain-towers, and machinery 
 cost prove this. The word "prospecting" having come into 
 general Victorian usage, I would suggest prospecting water 
 search reconnoitres along the ranges before private ownership 
 shall have been allowed to create any impediments to the forma- 
 tion of mountain meres, exactly where they ought to be, in order 
 to take a northern or a southern w^atershed, as the general weal of 
 the colony may prescribe. It will be found easier and cheaper to 
 reserve than to re-purchase, and I may state that my present 
 object is rather to provide prospective facilities than to precipitate 
 expenditure, knowing the delicacy and difficulty of dealing with 
 vested rights, w hether acquired by grant or by user. A granted 
 eighty-acre section may be detrimentally in the way of ii-rigation 
 over eighty thousand acres, and it is my Avisli to avert the intru- 
 sion of such "dog in the manger'' policy into one of the finest 
 fields for engineering enterprise which the colony has to offer, and 
 which may affect, for weal or for waste, (by getting permanently 
 into the wrong watershed, or making an improper detour), an 
 incalculable quantity of the water of the ranges, which has called 
 forth this suggestion.
 
 KG PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 I am anxious that every facility shall he given for the extraction 
 of as much of the gold of the colony, as is iindahle, wliilst its 
 standard price is influenced by the erroneous notion that it is a 
 scarce metal ; but I am impelled, by conviction, to state my 
 belief, that the permanent wealth of the colony will be found in its 
 ag-ricultural resources, rather than in its mineral treasures. There 
 will always be uncertainty and reckless gambling in gold mine 
 management, the blanks being many, and the prizes few, though 
 valuable when won, if' kept from squander : but the agricultural 
 produce of the colony will, if augmented by general irrigation, be 
 both ])ermanent and great, and the advantages are in ])rospect, 
 such as will justify the agricultural interest, in claiming " pros- 
 pecting" encouragement and water grant funds fi-om the colonial 
 revenue, to an equal extent with the mining interest. The agri- 
 cultural returns, given in the Report on the resources of the colon}', 
 ftilly sustain my own estimate, that the produce of the land 
 brought imder efficient irrigation, may be trebled. The agi'icultu- 
 ral statistics of Italy give a greater increase, especially in the dis- 
 trict of Lombardy, where the supply of water, on given terms, has 
 long been a matter of public economy ; and as I see, by the Victo- 
 rian Land Act, that rivers and water frontages are to be matters 
 of government reservation, it will follow, that a trust for the due 
 distribution of the water among the land owners entitled will 
 attach upon the reservation. That trust will, probably, be dele- 
 gated to Commissioners, or peradventure, to District Boards, or be 
 placed under municipality jurisdiction : be that as it may, it will 
 become one of the most certain sources of colonial revenue, if it is 
 managed with skill and economy. In mining districts, the joint 
 fimds of the agricultural and the mining interests, will justify 
 expenditure, which neither interest could risk se])anitely, and it is 
 in such districts that we are to expect the trilnii])hs of engineering 
 skill, in gaining or k<'ej)ing surface elevation lor motive jjowcr, or 
 for feeding land wliicli, by position, could not have been otlierwise 
 reached. If much of the mountain ranges shall he auriferous, or 
 shall conmiand auriferous land, or land yielding other valuable 
 mineral products, tlie imjmrtance of every yaiil of ])ermanent ele- 
 vation in a motmtfiin reservoir will bo great ; and a-^ tJie tem])era- 
 ture of the air will, at an elevation, be cool, that circumstance will 
 lessen waste by evaporation. Much will Ije effected towards a 
 complete svsti'm of inigati<»n by attention to the following points,
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 177 
 
 viz., the establishment of a g-eneral system of hjckage on such 
 reaches of river bed as carry an approximate level long enough to 
 justify the cost; claying- over porous places, where the water is 
 found to disappear, and piping water through sand-bed reaches to 
 the next lower reaches which have retentive bottoms ; the conver- 
 sion of lagoons into meres of half their surface area, and ten times 
 their storage capacity ; providing artificial reservoirs in proper 
 places, where none previously existed, and tracking surface indica- 
 tions of underground water runs, to the highest level at which, on 
 the artesian principle, they can be brought to the surface as 
 springs ; establishing connection, where thought desirable, between 
 one body of water and another, so as to extend the benefits of 
 irrigation as far as practicable ; the drainage, into deep ravines, of 
 shallow waters and morasses, so as to make the water available, 
 and relieve the atmosphere from the noxious exhalations and 
 insects which such localities engender ; the ascertainment, in 
 every locality, of the depth at which water is generally found 
 under ground, and, as far as practicable, of the quantity of the 
 supply, and to what extent it is effected by seasons of drought ; 
 and the ascertainment, also, of where the bulk of the water, which 
 takes a downward course, first disappears, with a view to its pre- 
 vention. 
 
 The irrigation of grass land, as practised in England, is of 
 English origin and was not an Italian introduction. Nothing can 
 be more inductivefy beautiful than the following incident recorded 
 in the Treatise of Old Vaughan, the Father of English Meadow 
 Floating published in the year 1(310 : '' In the month of March I 
 found a molehill raised on the brim of a brook in my meadow (in 
 the county of Hereford), and from it there issued a little stream of 
 water drawn by the working of the mole down a shelving bank, 
 one pace broad and twenty long. The running of this little 
 stream did wonderfully content me, seeing that it was pleasing 
 green, and that other land on both sides was full of moss and 
 hide-bound for want of water. This was the first cause of my 
 undertaking the floating of ground, &c., itc, &c." Here we 
 have the record of when and how one of the greatest of English 
 agricultural improvements was suggested, and a text worthy of 
 voluminous paraphrase in any system of Australian husbandry. 
 I have often wished that the poet Cowper had been aware of this 
 incident when he so beautifully apostrophized the mole in his 
 
 N
 
 178 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Tash, because be would bave contemplated witb deligbt tbis 
 little mole instructini>- Vaugban, and tbroug-b bim mankind, not 
 only in tbe construction of a true artesian well, but also in tbe 
 best application of tbe water wbicb its eng-ineering; skill and 
 labor bad brougbt to tbe surface. 
 
 It bas been ascertained tbat Mctoria receives on an average 
 as mucb rain water as England, and I cannot but tbink tbat if 
 water conservation is economically and skilfully carried on, water 
 meadows will be formed in many favorable positions at a reason- 
 able cost, and tbat irrigation to some extent may be practised on 
 every domain. 
 
 Tbe chemist I'y of Nature is economy itself j no particle of any 
 substance is lost in ber operations. Sbe literally extracts bread 
 from stones, by making fertilizers of mineral eartbs, and deriving 
 aliment for animal and vegetable life, as well from organic 
 substances as from tbose wbicb are inorganic. ISitrogen, carbon, 
 oxvgen, bydrogen, lime, magnesia, jiotasb, soda, sulpburic acid, 
 pbospboric acid, cblorine, and otber fertilizing substances, at ber 
 bidding, pass out of any one of ber tbree kingdoms into any 
 otber, and after baving accomjilisbed ber purpose can be made to 
 reassume tbe position in wbicb she found tbem ; measure for 
 measure, weigbt for weigbt. Wbat a fine field, tberefore, is 
 opened by tbe agi-icultural cbemistiy of tbe latter balf of tbe 
 ninetecntb century to tbe industry and skill of tbe Victorian 
 cidtivator, wbo bas witbin bis reacb nearly ever}' substance, 
 mineral, vegetable, and animal, wbicb bave been found to yield 
 manure ; and some of tbem clicnper and in greater abundance 
 tban tbe Brilisb furmer is able to procure tbem. Tbe decomposed 
 lava of some volcanic districts wbicb, from its color, bas been 
 named cbocolate soil, is ii good fertilizer and will imjirove tbe 
 staple of tbe poor lands of tbe localities in wbicb it is found, if it 
 is applied after tbe manner of jiiarl, \\1m'ii the progress of settle- 
 ment shall bave given to ])oor hind sufliciciit value to inducer the 
 operation. iJeds of marl will jtroltably bo found, as in J'bigland, 
 buried beneath many ol" the sandy districts, \\hich only want 
 their apj)lication on the surface to become useful land, and 
 transmute tbem from the dreary sterility of desiM-t wastes into 
 districts as fertile as similar application lias made tiiat of I'^nglish 
 Norfolk.
 
 AQRICULTUUE OF VICTORIA. 179 
 
 The sources of manures appear to me so manifold, and some of them to 
 trend so much in the direction of the marvellous and the vast, that I scarcely 
 know what substance in the three kingdoms of nature to instance, from 
 which fertilizing matter cannot he extracted ; and, when I found in the 
 English application of manures, so unpromising a material as granite, 
 yielding when calcined a fertilizer of considerable value, a sort of mental 
 ejaculation to the purport of that of friend Dominie Samson — prodigious ! 
 escaped me. Even sea sand, which in days of yore was metaphorically 
 referred to as the emblem of the countless and the vast, must be content 
 now-adays to be reckoned in its aggregate as a simple unit in an 
 agriculturalist's list of fertilizers, which are in reality inexhaustible ; 
 because, every grain of sand becomes a particle of fertility when mixed with 
 clay, or some other such substance. Chemical science by revealing to the 
 agriculturalist the constituents of manures of known efficacy, and by the 
 discovery of new ones, has effected in my time a complete revolution, as 
 well in theory as in practice, in their application : perhaps, I cannot better 
 illustrate the obligation of agriculturalists to science, than by the following 
 statement. In 1846, Professor Henslow, the botanist, laid a paper before 
 the British Association, at Cambridge, on the abundant occurrence of the 
 bones of whales, on the crag beds of the coast of Suffolk, along with large 
 quantities of rolled pebbles, which were at first supposed to be coprolites, 
 but which were in reality particles of phosphate of lime. These pebbles, 
 though placed in a district where they were predestined to revolutionize 
 the capabilities of the soil and though perceptible to view, had been 
 imaccountably hidden from use, and might have long continued in that 
 ignorantly hidden state, but for Henslow ; who, in pursuing his inductive 
 investigation and demonstrating the value of the deposit as a substitute for 
 guano, performed a service to his country and to the agriculturists of other 
 countries also, and probably to those of Australia, as well ; for, as the 
 southern hemisphere abounds in whales, it is more than probable that some 
 of those which lived in ancient days have left their bones in similar deposit, 
 as a fertilizing legacy to Australian husbandry, available when that 
 husbandry shall have advanced in intelligence far enough to make discovery 
 of the mortuary deposit, and claim the legacy. 
 
 The importance of manures and their mode of operation have, however 
 only of late had due investigation ; and though the day has not yet arrived 
 in which an intelligent agriculturist can restore with precision to land 
 coming forward in crop rotation the exact equivalent for the productive 
 power expended in producing previous cropping, that day is probably not 
 very distant ; and I look forward to the feeding of plants by manure, 
 skillfully cooked and applied, becoming as systematical and as well under- 
 stood as has already become the feeding of animals with plants. 
 
 For my purpose a six- fold classification of manures will suffice, and I 
 shall content myself with instancing just as many in each class as will 
 illustrate the great bounty of nature, and warrant my conclusion that with 
 thoughtful husbandry there will be no lack of fertilizing resources in 
 Victoria ; because it luckily happens that the bulk of them are procurable 
 on reasonable terms ; and it will, I apprehend, meet the requirement of 
 
 N 2
 
 ISO PRIZE ESSAY, 
 
 this essay, if I merely instance in regard to application the feeding of the 
 crops enumerated in my own example course. 
 
 1. Animal substances yield : — Human excrement and urine ; animal 
 excrenient and urine ; poultr}', and pigeon, and other land bird excrement ; 
 guano, which may be taken as the type of all sea fowl excrement ; putrid 
 fish ; blubber, and oily substances ; bones ; horns ; hair ; feathers ; blood ; 
 refuse fat and carrion ; woolen rags ; corals ; sponges (which yield 
 gelatine) ; lime ; coprolites ; and pebble phosphates, &c , &c., &c. 
 
 2. Vegetable substances yield : — the straw and chaflf of grain ; the haulm 
 of pulse ; mult dust ; rape cake and refuse ; cotton cake and refuse ; linseed 
 cake and refuse ; hempseed cake and refuse ; charcoal ; woody fibre and 
 ashes ; tanner's spent bark ; refuse hay ; green crops to plough under ; sea 
 weeds and samphire, and their ashes ; peat, and its products ; vegetable 
 ashes and alkalies ; and the refuse of vegetable oils, &c , &c., &c. 
 
 3. Mineral substances yield : — Marl ; chalk ; gypsum ; salt ; alum ; 
 clay for burning, and also for mixing with other substances ; sand 
 and the debris of quarries ; burnt granite ; copperas ; and bituminous 
 matter, &c., &c., &c. 
 
 4. Mixed and Miscellaneous substances yield : — Soot ; soaper's waste ; 
 gas works refuse ; and a host, defying comprehension and compute, of 
 artificial manures, which have given rise to a new commercial staple of 
 great importance. 
 
 5. Composts of eartliy matter ; produced by intermixture with almost 
 every one of the foregoing substances. 
 
 6. Liquid Manures : wliich, aided by irrigation, will in troth, become 
 enriching streams of fertility. I may, in conclusion, state that tlic Flemings 
 estimate the tanked urine of a cow at £i per year. 
 
 The word conservation points explicitly to vast sources of 
 manure as well in Victoria as elsewhere. Every bone, and every 
 particle of animal and vef::etable refuse, for which there is as 
 yet no demand, ought to be collected and buried in proper 
 localities until it is wanted. The same remark will aj)ply to the 
 sewu{,^e of our incipient municipalities, and thoug^h I do not wish 
 to see the nasty practice (if the nasty Chinese as to human 
 excrement olttain in Australia, it oiitilit not to be allowed to 
 pollute rivers and watercourses, and be Inst to agriculture by 
 excessive dilution, when it can be easily conveyed by underground 
 vaulting to some fitting and deeply sunk receptacle, there to abide 
 uiitU ag-ricultural demand shall give it value. Urine is emj)loyed 
 us manure, either in the li(piid state or with the fa'ces which are 
 imjtregnated with it. It is the urine contained in them which 
 gives to the solid fieces the jaoperty of emitting ammonia, a 
 projHjrty which they themselves jiossess only in a veiy slight
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 181 
 
 degree. " When it is considered," says Liebig-, " that with ever}' 
 pint of urine a pound of wheat raig-ht he produced, the indifference 
 with which the liquid excrement has been regarded is quite 
 incomprehensible." The great chemist might have expressed 
 himself still more strongly, had he chosen to do so, on the great 
 waste in former times of all manures. The following quotation 
 from Arthur Young's Agricultural Tour through the North of 
 England, published in 1770, shows the comparatively recent 
 period at which town manures became an object of sufficient 
 value in general estimation to be worthy of conservation. In 
 speaking of a locality in East Yorkshire, he sa3^s: "They are 
 throughout this track, attentive to the manuring of their land. 
 Lime, after being long unknown, is coming into use, and those 
 who have tried it find great advantage from the practice. Soap 
 ashes they buy wherever they con, and find nothing to exceed 
 them. All sorts of manure is bought at high prices at Hull, and 
 carried nine or ten miles around. Rape dust from the oil mills 
 is a capital ai'ticle with them, having found it of prodigious benefit 
 to all sorts of land ; but it is chiefly laid on their barley- land. All 
 other sorts of manure, such as coal ashes, horse, hog, and cow dung, 
 the sullage of streets, &c., &c., &c., is purchased at Ss. a wagon-load 
 of fift}'^ bushels, and spread on the fields to great profit. About fifty 
 3'ears ago, the manuring from Hull was begun by a poor man 
 who hired a close of grass ; he had four asses which he employed 
 constantly in carrying away ashes and dung, and spreading them 
 upon his pasture, the improvement of which was so manifest that 
 his neighbors followed the example ; whoever brought away 
 manure, for many years, were paid for taking it. Twent^'-five 
 years ago it was to be had for less than a shilling a load, but the 
 country around, by degrees, all coming into the practice, the price 
 has arisen to its present height ; extraordinary good stuff will sell 
 for five shillings a load." How instructive and important was the 
 lesson which the sagacious and industrious man alluded to by 
 Young: tauji'lit ! 
 
 That manure, which is now allowed to be to land what daily 
 food is to the animal, should have been so long in arriving at 
 appreciation, and should have had such a discoverer, is a singular 
 incident; and that it should be a century after that before liquid 
 manure and its easier and cheaper distribution became appreciated, 
 is as singular. The reliance of my course of cropping will be chiefly
 
 182 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 on the homestead supply, and that supply will have its source in 
 the soiling system, and in tank conservation. The judicious use 
 of both solid and liquid manures is the point to be aimed at. It 
 is not mv intention to g-o throug-h the various manures seriatim, as 
 I should if I was writing a treatise, but merely to comnuinicate 
 some particulars within the range of my own observation and 
 experience, as to particular manures in certain cases. 
 
 The classification of manures into those which amend the staple of the 
 soil, and those which stimulate or improve vegetation is good, though some 
 manures (as for instance lime) act as amendcrs of the soil, and as stimulators 
 and feeders of vegetation also. The following remarks on the conservation 
 and management of homestead manure, both in a solid and a fluid state, 
 appear to me to fall within the proper scope of this essay, and I shall, 
 therefore, adduce them ; premising that some of them are only partially 
 original, and that I shall adhere to the aphoristical form in which they 
 stand in my note book. 
 
 In mi.\ing the straw used as litter with cattle dung to increase its 
 quantity, and afterwards by watering the mass to induce fermentation, the 
 manual performance of Experience is in fact a scientific operation, and her 
 inductive lesson accords with what Science thus taught: " Manure must be 
 soluble before it can be effective ; and this solubility can only be produced 
 by the putrefactive process, which a moistened dunghill promotes." The 
 exact stage of decomposition in which it is most advantageous to apply 
 homestead dung has not, as yet, been conclusively determined by either 
 experience or science, though much has been said and written by the 
 disciples of botii. Experience inclines to the opinion that it ought to be 
 applied when tlie straw is uniformly of a mahogany color, and so rotten 
 that it readily breaks into short pieces, without having entirely lost its 
 form ; and Science will probably endorse that opinion, though she has not, 
 as yet, done so. 
 
 As manure is wanted at different seasons of the year, it is advisable to 
 liave it collected near the place of application ; and so managi-d, as that 
 so much as is wanted for a particular jjurjiose shall be in a uniform stage of 
 decomposition, as near tlic state tliouglit most advantageous for the 
 pur])ose in view, as is practicable ; and, if the manure collected is not in 
 that state when wanted, then the putrefaction of the oldest portion nmst bo 
 retarded, and that of the newest accelerated, until botli old and new arc 
 l)rought to the same state ; otlurwise there may Ik- mischievous contrariety 
 of operation : when, however, the manure lias been bnmgiit to a uniform 
 state, as to decomposition, and has been i)loughed in with a shallow furrow, 
 it soon incorporates with the soil and affonls a succession of soluble humus, 
 or mucilage, which gives regular nourishment to the crop. It is sometimes 
 advisable, for special or experimental purposes, to keep the dung produced 
 from flifTcrcnt animals, separate ; as, for instance, the dung of cows distinct 
 from that of horses, or of cattle feeding on oil cake or grain and turnijis
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 183 
 
 from those fed on straw or refuse hay only. Cow dung lias been found 
 most effective on light soils ; and horse dung on those which are cold and 
 heavy. The richer the food with which an animal is fed, the richer will be 
 its dung, and the further it will go ; because, a less quantity will suffice to 
 produce a reciuired result. A general mixture of the dung of all the animals 
 of an establishment, mixed with all the straw used in their littering, will 
 produce manure of an average quality, adapted for any land and for any 
 purpose, though, for light soils, it should be more decomposed than it need be 
 for those which are heavy. Manure hein<j to land icluil da Hi/ food is to an 
 animal, ought to be supplied in quantity, and with a regularity proportioned 
 to the exhaustion of the cropping taken ; but experience reports that with 
 land, as with animals, it is better to feed lighty and often, than to gorge 
 with a large quantity at once; save in the cases of such crops as potatoes, 
 mangel-wurzel, and Swede turnips, which require a rich earth, and have 
 been found to possess an amazing capacity for digesting manure. 
 
 It is acknowledged that urine and similar animal substances have a more 
 powerful effect on the soil when they have undergone a certain degree of 
 putrefaction than when they are used in a fresh state, and it is allowed that 
 this putrefactive process is produced with the least loss of substance when 
 the liquid has been confined in close vaulted cisterns which admit the 
 external air only partially. On light soils this liquid has a most fertilizing 
 effect, if it is used in small portions at a time. On very heavy soils this 
 effect is not so apparent, and for such soils the liquid is mixed with sand 
 or with any light earth before it is applied, or instead of using it at once 
 upon the land it is poured over the litter which has been collected in a 
 heap or in a yard after having served for the cattle. In the common 
 mode of collecting farm 3-ard dung, straw gets very unequally impregnated 
 with animal matter; at one time it will contain a large portion and run 
 rapidly into fermentation, at another there will be so little that it is 
 with difficulty heat is excited in it. By separating the urine and the 
 litter, straw will go much further, and can be mixed with the urine at 
 the most advantageous time, and it thus forms a much richer manure in a 
 smaller compass, from not being so much diluted with water. Should there 
 be a deficiency of straw, earth or sand may supply its place, so far as regards 
 the soaking up of the rich juices. The use of straw in dung may be con- 
 sidered as making it a sponge to hold the liquid animal matter in its pores 
 or tubes. The great use of liquid manure on light soils is to impregnate 
 them with soluble matter which, being diffused through their substance, 
 supplies nourishment to the roots of plants wherever they may shoot out. 
 It may be applied to the land at any time before the seed is sown, and also 
 soon after the blade springs up or the seed begins to form; in short when- 
 ever the plant requires fresh nourishment, or when that which existed in 
 the soil is diminished. "Without liquid manure the poor sands of Flanders 
 could not be cultivated, much less produce crops which vie in quantity and 
 quality with those on the best soils. The quantity of dung, in a very rotten 
 state, which this soil would require, according to the common system of 
 manuring could not be produced by all the straw which could be raised upon 
 it under ordinary cultivation ; but cattle produce urine, and urine produces
 
 184 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 in return roots for cattle. The great effect of liquid manure has set agricul- 
 turists upon finding some artificial substitute for the urine and the watered 
 dung of cattle ; such substitutes are obtained by mixing all kinds of animal 
 refuse with water and inducing putrefaction. The emptyings of privies is 
 scarcely a substitute, for it is the same as the liquid from the stables in a 
 more concentrated form, but the refuse of oil mills and various nnmufactures 
 when diluted and mixed with a portion of putrid urine soon become 
 assimilated to it. This has become a branch of trade in those countries 
 where nothing will grow witliout manure, and is a resource where an 
 increasing population demands the cultivation of inferior soils to supply the 
 necessary increase of food, as well as an increase of produce from those 
 which are naturally fertile. Notwithstanding the value and importance of 
 liquid manure, it is not to be supposed that solid dung may be altogether 
 superseded by liquid manure, which, however active and immediately 
 effective, soon loses its power, whereas solid manure well prepared and 
 ploughed into the ground will last for several crops. It is the judicious use 
 of both manures conjointly which has the best and most permanent effect. 
 Solid manure after being ploughed in requires time before it can have any 
 direct effect on the germination of the seed, or on the nourishment of the 
 pLant ; liquid manure, on the contrary, acts from the moment it is poured 
 on the surface ; it is the milk of the young plant, which sends out its fibres 
 to receive it after it has undergone that slow transnnitation M-hich forms 
 humus, and has become in a i)ropcr state to supply the more vigorous roots 
 with sutlicient nourishment. Various means have been adopted to increase 
 the quantity and efficacy of manure. The simplest is to increase the 
 number of cattle kept and husband their manure to the best advantage. 
 It is evident that letting cattle roam at large in pastures is a great manure 
 loss, not only on account of much of the dung which is dropped, but also of 
 much of the urine which though the essence of manure gets thereby waste- 
 fully applied. On the contrary, wherever soiling and stall feeding arc practised 
 land gets highly manured, and tlie crops become more certain and abundant; 
 for with stall t'eeding, as with the soiling system, is ccmnccted a nmch more 
 economical management of liomestead manure which is efllcted by keeping 
 the litter and the more soliii parts of the dung separate from the urine, 
 and the liquid parts until collected in large reservoirs to be used either in 
 the liquid state or applied innnediately to the land, or in the formation of 
 compost heaps with earth and vegetable substances purposely collected to 
 be mixeil with the straw which has served for litter. 
 
 Sir John Sinclair, (m the authority of several eminent farmers, states in 
 his Code of Agriculture tliat one ton of straw, if iirojjerly manufactured, 
 will jjroducc four tons of manure, and until Australian agriculturists shall 
 have formccl a reliable estimate of their own tliat statinicnt may serve as a 
 criterion by which to estimate any given year's manure from the qiiantity 
 of straw used as litter. The exertions of an in<lustrious cultivator to 
 increase the quantity and improve the (luality of eviry sjiecicH of manure, 
 both solid and liquid, will be rciiai<l by the incri-ased cropping wiiich will 
 be consequent, but careful experiment is alone to Ik* depended upon in tiie 
 ado]>ii<>n of new manures and of new modes of a])plication.
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 185 
 
 Lime is both stimulative and enricliing-, and I am glad to find 
 it abundant in the colony. I propose to use it on the clover leys 
 for wheat, so that its ai)j)lication will recur on the same land every 
 fourth year. That use will be consonant with good English 
 practice on soils of strong staple, abounding in humus. It is 
 useful both in its caustic state of quick lime, and in its milder 
 form of carbonate, or chalk. Lime is less porous than sand, and 
 more so than clay, and has therefore an improving effect on soils 
 in which either sand or clay prevails. It acts also chemically 
 as an alkaline earth, and greatly assists the good effect of the 
 enriching manures of animal or vegetable origin. Newly-burnt 
 lime has a pecuHar effect upon all organic matter, which it burns 
 or dissolves by taking from it a portion of the water and of the 
 carbonic acid which it contains. On humus, which is the result 
 of animal and vegetable deca}' in the earth, it has a peculiar effect, 
 rendering it soluble in water, and, as a consequence, fit to enter 
 the minute fibres of the roots of plants. This circumstance is 
 probably the secret of the effect of lime on certain soils, and its 
 comparative inaction on others. In some places where the soil is 
 peculiarly poor — as, for instance, a pure silicious sand, washed by 
 the sea or by rivers — lime is found to do no good, there being no 
 ingredient on which it can operate ; but on rich alluvial clays, 
 which contain much organic matter, it is the best of manures, 
 both in a caustic and a mild state. Caustic lime readily unites 
 with the half-decomposed fibres of vegetable matter, such as 
 straw, heath, and the like ; and it accelerates their decomposition, 
 inasmuch as by its means the dead fibres of the roots of vegetables 
 which remain in the earth when the plant is removed, become 
 soluble, and their elements entering into new combinations, 
 supply the materials for the various vegetable substances which 
 are then to be produced. As long as there is a store of organic 
 matter or humus in the soil, lime will be found an excellent 
 manure ; but as soon as this is exhausted, lime only adds to the 
 sterility by destroying the fibres which the seed throws out from 
 its own substance by the assistance of light and moisture. 
 
 Lime therefore, when properly applied, is beneficial ; but it 
 ■ becomes inert and even noxious when it is applied injudiciously. 
 The property to which it owes its chief power in promoting vege- 
 tation, is its combining with certain elements of decayed animal 
 and vegetable matter, aud forming a compound which is soluble
 
 186 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 in water, and attracts carbonic acid and moisture ivom. the 
 atmosphere. This substance is readily taken up into the sap by 
 the fibres of" the roots, and supplies the ])hint with oxA'g-en, 
 hydrogen, and carbon, which are tlie elements oi" all veg-etable 
 substances, except a few, which also contain nitro<ien. Air, 
 water, and carbonic acid are suiiicient to aiford all the elements of 
 vegetables ; and the use of lime is chiefly to facilitate the 
 absorption of these elements, in addition to depositing a very 
 minute portion of the pure earth in certain parts of the vegetable. 
 In addition to its etfect on the humus of the soil, lime acts also on 
 the clay which it may contain ; and where this is abundant, its 
 effect is very beneficial. The use of quick lime in rendering inert 
 vegetable fibres soluble, and hastening the decomposition of 
 animal substances, is of the greatest importance in agricidture. 
 Substances may be rendered highly enriching in a short time, 
 which without it woidd have been long dormant in the soil, or on 
 the dungheap. When there is peaty matter in the soil, which by 
 reason of its tannin principle, is of itself incapable of putrefaction, 
 lime is the true remedy ; for, assisted by feculent matter to 
 produce a degree of heat and fermentation in it, lime soon dis- 
 solves peat and converts it into real humus, than which there 
 is no better food for vegetation. Lime has a leavening effect on 
 strong soils, and renders them much more porous and receptive of 
 the influences of the atmosphere than the}' were before its appli- 
 cation. It also corrects acidit}', and assists the nutritious effects 
 of animal and vegetable manures. When spread over a soil 
 abounding in vegetable matter, it makes it active by dissolving 
 the half-decomposed fibres and converting them into a soluble 
 mucilage ; and because of its property of attracting moisture 
 rapidly, a small quantity produces an immediate effect ; and when 
 spread over clover leys, pre])aring for wheat (which is its best 
 aj)plicatinn), it soon reduces the clover stems aiul roots to humus; 
 but the sj)rea(ling is not to precede much the sowing of the seed, 
 because it would, in that case, lose its chief power by attracting 
 carbonic acid, and l)ocome carbonate, or chalk, and the expense of 
 burning would be then in great measure thrown away. I have 
 dwelt somewhat lengthily on Umo. because of the imjiortant part 
 wliich it will liave to take in Victorian husl)andry, especially when 
 railways shall have made it n-acliable in every agricultural district 
 of the roldiiy : and the regidur growth of clover and of some other
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 187 
 
 crops occasionally ploug-lied under, shall have periodically pro- 
 vided material which chemistry is to transmute into humus. 
 
 Cliulk is composed of 44 parts of carhonic acid and 5G of lime. 
 It is used to improve various soils. The best land for the g-rowth 
 of wheat contains a certain portion of argillaceous, siliceous, and 
 calcareous earth, and when the last-mentioned is deficient, the 
 addition of chalk improves the soil more than any quantity of 
 animal or vegetable manure could do alone. The soils most im- 
 proved by chalk are the strong- wet clays which contain a portion 
 of iron. Chalk acts as an absorbent, corrects astringency, and 
 prevents, b}^ its interposition between the particles of clay, that 
 running into a solid mass which is so detrimental to the roots of 
 plants, by entirely excluding- atmospheric air. On loose sands its 
 effects are different; there it acts chiefly as a cement, and the 
 more argillaceous it is the better it binds the siliceous particles. 
 An important use of chalk is to form ponds in porous soils for the 
 use of cattle. A stratum of chalk, a few inches thick, protected 
 by a coat of gravel and sand, to prevent its being- trod through, 
 will effectually retain water; and if a considerable proportion 
 of salt is beat up with it, and intimately mixed, it will effectually 
 prevent worms from making- lodgments in it, and keep in water 
 for a very long time. It is of advantage to throw chalk into all 
 ponds used by cattle ; as it corrects any acidity which may arise 
 from stagTiation, and the water in which chalk is diffused is more 
 wholesome than that which contains clay alone. 
 
 Gypswn is found in several Victorian localities, though not as yet 
 in large quantities. Its abundance in the neighborhood of Paris 
 has occasioned its being- called plaster of Paris. It is composed 
 of sulphuric acid and lime ; a ton to the acre, or a pint to four 
 feet, is a fair application. The action of g-ypsum in producing- 
 luxurious vegetation is owing to its power of absorbing- the 
 ammonia of the atmosphere which by its solution in water and 
 absorption in that state by the spongelets of the roots is thus 
 yielded to the plants. The ammonia existing in rainwater is 
 (whenever it comes in contact with gA'psum) at once absorbed by 
 it, and is no longer volatile, but becomes fixed. The decompo- 
 sition of gypsum by this process of absorption of ammonia g-oes 
 on ver}' slowly, and this ex])lains why the action of g-ypsum lasts
 
 188 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 for many years. G}'psum has a septic quality which promotes 
 putrefaction in animal and vegetable substances, and is therefore 
 a useful ingredient in composts of which the principal part is 
 farm-yard dung. The plants on which gypsum produces the 
 greatest effects are clover, peas, beans, vetches, sainfoin, lucern, 
 colza, rape, and plants with broad leaves. It has but little effect 
 on the cereals. It is to be regarded as a stimulant, and not as a 
 substitute for dung. The softer the water of the locality in which 
 gypsum is to be used as manure the greater will be the effect. I 
 propose aj)plying it in iny course with beans, peas, lentils, vetches, 
 gramme, buckwheat, sorghum, hemp, clover, and rape. 
 
 As to coffij}o.'<ts, an economical ]n'actice which I first noticed in 
 Cheshire, and subsequently introduced into other localities to 
 advantage, is worthy of Australian notice. The fold-yard is ex- 
 cavated in the form of a washing-basin, and is in the beginning 
 of winter bedded with a layer of loose soil a yard in thickness ; 
 by imbibing and retaining the ooze from the mixen above, this 
 soil comes out in the spring first-rate stuff for top-dressing grass 
 land, which is the purpose to which it is generally apjilied. 
 
 The fuiulamcntal principle upon wliich composts arc made is that of im- 
 pregnating; portions of earth with tliose parts of the dung of cattle which, in 
 common dunghill management, would liave been dissipated and lost. Com- 
 posts have the effect of accelerating or retarding the decomposition of animal 
 and vegetable substances by the addition of earths, such as chalk, marl, 
 clay, and even sand, according to the nature of the soil on which the compost 
 is to be used. 
 
 In the formation of composts tlie princijial objects are, to regulate the 
 decomposition of the organic substances, and to increase the bulk of the 
 manure, by means of less expensive materials than straw. For these pur- 
 poses lime or chalk is generally preferred; the former, in its caustic state, 
 to accelerate decijinposition of liijrous matter, the latter to add to the mass 
 and absorb any portion of acid, which is produced in a certain stage of the 
 fermentation. The most useful material is peat or turf, which may be laid 
 in layers with quick lime and earth, the whole being well soaked with liquid 
 manure. If any kind of vegetable matter, such as fern, broom, the tops of 
 heath, or pond weeds, can be added, it will be so much the richer. The lime 
 and urine acting on the peaty matter, its tannin is decomi)osed and trans- 
 formed into humus, the woody fibre is dissolved, and the whole mass, when 
 turned over and well niixiil, beiiimes a very rich earth; which, being spread 
 on the land and slightly ])louglied or harrowed in, greatly enrichis its sur- 
 face. By this means many poor soils may be improved when tiie cultivation 
 it not sutlicienlly extended to produce straw.
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 189 
 
 Charcoal may be very beneficially applied to land whether in 
 grass or tillage, especially where irrig-ation is not practicable. It 
 has g'reat powers of absorjjtion both of" moisture and the gases, 
 and renders them to the laml by gradual process. Pure and 
 fresh-burnt charcoal has the power of absorbing 90 times its 
 volume of animoniacal gas, and 35 times its value of carbonic- 
 acid gas ; but the power is much diminished if the charcoal is 
 reduced to a state of powder. When used for agricultural 
 purposes it should be broken just small enough to allow of its 
 being equally distributed over the surface of the soil. In this 
 state it will absorb any gas with which it may come in contact, 
 and if any manure has been applied containing ammonia in its 
 free state, liable to pass otF in a gaseous form, the charcoal will 
 absorb it as it rises, and return it again to the plant with the first 
 rain which falls. When, in the course of cultivation, the charcoal 
 is ploughed under, it does not even then lose its powers of 
 absorption, but continues its operations below the surface with 
 considerable efiect. Bakers' ember-refuse is worth collecting, and 
 ought not to be wasted. Wood being abundant in the colony, 
 charcoal may be had at a reasonable cost, and that circumstance 
 will prove a great boon to the agriculturist. I propose to use it 
 chiefly on the pastures and the permanent herbages of clover and 
 lucern, and (if needs be, and the supply is equal to an allowance 
 for the annual clovers) to extend it to them also. I am glad to 
 find wood abundant in the colony, because, until irrigation comes 
 into general operation, charcoal will be the great regulator of 
 surface moisture by gradually yielding to the land and its herbage 
 the moisture which it has absorbed. In pastoral districts, where 
 irrigation is impracticable, charcoal will be found invaluable, and 
 it is in dry climates like that of Australia that its beneficial efiects 
 will be manifest. This is one of the manures in which the 
 Australian agriculturist has a great advantage, for the price of 
 charcoal would be ruinously high in some coimtries. 
 
 Bone Mamirhiff is one of the most important of modern agri- 
 cultural improvements, and I have witnessed such surprising results 
 from the application of ground bones in Cheshire and the adjoining 
 counties of Salop and Stafford, that I shall enter my protest against 
 the waste of a single bone. It is upon old grass land, on soils of 
 a clayey texture, that boning has produced the amazing results
 
 190 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 detailed in English agricultural publications. I was, myself, en- 
 trusted with a large boning outlay in a dairying township, the 
 results of which greatly exceeded the expectations both of the 
 tenants and myself, and was much quicker in its return than we 
 anv of us exjiected. The land had been previously underdrained 
 with a view to the operation, which, no doubt, greatly facilitated 
 the transition fi'om very bad cow pasturage to very good. The 
 two operations, in fact, doubled the rental value of the land boned. 
 I had concluded uiy arrangements with the tenants at a midsummer 
 rent-day, and fixed upon the fields to be first boned, leaving the 
 purchase of the bones and their spreading on the land to tlie 
 management of the principal tenant. He was very prompt, and 
 was so fortunate as to get all the bones he wanted at one esta- 
 blishment, and, as the tenants co-operated well in their carriage 
 of the bones, all the land was boned that autumn, which happened 
 to be very suitable. The land having been all of it formerly 
 under the plough, was in butts, and I directed a butt to be left 
 here and there unboned, so that the etfect of the boning might be 
 apparent. At the Christmas rent-day, the boning at^air was the 
 chief topic of conversation, for all the tenants were pleased with 
 the indications of improvement whicli had begun to be manifest, 
 but as snow was on the ground, J had to be content with 
 their report. The winter and the following spring were, both 
 of them, very favorable; and when I visited the estate at the 
 following midsummer rent-day, my path lay across an elevated 
 field which, at the distance of a mile, overlooked the boned estate. 
 The view delighted me, for my eye rested at once on every boned 
 field. The yellow brown of the butts left unbonetl contrasted so 
 disparagingly with the dec]) green of those which had been honed, 
 as to be a conspicuous object of notice at the distance of a mile. 
 On my arrival at the estate, T went immediately to a field, and cut 
 two sods, onu from an unboned butt, and one from an adjoining 
 butt which had l)een boned. On dissecting the sods, J discovered 
 that the change in the color of the herl)age was to be attributed 
 to the impetus given by the bones to the Aviiite clover jire-existing 
 in the land, for round every splinter of hone a clover stem had 
 entwined itself, and then, cherished by a new aliment, and 
 strengthened by the support which connection with the bone 
 afforded, it sent forth roots downwards into the decaying vegetable 
 mass of coarser herbage, which had too long been ])arainount, and
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 191 
 
 had kept it under, and then threw out tendrils riglit and left, 
 whicli, by contact with otiier splinters of Lone, repeated the process 
 until luxuriant clover had become the predominant herbag'e of land 
 in which it had never been noticed before. The cows, unaccus- 
 tomed to such dainty food, ate so greedily of it that they bared 
 the g-round, and that circumstance aided the effect of the boning, 
 because the finer plants, which had also pre-existed in the land, 
 encouraged by the improved texture which di-ainage had given to 
 the soil, and enjoying for the first time free atmospherical exposure 
 by the disappearance of the mosses and rough i)lants, in which 
 they had been long stifled, and fed by the bone aliment and by 
 that into which the corpus of their oppressing neighbors had 
 been transmuted by the change, grew so vigorously that the 
 change was really marvellous. On dissecting the unboned sod, I 
 found that it contained all the plants which had had development 
 by the boning, but so weak and silvery in stem, and scant in 
 foliage, as to require care in their identity. The rental value 
 of the land was doubled by the operation, and the change was 
 permanent J for on visiting the district twenty years after the 
 boning, I found clover still the predominant herbage, and was 
 amused with the epithet "boned land," by which the land in 
 question was then designated, by reason of its acquired value. 
 
 The bones had been boiled and subjected to a novel chemical 
 process, to exact some ingredient wanted for some manufacturing 
 purpose, which I understood was a failure. The circumstance 
 had, however, created a local prejudice against the bones, which 
 operated to our advantage, for we had them a bargain by taking 
 the lot, though the success of our experiment, and the non-success 
 of the speculation which had led to the boiling of the bones, 
 prevented our getting our after su])plies on easy terms as to price. 
 We tried, on a small scale, crushed bones which had not been 
 boiled at all, some also which had been half boiled, and some which 
 had been fully boiled under the ordinary process, for all of which 
 we paid comparatively high prices ; but the cheap bones ansAvered 
 the best. The operation of the unboiled bones was slow, and it 
 was a dozen years before remunerative effect was produced ; 
 but they in the sequel paid, and when I saw the land twenty 
 years afterwards, the herbage was evidently much improving, and 
 though white clover was not so ])redominant, some valuable plants 
 of the localit}-, which I much liked, were gaining the perfect
 
 192 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 development, which had given great vahie to the herbag-e of the 
 land of the localit}-, which happened to be naturally good. The 
 half boiled bones were comparatively hig-h in price, and did not, 
 either at the first or in the sequel, return benefit proportionate to 
 their extra cost ; nor did the boiled bones do so well as those 
 which had been boiled for the specific object to which I have 
 adverted, by which I inferred that some chemical ag-ency, to 
 which they had been subjected, had helped our purpose. Bones 
 act stimulantly and powerfully on arable land, and I have seen 
 great crops follow their application, especially on lig-ht soils in wet 
 seasons ; but the benefit is transient, and not of a periuanent nature. 
 I have an impression that the most economical Australian applica- 
 tion of bones will be in renovating* the natural pasturage of the 
 colonv, and developing- indigenous herbage plants of value, which, 
 from some obstructive cause, need nurture ; and that is why I have 
 given so much space in this essay to m}' English experience. 
 Verily, every bone ought to be saved, and there ought to be at 
 least one bone-mill in every agricultural municipality. 
 
 Though Australian guano is considered an inferior article in 
 the English market, and is said not to j)ay for carriage there, it 
 is sufficiently important to be conserved for Australian use. It is, 
 as is well known, the excrement of sea fowl. The more ammonia 
 it contains the greater is its value, and sixteen j)er cent, of that 
 ingredient is expected in Peruvian guano. Some chemists, how- 
 ever, take the per centage of nitrogen as their criterion of value, 
 and on that test report that a ton of Peruvian guano is equal to 
 thirty-three and a half tons (tf mixed animal and vegetable farm- 
 yard dung. The portability of guano is greatly in its favor, and 
 it has been stated that it unites the advantages of active and of 
 j>ermanent manures in e(puil degree; jjalf its fertilizing proj)erties 
 l)eing soluljle in water, and quickeners of vegetation, whilst tlie 
 otlier half continue long in the soil and nourish vegetables by 
 slow decomposition. I, however, (juestion the |)ermanency of 
 guano efiect, and am suj)j»orted in my opinion by an incident 
 which I will narrate. An JCnglish 8(piire, with whoso estates I 
 had an agency connection, being minded to create competition 
 among his tenants in the production of .Swede t»irni]is, authorised 
 a considerable outlay in guano, for tiie purpose. I j)rocured first- 
 class Penivian guano, and the Scpiire, having a mind to try a little
 
 X 
 
 V 
 
 AGRICULTUUE OF VICTORIA. 193 
 
 experiment of his own upon a ])lot of g-rass land, caused tlirice the 
 (piantity which I prescribed as sufficient to be spread on the plot. 
 The weather was showery and favorable, and the g-rass and 
 herbag'o which had had guano sprung- up to a great heiglit in an 
 incredibly short space of time, and took such a beautiful dark 
 green hue as to be quite a contrast with the surrounding- herbage, 
 but the following- year it relapsed to its former state. Two years 
 afterwards, on passing- the plot, I had the curiosity to examine the 
 herbag-e minutely, but no improvement whatever, either in the soil 
 of the plot or in its herbag-e, had resulted. All the tenants had 
 splendid Swedes, and the succeeding- barley crops wei-e in every 
 case g-ood, but we all of us concluded, that with the barley crop 
 all advantage from the guano had ceased, and that the soil was 
 not in any case improved in staple by the application. This was 
 a fair experiment, for, though the soils were various, the result was 
 uniform, and we all of us agreed that though the Swedes and the 
 barley had well repaid the guano outlay, the matter there ended. 
 It is probable that guano will be a valuable resource in the winter 
 cropping of cabbages, tuinips, kohl rabi, and such crops, as a 
 stimulant, and that it will pay well for the application. It is best 
 a])])lied in moist weather, and should be mixed with thrice its 
 weight of charcoal, peat ashes, or fine soil, for roots and green 
 crops, or of salt when applied to the cereals. It has been applied 
 with profit to turnips, mangel-w'urzel, ])otatoes, kohl rabi, cabbages, 
 carrots, parsnips, beans, peas, vetches and other pulse; to the 
 cereals, and to maize; but I do not propose to extend its use in 
 my course beyond the winter crop})ing of the two fields before- 
 mentioned, having greater confidence in home-made manure. 
 Guano is to be kept from actual contact with the seed of the crop 
 for which it is api)lied, otherwise it may destroy it. 
 
 Salt is beneficial in husbandry, and is essential to animal and vegetable 
 life; though, perhaps, its eflucts have, in some cases, been over estimated, 
 and some statements concerning its results require confirmation. Even in 
 lloman husbandry Pliny records that cattle had a liking for salt pastures, 
 and that cows grazed in them gave more milk, and that too of better cheese 
 making quality, than cows fed on insaliue lands; which I think likely, be- 
 cause, as is well known to graziers, animals cat lieartily wlien they are in 
 them t and cowkccpers liave long been aware tliat well fed cows yield much 
 more milk, and that too of better quality, than cows which are badlj' fed. 
 The feeding qualities of well drained salt marsh pastures are so well under- 
 stood and appreciated that they always command a high rental value; and 
 
 O 
 
 '/.
 
 194 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 I can instance a case within my own experience in which I turned a hunter, 
 who had seen much service and was very poor in condition, into a salt 
 marsh pasture, in Holderness, on the 1st of May, which became so fat and 
 sleek bv the 2nd of August folhnvingr, that I had some difficulty, when I 
 went into the marsh for the purpose of bringing him home, in satisfying 
 myself of his idtntity. He was restive in temper and a shy feeder, and had, 
 therefore, never Ix-forc carried much flesh, but the llidderness pasture, in 
 three months, made him too fat for work, so that he had to be gradually 
 reduced in condition for the hunting season, when he came out a new horse, 
 and outdid his firmer fame. I attach importance to this instance, because 
 I am satisfied that the pasture had more to do than the animal in the change. 
 Holderness is not a cheese making district, and as I have never falkn in 
 with any salt marsh cheese making farm, I am unable to corroborate old 
 Pliny's statement; but it is no unconmion thing in Cheshire, which is the 
 great salt producing county of England, to top dress pasture land with 
 compost in which refuse salt is a considerable ingredient; and dairy cows 
 milk better upon such land after the api)lication thar. they did before, and 
 eat greedily of that pasturage which tl:ey had rejected in a rough state. 
 Holderness had, however, some first class salt marsh butter dairies, but it 
 was thought advisable, in the best managed dairies, to alternate in pasturage 
 between the best marsh grass and seeds and other herbage, to keep cows from 
 getting too fat, and running i)rematurely to beef. In English husbandry 
 damaged hay and clover is frequently salted to make it acceptable to cattle, 
 who eat not only the salted hay and clover, but also straw mixed with it, 
 more eagerly than they do better hay not salted, and thrive better upon it. 
 Sir /ohn Sinclair states, in his Code of Agriculture, that when he visited 
 the occupant of a large farm in the NetlKrlaiuls, he was surprised to find a 
 quantitv of rock salt from Cheshire, and three reasons were assigned for its 
 use: — 1st, that by allowing sheep to lick it the rot was prevented; 2nd, that 
 his cattle, to whom lumps of it were given to lick, were thereby protected 
 from infectious disorders, and cows wtre rendered more healthy, and, by 
 being induced to take a greater quantity of liquid, gave more milk; and 
 .3rd, that a small quantity, pounded, was found beneflciul to horses when 
 new oats were given to them, if the oats were at all moist. In America salt 
 is given to milch cows, oxen, horses, and sheep, and its imiuirtance in 
 husbandry economy is there much higher estimated than it is in Hritish 
 husbandry; and I have to call attention to the belit f that salt is highly 
 iK-nehcial in cotton culture, and that some authorities hold that the great 
 «ui)erioiit.' of Sea Island cotton is the result of saline inlluence. In Spain 
 Bait is given to sheep, to the extent of 12Slhs. a year to every thousand 
 «hcep, in accordanci- with the regulations of the incorporation in charge of 
 the immense travelling Merino flt)cks of that kingihun; and I may state that 
 salt is formed in Spain by evaporating sea water, a process to which its 
 climate is as favorable as is that of Portugal and Sardinia, where a like 
 process is pursued. Australia therefore, which possesses the like climate 
 evaj»oralive facility for the manufacture of sea salt, need never be without it. 
 When irrigation machiiury shall be matured if will probably be found 
 that salt ]>ondH may Ix- artillcially formed to supply the pasturage of the
 
 -^A 
 
 • AOKiccr/riiuE of victoria. 105 
 
 doiiiiiin witli its motlicuiii of salt in a litiuid state; and tliough tlic operations 
 of art are of necessity on a small scale, a f,'reat result may, nevertheless, be 
 induced by the attempt to follow up such a course systematically. Salt cer- 
 tainly gives sapidity and relish to grasses, hay, and other kinds of rav? food, 
 but unless it is supplied in small quantities it may be injurious. I do not 
 propose to apply salt either to the cereals or in my arable course, (save in 
 the way of experiment, or for some especial object which may present itself, 
 in the working of the course,) because from the vicinage of Victoria to the 
 sea, and the attraction which its central mountain ranges will always have 
 for the clouds of its locality, which may be supposed to be more than ordi- 
 narily surcharged with saline matter because of their newness, a moderate 
 supply of salt will be received in combination with the rain of such clouds. 
 Moreover, the atmosphere of a country, having more than six hundred miles 
 of sea coast, will, at times, be impregnated with much saline matter from 
 the sea spray, which it holds in combination, and which is inijielled down- 
 wards to the earth along with tailing rain. 
 
 It is not, therefore, that I undervalue salt, moderately used, as an arable 
 fertilizer, but because I see, in the favorable position of South Victoria, a 
 constant, and probably a sutEcient, source of atmospherical supply (without 
 either thought or cost), for the southern moiety of the colony, that I have 
 refrained from prescribing its use in my arable course As, however, the 
 northern moiety of Victoria will, at all events, lack spray supply, and as its 
 rain will probably be less saline, hy reason of its greater rarefaction, con- 
 sequent on increased altitude, I shall subjoin tlie following remarks of 
 writers on the subject, which I consider judicious. 
 
 Mr. HoUinshead, who wrote on the importance of salt as a manure, and 
 recommended sowing six bushels per acre on meadows after hay was got 
 in, particularly in dry and hot summers, and upon limestone and sandy 
 soils, observes, that the moisture which salt attracts and retains powerfully 
 assists vegetation, and produces a crop greatly superior in quality to that 
 obtained by the application of dung. For meadows he states it to have been 
 found an advantageous practice to mix 16 b\ishels of salt with 20 loads of 
 earth per acre, turning over the lieap two or three times that the substances 
 in it may be thoroughly incorporated, and spreading it on the surface either 
 in summer or spring. 
 
 Mr. Kliam, in his Dictionary of the Farm, thus writes. — "Sea salt has 
 been extolled and decried at ditterent times, owing probably to the different 
 circumstances under which it has been tried. In a very small quantity sea 
 salt may have a beneficial effect on the soil. Urine contains a great deal of 
 it, and in the formation of composts sea water has been found to hasten the 
 putrefaction of the animal and vegetable matters which they contained, 
 probably by absorbing moisture, which is essential to putrefaction. Quick 
 lime, slacked with sea water, and mixed with sand forms a mortar which 
 attracts moisture so strongly that walls built with it are scarcely ever dry. 
 This suggests a mode of supplying the soil with moisture, and may account 
 for the effect of salt in particular cases." 
 
 3/ar/ and unctuous days will have, ere long, such extensive application in 
 
 o '2 
 
 %
 
 196 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Australian husbandry, as correctors of the sterility and annojing propensi- 
 ties of loose sands, that I feel called upon to allude to that application. It 
 is my opinion that if English Norfolk had been a county of average natural 
 fertility, it would not have reached the agricultural distinction which it has; 
 forasmuch, as is well known, the men of Norfolk were compelled by necessity 
 to search for the elements of fertility elsewhere than in their surface soil; 
 and were lucky in finding them beneath it, and thereby induced a marvellous 
 result. The necessity for binding the loose sands of Australia, to prevent 
 their annoying combination with hot winds, will impel a systematic search 
 below the sands for the means of binding their surface; and both below and 
 above them for irrigation water, to transform a desert into an oasis, which 
 is, I apprehend, within the scope of human agency, though control of the 
 winds is not. 
 
 There is too niucli puff and mystery about artificial manures to be satis- 
 factory to me, and I regard them, at best, as mere stimulative nostrums, 
 which, in some cases, under special circumstances, may produce a beneficial 
 effect; but which, in the main, are not worth the money they cost, to say 
 nothing of the disappointment and loss to which reliance upon their efficacy 
 too often leads. A good husbandman, possessed of a fair quantum of live 
 stock, need not be at all dependent on any quack preparation to ensure 
 fertility. 
 
 I shall close the subject of mainircs by tlic statement, that, having adviscil 
 the limeingof tiie two clover leys in rotation for wheat, and given preferen- 
 tial shares in the homestead manure of the year to the potato field, and its 
 companion field in green-crop rotation, — an arrangement which provides 
 that a moiety of all the tillage land shall be every year either limed or 
 manured, — I think it right, in consideration of the heavy cropping of the 
 prescribed rotation, and to meet the drafts upon the land consequent on the 
 repetition croppings of the cereals, and of the catch or extra cropping of 
 the potato field and its comj)anion field, to suggest a liberal application of 
 guano or of poultry <lung as a winter stinnilaut for the land in cabbage, 
 turnip, and winter brassica cropping ; and of a winter, as well as u spring, 
 application of homestead manure to such parts of the two lastmentioned 
 fields as do not get a guano application (if tin- circumstances of the culti- 
 vator will permit), it being but reasonable that double cropping shall have 
 a double allowance of manure. I advise the occasional api)iication of gyp- 
 sum to the land intendedproducc to peas, beans, vetches, granmie, lentils, 
 and other pulse ; and of homestead manure to tiie land i)roducing nuii/e, 
 buckwheat, sorghum, hemp, flax, millet, and the other cropping of that 
 moiety of the field ; and as often as it can be managed the apiilication of 
 charcoal or wood ashen as the top dressing of such of the cerc:ds, barley, 
 rice, oats, and rye .as cannot liave irrigation, with the view of keeping them 
 cool and of regulating their »ui>])ly of moisture, and if the supply of char- 
 coal or wood ashes will sanction a consignment to tiie wheat fields also 
 they will pay well for it ; though, as wheat roots deeper than the other 
 cereals, a top dressing of a compost of chalk mixed with night soil and
 
 ^'V^, 
 
 cw 
 
 AGUICULTURE OP VICTORIA. 197 
 
 urine, applied in moist weather, to impart strengthening aliment to the 
 young wheat, and induce it to shade the soil l)y its favorahle habit of 
 growth, might be even better than charcoal. If gypsum happens to be 
 plentiful it may be very profitably applied as a top dressing to the clover 
 fields, .and if all that I have suggested can be managed it will be obvious 
 that every crop of my course may have its appropriate application. I 
 liave known land in England over manured, and, as a consequence, dete- 
 riorated in value for sometime by the bad liabit of producing straw in 
 excess, and forgetting that grain also was wanted ; but wliatever may ail 
 the eight tillage fields of Agraria Domain, I have, I think, in mj' eleven 
 crops in eight years, with their cereal supplementings, i>rovided effectually 
 against their ever being endangered by the disease of muck-plethory, unless 
 manure is wastefully applied to an extent sufficient to produce that disease. 
 The three extra crops to which I have alluded are the catch clover, the 
 winter brassicas, and the winter roots. I have avowedly aimed at exacting 
 as much produce as land of first-class staple can be induced by high 
 farming to yield, but I have also aimed at providing that land with a 
 regular and well-timed succession of substantial and befitting aliment. The 
 eiglit fields, being the mainstay of the stock department, have right to 
 two-thirds of all tlie homestead manure ; and the special culture depart- 
 ment ought to have the remaining third in exchange for its ecjuivalent in 
 purchased manures. In regar J to the special culture department I have to 
 explain that cotton-plant refuse, duly prepared, will be a good manure 
 restorative to cotton crops, and that, on true chemical principles, vine plant 
 refuse will be a beneficial application in vineyards, and that such a plan is 
 eligible in all special culture cropping in aid of other manures. Tlie per- 
 manent pasturage will get some cattle droppings, and ought to have in 
 addition periodical top dressings of compost, alternating between dunghill 
 compost and compost in which lime, or some such fertilizer, is tlie efficacious 
 ingredient. I am favorable to the application of salt on pasture land. 
 
 It will be advisable to have a sunken manure depot, with a branch liquid 
 manure tank attached, near the junction of the northern tramway, with its 
 east and west branches, and a similar depot and tank near the junction of the 
 southern tramway, with its branches, in order that the carriages sent out 
 for soiling produce may take with them solid manure from the homestead 
 depot to such of the branch depots as they have to pass. Such a course 
 may save much carriage bustle at busy times, and it will not, I apprehend, 
 be difficult to protect the bodj' of the carriages from pollution by some 
 contrivance in the shape of a washable water-tight wrapper, liftable, with 
 its contents, by a mechanical power, out of its carriage, and shot into the 
 receptacle of the branch depot, much in the way in which, Avhen sailing up 
 the English river Tyne, I saw Newcastle coal shot from the banks of that 
 river into the vessels intended to convey it out to sea. 
 
 In regard to the geological character of soils, I have to explain that I con- 
 strued the words having reference to that subject, in the announcement for 
 the Essay, as intending that the husbandry propounded should be in 
 accordance witli general geological principles, and not as intending that
 
 198 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 the Essay should assume the province of a treatise on Victorian soils and 
 their adaptation to particular crops. The comparatively small extent to 
 which the geological survey of the colony has as yet reached, and the 
 paucity of material as yet gatherable for due elucidation, suggested that 
 construction, and confirmed me in it. I am, moreover, of opinion, that 
 the effect of the onward move in agriculture, which, "practice with 
 science" is impelling, will be to displace many of the trivial lines of 
 demarcation hitherto subsisting between particular soils and particular 
 crops; and that the terras "wheat land," "barley land," and "rye 
 land," &c., &C., &c., hitherto used as indicative of special adaptation for 
 particular crops, are already antiquated, and will soon become so obsolete 
 as that it will not be necessary to import them into the husbandry 
 phraseology of Australia. The farmers of Essex demonstrated long ago, 
 that very strong soils would, if worked to a fine tilth, prod'ice first-class 
 barley : the farmers of Norfolk had before that shown that loose sandy 
 soils, formerly deemed unfit for wheat culture, would, by the application of 
 lime and a clover ley preparation, produce noble crops of first-class wheat ; 
 and in regard to rye I have often noticed, when tithing fields (in primitive 
 English districts, where the old monkish admixture of wheat and rye con- 
 tinued to be sown on strong clays), such fine heads of rye, that I was led 
 to the conclusion that if I ever grew rye for the purpose of distillation it 
 should be on soils of medium staple, as more likel}' to be predisposing to 
 potency than the rje grown on a sandy soil. Why, therefore, when nature 
 is so ready to level her own barriers, and to open her vast domain to 
 husbandmen who march under the banner of " practice with science," 
 should agriculturists unnecessarily adhere to inconvenient distinctions, 
 which nature has herself indicated willingness to abolish. 
 
 Soils are, as is well known, the debris of the rocks and earths which 
 underlay them, and they, of cour.sc. partake largely of the properties of the 
 underlaying substances, chemically modified, however, by many years of 
 atmospherical exposure and by other influences, and improved by vegetable 
 accumulation. Volcanic agency has in many Victorian cases so fuse<l, 
 and, a.s I will term it, chemically cooked the .soils of several favoreil 
 localities as to have made them ready for use, with i)redisposition as well t<i 
 fertility as to universalitv, in any cropping range ; and I assume that 
 grantees will take care to be well advised as to the quality of the laml 
 which tiiey take uj) under the Land .\ct boon, and that first-class land only 
 will Ik; taken up so lung as it is findable williin the purliius of population 
 unaj)propriateil. 
 
 Agricultural (;liemislry teaches that |)rotluctive soils combine largely 
 silica (sand), rt/i//nimi (clay I, /iHmi/» (or organic matter), and lime, and that 
 thev combine also, in les-ter |)rop(>rlions, the oxides of iron and manganese, 
 magnesia, potass, sodu, ])ho«plioric acid, sul|ilniric acid, and chlorine ; and it is 
 the trium])h of modern science to be able, in many cases, by correcting the 
 proportions in which they happen to have been in the first instance com- 
 l>ined, to edict great improvements in the ti-xture and productive jiower of 
 a soil, but inaHnnich as that is better which reijuires no mending tiian that 
 which does reipiin' an operation lo make it good, I incline to the opinion 
 
 1
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 199 ^■^ 
 
 that, until first-class land becomes scarce, colonists intending to pursue 
 agriculture for a livelihood will do well, while they have abundant choice, 
 to eschew land which wants any doctoring, and tliat, therefore, consideration 
 of the geological and chemical character of the soils of Victoria may, with- 
 out detriment to Victorian husbandry, await a call under the federal auspice 
 of all the colonies for a simple and well defined nomenclature of all Austra- 
 lian soils as a common standard. In the meanwhile I apprehend the following 
 classification will suffice to meet the purposes of this Essay : — 
 
 ' -^ ^ ■ > Those in which the ingredient named predominates. 
 
 2. Sandy Soils. ) 
 
 i Those in which the clayey and the sandy 
 ingredients combined are mixed also with 
 humus, assigning the generic name to the 
 ingredient which predominates in the 
 loam. 
 
 5. Limestone formations. — Which were favorites with me in England, and 
 are likely to be more so in Australia, because of the subsoil capacity 
 of the best of them to retain moisture, and the regularity with which 
 they give ic out on surface excitement. They have, however, the 
 drawback of being deficient in surface water springs. 
 
 6. Gravelly Loams.— Popularly called in England turnip and barley soils, 
 and thought much more of in that humid climate than they are 
 likely to be in the dry climates of Australia, save where irrigation is 
 practicable. 
 
 7. Volcanic Soils. — Which I am glad to find abundant in Victoria, 
 because of their great fertilit^^ 
 
 8 Chalky Soils. — Which I am not sorry to learn are likely to be among 
 the geological rarities of Victoria, becauso they would be here too 
 arid for even sheep pasturage. 
 
 9. Peaty Soils. — For some purposes very desirable. 
 
 10. Alluvial Soils. — Generally the most fertile of any. 
 
 11. Mixed or Patchy Soils.— In some cases capable of great improvement 
 when the price of labor will allow. 
 
 12. Sandy Districts. — Too loose for cultivation without adventitious aid 
 Note. — The 3rd, the 5th, the 7th, and the lOth of the foregoing list may, 
 
 as a general rule, be classed as first-class staples, as may also the 4th, if 
 it happens to overlay cither a marl or a genial clay. 
 
 Fencing is too important an object in husbandry to be passed over with- 
 out notice even in a mere essay, though some years will elapse before living 
 fencing can in Australia become general. The result of my own English 
 experience (which has been extensive) i.s, that an admixture of prickly 
 holly with the hawthorn, in the proportion of two hawthorns to one holly, 
 makes the best of all growing fences In regard to the hawthorn, great 
 mischief has resulted from the inconsiderate assertions of early Australian 
 writers, that it became here too delicately .spiked to be of much use in 
 fencing. I observed whilst in England the statement to that purport, 
 which happened to have got into print, so often reiterated in subsequent
 
 coo PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 publications, that I concliulod the fact was as stated, and that conclusion 
 had a detrimental effect in my particular case ; for when I was packing to 
 come out, having an unoccupied space in a rough package, I should have 
 filled it with berries from a favorite hawthorn seedling which caught my 
 eye at the moment, remarkably prolific as a bearer, and more than usually 
 rough and spiky in its habit of growth. I was, however, deterred by the 
 recollection that as the hawthorn would be useless as a fencing material, I 
 had better fill my space with something else, and I did so. It happened 
 however that during my sojourn in Adelaide I observed in a neglected 
 garden a considerable length of an old hawthorn fence, which I had the 
 curiosity to examine, and I was agreeably surprised to find it as prickly 
 and efficient as it would have been in England, as the scratched state of my 
 hands after the examination amusingly testified. There are many willow- 
 like varieties of the hawthorn in Kngland, and most of the double-blossomed 
 and the peculiar varieties, propagated by budding and grafting, are such, 
 and I have no doubt but that the variety first grown in Australia happened 
 to be of that character. The mischief in my case was however done, for I 
 had the mortification afterwards to learn that my English successor, 
 thinking my seedling too rough a tree for the position which I had assigned 
 to it, had it cut down ; and though I shall give to my English friends strict 
 injunction, in gathering the berries both of the hawthorns and the hollies, 
 which I am intending to import for Australian seed, from trees of rough 
 and prickly habits of growth, I may be long before I produce another 
 seedling hawthorn so eligible, as an experimental seed grower, as the one 
 which I have so unwittingly lost. Tiiere is no effect without a cause, and 
 it is my belief that nature will not be coy with inductive enciuirers as to 
 the causes of many of her effects, and that she will aid Australian husband- 
 men in their endeavors to establish and pcri)ctviate peculiar properties called 
 for in the adaptation of English hawthorns lor Australian fencing. I 
 noticed, when in England, that tall free growing quicksets (as seedling haw- 
 thorns are tlierc called) were generally less prickly than those which were 
 of slow growth and sttinted ; and I have observed in Victoria that quicksets 
 are occasionally sufficiently prickly in their bottom and horizontally growing 
 branches, whilst their vertical branches (which indicate greater rapidity in 
 growth) are less prickly and efficacious than the horizontal ones of the same 
 plant, from which I am inclined to infer that, as the bottom of a hawdiorn 
 fence will be its most important part, young plants should be retarded rather 
 than <iuickened in growth iintil horizontal training shall have reached a 
 given height, (jorsi-, blackthorn, crab-appU'. and horn beam, which are in 
 occasional use in IJritish fencing, are so nincli inferior to the hawthorn and 
 the holly that I never sanctioned tlu'ir use in England, and I cannot there- 
 fore advi.<(e their introduction into Australian husbainlry. 'J'herc are several 
 varietie.i of the holly which are unsjjiked, hut these will of course bo 
 avoided in Australian introductions. I'lie holly is a plant easily reared, 
 and is possensed of great vitality and longevity. I raised thousands yearly 
 for many successive years an easily and cheaply as F did hawthorns. 
 The holly will be of quicker growth in Australia than it is in lOiigland, 
 nn<l it will therefore on that account here escajie the only objiction which I
 
 AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 201 
 
 ever heard ursed against its general adoption in English fencing. The 
 prickly accacia, the prickly cactus, the Cape broom, and some other plants, 
 which I have seen applied to fencing purposes, both in South Australia and 
 in Victoria, are nothing to be compared to the holly and the hawthorn for 
 substantial fencing, and I shall tlierefore enjoin a plentiful introduction of 
 holly and hawthorn seed berries by every opportunity, until Australia shall 
 produce its own supply of seed. 
 
 English farmers of strong land will perhaps think that I have overlooked 
 necessity for periodical summer fallowijig, but such is not the case ; for that 
 subject has had much of my thought, and 1 have arrived at the conclusion 
 that in Victorian husbandry fallowing need not be periodical, as in England. 
 The climate of England is so humid, and the soil is generally so saturated, 
 that it is only in midsummer weather that strong soils are there dry enough 
 to be effectually worked and cleaned. Hence arose the English practice of 
 summer fallowing, which afterwards gave rise to the custom which regulated 
 the right of outgoing tenants in the wheat crop of the harvest following the 
 expiry of their tenancies, and which required as a condition that the first 
 ploughing of the fallowing process should precede midsummer day. The 
 introduction of fallowing formed an era in English husbandry, and was pro- 
 ductive of good ; but intelligent farmers at the commencement of the present 
 century began to question the necessity for sacrificing triennially an entire 
 year's cropping, merel}' to clean and rest their land, and the question ended 
 in the ascertainment that the supposed necessitj' for rest was a lallacy, and 
 that feeding the land with manure was of greater avail than a fallow rest. 
 By degrees midsummer fallowing gave way to prompt spring management, 
 and the practice is now so obsolete that the apologists for an occasional full 
 fallow only plead climate necessity for a pulverize which is rarely to be had 
 in England save at midsummer. Now, it luckily happens that the genial 
 climate of Victoria affords such ample opportunities for thorough pul- 
 verization and working between crop and crop, and the soil is so often, even 
 in midwinter, so dry and workable, that, save in the thorough subsoiling 
 operation necessary on bringing land for the first time under cultivation, I 
 have come to the conclusion that no cropping need be sacrificed to secure 
 in Victoria the purpose of an English fallow, at least twice, during my 
 course, as I will show. That course starts with wheat, and between wheat 
 harvest and the first potato setting and the first green crop planting, several 
 months intervene, and if the autumn should happen to be wet, the pro- 
 bability is that the spring would be dry. Four years afterwards wheat 
 again recurs in rotation, and affords a second and a similar opportuuitj- for 
 a thorough working and cleaning ; and, in addition to both opportunities, 
 advantage may be taken of tlie interval between the oat and rye harvest of 
 the seventh year and the pulse seedness of the eighth, to do anything further 
 which the state of the land may require. Those considerations led me to 
 reject fallowing, in the English signification of the term, in my course, as a 
 periodical interloper in cropping season. 
 
 In regard to draining also, Victoria is, happily, better circumstanced
 
 20'2 I'lll/K ESSAY. 
 
 than Englaiul, inasmuch as evaporation goes on so steadily and rapidly 
 that the soil is never saturated for any great length of time, except 
 where impediment impounds water up, in consequence of which sys- 
 tematic undurdraining is not the essential preliminary which it is in 
 England to first-class Victorian husbandry. A few judiciously placed 
 surface drains, with subterranean levels to carry off llood waters, aided by 
 thorough subsoiling Icavenings of the under soil, induced by the admission 
 of atmospherical influences, under the powerful agencj- of machinery 
 impelled by steam, will be a much cheaper and a more efficacious measure 
 of Australian fertility than British draining operations, masterly as they 
 have become. The draining skill of Victoria will be, in great measure, 
 confined in scope to the drainage of bogs and swamps, and as an auxiliary 
 subservient in irrigation. Viewed properly that circumstance is an inesti- 
 mable advantage to the landowner, because it relieves him from an immense 
 outlay at the commencement of his operations, when the conservation of his 
 capital, is to him a greater object than at any subsequent period of his 
 career. 
 
 The political nsprct of Australia is as favorab'c to its husbandry as is its 
 climate, for though Australia shares with the mother country in the blessings 
 of I'ritish law and British liberty, it is happil}' without the incubus which 
 jiarticipation in the national debt and in (he taxation which has always, in 
 England, been heaviest on the agriculturist and his land, would occasion. 
 Neither tithes nor tithe coniposilion, nor land tax, nor income tax, nor rates 
 fur the rejmir of the church, nor highway rates, nor statute duly, nor county 
 rates, nor poor rates, nor any of the many such like voracious demands on 
 British husbandry, attach upon that of Australia, save in a few exceptional 
 cases; and though I have been an Australian three years, the only tax outgoing 
 which I have been called upon to pay. has been an annual rate of a shilling in 
 the pound on my rental amount, which covered all purposes for which I was 
 liable ; and if, as far as the Colony of Victoria is concprned, its too many 
 legislative cooks had not spodid its recently passed Land Act, it might have 
 been a model for that of other colonies, instead of being the unsatisfactory 
 measure which it now is, dennuiding much ainenduient before it can be con- 
 sidered equal to its occasion. 
 
 The introduction of a clieap and sinijilr mode of convcyaui'iug and dealing 
 in matters regulating land ownership without necessity for the intervention of 
 professional men, would be an Australian blessing It happens that the two 
 English Land Agency Offices in which I spent successively thirty-six years of 
 my |)rofe8si()nal life, were both of them remanents of an old English practice 
 which cond)ined law and land agency, (for up to the comineneeuient of the 
 present century, n<arly all the largrr landed estates of iMiglaud were under 
 the agency nninagement of attorneys) ; so that having had more than an 
 ordinary share of legal and <'onveyaneing cxiMricnce, I am com]M'lent to give 
 an (q>inion on the praetiiai)ility of such a iniasiire. There are very scriou.s 
 faults in the South Australian Hchenie of Mr Torrens wjiieli ovci balance hia 
 Nalutary provisions. 'I'lie stability of a rock, rather than the impulsive niove- 
 inentM of a rudder, should have i)cen at the iiotlom of his bcheme, and liiA
 
 AGKICULTURK OF VICTORIA. 203 
 
 pervading object from first to last. His intentions were better than his leg-il 
 skill, but his design of adapting ship conveyancing, applicable only to that 
 which is proverbially the most veering of all property, to land, was so 
 erroneous and whimsical in conception that many of his pet provisions will 
 have to be thrown overboard before his measure can be pronounced safe ; 
 though some of his aims were good, and may, with the valuable aid afforded 
 by the recent labors of the Imperial Parliament in that direction, enable colonial 
 legislators to matu'c a measure by which ofKci.ils entrusted with its working, 
 shall, for a moderate fee, give effect to the intentions of vendors and purchasers, 
 mortgagors and mortgagees, lessors and lessees, by simple, but valid documents, 
 prepared and jierfected at a single interview, if all nectssary parties and previous 
 documcntar}' links in the title are forthcoming, so that professional cost need 
 attach only on special occasion. 
 
 I happen to have had too mu'h troublesome experience in English com- 
 monage matters, to be sanguine as to the result of any introduction of that 
 system into Australian husbandry ; for, in addition to the monition of the 
 spectrums visible to my mental eye whenever I rode across an English common, 
 in the semblance of liorse and cattle stealing facilities, the costly working of 
 an annoying impounding system, the instinctive cunning of the stronger and 
 best tended herds to monopolise the best feeding places, the absence of con- 
 science in too many of the jiarties exeieising commonage right, and the danger 
 to which animals coming into contact with contaminating disease were exposed, 
 I sec and hear on Australian commons that dire object the pleuro-pneumonia 
 croakingly forbidding prudont men to avail themselves of the very trifling 
 benefits promised by a system unworthy of adoption even in a golden age, but 
 fraught with peril in the iron one which is now current. 
 
 Asa sound policy in the landed economy of a colony, is the best base on 
 which its husbandry can rest, I am inclined to advise, in the case of Victoria, 
 the restoration of the provision in its Land Act, which carried deferred pay- 
 ments over a longer period than was in the sequel adopted. Many cases 
 suggest themselves to a land agent of experience, in which the fourfold 
 arrangement would have been a great boon ; and, as the Government retained 
 the fee of the land until it should be actually paid for, it did appear to me that 
 the boon might have been granted with safety to the community. The disposal 
 of contention in claim by two parties ajjplying for the same section, by lot, 
 which the Act in the first instance proposed, was much more consonant with 
 English law than the system of limited auction, which was intruded in its 
 stead, and I much marvelled that during the discussion on the clause no 
 advocate for lot arrangement reminded the public that the auction system was 
 not of Knglish constitutional growth, as was supposed, but was a mere modern 
 outlandi-sh graft, barely a century old, which the East India Company had 
 introduced into Knglish practice for thi^ disposal of their merchandise; whilst, 
 on the contrary, lot was accordant with Engli.sh law, a thousand years before 
 that introduction. Moreover, as the spirit of tlie Act evidently intended that 
 all claimants should have equal chance, it was inconsistent to lengthen uncon- 
 scionably the sword of a wealthy antagonist, where the Act intended contending 
 parties to have that equal chance. The penal clauses of the Act were botli 
 • badly conceived and badly expressed. No right-minded man will object to being
 
 204 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 boand to a given expenditure within a given period in the erection of a home- 
 stead on his section, and in its cultivation, by himself, or his tenants, or his 
 senants ; but to compel him to reside on it in person was interfering as much 
 with his personal liberty, as the restriction ujion his cultivating the leasehold 
 part of his domain did, in regard to his legal right to pursue the course best 
 adapted to accelerate the development of the productive (;apabilities of that land 
 which was shortly to bo his own in perpetuity. If the colonial purse had been 
 bound to compensate in the event of failure, I should have seen a motive for the 
 prohibition, but, as the Act expressly repudiated com))ensation, I could never 
 comprehend the why and the wherefore of this prohibitory regulation. The time 
 hail, in my opinion, arrived for the application of well considercil leasing jxiwers 
 to any part of the unalienated land of ihc Colony of Victoria, and especially to 
 what are generally called squatters' runs. A geodetic square of 25,000 acres, 
 ajipears to me to be, in the present stage of the colony, a convenient size for a 
 maximum run, and an eighth of such a square, a convenient minimum size. 
 The term of years and teiuincy terms, will of course be nuitters of legislative 
 and executive arrangement, and though it might be improvident to lock up for 
 a long term runs of greater extent than a geodetic square each, there is no 
 reason why the pastoral interest shall be unnecessarily crippled, or why, so 
 long as land is abundant, squatters owning large flocks shall be confined to one 
 run. 1'he great matter will be the exaction of a fair rental revenue up to the 
 time the land is cither wanted for higher occupation purpose or to jmiss into 
 private ownership. As Victoria is fortunately to have only the two tenures of 
 freehold and leasehold, it follows, that the distinct scope of each should be 
 clearly understood, and that leasehold rights should be well-delinod at their 
 creaticjn. The Colony j)ossesses so many husbandry advantages that when its 
 Land Act shall have been amended, and the inqjortation of British labor shall 
 have been considerately regulated, it cannot fail of becoming popular among 
 British husbandmen and British laborers of the rural districts, when a speedy 
 development of its agricultural capabilities will ensue. 
 
 Educational inslilutums like that of Cirencester in I'nghind, andngricultural 
 j)r'>fessorshi]is like those in the Knglish universities of Durham, itc, and perad- 
 venturc also some of tlie modern arrangements of Kiiropcan continental estab- 
 lishments for the systematic development of landed economy, ought to bo 
 among early Australian j)rovisions for the puqiose of training youth fur the 
 dignilierl exercise of the most venerable of all profe.ssion.s, for such is in reality 
 that of husbandry, inasmuch as no fraternity can produce a charter which 
 can vie in origin with that primal one of the earlii, granted to Adam, tho 
 first hujibamlman, in that ever memorable fiat of Deity: "Be fruitful, ond 
 multiply, anil re]>lenisli the earth, ami siifulur it; and have dominion over tho 
 fish of the sea, and ovir the fowl of tlu' air, and over every living thing that 
 ni<*velh upon the oartli. Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, 
 whi'h i.s ujion the face of the earth, and every tn'c, in the which is the fniit 
 of a tree yieliling seed; to you it shall be for meat." And though the agri- 
 cultural profession has had liir ill luck to be thought less exalteflly of in 
 Kngland than it was in ancient !{ome, it has nevertheless added to the j)lunio 
 of British greatness one of its best dctvcloped feathers; and I shall take iho
 
 AGRICULTURE OP VICTORIA. 205 
 
 liberty of statinj,', tliat I have yet to find a profession either more deserving 
 of encouragement, intrinsically, on its own useful account, or more learnedly 
 interwoven with general science, than that of first-class husbandry ; in which 
 zoology, botany, mineralogy, cliemistry, geology, physics, and the sciences 
 which regulate heat, light, electricity, water, air, and a host of atmosphericals; 
 architectural and mechanical, structural applications, and the principles which 
 govern the coiistniction of machinery, inii)lemcnts, and utensils; anatomy, 
 physiology, cattle medicine, and entomology ; astronomy, in its regulation 
 of the seasons; and gcograph}', in its statistical details, as to the habitats 
 of animals and plants, and the localities of fertilizing substances ; and many 
 other branches of exalted science, and ajiplications of superior manual skill, 
 are mere contributory constituents : and yet, I am not aware that either 
 professors or lecturers in any branch of either landed or agricultural economy 
 pertain to any Australian collegiate establishment at present in existence. 
 This is not as it ought to be; and I nuist remind Australians, that however 
 important dead languages and abstruse investigations may be on some occasions 
 and for some purposes, and that, however assuming political and statistical 
 matters may be in their demands on the public purse, the due development of 
 the agricultural resources of their new country is paramount in importance 
 to any of them ; and that at the present time Australia has greater need of 
 foundations which shall produce inti.dligent practitioners in a path of usefulness, 
 on which the footsteps of Jethro Tull, Arthur Young, William Marshall, and 
 Sir John Sinclair, Bakewcll, the brothers Colling, Tomkins, Culley, Ellman, 
 and many others, have left an impress of dignity, than it has, as yet, for those 
 which are to produce Australian Adam Smiths and Jeremy Benthams. 
 
 So far as Victoria is concerned, I hail with satisfaction the recent establish- 
 ment of the Acclimatization Society of Melbourne, which may be made a 
 powerful auxiliary, not only in the domestication and increase of useful zoo- 
 logicals, and especially of quadruped ruminants from every region of the earth, 
 but also of placing, at moderate cost, witliin the reach of intelligent breeders 
 the blood of any animal wanted to impart greater perfection to the flocks, 
 herds, studs, and collections of its kind, i>re-existing here; thereby adding to 
 the excellence of our stock and increasing the pastoral wealth of the colony. 
 And I also hail with satisfaction, though with a degree of expectation somewhat 
 less sanguine than in the other case, its recently established Horticultural 
 Society, because I fear that the useful will be made too subservient to the 
 pleasurable, and that flowery and showy trivialities may receive greater 
 attention in their development than the acclimaturc of useful vegetable intro- 
 ductions, and the formation of varieties specially adapted for Australian culture, 
 which ought to be its chief care. 
 
 Victoria may fairly indulge pride in the contemplation of the Botanic 
 Garden at Melbourne, which Jias already yielded valuable scientific fruit, and 
 is full of budding promise. I cannot conceive a finer fitld for intellectual 
 cnteqirise than that which Dr. Mueller is so profitably cultivating ; he can with 
 truth exclaim, in the language of Holy Writ, " The harvest truly is great, but. 
 the labourers are few." Notwithstanding the number of plants to which I have 
 called attention as worthy of Australian culture, I think it within the pale of 
 probability that Australia possesses indigenous types of the greater part of
 
 206 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 them, and that the soil ami climate of Victoria will enable scientific cultivators 
 to expanil, in the course of years, those types into varieties, and, peradveuture, 
 sp.cies, worthy of European attt-ntiou. 
 
 The astronomical and atmospherical establi.-hments of Victoria are conducted 
 on true inductive principles, and are already producin};; valuable fruit To 
 them I would contide the series of climature ascertainments in various localities, 
 required tu decide their mean climate heat, and to point to where the intelligent 
 husbandman may delve to the best advanUige in the culture of the more 
 special of his products. A well arranged floral kalendar, which .vhall adapt 
 the setdness and harvest periods of Victorian cropping in a dozen standard 
 localities, to those of London, Edinburgh. Dublin, Paris, Home, &c.. &c., &c., 
 and the various regions in wliich introduced vegetables have had their best 
 cultural develojiment. would be worthy of the joint labor of Dr. Mueller and 
 Professor Neumayer. and ought to have inunediate attenliun 
 
 The establishment of agricultural libraries in evi^ry county town of a colony 
 is an imperative duty in a new region, in which two-thirds of its immigrant 
 jiopulation betake themselves to the exercise of a calling in which thej have 
 iiad no previous instruction; but as most of them (thanks to the educational 
 pliilanthropy of the nineteenth century) can read, there is that mode by which 
 adults who have to earn their bread before they cat it may glean a few heads 
 of agricultural experience for their guidance. Whatever induces thought is 
 sure to be productive of good, in any field of labor; and as the age of miracles 
 and miraculous intervention has passed away, the best mode of arriving at 
 knowledge in the ordinary course of tilings must be resorted to. 
 
 Written law is not more essential to the lawyer than is written agiioulture to 
 the agriculturist ; it luckily hiip])ens, however, that the georgical literature of 
 England is peculiarly rich and valuable, inasumch as the inductive ob^r- 
 vations of our sagacious British forefathers have been so well recorded, and 
 subseiiuently commented upon by Young, Marshall, and Sinclair, and their 
 wortliy coadjutors of a past age, that we inherit in our mother tongue, which 
 api)ears to be the predestined living language of the world, material for a code 
 of Australian agriculture, as comprehensive in its scope as the importance of 
 the region demands. Kecoursc may be had to the writers of France, Italy, 
 Spain, Germany, and some other Eurt)])ean countries, and to tlie writers also 
 of America, us to matters out of the pale of British hu.sbamlry ; and great 
 benefit might result from judiciously coni|)iled treatises on the various |)roducls 
 which I have i)ro|M)sed to include in Australian hnsbindry. and sueli other 
 |»rodueta as may be added to my list. Anil when it is considered that the 
 Englisli language is already that of Australasia, and will be soon the general 
 language also of India and of America, and the African settliinents al.so, and 
 (hat all the p'aces mentioned are either alreiuly or soon will be embarked in 
 agricultural pursuits, a viust (ieltl is opened for tlie periodical interdiange of 
 agricultural inforiiTatinn, and (he eirciilalion of an agricultural journal worthy 
 of An.straliisia. and of a series of practical lieatises on the more iiiiportant 
 •products wliich all will be, more or less, engaged in cultivating. 
 
 It has fre(|uently oceurrerl to me whilst <()niposing this ess.iy, wliieli may, 
 (when ex|ianded into a practical lreati.se of six times its jin-sent bulk), probably
 
 AnRlCULTUUE OF VICTORfA, 007 
 
 entitle me to the fathersliip of systematic Austraiian iiusbamlry (inasmucli as it 
 propounds an entire system whilst all the Austral anil Anglo-Austral 
 agricultural publications which have come under my notice, have been 
 limited in their scope to one particular object, as for instance, the vine and its 
 culture, or ^ome other such special product); under what different and dis- 
 couraging cu'cunistances Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, an English judge, produced, 
 in the despotic reign of Henry VIII., the father book on British husbandry, 
 which he published in the year 1534, and probably wrote, amid the bleak and 
 then cheerless scenery of Derbyshire, as the manual of a nation which then fell 
 short in productive capacity of that of his own bleak shire 300 years after his 
 book was written ; what an insigniiieant notion he must have had of the dignity 
 of his subject in comparison with that which greeted my eye in the course of an 
 actual survey, extending over time amounting in the aggregate to three years, 
 which I took of the agriculture of the fifty-two counties of England and Wales, 
 al'ter the Koyal Agricultural Society of England had begun its noble march, 
 under the banner of " pra^'tice with science," which is so wonderfull}' expanding 
 the ramifications of Sir Anthony's little oak. 
 
 Sir Anthony's conception, when he put his acorn into British ground, was 
 probably bounded in its northern scope by the River Tweed, but it could not. 
 under any circumstances, have caiTied him in vision beyond the ever venerated 
 shores of Britain and Ireland, and his products would be limited to the few 
 starvelings of the vegetable world then known to him; whilst my little pet, 
 " the Victorian seedling," may possibly, three hundred years hence, over- 
 shadow a region almost equal in size to Europe, and greatly exceeding even 
 that highly favored quarter, as a Avhole, in climate advantages, producing, in 
 one district or another, in the open air. highly developed varieties of '-evcry 
 herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree in which 
 is the fruit of a tree yielding seed," and may though the last discovered region 
 of the earth, probably, owing to its free institutions and the energy of its sons, 
 have enabled Australia to be, in consequence of its having surpassed Europe in 
 the extent of its cultivated flora, the first of the five great divisions of the earth, 
 entitled to claim Adam's husbandry charter as an heraldic trophy. 
 
 In developing their Australian germ, the expatriate sons of ''garden 
 cultured England," have ample scope for their inductive energies in the 
 .subjugation of the devast.iting vagaries of unregulated heat, and the taming of 
 sirocco brickfielders : the bringing to the surface subterranean witer. and 
 conserving ;ind distributing tlu; supply already there ; the reduction of insect 
 rapacity and annoyance, and estopping their myriadfold ratio of progression 
 by the introduction of counteracting zoological inimicals ; and the importation 
 of such animal and vegetable subjects of nature as will best subserve in securing 
 for Australia a greater ranire in the agricultural economy of his dominion than 
 has fallen to the share of any one of Ijis four elder compeers in the government 
 of the earth, which have all been committed to their charge as a responsible 
 trust, by 'he mother country, and as almost the only condition annexed to the 
 boon of self-government and the noble heritage of British law, language, 
 and liberty, which is now their irrevocable right for ever. 
 
 It is, however, cheering to know that much less thought, skill, and cost, will 
 effect miraculous changes for the better both in regard to hot winds and to
 
 208 PRIZE ESSAY. — AGRICULTURE OF VICTORIA. 
 
 water supply, than their British forefathers were called upon to bestow in 
 their climate contests with ruthless frost, and in relieving their hind from the 
 pernicious consequence of excess in that surface water whicii is here coveted. 
 Numberless and incessant were the well-directed eftbrts of English farmers, 
 before the dairying of Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and 
 Devonshire ; the hop-culture of Worcestershire, Kent, Sussex, and Surrey ; 
 the meadow-Hoating of Herefordshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Dorset- 
 shire; the matchless system of drainage and management which has given 
 to the Feu districts of Lincolnshire, Canibridgesliirc, and "the land of the 
 levels" their only passport to value, as good terra firma ; the warping opera- 
 tions of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire ; the masterly tillage of Norfolk, Suftblk, 
 Essex, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and Northumberland ; the orcharding of 
 Herefordshire, W^orcestershire, Kent, .Somersetshire, and Devonshire ; and 
 many other prime features of English husbandry, which arc untindablc else- 
 where, drew forth from admiring Europe his plaudit, that England, despite its 
 climate disadvantages, was the agricultural paradise of the earth. 
 
 In conclusion, I shall, as the exponent of a course of cropping which brings 
 rice into fellowship as to culture with its kindred cereals, and rye into friendly 
 rotation with pulse; which ;<ccks to exact extra yield from cereal vitality, and 
 proposes to sul)ject even fugitive catch cropjjing to systematic regularity ; 
 which proposes to expand the pre-existent range of zoological domestication 
 into an absorbing system sufficiently cajjacious to comprise the most useful and 
 profitable of the " living things" of that vast range of dominion which was 
 committed to Adam's care ; which projects the union of agriculture with horti- 
 culture for the production of a special branch of warm climate culture, M'ortliy 
 of Australian growth, and to become, in after times, the pride of its husbandry ; 
 unfurl in Victoria the banner of "j)ractice with science," and, waving it, 
 exclaim. "Advance Australia Felix," and win, by well-directed irrigation effort, 
 the vanship in Australian husliandry, which may thereby become, in iierpetuity, 
 thine. 
 
 Floreat Victoria .' saith " .\0KAKIAN," on bidding his subject, for the present, 
 adieu.— 1st October, 18G0. 
 
 1
 
 ESSAY 
 
 ©iligiit and DistribiitioiT of ^oW i« (^m\k ^(im, 
 
 AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH OTHER MINERALS, 
 
 AND ON THE MOST IMPROVED METHODS OF EXTRACTING 
 GOLD FROM ITS MATRICES. 
 
 "PICK AND PEN." 
 
 BY HENRY ROSALES, M. & C.E.
 
 ESSAY. 
 
 It is necessary to a proper investig^ation of tlie subject of this 
 essay, to advert briefly to that part of the general g-eolog-ical fea- 
 tures of this country, in which auriferous quartz lodes are found. 
 It is a schistose formation of ancient date, having- an averag-e 
 meridional strike, and seeming-ly inter-laminated by auriferous 
 quartz lodes. Auriferous debris, the waste of the abraded auri- 
 ferous schistose formation accumulated in ancient valleys, now 
 hidden, and thus formed auriferous alluvial deposits of tertiary 
 dates, (fee. The schistose formation belong's to the Cambro-Silurian 
 series, and owes its highly inclined position to the upheaval of 
 g-ranite rocks* which correspond geologically with the igneous 
 
 ' At Tarrangower the beds of the schistose rocks have been upheaved by 
 the Western granite, and have an Easterly underlay. Some miles further 
 East towards Castlemaine the underlay is to the West, the schists having 
 been upheaved by the Mount Alexander granitic moss ; Mr. Selwyn 
 pointed out the sinclinal axis in 1853. The granite of Tarrangower is very 
 much decomposed — too much so almost to determine its mineralogical 
 composition, which however seems to be the same as that of Fellmonger's 
 Creek, near Ballaarat, which consists of orthoklas in crystals of a quarter 
 of an inch, dark mica of an eighth of an inch, and light brown rhom- 
 bohedral quartz. The granite of Mount Beckwith contains in general 
 felspar, quartz, and but little mica ; in some instances there is scarcely any 
 mica, it is altogether of a finer grain. The granite mass is apparently 
 intersected by another granitic rock — pegmalite — of a very fine grain. The 
 granite of Mount Cole is similar to that of Fellmonger's Creek, only it is of 
 a much coarser grain, besides containing particles of iron pyrites, and 
 perhaps also a second species of felspar. Gold has not yet been found to 
 exist in any of these granites ; they dificr essentially in their petrological 
 characteristics from the granite in which the Kev, Mr. Clarke states gold 
 has been found in New South Wales. The Mount Cole granite, however, 
 might possibly contain gold. 
 
 P 2
 
 G12 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 rocks which upheaved the system of Westmoreland, or the most 
 ancient (according- to Elie de Beaumont's Tlieorie des Suhleva- 
 tions), and whose protrusion has been nearly in a meridional line,' 
 hence the averajre meridional strike of the schistose strata, which 
 oscillates in different districts up to 60° by compass bearing-. 
 
 The question now presents itself, are the auriferous quartz lodes 
 which intersect the schistose formation of an older date than the 
 granitic rocks, or the contrary? Geolojiical observntions, whether 
 underground or on the surface, present the following- facts : — that 
 the auriferous quartz lodes do not continue their course into the 
 g-ranite ;' that they are abruptly broken off at the point of contact, 
 that they are twisted and turned from their due course, or else 
 broken up into frag^ments ;* that the quartz lodes are intersected 
 by g-ranite dykes;* that fragments of granite are never found 
 enclosed in the quartz lodes, and that in some instances the 
 quartz lodes have been subjected to the metamorphic action of 
 granite.' These facts when viewed log-ically, prove that the 
 
 * It is to be regretted tliat the different enmpass observations have not 
 been reduced to the true nortli up to tlie present time, for public reference. 
 
 3 A fact which may be easily ascertained by examining the districts 
 of Bendigo, Ballaarat, Tarrangower, Clunes, &c. 
 
 * The contrary would have been the case were the quartz lodes of more 
 modern date than granite. 
 
 * To the north of Tarrangower, along the limit of the schist and granite, 
 between Bell and Moscjuito reefs, several quartz lodes have been thrown out 
 of their bearings altogether; some having an almost East and West course, 
 and being so much broken up. that the miners cannot attempt to work them 
 systematically, being bewildered by the constant running out of the quartz, 
 which they sometimes find again where least expected. Several other 
 quartz lodes of the Tarrangower district which are yet unnamed, arc 
 intersected by granite dykes and veins, their contact being juarked by large 
 crystals and orthoklas, large crystals of silver-gray mica, some rhombohedral 
 quartz, nnd crystals of black tourmaline. Such is the case again at the 
 Mosquito and Nuggety reefs, the latter being— according to Mr. l'hillii)8, a 
 claimowner on tiie reef — a highly auriferous (|uartz lode of about 10 feet 
 wi<ie, which was inter.secte<l at the deptii of 2.^) feet by a granite vein from 
 4 to 5 feet thick, after which the quartz lode was found again bearing 
 as iM'fore, and as before umlcrlaying to the F.ast. In the same reef, at 
 a depth of 140 feet, small granite veins fre<|iu'ntly run into and intersect tho 
 quartz lode. 
 
 " The quartz lodes along the ICiisicni limit of the Hchisl and granite near 
 l-'illmonger's Creek, have i)een changed, as to the state of aggregation, up to 
 about a quarter of a mile West. The (juartz is not compact, of conchoidal
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 213 
 
 quartz lodes are of an age anterior to the eruption of tlie granite 
 rocks/ although there are quartz lodes setting- in granite/ vvliich 
 on doubtful authority, are said to be auiiferous; should this 
 however be the case, it would at once establish that quartz 
 lodes aie also to be found in this country of a more recent date 
 than the granitic rocks, and tliat tliey are perhaps contempo- 
 raneous with those of the Lower Adelong-, New South Wales, 
 which set in granite ; * or perhaps the granite of Adelong is of a 
 more ancient era than the Victorian. These are questions yet to 
 be solved, so that with the present insufficient data it would be 
 premature to hazard any further opinion on the subject. It is 
 clear, therefore, that the auriferous quartz lodes, are unlike most 
 other lodes, which are " crevices more or less vertical, caused by 
 contraction during drying, or by metamorphism, or by mechanical 
 disturbance of a rock, this crevice having been subsequently filled 
 up."'" They are in their origin anterior to all those forces, some 
 of which accompanied the eruj)tion of granite rocks, and which 
 have been thoughtlessly applied by some to explain the origin of 
 
 fracture or of vitreous lustre ; it is of a coarse-grained crystalline structure, 
 snow-white and opaque ; at first sight it is forcibly suggestive of Carrara 
 marble. Referring to this appearance, Professor Ansted (page 58) says : — 
 "Quartz rock or metamorphic sandstone is also granular, and is distin- 
 guished without difficulty, as well by its appearance as by its geological 
 position, from any rocks for which it might be mistaken." In all proba- 
 bility the close-grained quartz of Tarrangower and other localities has also 
 undergone metamorphic action, the similarity of appearance being attri- 
 butable to a similarity of causes. 
 
 ' Mr. Selwyn, in a letter (July 13th, 1858) addressed to the Private 
 Secretary, says that " the granite boundary is often for many miles at right 
 angles to the strike of the highly-inclined beds of fc^ilurian rocks, the 
 quartz veins, however numerous, are suddenly cut off on coming in 
 contact with the granite ; and no gold has ever been obtained from these 
 granite areas at a distance from their junction with the stratified rocks: 
 the best illustration of this fact is the large granite area which extends 
 between the rich gold districts of Castlemaine and Sandhurst. From the 
 above facts I should infer that generally the quartz reefs are of older date 
 than the granites." 
 
 8 At Mount Beckwith a quartz lode traverses the granite, and at Mount 
 Flagstaff, Linton's, there is another occurrence of the same kind, the quartz 
 there containing iron pyrites, and said to be auriferous. 
 
 » Col. M. Jour., page 182, July, 1859, also Professor Smith's paper, read 
 before the Philosophic Society of New South Wales in August last. 
 
 '" Professor Ansted.
 
 214 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 quartz lodes." The fact that the quartz lodes are of an earlier 
 date than the g-ranite, forces a further investigation of the subject 
 to a remote period of the earth's history, when the granitic rocks, 
 not yet having made their appearance, the Cambro-Sihirian beds 
 were still imdisturbed in their orig'inal horizontal position. The 
 Camhro-Silurian system of this country presents a series of coarse 
 and fine grained sandstone, containing few marks of slaty struc- 
 ture ; slaty sandstone of different colors, alternating with bands 
 of slate of perfect cleavage," also of ditlerent colors, but generally 
 exhibiting a greenish hue, and white when decomposed. Organic 
 remains seem to be of rare occurrence in this formation, until 
 now it is onl}' in the vicinit}' of Bendigo that distinct specimens 
 of graptolite have been found." This far and widely spread 
 palaeozoic series of rocks — the waste and refuse of the primitive 
 cooling crust of the earth's surface, was deposited slowl}-, gradually, 
 and without interruption in horizontal beds, which thus attained 
 the enormous thickness they now present during that protracted 
 
 " At a meeting of the Miners' Scientific Associ.ition (June 22nd, 1858) 
 at Sandliurst, Mr. T. Burrows read a paper which was subsequently 
 published in a local journal, in which he says " that clefts in the rock have 
 been formed by upheaval produced from volcanic action far beneath us 
 and that up those seams hot water and vapors strongly impregnated with 
 silica had been forced up;" and Mr. Thureau (^Col. M. Jour., June, 1859), 
 writes: "the upheaval of the older granitic rocks produced the present 
 erect position of the secondary or pahcozoic rocks. Fissures of various 
 kinds and dimensions were originated by these trememlous revolutions of 
 tlie eartli's crust. These fissures wero filled from below with a silicious 
 solution, which refrigerated gradually, and forms the interesting mineral 
 quartz." Passing over the exceptionable expression, "secondary or 
 paL-rozoic rocks," and the somewhat premature one, "older granite rocks," 
 even should the close-grained felspar rock of Mount Ik'ckwith, &c., prove 
 to be a newer granitic rock, it is to be noted how alike are these two theories 
 which, at variance with established geological facts, would go to demonstrate 
 that quartz lodes arc of more modern date than granitic rocks. 
 
 " At Bendigo there is a band of slate from which tiles and large flag- 
 stones are obtained; and at Specimen Gully, Barker's Creek, flagstones 
 of great size are al.so to be met with. 
 
 '^ At Bendigo distinct specimens of graptolite are foiind at Taddy's Cully 
 reef, and even along the walls of tlie lode mar Wliij) Beef ami other localities; 
 the finest are found in the slates of the slate quarry, when- the original lines 
 of ))edding are apparently very slightly traversed by slaty cleavage, which 
 is parallel to the strike. In the Ballaarnt and other districts, there have 
 been no traces of organic remains found uji to the present time.
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 215 
 
 period, when peculiar cosmic and telluric agencies, all as 3'et 
 sing'ularly averse to organic life, were at work. While, however, 
 there are no apparent signs of mechanical disturbance during 
 the long period that elapsed from the cooling of the earth's 
 surface to the deposition of the Silurian and Cambrian s^'stems, 
 it is to be presumed that the internal igneous activity of the 
 earth's crust was in full force, so that on the inner side of it, in 
 obedience to the laws of s])ecific gravit}', chemical attraction 
 and centrifugal force, a great segregation of silica in a molten 
 state took place." This molten silica continually accumulating, 
 spreading and pressing against the horizontal Cambro-Silurian beds 
 during a long period, at length forced its way through the superin- 
 cumbent strata in all directions 5 and it is abundantly evident, 
 xmder the conditions of this force and the resistance offered to its 
 action, that the line it would and must choose would be along any 
 continuous and slightly inclined diagonal,'* at times crossing the 
 strata of the schists, though generally preferring to develop itself 
 and egress between the cleavage planes and dividing seams of the 
 different schistose beds. Thus were formed in a more or less 
 horizontal position, in all directions, innumerable flakes and exten- 
 sive sheets of quartz rock, apparently interstratiflcations as regards 
 their strike, but only apparently such, for they distinctly traverse'^ 
 
 '■• At that time, when the atmosphere was pregnant with many different 
 substances of a dense nature and liigher degree of temperature, both of 
 which would, to a certain degree, explain the scarcity and low scale of 
 organic life, it is to be inferred that the incandescent state of the earth's 
 nucleus was capable of enormous igneous action. Professor Ansted says on 
 this subject — "the Huttoniau hypothesis, that the contents of veins were 
 in all cases injected from below in a state of igneous fusion, is scarcely more 
 probable or better founded tlian the rival theory of the Saxon geologist. 
 That some indeed of the cracks in the strata, such as trai) dykes, have been 
 80 injected must be regarded as probable, because in many cases we actually 
 see the effects of heat on the rocks forming the walls of the dyke, and it is 
 clear that quartz and many other minerals, and probably also metalliferous 
 ores may have been forced up from below." And Professor Cotta remarks 
 — " it does not seem absurd to admit that, in some cases, quartz lodes were 
 the result of a single igneous injection of molten silica which had been 
 segregated by chemical action." Besides this, subsequent igneous rocks 
 (granite for instance) prove that the quartz they contain must have been in 
 a molten state, because it is crystallized. 
 
 '* The normal line would be that of the greatest resistance. 
 
 '* Fulfilling therein the conditions which constitute a lode ; in fact, the
 
 216 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 and intersect the underlay of the slate rocks, being; thicker 
 between the schistose planes, and narrower when intersecting- them. 
 From the quartz rock started quartz veins, some (/3) running 
 almost parallel with, and others (y) peqiendicular to its position, 
 while other veins (c) shot out in cajiricious planes and directions. 
 These veins or leaders, all thin, and run out in comparatively short 
 distances, especially such veins as cut across the slates at the line 
 of the greatest resistance. Simultaneously with the upheaval by 
 the granitic rocks of the Cambro-Silurian slates in average 
 meridional line the ap])roximately horizontal main quartz belts 
 were upheaved and placed on edge along with the schist strata by 
 this general disturbance. It is in consequence of this change that 
 the quartz belts are apparently interstratilied, while in reality, they 
 are merely intersecting. The positions having been altered, what 
 formerly was or approached the horizontal, became perjiendicidar 
 and nee versa, so that horizontal sheets of quartz reefs which had 
 been forced between the schistose cleavages and ditferent strata, 
 appeared as almost perpendicular quartz lodes,'" their strike being 
 conformable to the general meridional bearing of the schist, and 
 the coincident line of upheaval, their underlay intersecting that 
 of the slates to the East or to the West, the veins (/j) which ran 
 parallel, following the main course of the (piartz rock, the perpen- 
 dicular veins (y) becoming horizontal or flat, while the other veins 
 (c) would take their respective analogous positi(ms. In the same 
 manner the horizontal sheets of (piartz rock, when upheaved in the 
 medial line of action, would show along their approximate meri- 
 dional line a varying shoot to the north or to the south ; a north- 
 east or north-west horizontal development of (piartz rock would 
 thus necessarily, when upheaved, have its shoot northerly,'^ while 
 a south-east or south-west stretch would present a southerly" 
 
 expression "u horizontal iodu" does not seem to be an inai>i)ro|iriate i)liraso. 
 Cottu (i)a({C 78) says — "a lode, tiierelore, can be in an horizontal position." 
 Sir U Miircliison, however, has lately objected to the expression in his reply 
 to Mr. Zachariaj's letter. 
 
 " It is to i)e reinarkeii that the miners of Hendi|;o and niher ]iarts of the 
 colony call quartz lodes only such cjuartz dykes as are elieeked wilii nlatc 
 and sandstone, irresjjcctive of tlieir position. 
 
 '* Almost all quartz lodes on Bendigo have a northern shoot. 
 
 '* At Ballaarat most of the quartz lodes have a southern shoot. From 
 tki* it would seem that one great focus of eruption was situated between
 
 ORIOIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 217 
 
 shoot, and a lateral upheaval would, of course, reverse the 
 above order. In quartz lodes where there is no noticeable or well 
 defined shoot in either direction, it may be inferred tliat their 
 original development was indifferently either north, south, east, or 
 west ; and this is precisely the appearance which auriferous quartz 
 lodes present in nature to the miner and the geolog^ist; they form 
 innumerable more or less perpendicular qunrtz dykes and extensive 
 quartz rock belts which strike, but with few exceptions, in an 
 approximate meridional line, thus disclosing' to view, on a g'igantic 
 scale, that remarkable parallelism which, after all, is but a natural 
 feature necessarily consequent on the almost unvarying strike 
 above alluded to. These auriferous quartz lodes intersect the 
 strata of the slate rocks, and are cased Avith walls of slate and 
 sandstone ; they have quartz veins issuing' from them in various 
 directions across the country as leaders, flat veins, &c. They 
 sometimes form themselves into irregular masses of veins, at other 
 times they appear as massive bodies of quartz rock which dwindle 
 into strings that serve as the connecting- links with some other 
 quartz blocks. These facts go to show that the quartz lodes when 
 forcing- their egress often disturbed, fissured, and rent the enclosing' 
 schists, the opening's so effected being instantly filled by the quartz 
 stone, thus giving rise to those capricious irregular or zigzag' shapes 
 vulgarly termed east and west veins, &c., which are frequently met 
 with in undero-round working's. But there are other than the 
 cosmic and geological conditions mentioned which prevailed at the 
 time of the origin of quartz lodes, and they also equally indicate 
 the plutonic character of this dyke formation. Under this head is 
 to be reckoned the occurrence of felspar^" in quartz veins, for it 
 is an established scientific fact that mica, felspar, and amphibole 
 or augite, are all minerals none of which can be formed apart from 
 
 Yandoit and Slaty Creek, near Creswick. In some cases the shoot of the 
 lodes in connection with the lateral upheaval would indicate the original 
 direction of the development of the lodes. This theory, if closely followed 
 up, might divulge most interesting and conclusive facts, which as yet, but 
 in embryo, are not worth stating. 
 
 ""> In the Cosmopolitan claim. Golden Point lead, Ballaarat, a quartz lode 
 has been struck at a depth of 347 feet, which contains crystals of orthoklas. 
 Mr. Ulrich found a felspathic mineral in the gangue of the Whip Keef 
 Bendigo. {Col. M. Jour., May 1859, page 137.)
 
 218 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 is"neo-cbemical action."' This sing-le fact would alone s'o far to 
 indicate tlie orig-inally molten state of the silica of quartz lodes.'" 
 Another argument to the same end may be drawn from the fact 
 tliat the auriferous quartz lodes have exercised a manifest meta- 
 moi-phic action on the adjacent walls or casing- ; they have done so 
 partly in a mineralog-ical sense, but g-enerally there has been a 
 metamorpbic alteration of the rock. Hence it is that in the imme- 
 diate contact of the quartz lodes the schist or frag-ments of it are 
 g-enerally more or less micaceous or altered into their laminiv of 
 mica, crystalline laminte of nacrit or of chlorite''^ which has 
 invariably tinged the adjoining qiiartz with a green color. 
 Among these minerals is one . at times disintegrated" which 
 shows the cleavage of orthoklas. There are but few minerals 
 found at the contact of the schist and quartz rocks. This, bow- 
 ever, is only natural, for the interchanging rocks were of simple 
 chemical composition.'" The metamoii^hic influence exercised by 
 
 2' On this subject the dissertations of G. Rose are highly interesting, 
 as are also the experiments of Hall, and the chemical experiments of 
 Mitscherlich and Berthier, who were successful in counterfeiting, by igneo- 
 cheniical action, augite, olivin, and magnetic iron ore. It is a remarkable 
 fact that distinct felspar crystals were found in a copper furnace at Sanger- 
 hausen. {Cotta, page 372.) Six-sided prismatic crystals were found in the 
 slags of a copper furnace at Gorpenberg. ( W. Phillipx' Mincralogij, page .190.) 
 
 " The fact of felspar not having been oftencr observed in quartz lodes is 
 due to two causes ; in all probability, down to some depth felspar is likely 
 to have been disintegrated into porcelain clay and into soluble silicate of 
 potash, the latter having been washed away, and the former having remained 
 in the cavities, in a state of Kaolin, in which it is almost undistinguishable 
 from decomposed slate, vulgarly termed "pipe clay," even by those who 
 make some pretension of knowledge in the matter, and totally so to those 
 who are unaciiuainfod with the character of the mineral. The Old Post 
 Office Hill lUif, Raiiaarat, has furnished (luarfz bearing impressions with 
 the apparently crystallographic angle of orthoklas, but the fact stated in 
 note 20 is the dearest evidence obtainable. 
 
 " Not green eartii. 
 
 '♦ Near the Brown Ilill, at llie junction of the Fellnionger's and 
 Gong Gong Creeks, tliere is a <iuartz lode which contains among the chlorite 
 a somewhat disintcgrateil mineral, wliich has the cleavage of orthoklas. 
 
 '^ The elements acting on each other were ehielly silica, alumina, 
 magnesia, and alkalies ; consequent !y the minerals found at the contact of 
 the quartz and schist arc the result of the several combinations of these 
 elements: therefore none of the more complicated silicates, such as pyroxene, 
 diallage, amphibolc, epidote, garnet, &c., have been found.
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 219 
 
 the quartz rocks on the bordering strata is very striking-, though it 
 is not eas}' to distinguish it all over them, it is preeminent in the 
 mining district of Tarrangower, where all the quartz lodes are 
 separately cheeked and walled by distinct accompanying strata of 
 dark silicious schist''® or Lydian stone, evidently slate and sand- 
 stone schists hardened by the raetamorphic action of the quartz 
 lodes,'" in the same manner as when acted on by igneous or 
 volcanic rocks, apparently changing the physical conditions without 
 altering the chemical quantities. This metamorphic action is 
 observable in the Tarrangower district for many miles. In the 
 Bendigo district the metamorphic action is also to be seen,'^ quartz 
 rock belts being often carried in between hard ferruginous schists 
 which, however, are generally disintegrated, and do not therefore 
 present any very prominent metamorphic features. In the Bal- 
 laarat district the metamorphic action of the quartz lodes may also 
 be detected, although the rocks there are even more disintegrated'" 
 
 '■'s This silicious slate is brownish black, solid, very hard, rings when 
 struck, has a fine splintery fracture, and splits in rectangular planes ; it 
 might be usefully employed in underground masonry. 
 
 " A similar metamorphic action is observable south of Buninyong, on 
 the north-west slope of a basalt cone, at Green Hills, where the basaltic 
 rock, breaking through the schist, entangled huge flakes of the latter, which 
 are partially, and in many instances entirely, transformed into flinty slate 
 by the metamorphic action of the basalt. 
 
 *8 As already stated, it is only in the Bendigo district that graptolites 
 have been found, and then principally in beds of roofing slate, though 
 occasionally in the slate contiguous to a quartz lode, as at Paddy's Reef. It 
 has been observed by several persons, who have given this subject their 
 attention, that the igneous origin of the quartz lodes would have necessarily 
 destroyed all euch fossil remains. This may be true to a certain extent 
 but the objection is more apparent than real ; for where the strata have 
 been only partially exposed to metamorphic action under great pressure, 
 atmospheric agencies being excluded, or where they have not been exposed 
 at all, or even where they have been wholly exposed— combustion being 
 absent— there is no suflicient cause shown calling for the admissioa that all 
 the impressions of organic remains would be totally destroyed or obliterated. 
 The organic substance may have been changed, or i-emoved and then replaced 
 b}' other matter, which, adapting itself to the impressions, would thus 
 conserve them. It is in this way that the impressions of graptolites are 
 generally found, the original organic substance liaving been removed, was 
 replaced by a ferruginous, glittering, delicately laminated representative. 
 
 ^' It has been stated by several persons " that the present soft state of 
 the schist rocks through which the quartz lodes pass is a clear proof that 
 the quartz rock did not force its egress in a molten state." This opinion
 
 220 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 than at Beniligo ; it is not very easy, therefore, to distinguish 
 their mineralogical composition with any tolerable deg-ree of accu- 
 
 totally ignores the softening, crumbling, and washing power of disintegration 
 which has been incessantly at work during many geological ages, else it 
 would not be looked for that the metamorphic schists should have conserved 
 their original appearance ; the siliceous schists of Tarrangower might 
 possibly have done so, but in the case of the more argillaceous schists of 
 Bendigo, Ballaarat, and other localities, it was not to be expected. It has 
 also been adduced as an argument against the igneous theory that if it were 
 true the quartz lodes should be sometimes found protruding as conical 
 shaped hills, as in the case of basalt, and that the direction of the currents 
 might be traced. It has also been said for the same purpose that a similar 
 appearance ought to be seen on the slates in contact with quartz lodes, as 
 is manifested when tliey are burned in a kiln. To the latter objection it 
 need only be answered that in the one case the metallurgic process is 
 conducted in the open air, while the metamorphic action took place under 
 totally different circumstances, such as the exclusion of air, &c., so that, 
 as might naturally be expected, the results are greatly different. To the 
 former objection the reply would be that the ancient igneous rocks rent the 
 earth's crust in longitudinal extension, and thus formed mountain chains 
 which were subsequently crossed by other igneous rucks and dykes. 
 Gradually the bases of these mountain chain nuclei, and the earth's crust 
 generally oflered greater resistance to the protrusion of later igneous or 
 volcanic rocks, wliich, being of less volume than their pretleccssors, made 
 their way, as is generally the case, along the old but confined eruptive 
 outlets, and therefore did not do so in long cracks or rents, but through 
 funnel canal-like passages or craters, wiiich is the invariable condition of 
 volcanic rocks forming round-topped hills. But, even admitting that the 
 quartz had originally formed round-topped hills, the enormous abrasion 
 which the schistose formation, including the quartz lodes, is seen to have 
 undergone, would have obliterated everj' vestige of conical shape. 
 According to the theory stated here it would be remarkable indeed if 
 round-topped hills liad been formed, since it was laid down that tlie quartz 
 lodes were injected in horizontal beds. The objection urged al)ove would 
 be valueless even had the protrusion of the quartz lodes been subsequent to 
 the upheaval of the Silurian system, because the protrusion of plutonic 
 rocks in longitudinal crevices, not only in most instances removes the idea 
 of round-topped hills, but even of an overflow remotely calculated to cause 
 such HhajMis. But, in reality, tlic objection ol round-topped hills militates 
 as mucli against the aqueous as against the igneous theory, for the former 
 is based on the suppositicm tliat its agent was in such gigantic force and 
 volume as must have caused the overflow in most instances to assume 
 almost the shape which an igneous overflow would take. And after all, 
 why should these peculiarly shaped hills Ik- jookcil for in connection with 
 quartz more than with the quartz porphyry of Tliureau, at Maryborough, 
 ur the volcanic dykes of Bendigo ?
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 221 
 
 racy. The hard, compact, partially disintet^rated strata of Bitl- 
 laarat which separate the quartz belts fi-om each other, may be 
 considered to correspond g-eolo<^'ically with the metamorphic silicious 
 slate of Tarrang-ower. The same metamoi-phic action can be traced 
 throug"hout the districts of Amherst, Avoca, Creswick, &c. Another 
 reason for the ig-neous orig-in of the auriferous quartz lodes con- 
 sists in the mechanical disturbance caused by the protrusion of the 
 quartz lodes themselves. It is to be constantly observed that the 
 strata of the schistose rocks are more or less contorted — that their 
 underlay is variable to the east or to the west — that fragments of 
 them are entang-led in and metamorphosed^" by the quartz lodes, 
 and that in consequence the adjacent country, to use a mining- 
 expression, is frequently broken up into frag-ments, forming- a 
 brcccie'*' of commingled slate and sandstone, whilst the quartz 
 lodes and veins traverse the same country intact and unbroken. 
 The inevitable inference is that the disturbance was caused by the 
 forcible jn'otrusion of the quartz lodes. From the above facts and 
 deductions, it can therefore be maintained that the g-angue of the 
 auriferous quaitz lodes is of ig-neous orig-in, and not the result of 
 the g-radual deposition of quartz from a silicious solution. In 
 addition to the positive arg-uments already adduced, which base 
 themselves on g-eological observations, there are also negative 
 ones, the result of scientific deductions, which lead to the same 
 conclusion. Starting- from the established fact that silica is dis- 
 soluble in water and water vapor, during- its separation from 
 alkalies,''' the first considerations which present themselves are 
 
 3" Nuggety Gully, Tarrangower. 
 
 3' This circumstance is to be observed at Bird's Reef, near Kangaroo 
 Flat, Bendigo, where the broken up and mixed angular fragments of slate 
 and sandstone are jumbled together and form a breccie several yards in 
 thickness, which is traversed by perfectly well-defined and connected 
 quartz veins. 
 
 ^2 Leibeg says, " in the form in which silica is separated from a soluble 
 silicate in boiling water by the addition of an acid, a compound of silicate 
 with water, termed hydrate of silica, is precipitated, which possesses a 
 certain degree of solubility in pure water ; indeed, when sufficient water is 
 present during its separation from a base, the whole remains dissolved ;" 
 and again, he says, " Forchhammer has shown that felspar may be 
 decomposed by water of 150° C. (302° F.), and that at a pressure 
 corresponding to this temperature the water becomes strongly alkaline and 
 is found to contain silica in solution The hot springs in Iceland possess a
 
 222 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 in reference to the supply of the great quantity of alkaline silicates, 
 ■which at that time could only be of a felspathic nature. How under 
 the then existing- circumstances could the enormous quantities 
 of water or water vapors, requisite to dissolve the immense mass 
 of quartz which was to form the innumerable quartz lodes now 
 existing-, continuously find their way into the bowels of the earth? 
 The number of these quartz lodes could hardly be attributed to 
 aqueous agency, as a solution contains no intrinsic forcing power, 
 and could therefore have but comparativeh'" few outlets. More 
 than this, the felspathic rocks having been deprived of their 
 alkaline silicates to form silica, there would remain an immense 
 bulk of clay, and the disposal of this residuary mass is not ac- 
 counted for in any way. It is another weighty consideration also, 
 that the formation of quartz lodes by the deposition of silica, from 
 an aqueous solution, would necessarily involve the production of 
 hydrous silicates, zeolithes, hyalite, opal, etc., which are always 
 present in the deposits made by silicious thermal springs, as in 
 the geysers in Iceland, and indeed in all volcanic eniptions in 
 which there were aqueous vapors, it is so in basalt, S:c. These 
 are all minerals ^vhich authenticate the presence of water vapors 
 at the time of their formation, and are lo be found in the gangue 
 of many metalliferous lodes, as at Andreasberg, Stronsian in 
 Scotland, Ciclowa near Oravitza, in the Banat, Huelgoet in Brit- 
 tany, Konsberg in Norway, Scc.^ The quartz lodes of tliis 
 country show a character quite distinct from that just now referred 
 to ; for nowhere are the hydrous silicates, or the other minerals 
 named, to be detected in them ; and it is therefore to be inferred, 
 that their non-existence demonstrates tlio impossibility of the 
 origin of quartz lodes being due to an aqueous solution.'* 
 
 high temperature, and come from a great depth, where they must have 
 been subjected to a higli pressure. He lias also shown by analysis that the 
 water of these springs contains the constituents of soda, felspars, and 
 magncsian silicates, minerals of very frequent occurrence in trap districts. 
 There cannot Ik? a doubt that a conversion of crystalline felspar into clay 
 must be proceeding to a great extent at the bottom of these springs." 
 
 " The formation of these minerals zeolithes the disposition of thermal 
 springs in tlie lodes quoted, took place most probably at a posterior 
 reopening of the interstices of the lodes about the cpocii which would 
 correspond to the nulajjliyr age. 
 
 '♦ Tlie hollow stair-fashioneil shape so often met with in crystallized 
 gold is a suggestive proof of its contraction whilst congealing, a character
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 223 
 
 The next question is as to the metalliferous character of the 
 quartz lodes. There are but few metals or metallic minerals to be 
 found in them, and they are g-old,^ iron,^® and arsenical 
 pyrites,'^ the last two in some instances in great quantities; 
 copper pyrites, zincblende, galena, molybdenite,^* pharmacosi- 
 dorite,^* hematite'"' or g-laskopf, and malachite ; ■*' the last three, 
 however, are oxygenated, and are therefore to be looked on 
 only as minerals of secondary formation, the result of the disin- 
 tegration " of the primitive minerals, which are arseniurets and 
 
 assumed also by other metals, as bismuth, &c., when congealing ; this shape 
 is therefore evidence of its previous molten state, thus tacitly indicating the 
 original igneous state of the silica in quartz lodes. An objection raised by 
 Mr. Sehvyn against the igneous theory is to be found in the Col. M. Jour., 
 p. 90, where he says, " that in all quartz reefs on every gold-field in the 
 colony, the auriferous formation contained silurian fossils, the most delicate 
 and beautiful organic remains, shell-fish, &c., in the most perfect state of 
 preservation." This statement is somewhat indefinite. Is it to be under- 
 stood from this that the gangue of all quartz lodes in the colony contains 
 Silurian fossils ; or only that the auriferous formation (by which the 
 Cambro-Silurian system is probably meant) contains the above-mentioned 
 organic remains ? If the latter, such would not militate against the 
 igneous theory of the quartz lodes ; and if the former, it is difficult to 
 reconcile in one and the same gangue the presence of fossil remains and 
 felspar. 
 
 '5 The gold is very pure ; it is often to be found crystallized, mostly in 
 dodecahedrons, hexahedrons, or the combination of hex and octahedron or 
 hex-octa-dodecahedron. The writer has seen a remarkably fine specimen 
 of alluvial (Ballaarat) gold, it was a group of inch and half-inch crystals of 
 the hexaoctahedron crystallographic form, hollowing towards the centre of 
 the faces stair fashion, parallel to the combination lines. It contained very 
 little quartz, and weighed 9^ ounces. Dr. Ilochstetter was desirous of 
 purchasing it as a, perhaps, unique specimen ; other specimens of the same 
 crystallographic form, but smaller, are occasionally found. 
 
 36 In many reefs, as the Cornish United, Gum Tree Flat, Ballaarat. 
 
 " Whip Reef, Bendigo, and German Reef, Tarrangower. 
 
 38 A beautiful specimen of this mineral is in the possession of the writer, 
 having been given to him by a miner of Wattle Gully Reef, Tarrangower, 
 who stated that he had found it in a quartz lode in that vicinity. 
 
 39 Bendigo. 
 
 *" In every quartz lode. 
 
 *' Maryborough, Bet-bet Reef, Steiglitz, and other localities. 
 
 *- The crystals of iron, as well as those of arsenical pyrites, contained in 
 the walls and gangue, are transformed, when near the surface, into 
 pseudomorphous crystals of hematite, and they are sometimes so 
 deteriorated that their former existence can only be known by a ferruginous
 
 224 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 sulphurets. These minerals ascended simultaneously with the 
 quartz ; and the contemporaneous formation of the quartz gang'ue. 
 the arseniurets and sulphurets implies the forcing up of these 
 minerals in a suhlimated state. The heat of the molten silica 
 would necessarih' volatilize the gold as a vapor of puiple color," 
 and woidd also sublimate the arseniurets and sulphurets, which 
 are all volatilizible without being decomposed, at a much less 
 temperature than gold, the air being excluded. ** They are found 
 decomposed only near the surface. Thus the purple fumes of 
 metallic gold and sublimated vapors of the arseniurets and sul- 
 phurets of other metals, entering the quartz gangue, permeated it 
 as gaseous va])ors, forming veins, shoots, and streaks, interlacing 
 the gangue in the direction of its stretch, penetrating also into 
 the recesses of the quartz veins and leaders, the gold being pre- 
 cipitated in gold-leaves, film, &c., on comparatively cold bodies, 
 such as the sides of the lodes, or entangled pieces of schist," 
 and accompanied b}- the sulphurets and arseniurets. The sul- 
 phurets, arseniurets, and other volatile metals, influenced the 
 
 stain, or by the corresponding form of the empty impressions. The quartz 
 joints and the sides of the lode have often been covered by a crust of 
 hematite, sometimes only by a peacock-colored film. The disintegration 
 of large masses of iron or arsenical pyrites along the sides of tlio quartz 
 lode would give it the appearance of the Eagle-hawk Reef, Tarrangower, 
 where there is a layer of hematite a foot thick on the underlay of the lode. 
 This hematite, in some instances, yields between four and five ounces 
 to the ton. 
 
 " " Gold cannot be volatilized even when heated to white heat, according 
 to Kunkel, who kept gold in that heat for forty days ; but it can be so in 
 the hydro-oxygen flame, in the focus of powerful lenses, and in the current 
 of a powerful galvanic battery, as a purple-colored smoke which covers 
 cold bodies with an auriferous film," — (Werhle's Metal., vol. 2, p. 518). 
 Daniell «ays, " gold melts at a temperature of 20IG° F., and when still more 
 intensely heated it aflTords percept ibie fiinies. A globule of gold exposed 
 between two charcoal jK)ints to the action of a powerful galvanic battery 
 (jives off abundant vapours, by the escape of wliicli its weight is rapidly 
 diminished." 
 
 ** This is a conclusive proof tliat such was the case ; tliat is, that during 
 the protrusion of the <|uartz lodes, air was excluded, since the arseniurets 
 and sulphurets arc only to be fotind decomposed, that is, oxygenated in tho 
 upper loveli of the quartz lodes down to where atmospheric agencies could 
 jH;netrate. 
 
 ♦* This is the case to a very marked degree at Nuggcty Hecf, 
 Tarrangower, an<l indeed almost invariably in most quartz lodes. 
 
 3
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF OOLD. 226 
 
 volatilization of gold, and in this wa}' it was carried into and 
 lodg-ed in the crevices, joints, and sides of the lodes, where it 
 could not have reached *^ unless accompanied by the sulphurets 
 and arseniurets. Hence we find g-old in its metallic state mixed 
 mechanically with iron *^ and arsenical *^ pyrites ; sometimes, it 
 is even perceptible to the naked eye, at other times it is not ; and 
 it is also found mixed with galena *' and zincblende. *" Indeed 
 it is scarcely possible to find either of these two minerals without 
 at the same time finding gold in contact with them. Of the 
 minerals enumerated, iron and arsenical pyrites are found in large 
 quantities in the quartz gangue ; but copper pyrites, galena, and 
 zincblende, are seldom found, and then in insignificant quantities. 
 It is to be remarked that the affinity of these different minerals 
 is according to the following scale — first, galena, then, and almost 
 if not quite equally, zincblende, arsenical pyrites come next, and 
 iron pyrites follow ; and therefore gold is contained in the gangue 
 along the shoot of these metalliferous ores ; but where the gangue 
 is far apart from the metalliferous indications, it is generally 
 barren. *' On this theory it is not difficult to account for the 
 flat leaders and the running out of the quartz stretches, now the 
 caps of the reefs, being often richer than the rest of the gangue, 
 or to account for the poverty or richness of reefs, when they 
 suddenl}' *^ become contracted for a certain length, con- 
 formable to the greater or less opportunity offered to the gold 
 • to precipitate according to the physical circumstances, such as 
 mechanical impediments, change of temperature, &c. It has been 
 attempted to explain the ongin of gold as being the result of pre- 
 cipitation by iron from its solution,** under the influence of 
 
 *^ " Gold is to be volatilized at a comparatircly low temperature when in 
 connection with antimony, arsenic, and other volatilizable metals." — (Werhle.) 
 
 ^' Red Hill and Gum Tree Flat Reefs, Ballaarat. 
 
 ♦* German Reef, Tarrangower, and Whip Reef, i5endigo. 
 
 *^ Nuggety Reef, Tarrangower, and in many reefs of Bendigo, &c. 
 
 *" Mount Egerton, &c., &c. 
 
 ■'" The presence of these disintegrated minerals is of course of the same 
 importance as metalliferous indications. 
 
 ^* These observations, if critically followed up, would perhaps be the 
 means of saving much capital and labor in mining pursuits, and of defining 
 the course of quartz mining by empirical rules. 
 
 *•■' Mr. Burrowes says, "iron has decomposed the solution of gold which 
 has been deposited slowly and crystallized, perhaps, under the influence of 
 an electric current." See also Mr. Hulkes, Col. M. Jour., page 1 h'2. 
 
 Q
 
 0*26 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 electricity. Without enterinc: into the chemical part of this 
 theory, it may be sufficient to remark that the theory in question 
 is one-sided, only accounting- for the formation of g"old, but not 
 of the sulphurets which would be decomposed." Strictly, then, 
 the simidtaneous dejiosition of g-old, sulphurets, and arseniurets, 
 g^oes to prove chiell\- that a very feeble electrical ag-ency was at 
 work in the formation of the quartz lodes. However, it was owing" 
 to the subsequent electrical influence, at first an electro-chemical 
 one evolved by the ilisiuteg-ration of the ])rimitive minerals, that 
 even remote substances were decomposed, and that new combina- 
 tions were formed — the secondary minerals, such as cube ore, 
 pseudomorj)hous hematite, S:c. ; their elements being transferred 
 by electrical currents even through moist non-conducting solids, 
 and in some cases during the process they were deprived of their 
 chemical properties," or in other ways influenced by electric 
 ag^ency. It is to the action of these currents of electricity, whose 
 intrication Mr. Fox^ has so well described, that the present par- 
 tially, or entirely, disinteg-rated state of the upjier levels of the 
 quartz lodes is chiefly to be attributed. From the igneous origin 
 of auriferous quartz lodes and metallic ores it would be correctly 
 inferred that the gangue would exhibit a homogenous character; 
 this, however, is not always the case, although it is so generall}'. 
 Where it is not so, it is no doubt due to the subsequent re-oj^ning 
 of the gangue fissures, more recent protusions of quartz rock 
 havinsr almost disconnected" the more ancient veins, or else 
 
 ** Mr. F. ifanduit says, "how shall vre account then for the presence of 
 tlie sulphurets of copper, lead, &c. ; for a (galvanic battery decon)])oses com- 
 jxiunds of metals, salts, &c. ; but I liave not read of sucli conijjounds l)einji: 
 formed by sucli agency." — Cut. M. Jour., p. 122. 
 
 " Davy's cxpiTinunts ropcatod ami ronfirimd by Ikcqucrel. — Lanliicr, 
 p. 245. 
 
 •'•* Mr. Fox says, "electrical currents tlius circumstanced would deposit 
 the bases of the decomposed eartliy and metallic salts on diflerent parts of 
 the rocky boundary of the vein, according to the momentary electrical state 
 and intensity of the diflerent points j and the nature and position of the 
 rocks would Ik- influential in determining these conditions. When by such 
 processes particular arranjjenients had hap])eMed new actions uiijfht arise, 
 and amontjst them a series of secondary iilienomemi such as the transforma- 
 tion of ores without cliani;r of form, a fact olhcrwi,'*!' very diflicult to 
 comprehend." 
 
 =' Panton, Col. M. Jour., ]). 8«.
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 207 
 
 formed a new body in their midst, and so g'iving- to the whole, for 
 some distance, a flaky, laminated, or seamy appearance, which is 
 g-reatly increased by entang-led schistose fragments and veins of 
 metallic substances, either decomposed or otherwise. But that 
 order of deposition of different substances, corresponding- with the 
 faithful parallelism from the sides of the lode towards its centre, 
 cannot be found, though it is a remarkable feature in many veins 
 containing" carbonates of lime, iron, &c. Werner first called 
 attention to this striking- arrangement, of which Weissenbach has 
 given numerous examples, and which was evidently caused by the 
 agenc}'" of water. Thence it is that the seamy appearance in some 
 portion of the quartz lodes does not point to the conclusion of an 
 aqueous origin, for it is irregular, however apparently otherwise at 
 first sight, as it does not fulfil the above described conditions of 
 parallelism. In some districts the quartz lodes have been disturbed 
 by felspathic or igneous rocks, forming' dykes of a more recent 
 epoch. Hitherto the felspathic dykes of Bendigo and Maiy- 
 borough have received the most attention ; in the former district 
 they are found at times traversing** the quartz lodes, following 
 their strike, or faulting them ; and in other cases, separating their 
 course from them, they crop out on the surface. They are greatly 
 disintegrated,*^ so much so, that it is not possible at present to 
 give their mineralogical composition with accuracy, or to deter- 
 mine their geological age beyond what has been alread}' 
 advanced. They do not seem to contain zeolithes, but they seem 
 to be intimately connected with the subsequent changes" in 
 quartz lodes, such as the re-opening of the quartz veins, and also 
 
 ^8 Phillips's Reef, Bendigo. 
 
 ^^ At Bendigo these felspathic dykes are called " pipeelay," '' lava," or 
 " slide " veins. This rock is frequently disintegrated into greyish yellow 
 clay, in which no remains ol its previous mineralogical composition are to be 
 detected, as at Bird and Balderstedt's Reefs, Bendigo. At Phillips's Reef it 
 has a crumbled earthy appearance and a dark green hue, in which greyish 
 •white specks of kaolin and green earth respectively betray the felspathic 
 composition of the rock, and suggest the idea as to its amphibolc or pyroxene 
 character. At the Glasgow Reef this rock is even less decomposed ; it is 
 clayey, of a greenish color, containing a filamentous mineral, also decom- 
 posed, of a dark green color, amphibole or pyroxene. 
 
 *^ At the Whip Reef, Bendigo, the quartz lode, which crops out four feet 
 in thickness, is represented by these mineral lodes of auriferous arsenical 
 pvrites. 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 pr.izE ESSAY. 
 
 the occurrence of larg;e masses of arsenical pyrites, which, and it 
 is a most interesting fact, as it shows the connection of this 
 metalliferous ore with heat, contain a felspathic mineral *' as 
 already stated. In the latter district they have been called quartz 
 porph^Ty,** and seem to he of precisely the same character as 
 those of Bendig-o; they disturb and are connected with the quartz 
 lodes in a similar manner, and are in a state of partial disintegra- 
 tion ; their mineralogical character may be somewhat difterent, as 
 their name — quartz porphyry — indicates. It is, nevertheless, 
 probable that both these igneous rocks are contemporaneous. At 
 Ballaarat no igneous dykes have been yet observed, either on 
 the surface or underground ; thus disturbances as " faults" are 
 of rare occurrence ; up to the present time none of any consequence 
 have been found, and it is a remarkable f^ict, also, that arsenical 
 pyrites have not been found there, either in small or large quanti- 
 ties, as at Bendigo, Tarrangower, »fcc. In the sandstone walls** 
 of a very few quartz lodes the empty imjiressions of arseniuret 
 of iron have been found. Would the absence of igneous dj'kes 
 not seem to pre-suppose that the quartz lodes have not been re- 
 oj)ened, and that, tlierefore, arseniurated masses of auriferous 
 character could not have been injected ? And might not the 
 comparative poverty of the Ballamat (|u;irt/, lodes be also thence 
 presumed ? From what has been stated as to the theory of the 
 igneous origin of auriferous (piartz lodes, it may be logically' 
 deduced that the presence of sulphurots and arseniurets in a quartz 
 lode is an emjiirical test of its conijiarative auriferous character; 
 that the a])pearance of igneous dykes in connection with quartz 
 lodes, and contemporaneous with those mentioned, would give a 
 more auriferous stamp to any district ; and that auriferous (piartz 
 lodes are to be exjiected, intersecting the scliistose formation, at 
 
 •' See note 20. 
 
 •'■• Mr. Thureau Biiys of the Maryborough ilistrict. tlnit " ilykcs ol" i|iiarlz 
 porphyry arc found to exist of undoubtedly more ri'iiMit forniatiou than the 
 <iuartz lodes wliich have produced ' faults.' There certainly exists a great 
 diflTcrrnre between the <IifTtTcnt species of (piartz pi)ri)hyry, from the green 
 and lianl jKJrpliyry, which encloses beautiful crystals of felspar, down to the 
 friable whitish si)ecies." — Ctil. M. Jour., .June, \HCi9. 'Ibis description is 
 very similar to that given in the text. The diflTerent ni)])(\'irances of the 
 quart/ p()r|)hyry is most likely to l)c mI triluittrl, as in I'l'inli^^u, to tlii' didur- 
 cnt stages of disintegration. 
 
 "^ I'rinee Albert and Ol<l Canadian Hill Keefs, IJallaarat.
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTUIBUTION OF GOLD. 229 
 
 any depth. The last statement is borne out by the followin-^- 
 considerations : first, it can be easily imagined, if the enormous 
 abrasion be taken into account, how deep the present surface with 
 its yet auriferous quartz lodes, must have been under that which 
 existed before abrasion took place ; again, the g-ranite which 
 simultaneous!}- upheaved the Cambi-o-Silurian and auriferous quartz 
 rocks, disturbed the thick schistose formation with such g-ig-antic 
 force that it contorted and placed the beds on edge, thereby 
 causing- enormous convulsions and faults, on a scale too g-rand to 
 be noticed by the miner ; and it is evident that in some instances 
 strata of the schistose and quartzose formation which, before the 
 upheaval of the granite, were far below the formerly existing- sur- 
 face have been disclosed®* by that upheaval, and that these strata 
 contain quartz lodes in no wise less auriferous. It may, there- 
 fore, be maintained that to as g-reat a depth as the quartz miner 
 can ever penetrate, he will find auriferous quartz lodes, and that 
 deeper still there are others equally auriferous. 
 
 The search for auriferous quartz lodes and the raising of 
 "stone" from them should be carried on according- to the rules 
 of systematic mining which have been adopted as applicable 
 to the working of such metalliferous lodes as present the same 
 general features. Auriferous quartz lodes are generally found 
 cropping out at the head of gullies which flow from schistose 
 ranges, and which contain an auriferous diluvial or alluvial deposit. 
 In many instances the prospecting of such quartz lodes will 
 require a longer time and the expenditure of more capital than 
 might at first be supposed necessary, for frequently, even where 
 the lode has been struck at different levels, the metalliferous shoots 
 have not been reached. In these cases the further prospecting 
 operations, such as putting in drives along the course of the lode 
 and at different levels, so as to cross the adjacent or remote 
 auriferous shoots, must be guided entirely by the metalliferous 
 indications of each separate mine. Properly conducted prospecting 
 operations should not only serve to discover the auriferous quartz, 
 but to become pi'eparatory works for the further development 
 of the mine. In this way proper ventilation may be effected, 
 drainage secured, winzes cut, and pitches got ready in connection 
 
 6< The auriferous quartz lodes of the Tarrangower district to the west of 
 the sinclinal line, towards the Mount for instance.
 
 230 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 with the former workings, while the other mechanical appliances 
 are being- got in readiness, so that the liirther operations of the 
 mine and the raising of stone may be carried on at dittVrent levels. 
 The mine will thus be capable of producing a continuous and 
 certain supply of stone, under a system which combines economy 
 to the proprietary, safety to the miners, and the general good 
 order of the present and future operations of the mine. The 
 ordinary working operations for the removal of the stone should be 
 carried on, in most cases, as the}' are generally performed in other 
 metalliferous lodes ; but in cases where the quartz lode is a mass of 
 from 30 to 40 or 100 feet thick, resembling stock works, and it is 
 desirable to remove the entire body, it would be advisable to run 
 a deep level along one side of the lode and another several fathoms 
 nearer the surface, then to join these levels by winzes. The 
 removal of the lode should then be commenced between the levels, 
 at the further extremity of the quartz mass, working backwards 
 toward the shaft ; then again putting in a level several fathoms 
 higher, and working in the same way level after level, the whole 
 of the stone could be raised econoniically ; the portion of the 
 lode removed being replaced by rubble introduced into the mine 
 from the surface, and thr(n\n into the working level through the 
 winzes." Mining oj)er;itiuns have shown that the (puirtz lodes 
 are subject to disturbances, which disconnect them, and so give 
 rise to " faults," wliich of course affect the regularity of \ho under 
 ground works where they occur. The mining ex])erience of this 
 country seems to indicate that the underlay strata of the " faulter" 
 are those wliich have ])een disturljed,"* and " the probable direction 
 of the movement which caused the displacement may be detected 
 by an inspection of both grooves," and also that "generally the 
 lost lode has been found l)y simply following the faulter."" 
 
 In this colony tiii- stone, when raised, should be classified into 
 " (piartz stone," and " (piartz stone containing pyrites," to facilitate 
 the extraction of gold from these nuitriccs, inasmuch as they 
 nece.ssarily re(|uire different munipulations. The extraction of gold- 
 
 "* Th'iH method lias hei-ii siiccossfiilly emi>loyi'tl in tlic workiriK <>f the 
 th ck and highly inclined coal-seams at St. Ktiennc, near Lyons. 
 
 *" Thurcau. (Jul. M. Jour., cuts III. and IV., June, 1859. 
 
 ^ Col. M. Jour, June, 18.')'.t. The careful study of such disturbances 
 would Kftve a certain amount of cftpJtal, and in some instances would 
 recover vuluahle mines,
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 231 
 
 from quartz "stone" is simple compared with the ore (h-essing- and 
 metalhirgic processes necessary for the extraction of other metals ; 
 it is effected by burning- the stone, reducing- it by stampers or 
 otherwise, and then concentrating- by washing- and amalgamating-. 
 The burning- of the stone is most conveniently effected in larg-e 
 kilns, hig-h, 1)rick-built erections, in which continuous action can 
 be carried on, the stone being- charg-ed or placed in them at the 
 top, along- with the requisite fuel, and then scraped or allowed to 
 fall out below, over the inclined double bottom of the kiln. 
 Furnaces are placed on the other opposite sides of tlie kiln so that 
 the required heat may be kept uj) and reg-ulated during- the 
 process.^^ The practice of burning- stone in this manner might 
 be introduced with advantage in this country, and indeed ought 
 to be so in all cases where the necessary fuel is easily and cheaply 
 procurable. Among- the advantages which would follow from the 
 adoption of this practice more generally are, first, that a greater 
 quantity of stone might be comminuted in the same working- time, 
 the increase ranging- as high as 80 per cent. Again, the wear 
 and tear of the reducing- machinery, of whatever sort it might be, 
 would be considerably less ; and, still further, a greater proportion 
 of the contained gold would bo obtained,*'^ in some cases as much 
 as 15 per cent, additional. There is another arg-ument beyond 
 those of profit to the owners of the mine, which shows the 
 advisability of burning- quartz: the argument is one Avhich suggests 
 itself when viewing the question from a polito-economical point of 
 view, and is worthy of consideration, inasmuch as it can be put in 
 practice to the improvement of the community without causing 
 
 ^8 Some stone contains a small proportion of pyrites, iron and arsenical, 
 and gold may be volatilized along with the sulphur and arsenic — principally 
 with the latter — fumes. The writer, when burning such stone — gas coke 
 being used as fuel — was obliged to shut the top of the furnace with u 
 moveable iron disk, and conduct the funics into a condensing chamber. 
 Before this had been done the rim on and around the top of the furnace, 
 ■ down to several inches, had been covered with a filmy, peach-colored, 
 velvety coating, which, on being tested, proved to contain gold. 
 
 *^ The writer found in a carefully conducted experiment, that of 200 
 tons of quartz, separated as third-class by picking, the largest pieces being 
 about 30 cubic inches, 100 tons, without burning, when crushed and con- 
 centrated gave for twenty days' work, and £106 Ss. expense, the sum of 
 £116, while the other 100 tons, after burning, crushing and concentration 
 gave for fourteen days' work, and £79 12s. expense, the sum of £135,
 
 232 PIUZE ESSAY. 
 
 loss or detriment to the minin"- capitalist ; it is this, that the 
 profits accruing- from the hiniiing- of quartz over those ti'om the 
 using' of it as it leaves the mine, would at least cover all the 
 outlay incurred hy the employment of extra working- hands in the 
 process of burning:. The trituration of the stone is generally 
 effected by stamping- mills, because of the larg-e amount of" stutf" 
 they comminute in a given time. The ChiUan mills, with rollers, 
 are preferable where the quartz requires to be g-round very fine, 
 as, when it is hig-hly auriferous, or when the g-old is of a very fine 
 desci-iption, the process requires great care and sufiicieut time, 
 therefore from 11 to 1*2 revolutions per minute is a proper speed. 
 Without altering- the conditions, the eftect of these mills would 
 be enhanced by having three mullers, or four instead of only two. 
 Sta:nps, however, have of late attained such a degree of perfection, 
 and are in all respects so well adapted to perform the trituration 
 required by the general class of stone found in the mines, that in 
 a practical point of view they are the most efficient reducing 
 mechanical appliance. There are several conditions and contri- 
 vances which are necessary to ensure the efficient duty and good 
 working, mechanically sjieaking, of stamping mills. First of all 
 comes the weight of the lifters, their pitch, the number of blows 
 they g-ive per minute, and the (pnintity of water used in stamjung. 
 They are gciod pruj)ortions which are ariojited at that model 
 establishment the Port Phillij) Companv's woiks at Chines." 
 Among other efficient contrivances are linings of metal inside the 
 cast-iron " cofers," iron lifters working to save wear and tear and 
 friction, in hardwood block-g-uides, &c. A prominent one is the 
 use of the so-termed " false bottoms " which not only save the 
 deterioration of the bottom of the " cofer," but also, and that is 
 the great value which is to be attached to them, prevent the gold 
 from being "stamped dead,"" or, in other words, "from being 
 brought down to such an infinitesimal size that it fioats away 
 
 '" Mr. Thiini])son liiis <'ominnTiicntC"d the followinn; diita us tlu' (•onditions 
 arrivfil ut hy priiclical cx]urii'ncc, at tlio 1'. 1*. M. Co.'s works, Cliiiios, 
 whcTo i)art of the <iuartz is huriu-d : — Avcrajft- stamii weinlit, 5 cwt. ; 
 pil<-h, 8 to 9 iiulies ; from 76 to 80 hlows per niiiiule ; and I'roiu 4^ to 5J 
 gallons ol water per minute to each Ntum|)er. 
 
 " .Mr. Warrington W. Smyth makes iiae of this expresion and others 
 as " wild flood," " Hchlich," &c., whieh are of German origin. Lect. on 
 gold, i)age 102.
 
 ORiaiN AND DISTRIBUTION OF OOLD. 233 
 
 with water." The concentration of the gold from the Hquid 
 slime or stamped "stuff" is effected in very different ways: at 
 Schemnitz, in Hungary, it runs over inclined boards covered with 
 canvas," and in other places, as at the Port Phillip Company's 
 works, Clunes, blankets are used ; or, as in South America, hides 
 are substituted for these canvas-lined boards; but all these 
 contrivances have the disadvantafj;-e that they do not save the g-old 
 if they are not constantly attended to and changed, for the slime 
 settles and forms a coating over which the gold passes without 
 hindrance. When the gold is thus saved it is further dealt with 
 by washing and amalgamation. Instead of all these contrivances 
 the concentration may be effected almost equally as well, by long 
 riffle boards, the riffles being so constructed as to cause a bubbling 
 motion in the slimy current passing over them, the boards having 
 an inclination just sufficient to keep them clean ; they should be 
 cleaned out three or more times in the twenty-four hours. The 
 stuff' running from the tail end of the riffle-boards falls into an 
 amalgamator ; in other places the stamped stuff is allowed to nm 
 directly from the cofer into an amalgamator.''^ There are many 
 contrivances for amalgamating gold with quicksilver. In Hun- 
 gary and the Salzburg Alps there is one" called the Tyrol 
 amalgamating mill, which has been in use for many years ; it was 
 expected when it was introduced there, that the defects of the 
 other gold-extracting operations and the washing"-bowl would be 
 done away with ; but it did not effect all this, though since it was 
 brought into use a greater per-centage of gold has been obtained, 
 principally in consequence of its catching the greatest part of the 
 gold that is " stamped dead," before it is carried away into the 
 "wild flood." These amalgamating mills lose" some quicksilver, 
 which runs off with the tailino's. An amalg-amator which was 
 
 " Plachen. 
 
 ''^ This practice does not seem to be a good one, as it is necessary to have 
 blankets after them to catch the particles of goUl and mercury which escape. 
 It is a belter practice to concentrate tlie gold as much as possible, by means 
 of riffle-boards or other appliances, before running the stamped stuff into 
 the amalgamator. 
 
 "<* In Phillips' Gold Mining and Assaying, p. 112, and in other works also, 
 a description of this apparatus is to be found. 
 
 ^^ Some years back about 2300 tons of "stuff" were amalgamated in 32 
 mills, and a loss of 35i lbs. of mercury incurred. Wehrle, vol. ii., p. 535.
 
 034 PRIZE KSSAY. 
 
 tried here several yeare ag"0, and which involved the principle of the 
 Tyrol mill, witli less frictional action, consisted of a cast-iron 
 cylinder, in the bottom of which were several inches of mercury 
 through which the " stutf " was forced by means of a screw, which 
 worked in a tube fitted in the inside of the cylinder so as almost 
 to reach the bottom ; the stuli", after having- passed through the 
 mercury, was raised several feet, and then escaped into the wild 
 flood. Another amalgamating contrivance which deserves atten- 
 tion is the shaking-table, '^ which has been extensively used in 
 this coimtry ; it is self-acting, that is, it does not require any 
 attendance. Its fault, perhaps, is, that as generally constructed, 
 its discharge is not equal, if working well, to the discharge of the 
 batteries to which it is attached. The proj)er curve of its sole- 
 plate, its pitch, its stroke, and the S])eed at which it should travel, 
 are too frequently determined at random, for they have not yet 
 been made matters of that nice ex])eriment and calculation neces- 
 sary to make the shaking table act with satisfactory certainty. 
 The shaking table is not much in favor at present, but eventually 
 it will come into greater use. Other contrivances have been 
 resorted to, such as amalgamating* copper ritile-boxes, into which 
 the stuff falls and is brouglit into momentary contact witli the 
 mercurv, and then pressed out. All the ainalg'amators lose more 
 or less mercurv. To effect an amalgamation in jiractice where 
 acids, &c., cannot be resorted to, it seems indispensable that 
 friction should be used, and that there should be also amj^le time 
 allowed to ensure a successfid operation ; none of those contri- 
 vances, therefore, which fail to combine Ixith of these conditions 
 can be looked upon as effective amalgamators. This opinion is 
 full}' borne out by the result of an interesting experiment" where 
 
 '* It was first introduced here about 1856. Mr. Porter's patent is prin- 
 cipally a niodification of the discharge. 
 
 " Mr. .John Towninf;, a sharehidder in the Cornish I'niteil C^ompany, 
 Batlaarat, where the exjicrinient was made, ronnnnnicated the fcdlowing; 
 facts : — The hattery of the eoiTipany consists of 20 stamps; avera^je weight 
 of each, 5 cwt.; ninnh<r of hhiw s pir minute, from fid to Ci ; pitch, from 9 
 to 9i inches; quantity of water used, I'JO gallons per minute Twelve of the 
 stamjjs had three comtnon shaking-tahlcs attaclicd to them, of 1 1 feet length, 
 having three curves in each, the first and second of !i], and the third of .TJ 
 inches; the length of tlie stroke iK-ing 5J inches, and making 0.') strokes per 
 minute. They were charged with 90 lbs. of mercury. To the remaining 
 8 itamps were att.ached two deep, copper amalgamating riflle-hoxes, of
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 235 
 
 tlie quartz, the woig-lit (jf tin; stamps, the number of blows, the 
 quantit}' of water and all other conditions were the same, and the 
 superiority of the shaking- table over the copper ritiie-box proved 
 in the somewhat startling- ratio of 144 to 1. A long amalgamated 
 copper-plate contrivance, which has been in use at Bendigo, is 
 well adai)tcd to save fine gold, as it answers partially to the 
 above-named conditions of friction and time. But all these 
 amalgamators are capable of being- materially improved b}' 
 applying the agency of electricity ''* to tliem ; this has been 
 attem})ted to be used several times, but hitherto with indifferent 
 results. It seems tliat the necessary condition is, that a different 
 electrical state should exist, to ensure any degree of practical 
 efficiency. It is unnecessary to enter on a description of the 
 other processes requisite to bring the gold, afLer it has been 
 amalgamated, into a fit marketable state, as they are all minutely 
 explained in PhiU'ipfi Alining and Assayivg, pp. 115, &c. The 
 above is a general outline of the methods adopted for the extraction 
 of gold from quartz-stone ; but other additional appliances must be 
 resorted to where the (juartz-stone contains large quantities of 
 P3nrites, as is the case at the Whip Reef, Bendigo ; at the Cornish 
 United and Llanberris Companies, Gum-tree Flat, Ballaarat ; at 
 the German Reef, Tarrangower, Sec. In the extraction of gold 
 from auriferous ores of this description they are not to be calcined 
 before stamping, unless they are partially decomposed, when they 
 must be thoroughly calcined. For such undecomposed ores the 
 process is to triturate them by the ordinary system of stamping, 
 or otherwise, without calcining, as in the case of ordinary quartz- 
 stone, up to the ])rocess of amalgamation, after which the sand, in 
 place of being run off into the wild flood, should be diverted into 
 pits, so partitioned as to compel it to travel a long distance before 
 
 22 inches fall and 6 inches rise, charged with about 85 lbs. of mercury, the 
 slide just touching it. The result was from the three shating-tables, .35 
 ozs. of gold ; and from the two copper amalgamating riffle-boxes, only 3 
 dwts. : the proportionate yield should have been 23 ozs. 6 dwts. It would 
 be a most interesting experiment to work Porter's tables against tliose of 
 the Cornish United. 
 
 ■'^ " The quick and thorough taking up of the gold by the mercury 
 depends on t)ie electric state of the latter, the proper condition under which 
 this is to be obtained is effected by warming the pan in which it is contained 
 or by applying zinc plates, and submerging them in diluted acids. These 
 appliances, however, present technical difficulties." — Wehrle, vol. ii., p. 535.
 
 1?3G PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 falling into the wild flood ; and the divisions should be such as 
 are calculated to separate the stuti' into metalliferous sands of the 
 same size, the latter being' an indispensable condition to a perfect 
 concentration" by washing. The further dressing of these ores 
 can be elfected in ditferent ways, as by adopting the Cornish 
 cleaning tye, used for the extraction*" of stream tin. A much 
 more effective process of mechanical jireparation would be secured 
 bv adopting some of the different contrivances used, as percussion 
 tables; these tables would answer for the purpose of concentrating 
 the coarser stuff, while inclined tables, worked with a brush, 
 might be used for the slime. Suspended and inclined tables 
 would require a large quantity of water and an extra power to 
 work efficiently. The concentrated pyrites have to be calcined 
 in reverbatory furnaces imtil almost all the arseniurets and sul- 
 phurets have been decomposed and the iron is in the state of 
 protoxide and peroxide. The gold from the calcined ore can be 
 extracted by three different processes — by smelting it with lead 
 ore or litharge and separating the gold from the lead by cupella- 
 tion in a cupola furnace ; by amalgamation, or b}' the ap])lication 
 of chlorine, used in the same manner as practised by Plattner,*' 
 
 " In the tailings of niauv stamping-mills iu the colony many tons of 
 pyrites are allowed to run oil', and beconu' lost, while they could be sepa- 
 rated from the refuse by niechanieal preparations. 
 
 "" The process of concentration for dressing iron jjvritcs ores will have to be 
 somewhat altered, for while the specitic gravity of tin and of arsenical pyrites 
 may be set down, iu round numbers, as 7'0, that of iron jiyrites is only 5"0. 
 
 "' The process applied by I'lattner, in 1848, to extract gold from poor 
 ores by chlorine is based upon the fact that chlorine dissolves gold, chloride 
 of gold being formed, whereas it hardly affects the oxides of other metals 
 I'lattner made his trials and assays with the refuse of the calcination of 
 arsenical pyrites, from Reichenstein, in Silesia, wiiich, on account of their 
 poverty (^^ to ^'^ of a loth per dr., that is, sometliing over 18 dwts. to the 
 ton), could not remuneratively undergo the smelting jjroccss Tlie arsenical 
 slags consist jirincipaliy of sesquioxide, and protoses(|uioxide, and subar- 
 seniate of sesciiiioxidc of iron. With this ])rocess I'lattner was able to 
 extract gold to tiic lunount of from j\ to ,', of a loth ]>er ctr. The gold was 
 precipitated from the solution by vitriol of iron, but on a large scale it can 
 as well be tlone by copi)er j)latcH ; according to Allain ^(,,\,,,t part of gold 
 can be extracted from pyrites, after calcining and separating the oxides of 
 other metals, such as iron, zinc, coj)per, &c., by diluted 8ul|)huric acid ; 
 and both the I'erets, Allain, and Hartenbach, obtained gold in this way 
 from pyrites at Chcssy and St. IJcl." — Theorie und Praxis der Gcwerbe, 
 \'un Dr. J. II. Wiiiinir, vol. i.. p. 180.
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 237 
 
 for the extraction of" g-old from the refuse of the calcination of the 
 arsenical pyrites, called arsenick abhriiude of Reichenstein. It is 
 essential in this process that all the iron should be in the state of 
 peroxide. This last method is successfully ap])lied at Chessy and 
 St. Bel to extract g-old from pyrites, the lower metals being- first 
 separated by sulphuric acid in a diluted state. It is highly pro- 
 bable that this process will be eventually introduced into this 
 colony. Its chemical exactness hig'hly recommends its use for 
 such auriferous pyrites as German Reef, Tarrangower; Whip Reef, 
 Bendig-o ; and the like. In some places ^^ the smelting- of poor 
 auriferous quartz ores, or arsenical iron and copper pyrites, is 
 effected in combination with arg-entiferous ores ; but in such 
 cases the smelting- of auriferous g-angues is accessary to the 
 smelting- of arg-entiferous ores, the smelter adding- the auriferous 
 quartz, or pyrites, or calcined auriferous pyrites, as required by 
 the metallurgical process for the extraction of silver, in preference 
 to non-auriferous fluxes, the quantities of which are definite, so as 
 to form the proper slag'. The g"old in this process goes with the 
 silver through all the metallurg-ical operations necessary for the 
 extraction of the silver with which it is obtained ; it is finally 
 separated on D'Arcet's*^ plan, by sulphuric acid, &c. But it 
 is seldom that auriferous ores are of that peculiar character, 
 as in the case of the Nagyag- ^* auriferous ores for instance, that 
 smelting- is the proper process to be employed in the extraction of 
 their gold. The smelting of auriferous ores is an expensive 
 process, and the greater proportion of gold obtained through it, 
 compared to that extracted from the same ore by stamping, 
 washing, &c., would by no means cover the expense of the extra 
 labor. However, where applicable the smelting of auriferous ores 
 can be divided into two principal metalhu-gical operations — the 
 smelting of auriferous pyrites, with little or no gangue, and 
 the smelting of auriferous quartz. The metallurgical process for 
 the former would be : — 1st, to calcine the pyrites in the open air, 
 thus forming protoxide of iron; 2nd, to smelt llie same in a 
 reverbatory or blast furnace, with the proper mixtures of calcined 
 
 *' In Transylvania, Hungary, &c. 
 
 *3 In the mint at Vienna this method is employed, on a large scale, to 
 separate the gold from the silver. 
 
 " Transylvania. These ores are partly smelted with others at the 
 smelting works of Zalathna.
 
 238 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 and ixncalcined lead, or litliarg-e, slag-, S:c., so as to form a singulo 
 silicate slag-; by this process lead containing- g'old is obtained; 
 and 3rd, to cupellate the auriferous lead in a cupola furnace, by 
 which process the gold is obtained in a cake, which has only to be 
 run in a crucible and poured into ing-ots. But the metallurgical 
 process of smelting' auriferous quartz " is a still more slow and 
 expensive afl'air, because to slag the quartz into a bisilicate, it is 
 necessary to mix it with its own weight of limestone, iron slags, or 
 refuse from puddling- furnaces, and sing-ulo silicate slags; more- 
 over, as a high degree of heat is required to form the bisilicate 
 slags, ^ iron pyrites, and not lead ore, is the substance which 
 should be added to collect the gold, thus adding- another process 
 to the treatment. The product of this first operation would there- 
 fore be an auriferous singulo siilphuret of iron, which would 
 henceforth undergo the metallurgical process indicated for 
 auriferous pyrites. These, then, would be the principles which 
 
 " Mr. Wilkinson has attempted to melt quartz, contrary to all metallur- 
 gical principles and experience ; it is possible to smelt quartz, that is to 
 slag it, but to melt it in furnaces without a combination with other sub- 
 stances is impossible. From the description of Mr. Wilkinson's experi- 
 ment at Balhuirat, given in tlie public journals, it seems tliat hydrogen gas 
 was evolved in tlie same manner as it is prepared in tiic hvdro-carbou 
 process of gas-making. By a connecting ])ipe tlic hydrogen gas was con- 
 ducted into a furnace, where, mixing with atmospheric air, siitficient heat 
 was to be originated to permeate and melt the quartz and free the gold. 
 The result proved the fallacy of attempting to melt quartz. The aspect of 
 the quartz when taken out of the furnace was very irregular, some pieces 
 being well burned, others not sufficiently so, and others vitrified round the 
 edges, or covered with a vitrious coating, the admixture of slates and jjyrites 
 forming very hard slags, which agglomerated and enveloped quartz, thus 
 showing that it had not been melted, and liad licen uneciually Inirncd, being 
 partially vitrified and agglomerated among vitrious slags. Mctallurgically 
 judging, it Mas very badly burned, lor whilst some of it liad not been acted 
 on, other portions of it were vitrified, or slagged, and formed a harder 
 substance than wlien unburned ; thus the contrary result was obtained to 
 what is generally looked for in Imrning quartz, so that Mr. Wilkinson's 
 proces.s is merely an expensive kiln, and lias yet given no i)roof that it is 
 any improvement whatever on the ordinary continuous-acting kiln. 
 
 '•' The following are the proportions which the writer adopted success- 
 fully in this ca.se for smelting auriferous quartz, in a lilast furnace 14 feet 
 high : — 7 cwt. of singulo silicate .slag.s, as little of tliem as possil)ly conve- 
 nient, '20 cwt. of auriferous <|uartz, 4 cwt. of auriferous singulo sulphuret 
 of iron, :\ cwt. of iron j)yriteH, \'2 cwt. of lime.Mtone, and 'ij cwt. of gypsum.
 
 ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD. 239 
 
 are to g'uide in the smelting' of" auriferous ores, and they show 
 how tedious and expensive the extraction becomes under them, 
 and how remote the probabihty is of tlieir being* acted on in this 
 country, where, for the present, at least, the necessary fuel, lime- 
 stone, and fluxes, are so scarce. The extraction of g^old from its 
 g'ang'ues, as at present practised in this countiy, by stamping*, 
 washing-, amalgamating-, &c., is, in a g-eneral point of view, the 
 proper course ; but it would be more so if g-radually modified and 
 improved by the introduction of apj)ropriaie technical manipula- 
 tions, the value and efficacy of which the writer has here briefly 
 indicated, so as not to trespass beyond the limits of an essay. 
 
 " PICK AND PEN."
 
 ESSAY 
 
 MANUFACTURES MORE IMMEDIATELY REQUIRED 
 
 FOB THE ECONOMICAL 
 
 l4ii(jlopmc^ut of till} |[cr)Oin[qrj 0f tlie^ (^olanj, 
 
 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THOSE MANHFACTCRES THE RAW 
 MATERIALS OF WHICH ARE THE PRODUCE OF VICTORIA. 
 
 CIVIL ENGINEER." 
 
 BY CHARLES MAYES, C.E.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In accordance with an advertisement emanating from the Royal 
 Society of Victoria, dated March 28th, 1860, inviting Competitive 
 Essays on four different subjects, I have turned my attention to 
 the compilation of the Essay on Manufactures, the object of which 
 is more particularly described in the words of the advertisement, 
 which I have given on the title page. 
 
 In commencing this Essay I directed my attention first to the 
 Haw 3Iaterials of the colony ; the chief of these will be found 
 in the following list, Avhich I have divided into three parts, dis- 
 tinguishing the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal productions, with 
 a succinct account of the manufactures to which they are applied, 
 omitting those productions that are not likely to be produced to 
 a sufficient extent for manufacturing purposes : — 
 
 Basalt ... 
 
 Clay (pottery) 
 ,. (fire) 
 
 „ (kaolin or china) 
 Cement stones ... 
 Coal 
 
 MINERAL SUBSTANCES. 
 
 Application. 
 
 When liquified by icineration it has been 
 cast into chimney-pieces, &c. 
 
 Bricks, tiles, earthenware, stoneware. 
 
 Firebricks, pots for melting glass, Sagyars 
 or boxes for baking pottery, porcelain 
 &c., for lining and luting furnaces, for 
 crucibles, retorts, &c. 
 
 Porcelain, delftware, crockery, &c. 
 
 (ycment or hydraulic lime. 
 
 Coke, gas, tar ; and from coal-tar is pro- 
 duced coal-tar oil, naphtha, pitch ; am- 
 moniacal liquor, from which may be 
 produced sulphate, carbonate, muriate, 
 &c., of am.monia. Soot from coal also 
 yields carbonate of ammonia. 
 « o
 
 244 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Kame. 
 
 Feldspar 
 
 Gems — viz., diamonds, topaz, 
 beryl, opal, aquamarine, gar- 
 net, tourmaline, sapphires, 
 ruby, quartz crystals, &c. 
 
 Gold ' 
 
 Iron (native), ores, luxmatite, 
 carbonate, titaniferous sand, 
 &c. 
 
 Limestone 
 
 Manganese (oxide) 
 Quartz (milk) ... 
 
 Salt from salt lakes, and from 
 sea water 
 
 Sludge from puddling-machines 
 
 Tin ore (stream tin, also known 
 as " black sand") 
 
 Application. 
 Glass, porcelain, glaze for pottery. 
 Diamond for cutting glass, and for dia- 
 mond powder. 
 Gems generally for jewellery. 
 
 Bullion, jeweller}-, gold leaf. Sec. 
 
 Cast and malleable iron, steel, &c.. for 
 conversion into hardware or iron- 
 mongery, and for medicinal purposes. 
 
 Lime for manur,\ mortar, flux, &c. 
 Limestone mixed with alumina or 
 clay forms (when calcined) cement 
 and hydraulic lime. 
 
 Glass of certain kinds, enamel. 
 
 Glass, substitute for flints in pottery ; 
 witli an equal portion of alumina or 
 disintegrated feldspar it forms an infu- 
 sible fire-clay like kaolin, as a substi- 
 tute for sand in the preparation of 
 clays for earthenware, and for forming 
 moulds in foundries. 
 
 Crude carbonate of soda or soda ash for 
 glass and soap, pure carbonate of soda, 
 muriatic acid, &c. 
 
 Bricks, tiles, pipes, and other earthen- 
 ware. 
 
 Block tin, tin plates or sheet tin, bronze, 
 pewter, tinfoil, mordaunts, enamel, 
 glazes for crockery, &c. 
 
 Other mincral.s liave been found of g-reat value in manufactures, 
 but not liitherto in sufficient quantities to render them important 
 in a commercial point of viewj the chief of these are sulphurct 
 of antimony,* sulplmret of iron, bismuth glance, Tripoli, sulphur, 
 silver ore, galena or argentiferous lead ore, c()pj)er ore, &c. 
 
 If sulj)huret lA' antimony, or sulphtiret of iron (iron pyrites), 
 could be found in .sufficient quantity thoy might bo used in the 
 manufacture of suljthuric acid, l)iit these mat4>rials for such a pur- 
 jjosc have been elsewhere superseded by sulphur anil nitre. 
 
 * From a pencil note by J. W. Osborne, Ksq., in the margin of the manu- 
 script of this EHsay, I find that the owner of a quartz reef near Heidelberg 
 tfiM him tiiat lie had shipped several tons of antimony ore from that 
 Iwalily, to be calcined, at a considerable profit.— C. MaviiH, June 24, 18GI. 
 
 I
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 245 
 
 VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 
 
 Kame. 
 Arrowroot plant 
 
 Almond (sweet and bitter) ... 
 Bark( wattle, black wood, acacia, 
 eucalypti, &c.) 
 
 Barley (various), bere, or bigg 
 
 Beetroot 
 
 Beans (French) 
 
 Carraway seed (A) 
 
 Cucumber 
 
 Castor-oil plant (A) 
 
 Colza-oil plant (A) 
 
 Cabbage and cauliflower 
 
 Flax (inner bark of) 
 
 Fruits (apricots, pears) 
 
 (apples, raspberries) ,,. 
 
 (currant, gooseberry) ... 
 
 (elderberry) 
 
 (plum fruit and kernel) 
 
 (cherry and kernel) . . . 
 
 (peaches) 
 
 (bergamot, A) 
 Gum acacia, &c. ; wattle gum, 
 &c. 
 
 Grapes 
 
 Grape seed 
 
 Hemp 
 
 „ seed 
 Hop plant 
 
 Jessamine (blossoms) 
 Lavender 
 Linseed-oil plant 
 Maize * 
 
 Mulberry tree ... 
 Narcissus (blossoms) 
 Olive tree (A) ... 
 Oats (various) ... 
 
 Application. 
 
 Arrowroot of commerce (a sample of 
 arrowroot (jrown in Victoria was exhi- 
 bited at the Victorian Exhibition, 1854). 
 
 Unctuous oil for perfumery, soap, &c. 
 
 Tan (chiefly from wattle), used in tanning 
 leather, and for this purpose exported 
 into England, &c. 
 
 Meal, pearl barley, malt, pale and dark, 
 malt vinegar ; with bere and juniper 
 berries Hollands gin is produced by 
 distillation ; from these cereals are also 
 produced whiskey and other spirits. 
 
 Sugar as in France, beer, &c. 
 
 Pickles, stalks calcined for potash. 
 
 Essential oil for perfumery, &c. 
 
 Unctuous oil of commerce, and pickles. 
 
 Castor-oil as an unguent and medicine. 
 
 Colza oil for lamps, pigments, &.c. 
 
 Pickles. 
 
 Cordage, string, twine, potash from stems. 
 
 Dried fruit, jams, perry from pears. 
 
 Cyder, raspberry vinegar, preserves. 
 
 Wine and jams, preserves. 
 
 Wine, and with grapes port wine. 
 
 Jam, preserves, and plum-kernel oil. 
 
 Ditto ditto, and cherry-stone oil. 
 
 Ditto ditto, and dried peaches. 
 
 Essential oil for perfumery, &c. 
 
 Varnishes, medicine, in textile manufac- 
 tures for stiffening silk, crape, &c. 
 
 Wine, brandy, jam, &c. 
 
 Grape-seed oil ; the lees of wine, when 
 calcined, yield more potash than any 
 other substance, about 16 per cent. 
 
 Ropes, canvas, or sail-cloth, &c. 
 
 Unctuous oil. 
 
 Hops for brewing, &c. 
 
 Essential oil for perfumery, &c. 
 
 Essential oil for perfumery, &c. 
 
 Oil for pigments, and linseed-oil cake. 
 
 Meal, beer, sugar, paper, and potash from 
 the calcined stems. 
 
 Food for silk worms, fruit for jams. 
 
 Essential oil for perfumery, &c. 
 
 Olive oil for salad oil, soap, &c. 
 
 Oatmeal and groats, oats for whiskey.
 
 246 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Ouions 
 
 Oranges (blossoms, &c.) (A) ... 
 
 Paper plant (A) 
 
 Poppy ... 
 
 Potatoes (various), and sweet 
 potato. 
 
 Peach blossoms 
 
 Rape-seed oil plant 
 
 Roses 
 
 Sassafras tree ... 
 
 Straw of wheat, &c 
 
 Sunflower 
 
 Sorghum saccharatum 
 
 Trees (native) 
 
 „ bark of ditto 
 
 „ leaves of gum, &c. 
 
 „ branches and twigs 
 
 „ timber (waste) 
 
 „ timber (seasoned) 
 
 Tliyme and roscmarj' 
 Tobacco (Ilavannah) 
 
 Thistles (full grown) 
 Violet (blossoms) 
 Vanilla (A) ... 
 Wheat 
 
 Walnut (fruit) ... 
 
 Application. 
 Pickles. 
 
 Fruit for marmalade, blossoms for Neroli. 
 Cotton and flax, grown in Wisconsin, U.S. 
 Unctuous oil, opium of commerce. 
 Beer of Strasburgh, British brandy, 
 starch, sugar ; potato pulp is a good 
 substitute for arrowroot. 
 Essential oil for perfumery, &c. 
 Rape-seed oil. 
 
 Otto, or essential oil of, for perfumery. 
 Bark used in medicine (indigenous). 
 Straw plait for hats and caps. 
 Seed for oil, stems calcined for potash. 
 Sugar, and the stems for paper and potash. 
 Baskets (at Victorian Exhibition, 1854). 
 Substitute for fla.\ and hemp in the 
 
 manufacture of cordage, pajMjr, &c. 
 Olefiant gas and spirito-crude oil,* made 
 
 at Kyneton Gas Works. 
 Potash, pyroligneous acid or wood vine- 
 gar, acetic acid, &c. 
 Charcoal, wood vinegar, wood tar. pitch, 
 
 creosote, potash, and gas. 
 Coachbuilding, gigs, buggies, land and 
 railway carriages, cars, carts, drays, 
 wagons ; also for furniture, turnery, 
 woodcnware, lasts for shoes, &c. 
 Essential oils for soap and perfumery. 
 Tobacco for smoking, and for cigars. 
 
 twist, shecpwasli, snufl', &c. 
 Potash to the amount of 4 per cent. 
 Essential oil for i)erfumcs. 
 CluK'olatc, confections, and perfumes. 
 Flour, bread, biscuits, confections, starcii, 
 macaroni, vermicelli, whiskey, and 
 other spirits. 
 Pickles and walnut oil. 
 
 Those plants, &c., wliirli, as fjir ns I cim nsccrtaiii, liave not 
 been arrliinatizod I liav»^ marked with tlic letter (A), tliinkinp;' it 
 l)ettcr that all (Iniihtful jiroductiniis should be kcjit distinct from 
 those that have been fairly tried and fnund .successful. 
 
 • Spirito-crudc oil is the name given by the patentee who invented and 
 manufacture*! this gas, &c., at the Kyneton Gas Works. See Specification 
 of Patent in the Kegistrar-Gcneral's office, Mcllwurnc. — C. Mayes, June 24, 
 
 IHf.l.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 247 
 
 Name. 
 Blood and offal... 
 Bones 
 
 Bristles (hogs) 
 
 Calves and neats' feet 
 
 Entrails or guts 
 
 Furs of opossum, kangaroos, 
 
 rabbits, &c. 
 Fish (various), whale, and fish 
 
 bones. 
 Horns 
 
 Hoofs 
 
 Hair from cows, dogs, horses, 
 cats, &c. 
 
 Lard (hogs) 
 Meat (butchers') 
 
 Ordure of horses 
 
 Sheeps' feet 
 
 Skins (horses hides) . 
 
 „ (hides of oxen) . 
 
 „ (calves) ... 
 
 „ (pigs) ... 
 
 „ (kids and dogs). 
 
 „ (goats) ... 
 
 „ (sheep) ... 
 
 „ (kangaroo) 
 
 „ waste (all kinds) 
 Tallow (beef and mutton) 
 
 Urine 
 
 Wool (sheep, angola, alpaca). 
 
 rAL PRODUCTS. 
 
 Application. 
 
 Carbonate of ammonia. 
 
 Combs, brushes, spoons, knife and fork 
 handles, &c., waste bone for manure, 
 lampblack, animal charcoal or bone 
 ash, carbonate of ammonia, &c. 
 
 Toilet brushes, painters' brushes, &c. 
 
 Jelly, neatsfoot oil, glue, &c. 
 
 Strings of musical instruments, &c. 
 
 Nap for felt and stuff hats, and for the 
 best kinds of felt. 
 
 Cured and dried, whale oil and fish oil, 
 spermaceti, isinglass from fish bones. 
 
 Cups, flasks, combs, knife and fork han- 
 dles, rings, carbonate of ammonia, &c. 
 
 Glue, ammonia, and substitutes for horn. 
 
 Hair felt for roofing, coating boilers, 
 inodorous felt for partitions, felt hats, 
 &c. 
 
 Porcine oil, pomades, confections. 
 
 Bacon, hams, beef, cured and spiced ; 
 beef and pork, pickled or salted. 
 
 Ammonia and nitre from nitre beds. 
 
 Sheep-trotter oil, glue, and ammonia. 
 
 Cordovan for saddlery, shagreen for cases, 
 glue, and ammonia. 
 
 Sole leather ; waste hide for glue. 
 
 Upper leather and kip; ditto. 
 
 Leather for saddles ; ditto. 
 „ for shoes, gloves, &c, 
 
 Morocco or Turkish leather. 
 
 Parchn^ent, size, housings, &c. 
 
 Upper leather for dress boots, shoes, &c. 
 
 Glue or gelatine, ammonia, &c. 
 
 Soap, common and toilet, also common 
 and stcarine candles ; anti-friction 
 grease for railway and road carriages, 
 machinery, &c. 
 
 Alum, tanning ley for Morocco and other 
 leather ; carbonate of ammonia, and 
 nitre from nitre beds. 
 
 Woollen manufactures, cloth, &c. ; wool- 
 len rags for carbonate of ammonia. 
 
 Such are the principnl productions of Victoria, an infant colonj-, 
 whose rapid g-rowth anti development is a source of wonder to the 
 civilized world.
 
 248 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Mineral 
 resources. 
 
 Our mineral resources, although unprecedented, 
 are not yet ftilly developed, and are far from being- 
 explored hy the practical geologist or mineralogist. 
 Much important information may be obtained from the reports 
 and maps that have been published by tha Government Geologist, 
 although tliey extend over a very small area as compared with 
 the great extent of country, of which we know comparatively 
 little as to its resources. It is not at all unlikely that we may 
 yet discover lead, copper, antimony*, bismuth, zinc, silver, sulphur 
 (from om* extinct volcanoes), and other valuable minerals, in 
 sufficient quantities for commercial pui-poses, and that we may 
 discover haematite, the most valuable of the iron ores, in far 
 greater abundance than we can at present have any idea of. 
 
 All that we possess in the vegetable kingdom, with 
 Acclimatization a i'sw cxceptious, are in the form of " acclimatized 
 toria,aM:. plants," imported from England, where they have been 
 
 previously introduced and acclimatized since the reign 
 of Henry the Eighth. The Flora of England includes upwards 
 of 10,000 exotics, the whole of which might be acclimatized here, 
 and, in addition, we may reasonably expect to acclimatize many 
 plants and fi-uit trees which could not flourish beneath the wither- 
 ing effects of a British climate, ^'ictoria possessing an average 
 temperature at least 10° Fahr. hotter than England, would be 
 found a more congenial climate for the acclimatization of plants, 
 the indigenous ])roduction of climates whose average temperature 
 is as much in excess of \'ictoria as that of Victoria is to England. 
 When we are informed, on the authority of the Societe Zoologique 
 (V Accllvuitat'ion, that " green and red cabbage, onions, and 
 parsley are from Eg}-j)t, beans from India, melons from Africa, 
 lemons from Media, peaches from Persia, ])lums from Syria, Ac," 
 we may with good reason liope to acclimatize the orange, castor- 
 oil ])lant, vfcc, originally from India, especially when we know 
 that several plants whicii grow to jierfection in England are also 
 from India. 
 
 In the finiiiiid kingdom, too, who ciin tell the vast 
 o/aiIimai«.""°" bciieHts WO are likely to derive from the introduc- 
 tion and successful acclimatization of the " alpaca," 
 the South African "eland," and the ** forty-two species of tropical 
 
 • See Article on Antimony in Appendix.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 249 
 
 Indian deer," which the entei-prising- English expect to accH- 
 matize in England — a climate so widely different from tiopical 
 India ; may we not, with much g-reater chance of success, accli- 
 matize these animals in Victoria, in conjunction with the camel 
 dromedary, and regal koodoo. The introduction of the British 
 salmon, and other commercially valuable fish, to the lakes and 
 rivers of Victoria, are likely to be shortly accomplished, and we 
 may yet derive vast benefits from their successful acclimatization, 
 benefits that will bear a favorable comparison to those that have 
 for so many years been obtained from the salmon fisheries of 
 England and Scotland, 
 
 The veg'etable productions of Victoria, w^hich are 
 already produced in good averag-e crops, will be con- irrigation. 
 siderably aug-mented by irrigation ; this will naturally 
 follow the storage of water, now occupying some of our amphi- 
 theatres and gullies in the shape of reservoirs. This subject is 
 still further engaging the attention of the public mind in the 
 contemplated water supply to the gold-fields. 
 
 Without entering into particulars of the vast increase likely to 
 take place in our crops, from a good system of irrigation, we may 
 safely anticipate a general increase of at least 50 per cent, in our 
 agricultural and horticultural products, where irrigation can be 
 successfi.dly applied. A considerable increase will also take place 
 from an improved system of farming, which we may expect from 
 a reduction in the cost of farm laboi-, the application of machinery 
 for the same purpose, and of manure (hitherto too much neglected) 
 to enrich the soil and increase the produce. It will be seen, from 
 the list of " raw materials" produced in Victoria, how much our 
 success, as a manufacturing people, depends upon the economical 
 production of agricultural produce ; but even supposing we pro- 
 duced abundance of raw materials at a cheap rate, we must also 
 possess cheap labor and good machinery for the successful conver- 
 sion of such raw produce into manufactured articles used in the 
 every day purposes of life. 
 
 The greatest drawback to our manufacturing interests in 1852, 
 1853, and 1854, was the high price of labor, the demand having 
 generally exceeded the supply for both skilled and unskilled labor ; 
 this has been the chief cause of the enormous rents 
 demanded by the proprietors of household propeity, nigh rents. 
 who have naturally demanded a rental of from five
 
 i?50 INTRODICTIOX. 
 
 to ten years' purchase, simply because they could p-euerally dispose 
 of their capital to equal advantag-e in other pui-suits. 
 
 llic great denxnul for ortifccvs since 18o4 has been upheld and 
 maintained by the vast sums of money annually paid for the urec- 
 tion of our public edifices, the permanent construction of which 
 might have been judiciously postponed for a few years, when such a 
 fall in the cost of the labor required may be reasonably expected as 
 would reduce the cost of the permanent public buildings to at least 
 one-third less than their present cost. This reduction in the cost 
 of our public buildings is the more important, when we consider 
 that dressed bluestone often forms a prominent feature in their 
 construction, which costs twelve times as much to work as dressed 
 freestone costs in England. By waiting a few years we shoidd 
 have had an opportunity of testing the durability of our sand- 
 stones, which only cost one-third as much to work as bluestone, 
 besides being of a more suitable color for architectural purposes. 
 The same remarks apply to our Government railways ; many of 
 the bridges and viaducts of these railways being constructed 
 chieily of bluestone, and partly of fine dressed bluestone, in most 
 inst'.mces crossing pastoral roads and streamlets, to be admired by 
 our cattle and their stock-riders, our sheep and their shepherds, 
 the only class of animals likely to visit them for many years to 
 come, since thev are far removed from the " Inisy haunts of men."* 
 It is by such means we have upheld the unreasonable demands, 
 and have been dictated to by the fi/rfoinical class of ojierntives in 
 Victoria. 
 
 Before any important manufactory can be established in Vic- 
 toria, a very large outlay would be required for suitable buildings, 
 and from one-half to two-thirds of this outlay would have to be 
 p:ii(l for labor HMpiircd in the buildings. 
 
 During the years lSo2, ISuii, and 1^i>4, although 
 oflrlilirm^oMV tlie wages of artificers were higher than they have 
 been since, it was simply the result of the great 
 demand for such labor; but since then the various trades' unions 
 have endeavored tx) maintain these high rates of wages, although 
 tlie demand in c«)nsequence of such exorbitant rates lias been 
 
 •Since writing the above, now nearly a year since, I find a j^rowing dis- 
 nonition to dispense with fine-dressed hluestoneon oiirtiovernnient riiilwaj's, 
 and Dllierwisc to eeononiise as mucl> as jmssihle. — ('. Matks, June 24, 1861.
 
 INTKODUCTION. i?f)l 
 
 gradually falling off: the result has been most disastrous to them- 
 selves and to the public generally, wlio cannot avail themselves of 
 their services, but would rather allow their capital to accumulate in 
 the banks until a more favorable opportunity occurs for investment. 
 Fi'om the evidence given before the Tariff Committee* it appears 
 there is a great want of employment among all classes of artisans, 
 and, as it appears to me, from the very same cause, viz., a disin- 
 clination to work for less than a certain rate of wages which they 
 consider they are justly entitled to, but at the same time admit 
 that without an import duty of about 25 per cent, they could not 
 compete with imported manufactures. This dearth of emploj-ment 
 is not confined to manufacturing operatives ; it also extends to arti- 
 ficers, such as masons, bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters, &c., not 
 more than one-half of any of these trades' union operatives being 
 constantly emploj'ed at their trades ; the consequences being that 
 they are poorer as a body than if they worked for two-thirds of 
 their present fixed rate of wages, and were all of them fiilly 
 employed — therefore the present assumed high rate of wages is 
 really not the result of a legitimate demand. 
 
 All classes of artificers, although refusing to be em- 
 ployed at per day for less than a certain rate of wae-es. Piece work 
 
 .,, ,11- 1 , . ' cheaper than 
 
 Will nevertheless take piece-worK at such a price that day work, 
 they cannot possibly earn more than one-half the 
 wages they profess to work for, unless, as is generally the case, they 
 work harder at piece-work : thus ignoring in practice the principles 
 they profess, besides deceiving the public as to the real value of 
 their services. It thus appears that the artisans of Victoria are 
 virtuallv on strike for the maintenance of a hig-h rate of wao'es. 
 while the money accruing from the labor of manufacturing im- 
 ported goods of all kinds, amounting in the aggregate to several 
 millions sterling per annum, is actually kept out of their pockets 
 by their own obstinacy and blindness to their true interests ; and 
 what is more humiliating to them is the fact that they must and 
 will ultimately succumb to such a reduction in their wages as will 
 enable them to compete with imported goods which, if thev can 
 successfully accomplish, they may depend upon finding constant 
 employment, and will at the close of each year find themselves 
 
 * A parliamentary committee which sat during the months of February 
 and March, in I860.— C. Maves, June 24, 1861.
 
 252 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 better ofl" than they possibly could be while upholding- a contest 
 alike desti-uctive to their own interests and that of the country at 
 larg-e. 
 
 In the foregoing- remarks I have taken it for granted that all 
 classes of artisans will do the same amount of work in a given 
 time under all circumstances ; this is only true when they work 
 freely, and believe they are fairly paid, in this respect, as in the 
 armv, "one volunteer is worth two pressed men." We see a prac- 
 tical illustration of this important fact not only in 
 Day-work. convict labor but also in free labor, when men are 
 employed in road making, and similar work under 
 Government, they are dilatory and slugg-ish in their movements, 
 and the expression " Government stroke" has become proverbial. 
 The reason is obvious : the industrious active workman works side 
 by side with others who do not earn half so much as he does, but 
 who are, nevertheless, paid the same for their sei-vices ; he soon 
 finds that his superior industry is not appreciated, and conse- 
 quently follows the example of his idle associates by adopting^ 
 the ''Government stroke." "Piece-work" has an 
 piece-vTork. opposite tendency, because, if a man knows that he 
 must get through a certain amount of work to obtain 
 a certain payment, he will naturally exert himself more than he 
 would do if paid by time, without regard to the value of the 
 work executed. Piece-work also stinudates emulation, because 
 when a man finds that he is not earning so much as his fellow- 
 workman, whom he regards or wishes to regard as his equal, he 
 will naturally strive to improve, and will exert himself to the 
 utmost in so doing ; in fact, the energies and ])hysical endurance 
 of workmen are most fully developed by piece-work. On the con- 
 trary, any section of our free and independent skilled or unskilled 
 laborers failing to prevent a reduction in their present higii rates 
 of wages, would, if they continued to work, soon show their disap- 
 pointment by a corresponding diminution of their day's work, 
 unless they could be convinced that they were being fairly dealt 
 with ; and it is a difficult task to make men believe they are as 
 well ofi" with lower wages, and that they ought cheerfully to 
 submit to the inevitidjle laws of " suj»j)Iy and demand." 
 
 It would bo better to introduce throughout tho 
 
 Ailvnntatffa of . i i i- i i 
 
 vu-ra-work over colony lu f'very trade and manulacture tlio system 
 of " piec(!-work," by which means every workman,
 
 INTRODUCTION. 253 
 
 both skilled and unskilled, would have a direct interest in the 
 quantity of work he g'ot through from day to day and from 
 week to week, while the employer would merely have to measure 
 or otherwise ascertain the quantity of work done, and that 
 the quality of the work was equal to that contracted for. The 
 "trades' unions" of the colony are opposed to piece-work in 
 principle or theory only, but not in practice as before shown. 
 I have every reason to believe that the manufacturing" interests of 
 Victoria will succeed in proportion as the " piece-work " system is 
 successfully adopted. The manufacturer will know what he can 
 afford to pay (before he proceeds too far or gets beyond his depth) 
 for a certain amount of work, which he will obtain from workmen 
 who g'enerally prefer their own trade to that of any other, or the 
 g'reat uncertainty of gold-digging, especially if they have been to 
 the gold-fields and been unsuccessful, as most men have been. 
 Supposing the "raw materials" employed in any manufacture to 
 be as accessible here as in England, wages here will be always 
 better than in England, by the difference in the cost of freight, 
 brokernge, and other incidental expenses attending the importa- 
 tion of all kinds of manufactured articles. 
 
 Whatever the average earnings of our working classes may be, 
 I am satisfied the same amount of labor will never be expended 
 for daily wages as for piece-work, or for the desperation of 
 anticipation displayed by the generality of our gold-miners. 
 
 In spite of the present high rate of wages paid to a 
 few, who are not fully employed, the majority of our destitution, 
 artificers and artisans, our laborers and laboring' 
 manufacturers, are almost destitute. They find little encourage- 
 ment on the gold-fields, where the majorit}^ of the diggers are as 
 badly off as the unemployed in Melbourne, and where the average 
 earnings of all classes do not exceed 24s. per week by actual 
 statistics. 
 
 The destitution in the colony is not confined to the male portion 
 of the population ; it is at least as bad, if not worse, among the 
 female portion of our community. From a letter that appeared in 
 the Argits, on the 20th June, 1800, I find that between " fifty and 
 sixty persons applied for relief fi-om the St. Peter's Church Poor 
 Fund : seventeen of these were women whose husbands had left 
 them with forty-two children, uncared for and destitute ; eighteen 
 were widows with fbrty-two children," The writer adds, " I do
 
 054 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 not believe the above are one-half the persons in tiistress in this 
 neiirhborhood, for many do not know that relief can be obtained, 
 and therefore do not seek it.'' Colling-wood is not the only 
 colonial town with destitute women and children ; Melbourne and 
 its suburbs, Geelong", S:c., also possess a like proportion, the g^reater 
 part of which uiig-ht be proiitably employed in factories, instead of 
 seeking- relief fi'om the parish or a much worse alternative, and 
 which, hitherto, seems to have been their onhj alternative. 
 
 The hi'i-h rate of carriage throug-hout the colony is another 
 serious drawback to the manufacturing interests of Victoria ; 
 except in the case of isolated localities, where there is a good 
 demand for an article, the raw materials of which may be procured 
 in the same locality. 
 
 Even when our Government railways are opened, 
 SS"*"' they will only benefit that portion of the colony in 
 their immediate neighborhood, at least to any great 
 extent ; branch railways or tramways must be continued to other 
 remote localities to obtain a cheap and easy communication. 
 The construction of these railways (permanent though the}' un- 
 doubtedly are), with the present high rate of wages, to say the 
 least of it, is a short-sighted policy j because we cannot i-eason- 
 ably su])i)ose that the ])resent wages (which are less than they 
 were when the railways were let) can be possibly maintained ; 
 such an h)'pothesis is against all precedents, and it is only on 
 such a supposition, if at all, that an outlai/ of jC'^, 000, 000 could 
 be jtistijiahly ea-pended on oprniny up t?50 miles of the colony. 
 For the same outlay we migkt have consti-ucted at least 2000 
 miles of tramway, which would have opened tip eight times 
 the length of country, embracing most of our available districts, 
 and reducing the carriage to at least one-half of the present rates, 
 even bv a good macadamised road. Such tramways would have 
 sustained the trathc of the colony for, ])robably, the next fourteen 
 years, before whicli time we Imve every reason to believe our present 
 two permanent lines of railway cnukl iiave been constructed for 
 £4,000,000 instead of £8,000,000, with the greater advantage of 
 an increase in the immediate trattic, far greater than is likely to 
 be the case in 1802, when our costly railways are exj)ected to be 
 oj)ened. 
 
 „ _.„,. From the evi(h>nce triven before the Tariff' C'om- 
 
 '^"^- iiiittee during the months of February and Alnrch,
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 onn 
 
 1860, (by coach-builders, carpenters, and joiners, cabinet-makers, 
 pianoforte-makers, boot and shoe makers, curriers, saddle and 
 harness makers, clothiers, tailors, potters, tobacconists, jewellers, 
 tinsmiths, iron founders, plumbers, farmers, (fee), it appears the 
 colonial manufacturers are unable To compete with imported 
 goods, unless these goods are taxed to the amount of from 10 
 to 25 per cent ; the latter being the duty generally advocated, 
 and which about 80 per cent, of the Victorians would have to 
 pay, in order that they, the minority of 20 per cent., might be 
 enriched. 
 
 Most of the above witnesses agree that if they could only suc- 
 cessfidly compete with imported goods that there would be ample 
 ' employment for the thousands of skilled and unskilled workmen, 
 women and children, now almost destitute. That our colonial 
 manufacturers should be able to compete with imported goods, 
 and at the same time find employment for the unemployed and 
 destitute, is ardently to be wished, if it could be brought about 
 without taxing one portion of the people for the sole benefit of the 
 remaining portion, and that the minority. It is better, even, that 
 the interests of the few should be sacrificed for the good of the 
 many ; although the sacrifice, in this case, is not so great as they, 
 the operative minority, seem to think it is. 
 
 The skilled and unskilled operatives of Victoria 
 have been most injuriously afi'ected by the gold-fields Gou-fleUs. 
 of the colony, and as long as an}^ inducement is 
 held out, either real or imaginary, for men to work at the gold- 
 fields, with the most distant prospect of acquiring vast sums of 
 money by some happ}- stroke of good fortune, they will not 
 settle down to more legitimate and, as a rule, more profitable 
 employment offered by trade, agriculture, and manufactures. 
 'Tis true there is a certain amount of uncertainty in all occupa- 
 tions, but in none so great as gold-mining ; for although the 
 average earnings of gold-miners, and the gold-fields population 
 generally, does not exceed 24s. per week j it is a well-known 
 fact that the majority of the gold-diggers do not earn probably 
 more than half this, and are consequently reduced to the greatest 
 straits and destitution, which is aggravated by the thought 
 that they have been reckless and extravagant during the short 
 time they were more fortunate ; but they will often continue to 
 persevere, after repeated failures, with an amount of industry and
 
 206 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 perseverance, which, if applied in any other direction, would have 
 met with certain reward. 
 
 If our laboring classes would be contented with an averag-e 
 remuneration of even 30s. per week, for the same amount of 
 exertion that is expended on the gold-fields for an average of 24s. 
 per week, we might successfulh' compete with imjwrted goods, 
 and there would be ample employment for all classes. 
 
 Ask any colonial farmer the value of the xmskilled 
 Colonial fann- unwatclied laborer on his farm, and he will tell vou 
 he is dear at any price; yet that same laborer has, 
 in all probability, given ample proof of his ability to do a 
 hard day's work at gold-digging, and would exert himself to 
 the same extent for the same farmer, were he employed at 
 piece-work. 
 
 Probably three-fourths of the failures in farming here might be 
 traced to the inadequacy of the return for daily labor, as com- 
 pared with the daily wages received b}' farm laborers. Another 
 fi-uitful source of failure in colonial farming may be traced to the 
 system of employing farm laborers at " board and wages." I 
 know one farmer, at least, who has expended a fortune on his 
 land, and has just filed his schedule in consequence, as far as I 
 can ascertain, of employing day laborers and boarding them ; he 
 tells me, as a fact, which he can prove by his butcher's bills, that 
 the quantity of meat consumed (or rather made away with) by his 
 men was not less than 3 lbs. per man per diem throughout the 
 j'ear!! Such is the extravagance of men, the majority of whom 
 would not consume one-half this quantity of meat were they to 
 board themselves ; nor is this a solitary instance, it is the rule 
 rather than the exception in all similar circumstances. 
 
 Were farming to be conducted here in such a manner that every 
 laborer on the farm would have a direct interest in increasing the 
 produce, I have no doubt that farming would bo one of the most 
 profitable occupationff of the colony. It is for the farmers to 
 decide in what way this change can bo l)rought about, but I have 
 no doulit it could bo so managed that unrcmunerative day labor 
 on a farm should be the exception to the rule. 
 
 The "Land Bill" (when remodelled) will do much 
 i.ftjKi mil. to bring about a jirofitable mode of farming, and those 
 
 farmers will (iis a rule) succeed best who are least at 
 the mercy of the day laborer.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 257 
 
 The rate of wages is generally considered to be 
 partly regulated by the cost of living, at least this is Rate of wages, 
 often the only reason given why wages should not be 
 reduced. What can then be said of those workmen who demand 
 from two to four times the rate of wages paid in England, when 
 the cost of provisions and clothing together are not 10 per cent. 
 greater in Victoria than in England at the present time ; or in 
 other words, men can live nearly as cheaply here as in England, 
 with the exception of the item for rent ; so that were wages here 
 only 50 per cent, more than in England, our working classes 
 would be better off than the working classes of England. 
 
 As most manufactured articles are produced by 
 machinery, the cost of motive power in Victoria Motive power. 
 must be a primary consideration ; but as this forms 
 the subject of another competitive Essa}^, I will merely call 
 attention to the fact, that motive power can be distributed 
 throughout the colony simultaneously with the " water supply," 
 to which especial attention is now* being directed by the " Central 
 Water Supply Committee," who has sent circulars to all 
 the local bodies on the gold-fields for information as to their 
 requirements, and the advantages to be derived from a copious 
 supply of water in their various districts. 
 
 It cannot be too widely known that there are thousands of 
 horses-power now lying dormant in the main pipes from the Yan 
 Yean Reservoir, and that this inexhaustible power could be econo- 
 mically applied any where within a mile or two of the line of pipes, 
 or in Melbourne ; but the Commissioners of Water Supply, as if 
 to check manufacturing enterprise, actually charge 4s. per 1000 
 gallons of water used, while at the same time the water of the 
 reservoir would be vastly improved l)y being drawn off more 
 copiously, serious proposals having been entertained of emptying 
 the reservoir for this purpose. 
 
 Surely the Commissioners of Sewerage and Water Supply 
 would confer a mutual benefit to their returns, and the public 
 generally, by supplying water for manufacturing puiposes at 
 least, at say Is. per 1000 gallons, which might be increased 
 whenever any scarcity was apprehended. Our rivers also afford 
 another source of motive power, not only in their present natural 
 
 * ScptenibtT, 1S60.
 
 i?58 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 falls, but also in construction of dams in suitable localities, 
 throug-hout their available length. Were all the water wheels 
 in England to be set aside, she would lose much of her motive 
 power, and consequently her manufacturing prosperity. I might 
 instance the Yarra Falls at Melbourne, where there is at least 
 1000 horses power continually running to waste in the busiest 
 part of Melbourne. Verj' extensive mills might be erected over 
 these Falls, without detriment to the river or its traffic ;* or the 
 water might be taken in culverts across Flinders-sti'eet, or in any 
 other direction, so that after turning several undershot or turbine 
 water wheels, it might again return to the Yarra below the Falls. 
 
 From the joint report of Capt. Pasley, K.E., and M. B. Jackson, 
 C.E., furnished to Parliament, I learn th^t in consequence of 
 the water of the Barwon River at Geelong being unsuitable for 
 suj)plying Geelong with water, that ihey propose to construct a 
 reservoir at Buuinyong, by which means they contemplate being- 
 able to supply both Geelong and Ballaarat with pure water, the 
 line of pipes being taken down the Geelong and Ballaarat 
 Railway ; should this bold scheme be carried out, it will afford 
 the same facilities for motive power and irrigation, as is now 
 offered by the mains from the Yan Yean, and generally throughout 
 the colony similar advantage might be taken of the water, not 
 only in its transit but also at its termini. AVindmills will also 
 afford another economical motive power, in all cases where its 
 constancy will not be indispensable, as in raising water on to the 
 high banks of rivers (as the Murray), into water holes or reser- 
 voirs to be used in summer, for the purposes of irrigation or even 
 for motive |>ower, where considered desirable. 
 
 Messi-s. Dods and Co., plumbers, Sic, of Melbourne, have 
 lately invented and patented a portable engine of two horse- 
 power, which can be worked In* a half-inch jet of water from 
 the Yan Yean service pipes; an inch service pii)o would atford 
 four times the power, ecpial to eight horses : by such engines 
 many of the manufactured goods now imported might be econo- 
 mically ])roduced in the neighborhood of the Yan Yean nuxin or 
 service pipes. t 
 
 • Since the above was written a bridge has been erected over these Falls. 
 — C. Mavkb. 
 
 •f The Ar(/uit of the 15th inst., cmitaiiis an accotint of " A simple and effec- 
 tive livdraulic machine of four horse-power, erected on the premises of 
 
 i
 
 INTRODUCTION. 259 
 
 I consider that some inducement should be offered 
 for the profitable establishment here of manufactories? Premiums, 
 which would induce experiments to be tried, and 
 investigations made, to convert many of our raw materials into 
 manufactured articles. 
 
 For instance, let a premium of £1000 be offered by the Govern- 
 ment for the first 100 tons of iron produced in Victoria, at 
 10 per cent, less than it could be imported ; also, the same 
 amount for 20 tons of rod and bar steel, made from charcoal 
 iron, manufactured in the colony; also, £100 for a dinner 
 service of delftware, equal to imported; and £200 for a similar 
 service of china or porcelain, and so on with all those articles, 
 the raw materials for which are to be obtained in abundance 
 throuo'hout the colony ; the persons claiming* the premiums to 
 prove, by creditable evidence, that they have been and can ag-ain 
 be produced for at least 10 per cent, less than the imported price 
 of similar articles. £10,000 expended in this manner would, in 
 all probability, cause £100,000 to be expended by enterprising; 
 manufacturers in endeavoring' to establish manufactories. The 
 gold-fields are particulnrh^ favored by the Government, who not 
 only allow puddlers to deluge both public and private property 
 with sludge, but also grant larg-e sums of money to clear it 
 away, to make room for more. They also invite premiums for the 
 discovery of new g'old-fields, and good building stone, &c., but 
 offer no inducement to the people to establish manufactories, with 
 the exception of passing a Land Bill, which may possibly help to 
 lower the price of our raw materials. 
 
 "CIVIL ENGINEER." 
 
 September, 1860. 
 
 Messrs. Brown and Reid, Collins -street, east." This machine grinds one 
 ton of coffee per day, at a cost for water of less than two shillings per ton. 
 This is the whole cost of the motive power, which is derived from the Yan 
 Yean service pipes. — C. Mates, June 24, 1861. 
 
 Note. — In the following Essay I have adopted the alphabetical order 
 observed by Dr. Ure, in his Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines ; 
 which invaluable work has been my text book throughout. — C. Mayes, 
 June 28, 1861.
 
 THE 
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES 
 OE VICTORIA. 
 
 ALCOHOL. 
 
 Alcohol is the intoxicating; principle produced by the vinous 
 fermentation of liquors containino; saccharine matter, or sug-ar. 
 Common alcohol, or proof spirits, contains an equal quantity of 
 absolute, or pure alcohol and water. It may be concentrated by 
 water-bath heat to such an extent as to contain only 11 per cent, 
 of water. In distillation the strong-est alcohol is given off by a 
 temperature of 170° Fahr.; and if the water-bath is maintained 
 at that temperature, the vapor will contain 93 per cent, of pure 
 alcohol ; if it is raised to 1201°, proof spirit, or common alcohol, 
 will evaporate. The main improvement in modern distilleries is 
 in the skilful application of this important principle. 
 
 Alcohol may also be concentrated by being- suspended in 
 bladders, which possess the peculiar property of giving- off water 
 by evaporation, while the alcohol is retained within the bladder; 
 in this manner any spirits below proof ma}^ be concentrated to 40° 
 above proof in from six to twelve hours, by being- suspended in a 
 hot room : this simple and economical method is well adapted 
 for obtaining- alcohol required in the preparation of varnishes ; 
 should it be required for medicinal purposes, the bladders can be 
 rendered innocuous by being- washed over with ising-lass. 
 
 Alcohol containing' only 11 per cent, of water may also be 
 obtained by adding dry carbonate of potash to any intoxicating- 
 liquor, when the spirit at once rises to the surface and floats on 
 the water contained in the liquor acted upon.* 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 262 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Alcohol dissolves resins, essential oils, camphor, &c., forming 
 varnishes, perfumed spirits, &c. It is also used for preserving' 
 animal substances in our museums, for combustion in spirit 
 lamps, &c. 
 
 In 1858 spirits of wine were imported to the amount of £5300, 
 and perfumed spirits to the amount of £13,000. We have here 
 £18,300 paid for spirits consisting- chiefly of alcohol, exclusive of 
 £5000 paid for imported cordials.* Taking into consideration that 
 ten shilling-s per gallon is paid into the customs for all imported 
 spirits, including those now especially under consideration, and 
 that spirits of wine may be obtained from inferior or bad-flavored 
 spirits or wines, or from a fermented decoction of injured corn or 
 grain, or damaged sugar, it seems more than probable that com- 
 mon alcohol, or spirits of wine, with spirits suitable for perfumed 
 ."spirits, and cordials, may be obtained in this colony with advan- 
 tage to the manufacturer. 
 
 Alcohol obtained from the above sources may be easily freed 
 from the Jusil oil, the property that imparts its peculiar flavor ; 
 which, although not objectionable in the ])rej)aration of varnishes, 
 or preserving animal substances, or for spirit lamps, would render 
 it unfit, until purified, for medicinal purposes, perfumed spirits, or 
 cordials. 
 
 AMMONIA. 
 
 By referring to the list of animal productions given in the 
 preface it will be found that ammonia is produced from blood, 
 flesh, horns, hoofs, woollen rags, hair, waste and scrapings of 
 hides, leather, &c. These are distilled in large iron retorts in 
 France, the charcoal produced from them being made into Prus- 
 sian blue. See "ammoniacal li(|uor," under article "gas." 
 
 AITAREL AND SLOPS. 
 
 Apparfl and Slops were imported here in 1858 to the amount of 
 £400,130. From the evidence given l)efore the Taritf Committee 
 in February last, I learn that "the whole of the imported apparel, 
 or clothes, are of an inferior description, and that in consequence of 
 tailors, vest-makers, &c , in England, working- for one half the 
 
 • In 1859 we imported cordials, spirits of wine, and perfumed spirits, to 
 the v.ilue of X21.3,297.— C. Mavks, June 24, 1801.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 263 
 
 wages paid here, that this description of goods cost 25 per cent, 
 more than those imported ; that we make the better class of goods 
 because they are not to be obtained by importation. Silk vests 
 are imported from China, Singapore, &c., at very low prices ; with 
 all these drawbacks slop goods have been made here by women 
 and sew^ing machines at such a price as to compete with similar 
 imported goods ; for our needle-women are glad to earn twopence 
 per hour, which is at least double the ])ay at home. They are also 
 making slops in S^^dney for the New Zealand market." 
 
 " Womens' apparel is also made here by sewing machines at 
 less than half the cost of hand labor. Silk bonnets are always 
 made in the colony, because the drapers cannot get them imported 
 to order." It would appear from the above that our importations 
 of wearing apparel to nearly half a million per annum are likely 
 to be rapidly reduced, since the charge for clothes made in the 
 colony are approximating to the price of those imported.* 
 
 ALE. 
 
 We may apply the term " ale " to the whole of the liquor 
 imported here under the head of " beer," which in 1858 amounted 
 to £302,788 for bottled beer, and £273,136 for draught beer, 
 together equal to £576,924. Judging from the magnitude of the 
 importations, the colonial manufacture of malt and ale are likely 
 to become of vast importance to our brewers and the public 
 generally.! 
 
 ALE AND BEER. 
 
 Hops. — We may with reason expect in a few years to find 
 sufficient hops grown in this colony to supply our wants without 
 importing them ; but, as this subject belongs to agriculture, I 
 will proceed with the important fact that hops imported from 
 Great Britain, from the eihcient manner in which they are packed 
 
 * On referring to the imports for 1859, I find that apparel and slops were 
 imported to the value of £588,654, which shows an increase of £128,518; 
 this may be owing partly to an increased demand and partly to small stocks 
 on hand at the close of 1858. I have no reason whatever to suppose that 
 the colonial manufacture has falk-n off. — C. Mayes, June 25, 1861. 
 
 t In 1859 we imported bottled beer to the value of £269,327, and draught 
 beer to the value of £395,292. Together equal to £664,619. Showing an 
 increase of £87,695 as compared with 1858. — C. Mates, June 25, 1861.
 
 264 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 (by hydraulic pressui-e), and the care taken to pi-eserve them from 
 the eftects ot the voyage, arrive here perfectly uninjured by 
 transit. " The essential oil in particular, tlie basis of their flavor, 
 is preserved witliout decay." The fii-st operation in brewing- is — 
 
 Mnshiixg. — ''The quantity of water to be employed for mashing", 
 or the extraction of the wort, depends upon the g-reater or less 
 streng-th to be given to the beer. The seeds of tlie crushed malt, 
 after the wort is drawn ofl", retain still about thirty-two gallons of 
 water, anil in the boiling and evaporation from the coolers forty 
 g-allons of water are dissipated from every quarter of malt, con- 
 stituting- seventy-two gallons in all, either absorbed by t\\^ grains 
 or evaporated. The quantity of extract (or solid matter), j)er 
 barrel weig-ht which a quarter of malt yields to wort, amounts to 
 about eighty-fo\u" pounds ; this is ascertained by the saccha- 
 rometer, and is the result of three extracts. Tlie wort is now 
 transferred into the copper and made to boil as soon as possible, 
 and until it begins to boil the air should be excluded by some 
 kind of cover ; the hops are now added, and are boiled several 
 hours, a longer time for the ales than for the beers; two or three 
 hours are deemed long- enough in many well-conducted breweries : 
 if they are boiled more than five or six hours they lose a portion 
 of their fine flavor. Tlie quantitv of hop to be added to the wort 
 varies according to the strength of the beer, the length of time it 
 is to be kept, or the heat of the climate where it is intended to 
 be sent." For the strongest ale the rule in England is to take 
 one pound of hoj)s for every bushel of malt.* 
 
 Cooling. — 'i'he common cooler is a square wooden cistern, 
 about G inches deep; this is not more than half filled with the 
 boiling- wort, which, when it reaches the cooler, is about t?00° ; 
 here it is cooled down to about (J0° for the fermenting' tun. The 
 cooling- should be as rapid as possible to prevent acidity, for 
 which reason rrf'rigiriitors, or machines for rapidly cooling- the 
 hot wort, are g-enerally use I, with g-reat advantage. The cooling 
 takes place most rapidly at a tenijierature of from U0° to 55° j if 
 it aj)]iroaclies the freezing point the steam will not so readily rise 
 from the surface of tiie cooler. The frosts of Kng-land are 
 therefore of no advantage in cooling tJw wort. It is also found 
 that the cooling takes place more rapidly undt^r a dry atmosphere 
 
 • Dr. Ure.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTUUKS. 265 
 
 than a moist one of the same temperiiture : in thia respect Victoria 
 Las certainly the advantag'e over Eng-land. For six months in 
 the 3'ear our mean temperature does not exceed 60° ; viz., from 
 Aju-il to October. 
 
 Fermentation of the Wort. — As a rule it is well known that 
 the best ales are those fermented and ripened at the lowest 
 temperatures. "The ale of Preston Pans is the best substitute 
 for wine which barley has hitherto produced." " The Scotch 
 brewer does nothinj^- during- four of the summer months." Taking 
 the mean temperature of summer at Preston Pans to be 60°, the 
 same as at Dublin (being- 2° lower than at London), it does not 
 seem reasonable to suppose that the Melbourne brewers can brew 
 D-ood ale during- the summer, when the average temperature is 
 •stated to be about 69°. 
 
 " The greater or less rapidity with which the worts are made to 
 ferment has a remarkable influence upon the quality of the beer, 
 especially in leference to its fitness for keeping-." " The slower, 
 more regularly prog-ressive, and less interrupted the fermentation 
 is, so much better will be the product." " The higher the tem- 
 perature of the wort the sooner will the fermentation begin and 
 end, and the less is it in our power to regulate its progress." 
 
 These extracts from Dr. Ure's article on "Beer" will show the 
 difficulty (if not impossibility) of brewing- g-ood ale in this colony 
 during the summer months. 
 
 Ripening. — This is a process now very little attended to since 
 the bi-ewers find it more advantageous to sell their beer when new, 
 and consequently mild. " Hence six weeks is a long period for 
 beer to be kept in London, and much of it is drunk when only a 
 fortnight old." Thirty or forty years ago good hard beer was the 
 boast of the day ; but since then the English taste has altered to 
 such an extent, that publicans must " draw it mild " to suit their 
 customers, although there is always plenty of hard or old ale to 
 be obtained in England by those who prefer it. This is not the 
 case in Victoria, for, with the exception of the bottled ale imported 
 irom England, and which has generally been pretty well ripened 
 by the voyage, (or was probably ripe when bottled or shipped in 
 draught), we have nothing- but very mild colonial beer, which is 
 not worthy the name of ale. 
 
 The color of beer depen<is upon the color of the malt, and the 
 time it is boiled. The malt is deteriorated by being over dried,
 
 1?66 PRIZE ESSAY, 
 
 the palest, or least dried, makings the strong-est ale ; and the 
 darkest, or highest dried, the inferior heers, or porter. 
 
 It' ale is brewed in this colony in the eif^'ht coolest months in 
 the year, it mig'ht be properly kept and ripened throug'hout the 
 summer, supposing- suitable underground storehouses or vaults were 
 constructed for this pui-pose. It is surely not so difficult to keep 
 ale cool as it is to keep ice from melting ; and yet large quantities 
 of ice are imported and kept throughout the summer in Melbourne. 
 If this colony ever becomes a wine producing colony, its wines 
 must be kept throughout one or more summers to acquire that 
 age and ripeness essential to the best wines : so it is with ale. If 
 it is desired to produce colonial ale equal to either the best Burton 
 or Scotch ales, I believe that nothing more is necessary than that 
 it should be made with the same proportion of pale malt and hops 
 of the best quality, the wort cooled down to and fermented at the 
 proper (well-known) temperature, and then transferred to ripening 
 tuns, to be kept at a low even temperature throughout one or 
 more of our Australian summers. 
 
 There is always likely to be a great demand for cheap and 
 mild, or new colonial beer ; and I have no doubt also that if first- 
 class Australian ale was to be manufactured here, it would tend 
 materially to lessen the importation of English and Scotch ales, 
 which are universally preferred throughout Victoria to our present 
 colonial beer, and that simjily on account of their superiority of 
 flavor, strength, and wholesomeness. 
 
 BEER. 
 
 This is a name given not only to a fermented infusion of malt, 
 flavored with hops, but also to a fermented infusion of sugar, 
 potatoes, carrots, turnips, beetroot, treacle or malt made from 
 maize, wheat, oats, beans, or any other grain containing an 
 ade(|uate quantity of starch. If either of the above kinds of 
 malt are used the process of brewing is the same as with barley 
 malt. It is understood that if an}' of the above articles are used 
 for the manufacture of beer, that they are flavored with hops, 
 otherwise the infusion would ])e more properly called wine. 
 
 \\ hen either j)otat()es, carrots, turnips, or beetroot arc used, 
 they ar<^ linilcd in water and mashed into a ])ulp; this pulp is 
 mixed in the cdpper with corn meal, a ]troj)er quantity of water 
 being added, the vviiole is boiled t(»gether for a short time, wiien
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 267 
 
 the hops are added, and the boiling continued for about eight 
 hours ; this wort is allowed to cool in the usual way, and fer- 
 mented with the addition of yeast. "■ The celebrated Strasbourg 
 ale is made from mashed potatoes mixed with about a tenth of 
 their weight of finely ground barley malt and some water ; this 
 mixture is exposed in a water bath to a heat of 100° Fahr. for four 
 hours, whereby it passes into a saccharine state, and may then be 
 boiled with hops, cooled and properly fermented into good beer."* 
 
 Although potatoes were imported into Victoria in 1858 to the 
 amount of £107,500, I have known several instances of good 
 crops of potatoes being left to rot in the ground simply because 
 the producer had no use for them, and they were too far from a 
 mai'ket (on account of very bad roads) to pay for cartage. Beer 
 is made in Germany from a mixtui-e of barley-malt and beetroot- 
 sugar, also from a mixture of barley-malt, potatoes and beetroot- 
 syrup, and another kind from refined beetroot-syrup alone. 
 
 " Considerable interest among men of science, in favor of the 
 Bavarian beer process, has been excited ever since the appearance 
 of Liebig's Organic Chemistry. In the introduction to this 
 admirable work, he says : " The beers of England and France, 
 and the most part of those of Germany, become gradually sour 
 by contact of air. This defect does not belong to the beers of 
 Bavaria, which may be preserved at pleasure, in half-full casks as 
 well as full ones, and without alteration by the air. This precious 
 quality must be ascribed to a peculiar process employed for fer- 
 menting the wort, called in Germany untergdhrung or fermenta- 
 tion from below, which has solved one of the finest theoretical 
 problems." Dr. lire then explains, at great length, the chemical 
 processes of this manufacture, which, on account of the difficulty 
 in preventing ale or beer from turning sour in a hot climate, 
 might probably be pursued here with great advantage. He says, 
 " Neither the richness in alcohol, nor in hops, nor both combined, 
 can hinder ordinary beer from getting tart, unless it is preserved 
 in large ripening tuns, well closed, well filled, covered with sand 
 on the top, and kept at a low even temperature j" but, even with 
 these precautions, it will not keep in small casks, on account of 
 the transpiration of air through the pores of the wood, the surface 
 being much larger, in proportion to the quantity of ale in the 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 268 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 small cask, than it is in the immense ripening tuns made to hold 
 5000 or 6000 barrels. " The g-rand secret of the Munich brewers 
 is to conduct the fermentation of the wort at too low a temperature 
 to permit of the acetification of the alcohol." " The vaults in 
 which the beer is fermented, ripened, and kept, are all under- 
 ground, and mostly in stony excavations called rock cillars," 
 ****'' In December and January, (mid-winter), after the 
 casks are charged with the summer or store beer, the double doors 
 of the cellars are closed, and lumps of ice are piled up against them, 
 to prevent all access of warm air. The cellar is not opened till 
 next August, in order to take out the beer for consumption. In 
 these circumstances, the beer becomes transparent like champagne 
 wine ; and since but little carbonic acid gas has been disengaged, 
 little or none of the additionally generated alcohol is lost by 
 evaporation."* 
 
 Lager Beer. — " In Bavaria, where this manufacture is carried 
 on under Government inspectors, a brewing period is prescribed by 
 law, which is, for the under fermenting Lager beer, from Michael- 
 mas to St. George's day."* 
 
 About a year ago I received a circular, relating to Lager beer, 
 from some party who had started a manufactory' in Melbourne, on 
 a small scale, stating the j)eculiarities of this beer, its price, &c., 
 since which, I have heard nothing of it. It certainly seems 
 strange, that among so many Germans, that one Lager beer 
 brewery should not be maintained. 
 
 Purter and ISrown Stout differ from ordinary beer, chiefly in 
 the addition of the following ingredients, viz. : about two percent, 
 of kiln-browned malt, mixed with ordinary' malt ; 12 cwt (for 180 
 barrels) of sugar, fused over a Hre, into a dark, brown, or black 
 syrupy mass ; about three times as much hops as for beer, and 10 
 quarts (for 180 barrels), oi' caljini, a preparation nmde witii the oil 
 distilled from the outer bark of the birch, mixed with spirits of 
 wine* 
 
 Sugar liecr, as it is sometimes made in this colony, is a poor, 
 sweet drink, but when properly ma.shed with hops, fermented, and 
 ripeneil at a low tomj>f'niture, it is of a ()uality superior to any 
 colonial beer, in both riav<u' and wholesomi-ness, J have hitherto 
 tasted. It can be iiiiidc of any strength, according to the quantity 
 
 • Dr. Ure.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURKS. 269 
 
 of sugar used ; a beer of ordinaiy streng-tli requires 1 lb. of sugar, 
 and 1 oz. of hops to the gallon ; this may be increased to 2 lbs. of 
 sugar, and 2 ozs. of hops pei- gallon, for a strong, heady, bitter 
 beer. If this beer be kept for six months, at a low temperature, 
 (being bottled at two months), it will be found to be clear, 
 sparkling, and fine flavored, and inferior only, to the best English 
 ales. I write this from actual experience, having drank such beer 
 for the last seven years. 
 
 The number of breweries in Victoria, in 1858, is stated, in our 
 Blue-book, to have been 55 ; of which number, 10 were to be 
 found in Melbourne and Collingwood.* 
 
 I have no means of ascertaining the quantity of beer brewed, or 
 even the quantity of malt used, because, independently of the 
 quantity of malt imported, there were, and are now, several malt- 
 houses in the colony ; neither can we ascertain the quantity of 
 sugar used, even by those who profess to brew from malt and hops 
 alone. Mr. Greeves, M.L.A., stated in the House, on the 20th 
 July last, that " 750 tons of sugar per annum, were said to be 
 used in one district alone." Mr. Howai'd, M.L.A., also stated, the 
 same evening, when introducing the proposed Beer Bill, that " in 
 Sandhurst, two hogsheads of beer were brewed for every man, 
 woman, and child, per annum." Reckoning 1 cwt. of sugar to be 
 used in the manufacture of 2 hogsheads of sugar beer, which, 
 without any other saccharine matter, would produce a light, pala- 
 table, wholesome drink ; 750 tons would supply a population of 
 15,000 with 2 hogsheads each. According to Dr. lire, sugar 
 should yield its own weight of proof spirit, when properly fer- 
 mented : at this rate the last-mentioned beer would contain 5 per 
 cent, of absolute alcohol, and be equal, in strength, to brown 
 stout. 
 
 Colonial Beer. — In June, 1800, an attempt was made by the 
 protectionists of Victoria to impose a tax upon imported ale, with 
 the view of encouraging the manufacture of colonial beer. This 
 movement called forth a vigorous article in the Argus in con- 
 demnation and abuse of colonial beer, which was stated to be 
 anvthine* but what our colonial brewers would wish it to be 
 
 * In 1859 there were only forty-six breweries in Victoria, thirteen of 
 which were in the county of Bourke. ^ee Archer's i^tatistics for 1859. — C. 
 Mates, June 28, 1861.
 
 070 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 called, or even known by. As was to liave been expected, this 
 article called forth a reply by one of the leading- brewers in 
 Melbourne, wherein he states '• that he feels assured the leading' 
 journal of the colony would not willingly or wilfully proniulgrate 
 statements at variance with fact, and calculated not only to pro- 
 duce an unpleasant feeling: in the public mind but materially 
 injure a rapidlv growing and important branch of colonial in- 
 dustrv." He also says : " As one of the largest manufacturers of 
 colonial ale, I respectfully invite you, or any scientific gentleman, 
 to test mv manutactures." And further : *' I utterly deny that any 
 unwholesome ingredient is used in the manufacture ; the most 
 common description of colonial alo which is manufactured is as 
 pure as beer is possible to be, and being less fermented than that 
 which is imported contains a smaller alcoholic per-centage, to say 
 nothing of those deleterious ingredients which it is generall}' 
 believed are introduced into imported beer to enable it to stand 
 the voyage." The former part of this last statement ill accords 
 with the latter part, for although this brewer may not use any 
 unwholesome ingredient in his brewery, it does not follow that 
 others are equally conscientious ; and, on the other hand, he does 
 not scruple to allude to " those deleterious ingredients which it is 
 generally believed are introduced into imported beer to enable it 
 to stand the voyage ;" from which we might infer that no genuine 
 English ale ever reaches this colony in a sound state. 1 would 
 refer to one of the greatest scientific authorities on brewing, viz., 
 Dr. Ure, to bear me out in the statement, that no deleterious 
 ingredient is necessary to preserve beer, and also that even the 
 best English ales cannot be kept sound in ordinary casks except 
 at a low temperature, which, I imagine, may be found even in the 
 depths of a well closed liold of a shij) while crossing the line. T 
 liave no opjjortunity of ascertaining the (piantity of prichtd or 
 sour beer landed in Melbourne, but I have no doubt it will be 
 found larger in proj)ortion in draught than in bottled ale, on 
 account of the porous nature of the wood forming the casks. 
 W. Hull, Escj., J. P. (in his evidence given l)eforo the select com- 
 mittee on the " Jjiccnsed Publicans" Art, in June, 1800) says, 
 "Ale is damaged on the voyage or after being landed;" he 
 also adds, " but that alo will make sj)lendiil vinegar." And again, 
 *' All the vinegar I have used at my house for the last two 3'ear8 
 I have made myself from this beer." So iar so good, but he also
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 271 
 
 states, " I believe that those priclted (sour) beers are used by the 
 brewers here to g-et up their own inaking- more quick!}-; they 
 have not capital to hold;" adding-, *' Beer that is jjrichrd, however 
 much it may be doctored by the publican, nauseates the palate." 
 This I conceive to be important evidence, inasmuch as it seems 
 to me to be one of the reasons that some of our colonial beer 
 has the peculiar flavor by which it may g-enerally be distinguished, 
 viz., a sweet flavor or mildness from insuflicient fermentation, 
 coupled with a slight acid taste, either from mixture with picked 
 beer, too rapid fermentation in a heated atmosphere, or careless- 
 ness in masliing, whereby part of the wort is converted into 
 vinegar. Pricked beer cannot be restored to its original quality, 
 and it will also impart an unpleasant flavor to mild beer if mixed 
 with it ; indeed, this is the very system that is pursued in convert- 
 ing alcoholic drinks into vinegar, viz., hy the admixture of vinegar, 
 which accelerates the acetous fermentation, in the same manner 
 that yeast acts upon worts in the vinous fermentation. It should 
 be borne in mind by colonial beer drinkers, that mild or sweet 
 colonial beer, even if a little tart, can, when bottled or otherwise 
 securely corked, be brought round by the secondary fermentation 
 of the undecomposed (gluten and starch, or) saccharine matter, in 
 a genial temperature, to a flavor and strength superior to any it 
 had previously assumed on account of imperfect fermentation in 
 the first instance. The brewer before alluded to in another part 
 of his letter in the Argus sa3's, " No expense being spared in 
 machinery or supervision, or to obtain the necessary ingredients, 
 what is there, I would ask, to prevent as good and wholesome a 
 beverage being manufactured here as in England .''" In answer 
 to this important question I would refer the reader to Dr. lire's 
 remarks under the head of "Fermentation of the Wort;" and 
 also to the process of " Ripening;" and lastl}', to the grand secret 
 of the Munich brewers, as stated under tlie head of " Beer." 
 
 The Creswicli and Chines Advertiser of June 29th, 1860, 
 gives an account of a brewery at Cabbage-tree flat; it states, 
 "The brewery, 48 feet by 14 feet, is three stories high, the cellar 
 ten feet %inderground, boarded, and everything complete with 
 working puncheons, troughs, etc. A constant supply of pure 
 water enables the proprietor to keep up a moderate temperature 
 even in the hottest weather." I believe that such cellars, with a 
 plentiful supply of cold water to encircle the fermenting and ripen-
 
 272 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 ing tuns, are among* the chief conditions necessary to improve the 
 quality of colonial beer ns now manufactured.* 
 
 BISCUITS. 
 
 I find that in 1858, 92 tons of biscuits were imported and valued 
 at £071(3. This refers exclusively to ship or navy biscuits. t 
 Previous to 1831 ships' biscuits were made by hand, since then 
 by machinery invented by T. T. Grant, Esq., of Gosport, in 
 England. Dr. Ure, after describing the method of making- ships' 
 biscuits both by hand and machiner}', says, ** We have seen that 
 450 lbs. of dough may be mixed by the machine in four minutes, 
 and kneaded in five or six minutes ; we need hardly say how 
 much quicker this is than men's hands could effect it. The 
 biscuits are cut out and stamped sixty at a time instead of singly : 
 besides the time thus saved, the biscuits become more equally 
 baked by the oven being more sj)eedily filled." The compaiative 
 expense is thus stated: '' Under the old (hand) system, wages, wear 
 and tear of utensils, cost about Is. 6d., per cwt. of biscuit ; under 
 the new system (by machinery) the cost is 5d." He further adds, 
 '' The advantages of machine-made over hand-made biscuits there- 
 fore are many; quality, cleanliness, expedition, chea])ness, &c." 
 The biscuits im])orted here in 1858 cost us about ?4s. per cwt.: 
 reckoning the cost of manufaclure here at Is. Sd., or four times 
 the cost in England, and the weight of the biscuits in flour at 23s. 
 per cwt., we have a total cost of 24s. 8d., or one-third the im- 
 ported price, leaving a jirofit, one would suppose, anij)ly sufficient 
 for anv amount of caj)ital expended in the erection of a suitable 
 manufactory furnished with the l)est machinery. From the 
 ciilimial IUue-l)()()k for 1858 I find there wei"e five biscuit manu- 
 factories in ^'ictoria in that year, three of whicli were in the county 
 of liourke. It would appear from this that there must ])e a great 
 
 * I would hprc call tla- ntlcntion of the Riicntific brewers of Victoria to 
 the iiroc-esB of cooling the wort, that they may ascertain, by actual trial, 
 whether it is better to use fans or cold water refriRcrators. If api>earH to 
 me that fans are objectionable, because "the imi>rc^'iiati<)n of the saccharine 
 liquid by the f)xyneii of the air is tlu' object aiimd at in the manufacture of 
 Vincf;ar," which see.— C. Maykh, .June 'J.'), 18t>l. 
 
 f In 18.09 we imported 114^ tons, viilncil at XltHTit, or about 8()s. i>cr cmI.; 
 shewing an increase in (jnanlity and jirice as cdinparcd with 18.'i8.— C. 
 Mayes, June 25, 1861.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 273 
 
 consiiuiption of biscuits in tliis colony, for we find only ten tons 
 exported, at 56s. per cwt.* 
 
 BRANDY. 
 
 The quantity imj)orted into Victoria in 1858 amounted to no 
 less than £'447,54G.t The best brandy is distilled from wine, and 
 consists chiefly of alcohol or spirits of wine, each variety of wine 
 producing- a spirit peculiar to itself in flavor, which is due to an 
 essential oil so powerful that a few drops of inferior oil aie sufficient 
 to taint a pipe of fine flavored spirit. Brandy is also distilled from 
 a wash made from cherries, sug-ar cane, rice, corn, or potatoes, each 
 kind having; its own peculiar flavor by which it may be distinguished 
 by connoisseurs ; but flavorless spirits, as corn spirits sometimes 
 are, may be converted into a factitious brandy by diluting" the 
 alcohol down to proof, then adding- crude winestone dissolved in 
 water, a little acetic ether and French wine vineg-ar, some bruised 
 French plums, and flavor stuff fi-om cog-nac; the mixture is then 
 distilled with a g-entle fire in an alembic furnished with an agitator. 
 This new product may be colored with nicely burnt sug'ar, and 
 roug-hened in taste with a few drops of tincture of catechu or oak 
 bark; it will nevertheless be as wholesome as alcohol in any shape 
 can ever be, and free from all deleterious drugs. t 
 
 Latterly g-reat attention has been directed (chiefly throug-h our 
 daily journals) to the cultivation of the vine, and the manufacture 
 of wine in this colony.§ From the great success which has at- 
 tended its partial manufacture in New South Wales, coupled with 
 the opinion expressed by the first authorities in the colony, we 
 may reasonably expect that Victoria will in the course of a few 
 years become noted as a wine producing colony, if the restrictions 
 as to distillation are removed, or even moderated; it will also 
 
 * In 1859 there were six biscuit manufactories in Victoria, four of which 
 were in the county of Bourke.— C. Mates, June 28, 1861. 
 
 •f In 1859 we imiiorted brandy to the value of £422,790, sliewing a 
 decrease as compared with 1858, of £24,756.-0. Mayes, June 25, 1861. 
 % jSee Dr. Ure's Dictionary. 
 
 § It may also be worth our while to cultivate and drj- figs for the manu- 
 facture of brandy, &c. " The annual production of figs in the province of 
 Algaroe in Portugal averages 11,238 tons, of which 2496 tons are consumed 
 in the country, chiefly for making brandy, the price of which varies fronj 
 10 to 14 francs per cwt." See the Argus of November 14th, I860.— C. Mates, 
 June 29, 1861, 
 
 T
 
 C74 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 simultaneously become as noted for its superior brandy as France 
 now is, i. e. if its wines are equal to those of France, which we 
 may reasonably expect they will be. 
 
 TlUcit DistUhtion. — Even without wine or wine lees, an illicit 
 distillation is carried on rather extensively throug-hout the colony, 
 which leads uie to suppose that if licenses were ^-ranted, and say 
 one-half the duty on imported spirits, or os. per g-allon was to be 
 imposed upon all spirits distilled in the colony, subject to the 
 test (as to streng:th and purity) of the revenue officers, that an 
 important manufacture woidd spring- up which would tend ma- 
 terially to reduce the enormous sum of nearly half a million 
 sterling- now paid for brandy alone, to say nothing of other 
 spirits, such as g-in, nun, and whiskey, amounting tog-ether to 
 about £700,000 annually, expended by the Victorians, not on 
 pure spirits, or even factitious brandy made from wholesome 
 ingredients, but for the worst description of spirits, chiefly known 
 as brandy, wliich, judging from the l)ad name it has got, is not 
 even -wholesome, and is probably made from damaged grain or 
 bad potatoes, the bad flavor of which is due to an essential oil 
 before referred to, called by the Germans Jmil oil, and which 
 may be separated from the spirits b}' a very simple process, ren- 
 dering bad spirits almost flavorless and innocuous. In proof of 
 the fact of illicit distillation being carried on in the neighborhood 
 of our gold-fields, I will quote the evidence given by Mr. W. 
 Jackson (a publican of Ballaarat,) before the Select Committee on 
 the Licensed Publicans Act, on the i?i?nd February, 1860. He 
 then stated " that illicit spirits could lie obtained at Ballaarat from 
 10s. to 10s. per gallon, and from fifteen to twenty degrees over 
 proof; it was sold as brandy, and could not easily be distinguished 
 from cognac; and that it was made from rice, malt, or other 
 grain." Jt was also stated to the same committee by William 
 Hull, Esq., J. P., as to the quality of imported brandy that "Two- 
 thirds of the brandy that comes here as cognac is made from a 
 wash of potatoes in I'jngland. It (the brandy) ie shipped to 
 France or lielgium, where it is bottled and marked as Martell's, 
 &c. ; it is then sliipjx-d out licrr as the genuine article." He 
 also states in claus(! 1401 — " I endorse the remarks that Mr. 
 King made a \'vw minutes ago, fhiil many lnin(ln>ds of thousands 
 of gallons lire here at the ]>r('sent moment (June li?tli, 1800) that 
 will not be taken out of bond." ♦ * * <. \^ ^yjn i^'uiain until
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 275 
 
 it has eaten its head off in storage. It is not fit for consumption : 
 the best thing- tliat could be done with it would be to destro}- it." 
 He also mentions " that to prevent such imports in future, the 
 revenue officers might be empowered to test and g'aug-e all im- 
 ported spirits, and reftise to pass or allow to be landed all of 
 inferior quality." 
 
 Before the Government acted upon such advice as this, it would 
 be perhaps advisable to put samples of these inferior spirits into 
 the hands of their analytical chemist, that they mig-ht know what 
 they really consist of, for unless the information fiu'nished by Dr. 
 Ure (in his Dictionary of Arts and Manufactxires) is not to be 
 relied upon, the objectionable qualities of inferior spirits are due, 
 as I have before stated, to an essential oil which may be sepa- 
 rated from the pure alcohol, the basis of all spirits distilled 
 from fermented liquors or washes. If these bad spirits (which 
 should yield to the revenue at least a quarter of a million sterling- 
 for duty alone) shoidd be found incapable of being- purified at a 
 reasonable cost, they mig-ht probably be used for other purposes, 
 such as for consumption in spirit lamps, or for varnishes, and 
 other purposes to which alcohol is applied; but since "this noxious 
 substance yw«?7 oil is more volatile than alcohol, it may be drawn 
 off by distillation in a concentrated state." The potato fxisil oil, 
 which is the kind we have to deal with, supposing- Mr. Hull's evi- 
 dence to be correct, "has at the first impression in its pure state, a 
 strong-, not disagTeeable smell, which afterward becomes extremely 
 nauseous, and excites an acrid burning- taste. The inhalation of 
 its vapor causes a feeling- of oppression and vomiting-." In 
 consequence of the hig-h price of alcohol in Great Britain, it is 
 smug-g-led imder various disg-uises; sometimes it is mixed with oil 
 of turpentine, at other times with wood naphtha, or wood vinegar, 
 coal naphtha, ifcc, from all of which deleterious mixtures it is freed 
 by distillation and other processes.* I therefore see no reasonable 
 obstacle to the purification of the immense quantity of inferior 
 spirits now in bond, either by its importers, or other enterprising- 
 citizens purchasing it for this what appears to me to be a very 
 laudable object. 
 
 Dr. Ure, in treating of distillation, says, the best "means 
 hitherto discovered for depriving- bad whiskey of its nauseous 
 
 * Dr. Ure. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 PRIZE ESSAV. 
 
 smell and taste is to pass it through well burned and coarsely 
 pulverised charcoal." This is distributed in layers alternating- with 
 layers of sand, the sand being- separated from the charcoal by close 
 canvas ; casks or cylinders are filled with these layers and the 
 spirits forced through. It has been found with very crude spirits 
 that eight successive cylinders were required to deprive them 
 entirely of the rank flavor. As the bad flavor of all spirits are 
 caused by the presence of an essential oil, as before stated, it 
 follows that they are alike susceptible of puiification by filtration 
 through chiircoal, S:c. 
 
 By an approximate summary furnished by the Registrar-General, 
 on the 20th July, 18G0, it appears that 477 gallons of brandy were 
 made in the colony during- the vear ending- 31st ^Nfarch, 1800. 
 
 BRICKS. 
 
 Brit-ks are of at least two distinct classes, viz., fire-bricks made 
 from fire-clay or artificial substitutes for fire-clay, and common 
 bricks or bricks calculated to withstand exposure to the weather 
 only; in addition to this last necessary quality, fire-bricks will also 
 withstand a furnace heat for at least three months. In conse- 
 quence of the great improvements in the manufacture of colonial 
 bricks which have gradually taken place sim-e about 1853, the 
 importation of bricks has gradually decreased, the quantity im- 
 ported in 1858 being onl}' 510,000, at a prime cost of about 
 £6 5s. per 1000, and these were fire-bricks. 
 
 Fire-bricks, or bricks made expressh'^ for furnace work, have 
 not (as far as I have been able to ascertain) hitheito been manu- 
 factured in the colony to any great extent. That suitable clays 
 exist I have not the least doubt; a natural compound of silica 
 or sand and clay in about equal propoitions, and free from lime, 
 magnesia, or other flux, is the best fire-clay, and such clay exists 
 in all coal-fields, those of Caj)e Paterson, Western Port, S:c., not 
 excepted. If the alumina or clay is in excess, and contains oxide 
 of iron, as most common clays do, care must be taken " not to add 
 too much siliceous sand, or a fusibh^ compound will l)e produced." 
 To avoid this, it is common to add waste fire-biicks, or burnt 
 clay, or common brick rubbish, ])roperly ground and mixed with 
 the clay as a substitute fitr the sand ; tlie jiipe-clay of Bendigo 
 has been used in this way with success.* 
 
 • Sue Colonial Mining Journal for September, 1859.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES, 277 
 
 As manufactures requiring- furnaces increase in this colony, fire- 
 bricks will come into more g-eneral demand, as in the lining* to 
 brick, tile, lime, cement, or pottery kilns, the lining of cupolas for 
 smelting- iron, tin, and other metals, for coke and common ovens, 
 setting' retorts for ^as-works, and boilers for steam-eng-ines, &c., 
 &c. ; so that it is really important that this branch of our manu- 
 factures should I'cceivp greater attention than has hitherto been 
 bestowed upon it. 
 
 Economy of Brickwork. — In consequence of the great expense 
 of working- '' bluestone " and g'ranite (the most durable of our 
 building' stones) and the fact of Bacchus Marsh and Darley stones 
 being' liable to exfoliation from the presence of sulphate of soda 
 and other salts which permeate their entire substance to a greater 
 or less extent, it seems more than probable that our building- 
 stones will be in many instances superseded by the manufacture 
 of good bricks, especially where durabilit}' and economy are the 
 priniar}' considerations. It is a well-known fact which has been 
 repeatedly proved by experiments, that brickwork is stronger than 
 stonework, and that brickwork in cement is stronger than either, 
 and yet brickwork in cement is onh' half the cost of dressed blue- 
 stone masonry, supposing- the materials to be carted the same dis- 
 tance in both cases. I believe that at least £500,000 out of the 
 £8,000,000 to be expended on our trunk lines of railway might 
 have been saved if brickwork had been substituted for bluestone 
 masonry in all cases in which suitable bricks could have been 
 obtained as near to the work as the good bluestone quarries were ; 
 as it is and has been up to the present time, no trouble has been 
 taken to search for suitable brick-earth in the neighborhood of 
 great public works, although in many instances it would effect a 
 saving of one-fourth of the total outla}'.* The greatest difference 
 in the relative cost of brick and stone work is in those cases where 
 considerable labor is bestowed upon moulding the stone work ; 
 this is saved in the brickwork by the bricks being moulded (before 
 they are burnt) in the process of their manufacture. The whole 
 process of brickmaking I consider to be of such vast importance 
 in developing one of the greatest resources of the colony, that I 
 append a few facts on the principles and practice of brickmaking 
 adapted to the requirements of the colony, the result of actual 
 
 * This was written in July, 1860. — C. Mayes, June 25, 1861.
 
 C78 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 colonial experience, and which may be considered under the follow- 
 ing heads, ^^z. : — 1. Brick-earth; Q. Weathering- and Grinding; 
 3. Tempering-; 4. Moulding-; 5. Drying; (5. Burning-. 
 
 1. IS rich-cart Ji. — The success of brickmaking depends mainly 
 on the quality of the brick-earth used, for unless it is naturally 
 good, or can be made so by the mixture of sand or other suitable 
 material at hand, the g-i-eatest care in the preparation, moulding, 
 and burning- will not compensate for the inferiority of the raw 
 material. Alumina or pure clay is or should be the principal con- 
 stituent of brick-earth; but if the brick-earth consists wholly of 
 pure clay, or clay containing not more than 30 per cent, of sand, 
 it is useless for brickmaking, since it will not dry (even with the 
 most careful treatment) without cracking, on accoimt of the great 
 shrinkage ; it is also refractory in burning, the most intense lieat 
 being insufficient to bind the })articles composing the brick together. 
 As a rule it may be stated that bricks tliat are easily di'ied are 
 easily Imrnt ; but this property is not always a good one, ])ecause 
 it is sometimes the result of the opposite extreme, and proves that 
 the brick contains too much sand (like the Prahran bricks). The 
 best brick-earth contains al)out equal proportions of clay and sand, 
 and when these two ingredients are the only constituents of brick- 
 earth, as in some fire-clays, it produces a most excellent fire-brick ; 
 and if (as is generally the case) the brick-earth contains oxide of 
 iron, the sand and alumina being in ecpial i)ro])ortions, a most 
 excellent brick may be produced ; but if the oxide of iron is in 
 excess, the brick will be liable to fuse at a white heat. The 
 quantity of sand contained in a certain (piantity of brick-earth 
 may be easily ascertained by washing away the clay in the same 
 way that clay or washing stuff is j)uddled or washed on gold-fields. 
 Although l)ricks containing sand in excess are easily burnt they 
 are not fusible, nor ciin the ])articles be ])roj»erly united without the 
 addition of a Hux, such as carbonate of lime in the shape of pow- 
 dered chalk or limestone, or a larger projiorlion of oxide of iron 
 than is g(!nerally found in brick-eaHli. l^iicks made from juire 
 clays not only shrink too much, hut crack, and are riithcr hahcil 
 than burnt; such bricks are liaid and tough, and will not hear 
 cutting. Pure day may be ini|)rov('d hy tli(^ Judicious mixture of 
 sand, and still more so by mixing breeze, or fine cinders, or coal- 
 dust in very small proportions if intended to be burnt in colonial 
 clamps. 'I'll is ]irocess is not followed in A'ictoria on account of the
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 279 
 
 extra expense; but it is probable that the refractory clays over- 
 lying- bluestone mig-ht be rendered more serviceable as brick-earth 
 were this system pursued. I have no doubt that g-ood brick-earth 
 is to be found in most parts of the colony ; it is very common in 
 the Silurian or g-old-producing- formation, also in the g-ranite and 
 tertiary formations. Were the washed clays or sludg-es of the 
 gold-fields mixed with the washed sand (deposited by the sludge) 
 in proper proportions it is more than probable that excellent 
 cutters might be produced, v/hich might be easily sawn and 
 rubbed to any required dimensions, and. also gauged or bevel- 
 bricks for arches, Beveled bricks for gauged arches are now 
 made at Brunswick, the price being* about four times that of the 
 best colonial bricks. With the washed clays and sand of the gold- 
 fields, which now form the sludge nuisance, thousands of excellent 
 cutters might be made at about double the price of ordinary 
 bricks which, although of no advantage to Melbourne until the 
 railwa3's are completed, would in the meantime be of great value 
 to Sandhurst, Castlemaine, Ballaarat, and other townships on the 
 gold-fields. The rich cream-color of the London iMilm-ctdters is 
 produced by the mixture of chalk ; and I have no doubt that 
 calcareous clay might be obtained contiguous to limestone form- 
 ations, as at the Heads, Geelong, Limestone Creek, &c., from 
 which good cream-colored bricks, if not malm-cutters, could be 
 produced at a reasonable cost. 
 
 2. Weathei'inff. — It is customary in England to expose the brick- 
 earth to the action of the frost, but in Victoria the clay is no 
 sooner obtained than it is tempered and moulded, often in the 
 same day ; but this rapid manipulation can only be pursued with 
 mild clays. It is usual to dig pits, about 18 inches deepi, into 
 which the clay is thrown, watered and opened, and allowed to 
 remain for a day or two before it is tempered ; it is then taken to 
 the pugmill, or tempered by hand. 
 
 Grbul'mg. — Although this process has been but little, if at all, 
 practised in Victoria, it is one which is absolutely required to 
 render some clay fit for bricks. Most excellent bricks have been 
 made by Messrs. Cornish and Bruce, in the Black Forest, which 
 seem to require only this process to place them among the best of 
 colonial bricks. Whenever the brick-earth contains fragments of 
 rock, or iron stone, it must be ground to render the mass homoge- 
 neous, and to prevent the bricks cracking, or flying while burning.
 
 280 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 3. Tempering. — The object of tempering is to bring the brick- 
 earth to a homogeneous mass, so as not only to be easily moulded, 
 but also easily dried and burnt; the best brick -earth, if not 
 properly tempered, will produce unsound bricks. The system 
 generally pursued in Victoria is hand, or manual tempering. If 
 a pugmill is used, a considerable sa\*ing will be effected after the 
 the first cost, which is often considerable. As the pugmill requires 
 a steady continuous motion, no animal power is so well adapted as 
 steam or other mechanical power. If a pair of bullocks are used, 
 they require too much looking after, not only in the pugmill, but 
 out of it. Two inferior horses would " eat their heads ajf'^' if 
 corn-fed, and one good horse, if strong enough, is too good to put 
 into a pugmill, where he soon becomes fit for nothing else, even 
 supposing he can stand the continuous collar work, which few 
 horses can do. In brick machines, as in that of Claj'ton's, the 
 tempering and moulding are performed simultaneously; but unless 
 a large quantity of bricks (say a million) are required, it will not 
 pay for a steam engine, and, as before shown, animal power is not 
 to be depended upon, and is, therefore, unsatisfactoiy. The brick 
 moulding machines imported here have a die, or mould, much 
 larger than the colonial size, but which may be altered for a few 
 pounds to any size required. 
 
 4. Moulding. — The system of moulding generally pursued in 
 Victoria partakes of both the sj'stems known as pallet or sand 
 moulding, and slop moulding. There is little difference in the 
 cost of slop and sand moulding, for although a sand or pallet 
 moulder will turn cut three times the quantity of bricks in a given 
 time, it is owing to his having the clot prepared for him, whereas 
 in slop moulding the moulder prepares it himself; but in the 
 system pursued in Victoria, although the mould is wetted, and the 
 clot prepared by the moulder, as in slop moulding, the wet bricks 
 are turned out on pallets and harrowed to the hack ground, as in 
 sand or pallet moulding. Although machines are occasionally 
 used for moidding, yet the saving in the labor is so small, compared 
 to the total cost, that except for large quantities of bricks, as before 
 stated, tlicie is little advantage to be derived over tlu; more general 
 system of hand moulding. 
 
 IJry-vwulded JJriehs are made from dry clay, whicii is reduced 
 to powdei", and afterwards pressed together by enormous piessure; 
 they are then fit to handle, and may be stacked in the kiln, and
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES, 281 
 
 burnt forthwith, but they are generally inferior to the best samples 
 of colonial patent wet-pressed bricks, the outside being- g-enerally 
 harder than the inside, which is the last part of the brick to dry, 
 and which, in drying-, causes the outside to crack. The size of 
 the brick-mould to produce a brick of a g-iven size will depend 
 upon the quality of the clay, pure clays shrinking- more than mild 
 clays. 
 
 Ifoidded and Angle Bricks. — Considering- the g-reat cost of 
 moulded stonework, it is surprising- that moulded bricks have not 
 been more extensively made in Victoria, especially when such 
 superior samples of white and cream colored colonial bricks are to 
 be had (as may now be seen at the Building- Museum) at about 
 £7 per 1000.* Taking- moulded headers at £1 per 100, delivered 
 in Melbourne, I find, on referring- to the Victorian Contractors' 
 and Builders'' Price Book, that the expense of moulded brickwork, 
 as compared with moulded Bacchus Marsh stone, would not be 
 more than one-third, or one-fourth of the cost of moulded Kang-aroo 
 stone, or one-sixth the cost of moulded bluestone. If moulded 
 bricks are made larg-er than ordinary bricks, they are known as terra 
 cotta, and must be perforated, so as to allow of their drying- and 
 burning without flying-. If proper precaution is observed, the use 
 of moulded bricks, and terra cotta, maj be extended almost indefi- 
 nitely, as in copings, cornices, strings, &c. ; irregular-sided bricks 
 are also in common use in England, and might be introduced here 
 with advantage, such as radiated stretchers for well steining, made 
 to radii of from four to six feet ; splaj'ed bricks for window jambs ; 
 bricks for octagonal chimney shafts, or walls, with one edge 
 beveled to an angle of 135°, either of which kind of special bricks 
 ought not to cost more than 30 per cent, more than the cost of 
 common-shaped bricks of the same materials. Perforated bricks 
 are made here, but I have seen none of equal quality to the best 
 solid bricks ; this may be owing to the inferiority of the clay of 
 which they were composed, and not to the perforation. 
 
 5. Drying. — The principal point to be attended to in drying 
 bricks is to protect them from the rain, wind, and sun, so that one 
 side of the hacks do not dry faster than the other side, or they will 
 be twisted and cracked. To effect this desideratum recourse is 
 had to screens or lieus, straw, swamp grass, sacks, calico, matting, 
 
 • This was in August, I860.— C. M.
 
 282 PRIZE ESSAY- 
 
 felt, and tarpaulins ; but all these appliances are but sorr}' sub- 
 stitutes for drying sheds, which should always be erected where a 
 large quantity of bricks are required, as the saving effected in the 
 cost of attendance and losses in the destruction of green bricks by 
 the first method is soon saved by the use of drying sheds. The 
 difference in the time and trouble required to dry different 
 kinds of clay is very great; clays containing too little sand, 
 require at h-ast double the time and attendance in drying as 
 compareil with bricks made from mild clay. If ashes or coal-dust 
 are mixed with the bricks, they must be thoroughly dried to resist 
 the too sudden ap])lication of the firing ; this is not of so much 
 importance when they are free from fuel, because the heat can 
 be applied more gradually. The drying generally takes from a 
 fortnight to a month. The best bricks are sometimes dressed with 
 a beater, when half dry, to improve their shape by rectifying any 
 warping or twisting that may have occurred during the first stage 
 of drying ; but this improvement is more effectually performed by 
 a press, when they are called pressed, or patent-pressed bricks. 
 
 6. Burning. — In Victoria, bricks are generally burnt in clamps; 
 they are loosely packed, so that the heat may spread between 
 them. This is also the method adopted in kilns, which are merely 
 jiermanent casings, the casing in the ordinary clamps being 
 merely loose bricks, half a brick thick at bottom and brick on 
 edge at top, or upper part of casing ; this is always plastered over 
 with clay, so as to make tlie best of a poor substitute for a kiln. 
 A kiln is 7)u>st economical where a permanent brick-field is estab- 
 lished, on account of the great waste of fiU'l and l)ricks, often 
 attending the use of cased clavips, the continuous action of the 
 wind fnun the same (juarter, driving the fire from the weather side 
 of the clamp. This can be partially guarded against by putting 
 up screens next the end of the fire-holes (•x])osed to the wind. 
 The clumj) or kihi is at first but gently fired, until the steam from 
 the bricks ceases to rise ; the top of the kiln is then covered up 
 with a layer of old bricks, uj)on which is spread loam or soil to 
 keej) in the heat, the fires' are then gradually increased, until the 
 bricks are brought to a white lieat, whicii can be seen in the 
 dark throu{>h the casings; but this period in the firing must be 
 ascertained from trial holes, when it occurs in the day time, or 
 in u kiln, and also by the time and fiiel used. After the bricks 
 have been l)rought to a white heat, the firing is as gradually
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 283 
 
 reduced as it was increased to attain this heat ; the fire-holes are 
 then bricked uj) and plastered over with clay, and the clamp or kiln 
 is allowed g-radually to cool, the cooling- not being- hastened by 
 opening- the clamp or kiln too soon, which would impair the sound- 
 ness of the bricks. A temporary roof is generally erected over the 
 clamp, to protect it from the rain, which would otherwise do as 
 much injury as the uncontrolled action of the wind in the fire- 
 holes. Clamp burning, as practised in Victoria, takes about one 
 measured ton of colonial hardwood to each 1000 bricks, made from 
 mild clay, the purer clays requiring- much more fuel. The wood 
 used should be dry, but may vary from the ordinary size of billets 
 to log-s that require two men to liandle effectually. 
 
 Xiln-hu'mn<j. — Although not practised in the colony, it is to 
 be recommended for the reason before stated. The simplest form 
 of kiln is the rectangular or clamp form, the walls of which may 
 be made of any thickness, from one-third to one-tenth their height, 
 the thick walls being- less liable to crack than the thin ones, and 
 therefore more easily and cheaply kept in repair, and occasion less 
 waste of firing-. Narrow-arched openings are left in the sides for 
 fire-holes, and a narrow-arched doorway at each end, through which 
 the bricks are passed for stacking and unloading the kiln. The 
 kiln having been fitted, the doorways are bricked up and plastered, 
 and the same regulation and process is followed as before men- 
 tioned for clamp-burning. A leanto shed is generally put up on 
 each side of the kiln, to protect the fuel, fire-holes, and firemen 
 from the weather. I have no authentic data as to the saving in 
 wood-fiiel, but it may be safely inferred that bricks, when kiln- 
 burnt, would not take more than three-quarters of a ton (measure- 
 ment) of dry wood to the 1000 bricks, thus effecting a saving- of at 
 least one-fourth in the quantity or weight of fuel by kiln-burning- 
 over that of clamp-])iu-ning-. Neither system of clamp or kiln 
 burning- here mentioned is pursued when coal-dust or breeze is 
 mixed with the clay before it is moulded ; when this is the case, 
 the bricks should be closely stacked in the clamp or kiln, with a 
 thin layer of breeze or coal dust between each course, and barely 
 sufficient firing used to ignite the bricks next the fire-holes, each 
 brick forming- a fireball in itself, because it contains its own firing. 
 The fire is rapidly spread throughout the kiln, which, in London, 
 takes from a fortnight to a month burning, but there clamps are 
 ten times the size of those hitherto used in Victoria, from which I
 
 284 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 should infer that clamps of less than 100,000 bricks mij^ht be burnt 
 in a week. Coal dust is too expensive to pursue this system liere, 
 but it remains to be seen how far sawdust may be substituted to 
 produce a lig-ht brick suitable for arches, vaults, and domes, in 
 the place of the very dense heavy bricks now made here in g-reat 
 perfection. In 1858 (I learn from the Blue-book) there were 
 149 brick-fields in this colony. Bricks vary as much in price in 
 Victoria as in England ; ordinary bricks may be obtained from 
 £3 to £4 per 1000, but the best quality, such as the patent pressed 
 bricks, are at least £5 per 1000 at the kiln. Eng-lish fire-bricks, 
 althoup-h stated to be imported here at £6 5s. per 1000 in the 
 former part of this article, are seldom sold at less than £8, the 
 g-eneral retail price being' about £9 per 1000. Bricks nearly 
 equal in quality to imported fire-bricks are now made in the 
 colony, and sold at from £5 to £0 per 1000. As the good quality 
 of these bricks become more generally known, they will doubtless 
 eventually entirel}' supersede the importation of even fire-bricks.* 
 
 BONE BLACK. 
 
 Bone black or animal charcoal, is made bv calcining bones in 
 similar retorts to those ust'd in gas-works. In 1858 we exported 
 bones to the value of £3007 f; in the manufacture of bone black 
 whether for animal charcoal or for ivory black, such bones as 
 cannot be used for, and the refuse from, boneware, can be calcined 
 with advantage. 
 
 Animal charcoal is said to deprive solutions, particularly syrups, 
 of their coloring matter more readily than vegetable charcoal ; 
 10 per cent, more of refined sugar can, also, be obtained from the 
 raw material with aiiiiniil tlmn with vegetable charcoal. 
 
 The bones lose al)()ut liall their weight by calcination in retorts, 
 and the charcoal is ground and sifted before it is used. 
 
 Sal-ammoniac. — The condensed vapors issuing from the re- 
 torts, after ui.dergoing several manij)ulations, are converted into 
 "sal-ammoniac," or the nniriato of ammonia of commerce. Since 
 the general estublishment of gas-works throughout England, "sal 
 
 • See the article on IJricks and 'I'ilts, in \\\v Ai)])cn<lix. 
 f In IH.lIt Wf exporlid bones to tin- uilnc of £U\:V) — C. Mavkh, Juno 28, 
 1861.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 285 
 
 ammoniac," and otlier preparations of ammonia, are made from 
 the ammoniacal liquor, distilled with tar, from the coal used for 
 g'enerating- gas. " In a chemical fiictory near Glasgow, 700 gal- 
 lons of ammoniacal liquor are rectified by distillation, to which 
 450 lbs. sulphuric acid is slowly added, the produce being- 240 
 gallons of sulphate of ammonia, which is decomposed by common 
 salt. In the distilkition of the crude liquor, 90 gallons of tar is 
 obtained by subsidence, and 20 gallons of petroleum is skimmed 
 off the surface. The tar is converted, by moderate boiling, into 
 pitch." (See " Ammonia" and " Gas.") Ammonia, in the form 
 of "sal-ammoniac, is principally used for tinning- cast iron, 
 wrought iron, copper, g-alvanised iron, &c., and also in medical 
 prescriptions." * 
 
 BRUSHWARE. 
 
 Brushware was imported to the amount of £21,745 in 1858. t 
 For the manufacture of brushes we have bones, hardwood, and 
 bristles, among our raw materials, wdiich are the three principal 
 articles required; we have also horsehair and dogs' hair, which 
 are used for some kinds of brushes. It is probable that kangaroo 
 hair and even camels' hair ma^' eventually be used for this purpose 
 in Victoria. 
 
 BUTTER. 
 
 In 1858 butter was imported to the amount of £308,000. 
 Although this is a pastoral colony, ver}' little butter is produced 
 here. An ordinary cow will produce 1800 quarts of milk per annum, 
 which w'ill readily sell at 8d. per quart:=£60; this quantity of 
 milk will produce about 140 lbs. of butter, which at 2s. per lb.= 
 £14, or less than one-fourth the sum produced by the raw material. 
 These are also the proportionate prices of new milk and fresh 
 butter generally maintained in Great Britain. We cannot, there- 
 fore, reasonably expect any great increase in the manufacture of 
 colonial butter without a corresponding- consumption of milk, 
 which is not likely to take place without a proportionate increase 
 in the population, unless in those instances where dairy forms are 
 
 * Dr. Ure. 
 
 f In 1859 we imported brushware to the value of £20,215. — C. Mates, 
 June 28, 1861.
 
 286 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 established at too great a distance from any milk-walk, and yet at 
 a convenient distance from a market for their butter. In such 
 localities it would probably be found profitable to establish dairy 
 farms expressly for the manufacture of butter ; but as this subject 
 may be considered to belong more to agriculture than to manxifac- 
 tiu'es, I will leave it by merely stating, on the authority of Dr. 
 Ure, that butter is soonest produced from cream when its tempera- 
 ture is from 53° to 57°. If dairymen when churning were to take 
 the trouble to ascertain the tem])erature with a common thermo- 
 meter they might often save themselves several hours' vexatious 
 delay by attempting to churn when the cream is either below 50° 
 or above 60° ; in this colony the latter will generally be the case. 
 — See article on " Butter '' in Appendix. 
 
 CANDLES. 
 
 No less than 1962 tons of candles were imported into Victoria 
 in 1858, which were valued at £320,300 ; in the same year we 
 exported 1016 tons of tallow, valued at about £44,000. We thus 
 export tallow at about £43 ])er ton, and pay about £163 ])er ton 
 for imported candles.* As I cannot tell the relative proportion 
 of the difterent kinds imported, I cannot show what might be 
 saved to the colony by tlie manuthcture of any particular kind, 
 but I will endeavor to show that no insuperable objection exists 
 to the manufacture of the diiferent kinds of candles now used in 
 the colony. 
 
 Mould Candles. — On most stations and homesteads throughout 
 the colony the common mould candles have been made, and are 
 still made, simply because there is but little trouble attending their 
 manufacture, and the material (ordinary house fat or tallow) is 
 easily ]»rocurcd on the premises, and would otherwise j)robably ho. 
 wasted or sold at uljout one-fourth of its value when made into 
 candles. I liave said there is but little trouble attending their 
 manufacture, even in the very small scale attem])tcd at stations 
 and honjesteads, where seldom more than two or three pounds arc 
 
 • In IsriO wc imported candles to tlic vahic of X2 15,796, and exported 
 tallow to till- vuhic f)f X10,.'l.')4, from which wc may snfuly infer that tlie 
 manufacture of candles in Victoria during 1859, greatly exceeded that of 
 1858.— C. Mayes, June 28, 18CI.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 287 
 
 made at one time by one set of moulds. It will be found that if 
 made on a larg-er scale, as they mig-ht be by storing- the fat or 
 tallow for a few months, that the trouble would be materially 
 reduced, and the candles might be made at the commencement 
 and close of the winter in sufficient quantities for consumption 
 during- the year, instead of making- small quantities, say monthly, 
 in all weathers or temperatures, seasonable or unseasonable. 
 
 In 1858 there were thirteen candle manufactories in Victoria, 
 three of" which were in or near Melbourne. Both dip and mould 
 candles are made here, but not stearine or any other superior or 
 patent candles ; these will probably be manufactured here in the 
 course of a few years, as there is no great difficulty attending- 
 their manufacture, as I shall presently show. I have already 
 referred to home-xn^L^e mould candles, or mould candles made by 
 amateurs at squatting- and farm stations or homesteads. In 
 making' mould candles at candle-makers' establishments, eig-lit 
 or twelve moulds, according* to size, are filled at one time, by 
 being- fixed in a fi'ame like a stool ; the tallow is supplied in a 
 proper state for filling- the moulds from an adjoining- boiler, so 
 that any number of frames may be filled as fast as the melted 
 tallow can be drawn from the boiler. The time required to set 
 the candles depends mainly on the temperature of the room in 
 which they are moulded, but in cool weather about a quarter of 
 an hour is sufficient. In Eng-land they have to be placed upon a 
 table for inspection by the Excisemen ; but in Victoria, they can 
 be taken at once to the store, where, if kept for three or four 
 months, they will become sufficiently whitened by age, and much 
 better for use, than if used new after being- bleached by exposure 
 to the open air for a few days, which is sometimes done when a 
 ready sale is desirable. Colonial mould candles have always 
 obtained a g-ood sale, as the number of candle manufactories will 
 testify, notwithstanding- the hig-h price of labor, and this demand 
 will increase as labor falls in value. f 
 
 D'qy Candles are even more readily made than mould candles, 
 and when we consider that only 1| per cent, in cost is all that is 
 saved in obtaining- a certain amount of light in the use of dip, as 
 compared with mould candles {See " Candles," by Dr. lire), we 
 
 t In 1859 there were eighteen soap aud candle manufactories in Victoria. — 
 C. Mates.
 
 ^SS PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 must necessarily feel suipjised that the slovenly, guttering-, waste- 
 ftil dip caudles, made in the colony are tolerated. In Edinhurgh 
 a simple candle-dipping machine is in use hy which one man 
 can dip or make no less than 5000 candles in eight hours, in 
 "moderately cold weather;" it necessarily iollows that the item 
 of labor, which in most manufactories is a considerable one, need 
 scarcely be taken into account in making dip candles in cool 
 weather. 
 
 Strarine Candles are made from saponified tallow or tallow 
 converted into soap by an alkali, such as potash, soda, or lime, the 
 last being generally used on account of its cheapness. The tallow 
 and lime are boiled with water, and converted by this means into 
 a kind of hard white soap, which is dissolved by oil of vitriol 
 (sulphuric acid) when the stearic acid is brought to the surface as 
 an oily substance ; it is then drawn off, put into casks, and sub- 
 jected to hydraulic pressure, which se])arates all impurities, leaving 
 the stearic acid pure and white and fit for immediate conversion into 
 candles ; it is then cast in moulds the same as common candles, 
 but the mould must be plunged into cold water to prevent crystal- 
 lisation by too gradual cooling. This process, one would imagine, 
 might be applied with advantage in cooling common mould 
 candles in hot weather, the whole frame being lifted and plunged 
 into a cold bath by means of a crane suitably fixed for the purpi se. 
 Stearic acid, or, as they are erroneously called, stearine candles 
 can scarcely be distinguished from wax candles, which they are 
 fast superseding. They are here known by the general name of 
 patent candles, and are much sought after, IGd. per lb. being a 
 common price charged for them, being at least doiible the price 
 of common mould candles. The nanufacture of soap and candles 
 are often carried on together, since I perceive by the Melbourne 
 Directory for 18G0, that there are eight candle and soap makers 
 in Melbourne and its environs. The only obstacles to the manu- 
 facture o{ stearic acid candles in Melbourne hitherto has been the 
 high price of labor, and oil of vitriol, the latter of which would 
 have to be imported for the ])in])ose ; the other two articles re- 
 quired we have in abundance, viz , tallow and lime. There 
 certainly seems to be a favorable opening Ibr an enterprising soap 
 and candle maker to enter u|ion this i)raiieli of the trade, wliich 
 has hitherto, as far as I can ascertain, never been attempted in 
 this colony.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 289 
 
 CARRIAGES, CARTS. 
 
 Under these heads we find imports in 1858 to the value of 
 £55,000,* which I imagine inchides all American vehicles, and 
 likewise coaches, omnibuses, railway carriag-es, &c. The manu- 
 facture of these articles arc rapidly j)rog'ressing' throng'hout the 
 colony, our colonial woods being well adapted for this purpose ; 
 those principally used consist of blue and red g'um, box, ironbark, 
 blackwood, appletree, &c. — the blue g"um, box, and blackwood 
 being the three most valuable kinds of wood for these purposes. 
 Railway carriag-es have been made here at a cost of about 20 per 
 cent, more than those imported ; this is due not to their cost in 
 England, but to the expenses of shipment, damag'e on the voyage 
 (to which this class of hig'hly-finished carriages are particularly 
 liable) and to the fact of their parts having to be put together, 
 repaired, and re-finished in this colony. The Legislative Assembly 
 having pledged itself to the manufacture in the colony of any 
 railway carriages required for the Victorian railways, it is likely 
 this particular branch of the trade will not stand still for the want 
 of protection. Even so far back as 1854, "The Hotham Gig," 
 made in the colony of native materials, by " Crothers and Hackett," 
 was exhibited at the Exhibition in Melbourne ; at the same time, 
 Mr. E. Chambers exhibited a colonial-made " wrought-iron skeleton 
 for a railway wheel." Since then every description of carriage, or 
 vehicle, carts, wagons, and drays have been made not only equal 
 to those imported, but, as a rule, far superior, and readily selling 
 for at least one-half more : but this is owing more to the ignorance 
 of the requirements of the colony than from any want of material 
 or skill in England. Those elegant, light, and strong American 
 buggies seem to be great favorites with the citizens of Melbourne, 
 who naturally enough object to pay 40 or 50 per cent, more for a 
 colonial substitute, the earnest cries of our coachbuilders for pro- 
 tection notwithstanding. On referring to the Melbourne Directory 
 for 1800, I find no less than thirty-seven cart and wheel wrights 
 in Melbourne and its neighborhood, and thirty-six coaclibuiklers. 
 In 1858 there were also nine coachbuilders at Geelong.f 
 
 * In 1859 y\e imported carriages, carts, &c., to tlie value of £61,686, nearly 
 two-thirds of which were from Boston and New York. — C. ^Maycs, June 28, 
 1861. 
 
 t In 1859 there were forty-eight coacli factories in Victoria. 
 
 u
 
 200 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 CEMENT AND LIME. 
 
 In 1858 we imported cement to the value of £11,^00, at about 
 5s, per bushel. We also imported 3400 bushels of lime at the same 
 price, and exported I'J.OOO bushels of lime at Is. lOd. per bushel, 
 here we have an anomaly requiring- explanation ; the common 
 lime (ns chalk lime) is sold in England at about 7d. per bushel, 
 taking- into consideration the difference in the price of labor, which 
 is at least four times as great here as compared with England, 
 lime of a good quality is cheap here, being- only Is. (3d. per 
 bushel in Melbourne, or about two and a half times the price of 
 ordinary lime in Eng-land ; and from the facilities which exist in 
 most parts of the colony for its manufacture, the price generally 
 does not exceed this, the lime imported at 5s. per bushel must, 
 therefore, be hydraulic lime. In treating- of cement and lime it will 
 be necessary to distinguish the two by showing the peculiarities of 
 each. Common lime is produced by the calcination of carbonate 
 of lime in the form of chalk, limestone, fi-eestone (which is a pure 
 limestone ca])able of being* easily dressed or worked, and fit for 
 building- stone), and marble (a limestone sufficiently hard to be 
 polished, and like chalk, consisting almost entirely of pure car- 
 bonate of lime). Lime made from these substances, and containing 
 upwarils of 05 per cent, of carbonate of lime, as the Heads lime 
 for example, is only fit for building- (in the form of mortar, plaster, or 
 concrete"), in situations not exposed to rain, and is not fit for drains, 
 or culverts, cellars, tunnels, oi- hydraulic works — in fact, it can 
 only be depended upon for dund^ility when used in sheltered 
 situations or for the inside of Ituildings. In all situations, con- 
 tinual! v or jHM-iodically exjjosed to the action of watei-, hydraulic 
 lime must be used, which differs only from conuiidu lime in 
 containing more than 5 per cent, of clay or alumina. 
 
 Jh/ilnndir Lime and Crmrvt. — A limestone contiiining 10 jicr 
 cent, of alumina would make a good hydraulic lime; but an 
 argillaceous limestone, containing JK) j)er cent, of alumina, would 
 produce a strong- hydraulic lime, whi(-h we shoidd call cement. 
 I'urfhind and Unman cement are both strong hydraulic limes, and 
 contain mon; than 30 per cent. (>f alumina, which causes them to 
 set very readily; the time rerpiircd for setting- any kind of cement 
 df|)f'nds chiefly on the f|uaiifity of alumina it contains. Limestone 
 is found in many parts of tlir colony ; there is scarcely a county
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 291 
 
 in which it does not abound more or less. From the Blue-bouk T 
 find there were ten limestone and 19 freestone quarries in Victoria 
 in 1858,* which supplied 47 limekilns, 28 of which were in the 
 county of Mornington, including; the Heads, Western Port, and 
 the S.E. coast of Hobson's Bay. The Geelong- lime is slightly 
 hydraulic, and that made on the Limestone Creek, between Mount 
 Franklin and Guildford, is more so. There are doubtless other 
 weak hydraulic limes made in the colony whose qualities have 
 never been fairly tested, probably on account of their liydraulic 
 properties being- unsuspected by the proprietors. At the Melbourne 
 University may be seen specimens of tertiary limestone obtained 
 from at least nine different localities, many of which, judg-ing- from 
 the appearance of the specimens would produce lime more or less 
 hydraulic. Mr. Selwyn, our Government geologist, in his report 
 of July, 1854, referring" to the loAvest bed in the tertiary formation 
 on the eastern coast of Hobson's Bay, describes it as a '' bed of 
 stiff, blue clay, containing* bands and septaria of hard, grey 
 argillaceous limestone." Further on he says, " it is of excellent 
 quality, and might be found highly valuable for making In-draulic 
 cement. Calcareous nodules of a precisely similar nature are 
 extensively collected for that purpose from the London clay, the 
 cliffs of Hampshire, the Isle of Sheppe}'," &c. 
 
 Kilns. — Apart from the qualities of our limestones and cement 
 stones, there is room for improvement in their calcination. There 
 are two distinct kinds of kilns in use in England, viz., the "run- 
 ning" and the "flare" kiln. The ''running" kiln is so called 
 from the facilities it affords for running out the lime at the bottom, 
 while the process of burning the chalk or limestone continues. 
 This description of kiln is in the form of an inverted cone, and 
 built where practicable on the side of a hill, the material and fuel 
 being thrown into it in alternate layers. This is the kind of kiln 
 generally used in this colony where wood is burnt instead of breeze 
 or cinders, the common fuel used in England ; but the " running" 
 is considered inferior to the fiare kiln in which the best kind of 
 lime is always calcined ; it is similar to the running kiln, but is 
 
 * As few people know the ditftTence between freestone and sandstone, it 
 is more than probable that the majority of the so-called freestone are really 
 sandstone quarries, Victorian freestone being a very scarce article. — C, 
 Mates, June 25, 1861.
 
 292 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 domed over, leaving- a small cliimnev on the top to allow the 
 smoke to escape ; the chalk or limestone is built over the furnace 
 forming- a rough arch on -n-hich the bulk of the limestone rests, and 
 which is supplied through an arched entrance left in the side of the 
 kiln for the purpose of filling- and emptying- it. When filled this 
 entrance is blocked up, and the kiln is fired from below in the 
 same way that brick kilns are fired. The firing- is kept up for 
 about two days when the body of the kiln attains a white heat; it 
 is then allowed to cool, and the lime withdrawn. The cost of lime 
 burnt in this way is not more than 15 per cent, in excess of the 
 mode pursued here, viz., by the ''running" kiln, whereas the lime 
 is fully 20 per cent, more vahiable, being free from core and Avell 
 burnt. 
 
 The importance of obtaining good lime induced the Victorian 
 Contractors and Builders' Association to form a company for the 
 manufacture of lime, the members of this association taking- the 
 larg-est amount of shares. By their prospectus they calcxdated on 
 being' able to make lime superior to that hitherto manufactured in 
 the colony at about two-thirds the current price. It will be seen 
 on reference to the commencement of this article that we exported 
 12,000 bushels of common colonial lime in 1858; while we im- 
 ported hydraulic lime and cement to the value of nearly £20,000. 
 
 Artificial Cement. — If we have not sufficient natural cement 
 stones to supply our wants we can at least make an artificial 
 cement fully equal to any we import. All that is required is to 
 mix ground limestone and clay in the pro])ortion of 6 of the former 
 to 1 or 2 of the latter, according- to the (piality of the cement or 
 hydraulic lime required. This mixture, which should be well 
 inc()ri)orated in a pugmill, may be either moulded by the same 
 machine into cakes or bricks, and dried in hacks; or the mixture 
 may be merely spread out into thin layers, dried, and broken up 
 into frag-ments, 'J'Jjcre is less waste in the former method ; and if 
 the machine both tempers and moulds the cakes it is tlie best and 
 cheapest. Tliese artificial cement stones or cakes may be ])urnt in 
 either a common runnvu/ or prrpefital kiln, or in \x Jiare kihi, the 
 latter being- the best, as before stated, for lime. 
 
 Fuel for Kilnx — The quantity of wood required eitlier for limn 
 or cement kilns is about two cubic feet of wood to every bushel of 
 lime or cement, which is equal to 200 cubic feet measured in the 
 h'Mi]) or holt fur every hundred bushels of lime. 'J'he manufacture
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 293 
 
 of cement in this colony is of more immediate importance than the 
 manufacture of lime; we already produce more common lime than 
 we require, seeing that we exported 12,000 bushels in 1858. 
 - It is more than probable that this colony contains large quanti- 
 ties of cement stones or argillaceous limestone in beds or nodules 
 fit for cement. In limestone localities are also found calcareous 
 clays, which only require drying and burning to produce cement. 
 " M. de Breislak thinks that it is to the happy union of travertino 
 and puozzolano in the same spot that the monuments of Rome owe 
 their great solidity." The manufacture of cheap cement, combined 
 with the facilities of its transport throughout Great Britain, has 
 almost superseded the use of trass and puozzolano, which used to 
 be largely imported into England from Italy and other volcanic 
 regions, to be mixed with lime and sand for hydraulic mortar. 
 
 This colony abounds with travertino, or a good substitute for it, 
 in the recent limestone deposited by desiccated lakes or ancient 
 streams, and also with puozzolano, or a substitute for it, in the 
 calcined earth covering our basaltic plains ; but as to whether the 
 monuments of Melbourne 1000 years hence will owe their great 
 solidity to this circumstance will depend not only on the wisdom 
 of our engineers and architects, but also upon the enterprise of our 
 colonial manufacturers. It is a well-known fact that imported 
 cement is often more or less injured by a long sea voyage. There 
 are also both public and private works erected in localities where 
 cement would be too costly to be largely used if imported. In 
 such localities it may sometimes happen that the very earth exca- 
 vated from the site of the work for the basement or foundations 
 of the building may consist of marl or argillaceous limestone, which 
 might be burnt into cement on the spot, or such material might 
 be obtained if jiroperly sought for within a reasonable distance. 
 
 M, Vicat, the celebrated French engineer, during his lifetime 
 saved to the French nation £7,000,000 in the manufacture of 
 cement for their public works. When first employed by the French 
 Government there were only seven or eight cement quarries in 
 France ; at his death there were between 700 and 800, and chiefly 
 through his exertions in this direction France has become cele- 
 brated for her great hydraulic engineering works.* 
 
 Uses of Lime. — In addition to the use of lime for building pur- 
 
 * Civil Engineer and Architects Journal, voL 9, p. 35.
 
 294 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 poses, it is largely used in agriculture, not only in its pure state 
 as a manure, but also as a deodoriser of night-soil, by which means 
 one of the most valuable manures is obtained : it is also used in 
 sug^ir-works, gas-works, soap and candle works ; in bleaching* 
 linen and cotton, in fellmongeries and tanneries, in medicine, and 
 in chemical researches. 
 
 Cement is used not only for building purposes but in the manu- 
 facture of beton, or hydraulic concrete, for vases, fountains, &c., as 
 an artificial stone. See Article on " Cement," in Appendix. 
 
 CHARCOAL. 
 
 The vses to which charcoal is applied are numerous; those 
 kinds containing silica are used for polishing metals; it is a bad 
 conductor of heat, and is sometimes used to encase steam-pipes, 
 and small furnaces. It is a most usefid deodoriser for removing 
 offensive smells from aniuud and vegetable substances, spirits dis- 
 tilled from bad grain, &c. (of which we have hundreds of thousands 
 of gallons in bond — see " Brandy," page 274) ; in the construction 
 of filters, both portable and upon a large scale, as for reservoirs, 
 for which latter purpose it might be ap})lied for filtering the 
 impure water of the Yan Yean reservoir.* It is also used in the 
 manufacture of the most durable ink, or black ])igment. The 
 ancients wrote with ink made from ground charcoal ; and the 
 writings found in the ruins of Herculaneum, more than 2000 years 
 old, have retained their original blackness. Many other instances 
 might be given of the indestructibility of charcoal, not only in ink 
 or ])igments, but also" in the charred ends of stakes and piles. 
 
 Metallurgy. — By far the most useful and most extensive use to 
 which charcoal ever has been a])plied is as a fuel in metallurgy. 
 It lias been used for smelting, or the rechiction of iron ores, from 
 the earliest records. Until the year 1740 it was the only fuel 
 used in England for this purjmse, and it was not until the dawn 
 of the ])resent century that coke and coal came into general use in 
 England, not on account of (heir superiority to charcoal for the 
 reduction of the iron ores, but inoic on incount of the scarcity of 
 wood in England, and the abMndance and economy of coal : even 
 now charcoal is used in lOnghmd for the manufacture of some 
 kinds of iron, and more especially in the conversion of charcoal 
 
 • 'i'hii* was written in Jul}', I8G0.— C. Mavks, June 26, 1861.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 295 
 
 iron into steel, for which it is nuiversally admitted to be suj)erior 
 to any other ftiel. 
 
 Swedish Iron. — Swedish (which generally sells for about three 
 times the price of Eng-lish) iron, is always smelted with chai-coal ; 
 it is also used for this purpose in France, and on the continent of 
 Europe and Asia, the iron of Hindostan being similar to Swedish 
 iron. Charcoal is su])erior to coke or coal for smelting iron because 
 it contains no sulphur ; the fumes of sulphur have a most injurious 
 effect u])on the iron it impregnates, and unless effectually eradi- 
 cated, which is not always practicable, will cause latent flaws in 
 castings ; cast iron girders for brestsummers and bridges have 
 been known to give way solely on that account; it is therefore 
 very important that such iron should be fully tested before being- 
 used, and this is now usually done. 
 
 Tin Ores. — Charcoal is also generally used in the reduction of 
 tin ores, and the manufacture of tin. As both iron ores and stream 
 tin are among our raw materials, it is probable that charcoal will 
 be extensively used in the manufacture of these metals, and more 
 particularly in those localities where coal would be almost inac- 
 cessible, and charcoal plentiful and cheap. 
 
 Victorian Charcoal. — Neumann, who made many experiments 
 on charcoal, informs us, that '' for the reduction of the metallic 
 oxides the charcoal of the heavier moods is preferable, and that 
 for common fuel such charcoal gives the greatest heat." With a 
 trifling exception, the whole of the timber of Victoria is both hard 
 and heavy mood, generally heavier than water before it is dried 
 and seasoned ; in this respect at least we have an advantage. 
 
 The quantity of charcoal produced from different kinds of wood 
 varies from 15 to 20 per cent.; the heavy woods do not always 
 produce the largest quantity hut the best. Charcoal like lime 
 gains weight by exposure to the air. Messrs. Allen and Pepys 
 found that b}- a week's exposure to the air the charcoal of six dif- 
 ferent kinds of wood they tried gained from 10 to 18 per cent, in 
 weight.* 
 
 The facilities for the manufactui'e of charcoal in Victoria, where 
 any quantity of wood can be obtained from the Crown lands on 
 payment of a trifling license fee per annum, are only to be known 
 to be acted upon. The charcoal hitherto supplied to founders, 
 
 * Dr. Uro.
 
 296 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 plumbers, tinsmiths, &c., in Melbourne, is manufactured in a very 
 imperfect manner from wood felled expressly for it, and burnt on a 
 small scale, the pyroligneous acid, tar, &c., being- wasted, the 
 majority of the charcoal burners being- unaware of its existence 
 in all kinds of hard wood ; they sell the charcoal in Melbourne 
 at about Is. 6d. per bushel, being; equal to about one penny per 
 pound, or wholesale, say £G yev ton, 
 
 Pyroltgneotis Acid. — If the manufactiu-e of charcoal alone will 
 pay, how much better return woidd it make were the pyroligneous 
 acid, or wood yineg-ar, collected and sold to manufacturing; 
 chemists for re-distillation, Sec, into acetic acid; it coidd even 
 be re-distilled by the charcoal burner for wood-yineg-ar, since the 
 process is simple and comparatively inexpensive. 
 
 Produce of Waste Thnhev. — The manufacture of these com- 
 modities in connection with the supply of sleepers for our rail- 
 ways, or with saw-mills, from the waste wood hitherto considered 
 useless, is obvious. 
 
 I will endeavor, fi-om a few calculations based upon well- 
 established facts, to show the profits likely to arise from the 
 production of sleepers, posts, and rails, or sawn hardwood of all 
 kinds in conjunction with the manufacture of wood-vineg-ar, or 
 acetic acid, and charcoal from the waste timber Avhich woidd 
 otherwise be left as useless, except in those few cases where it 
 could be sold as firewood. 
 
 For the railway now being constructed between ^Melbourne and 
 Sandhurst we require 35G0 sleepers per mile, \.e. one per lineal 
 yard for each line of rails, and for 100 miles (the distance between 
 Melbourne and Sandhurst) no less than ;jr)L\,0(»0 hardwood sleepers 
 will be required; each sleeper contains about four cubic feet, 
 g-iving a total of 1,408,000 cubic feet of timber re(iuired for this 
 railway in the form of sleepers for the ])ernianent way. Our 
 hardwood wlien about half seasoned would weig-h about 5(5 lbs. 
 ])er cul)ic foot, or 40 cubic feet per ton. In fulling- timber for 
 sleepers, or for squared timber g-enerally, at least one-third is 
 wasted ; this waste tim])er consists of tlie refuse fnmi the trunk 
 and the whole of the top of the tree : now 704,000 cubic feet 
 at 40 feet per ton is e(iual to 17,000 tons. I have before shown 
 tliat hardwoods produce from 15 to 1?0 per cent, of their weiglit 
 in charcoal, and that they pain about 15 ])er cent, in weig;ht 
 by the absorption of moisture from the air during one week's
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 297 <$/* 
 
 exposure; hence we may safely take the produce of charcoal 
 from our hardwoods at 25 per cent., or one-fourth, tlierefore 17,000 
 tons of hardwood would be likely to j)roduce about 4400 tons, 
 of charcoal, which, at £3 per ton (about half the price in Mel- 
 bourne), would be worth £13,200. The best charcoal and the 
 larg-est quantity of pyroligneous acid is produced from the greenest 
 timber, or timber not \ow^ felled; all the small boug-hs and leaves 
 will be consumed in firing' the charcoal, which may be burnt in 
 heaps or in kilns, the latter mode producing^ the largest quantity 
 of liquid products. Stoltze has ascertained by numerous experi- 
 ments that one pound of wood yields from six to seven and a half 
 ounces of liquid products ; hard timber which has grown slowly 
 upon a dry soil gives the strongest vinegar. Charcoal burnt in 
 a kiln, with a pipe to condense the vapors or fumes into a tank, 
 yields about 25 per cent, of the weight of wood in liquid pro- 
 ducts, or crude wood vinegar.* 
 
 Clearing Land. — Another facility for the manufacture of char- 
 coal is presented in clearing land for agricultural purposes, &c., 
 and, in doing so, the timber has not only to be felled, but also to 
 be sawn into portable logs, which are heaped together — for what? 
 — not to be burnt into charcoal, worth at least £3 per ton, as fiiel 
 for foundries, &c., or to be used as a deodoriser when mixed with 
 double its weight of night-soil, forming a most valuable and power- 
 fid manure ; but to be consumed and cast to the winds, yielding 
 comparatively little, in the form of potash, for the trouble of clearing 
 and burning ; whereas, by a slight increase in the expense required 
 in splitting the largest logs, stacking" them, and covering up the 
 heaps with clay, sods, or the surface soil, they might be burnt into 
 charcoal; should the land be heavy, clayey, or strong land, requiring 
 burnt clay for manure, the advantage would be still greater, since 
 the surface of it might be burnt by merely covering up the stacked 
 heaps of wood to be converted into charcoal. Thousands of tons of 
 hardwood have been destroyed in this way, merely to clear the 
 land for agricultural purposes. To show that I have not over- 
 estimated the value of charcoal as a fliel, I will merely state, on 
 the authority of Dr. Ure, that one pound of wood charcoal will 
 raise 731bs., of coke, 651bs., and of pitcoal, GOlbs. of water from 
 32° to 212°. The relative heating properties of the most com- 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 298 
 
 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 mon fuels stand thus : — Pei-fectly dry wood, 35 ; wood in its 
 ordinary state, 26 ; wood charcoal, 78 ; pitcoal, GO ; coke, 65 ; 
 turf, 30 ; turf charcoal, 6-4. In other words, for foundries, smithies, 
 fiiel for boilers, or the reduction of metallic ores, good hardwood 
 charcoal will produce about 22 per cent, more heat than pitcoal, 
 and about 12 per cent, more than coke by weight. 
 
 The price paid for the coke consumed on those portions of our 
 Victorian railways now open for traffic cannot be far short of £7 
 per ton. Coals are now to be procured on the wharf in Melbourne 
 at about £2 ])er ton wholesale. If consumed 100 miles inland, at 
 least £5, or Is. per ton per mile, must be added, making- the total 
 cost at Sandhurst, for instance, equal to £7 per ton.* 
 
 When it is considered desirable to save the liquid products of 
 wood for the manufacture of acetic acid, wood tar, or creosote, in 
 the absence of a kiln, earthenware pipes of 2 or 3 inches diameter 
 may be inserted in the covering* of the heap, and led into tanks, 
 or small watertight vessels with moveable lids, which, with the 
 joints of the pipes, must be luted with clay; the steam rising 
 from the wood will pass through the tanks, being- condensed in 
 its passag-e. In addition to this contrivance, where a large quantity 
 
 of wood can be l)r()Uglit to one spot, it will be advisable to construct 
 the li«'ai)S for burning- ujion a hopper-shaped hole, made in the 
 ground and ])aved with bricks. "Into this sj)ace the tarry acid 
 will partially fall, and may be conducted outwards by a small 
 earthenware pipe into u covered brick tank," (or a cask, let into 
 the ground, will answer the purpose equally well). A slab of 
 
 • Thia WM written in AugUBt, IBGU.— C. Mavem, June- ac, 1861.
 
 %, 
 
 u 
 
 c 
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 299 
 
 stone is placed over the tank or cask and an iron plate over the 
 bottom of the hopper, to prevent the ashes g-etting into the 
 earthenware ])ipe;* the whole will be best understood by reference 
 to the annexed sketch, which represents everything required below 
 the surface of the g-round. 
 
 CREOSOTE. 
 See Pyroligneous Acid, under article Gas, 
 
 CORDAGE. 
 
 In 1858, we imported cordag-e to the value of £61,782, and 
 twine to the amount of £12,892, together exceeding £74,000.t 
 As cordage is produced chiellj^ by machinery, we may soon hope 
 to manufacture it in Victoria. On referring to the article on Paper, 
 in this essay, you will find that flax has been successiiilly cultivated 
 on the Experimental Farm, near Melbourne, " and the fact that it 
 will thrive well in this colony has been fully established." On 
 reference to the Blue-book for 1858, I learn that, in 1858, four 
 acres of flax was grown in the county of Grant. 
 
 Native flax is found in New Zealand in great abundance ; it is 
 the produce of the plant Phorm'mm tenax, and the Government of 
 New Zealand has oflered premiums for its successful manufacture 
 into a merchantable commodity. The JS'erv Zealander, of May 
 30th, 18G0, stated that, "as far as they were aware, no claimant 
 had hitherto demanded the premium;" but that Baron de Thierry 
 has invented a process, by which the native material can be 
 manufactured into an article equal to the celebrated and valuable 
 article of export, " Riga flax." 
 
 In answer to an extract from the above article in the New 
 Zealander, which was copied into the Argus, a letter appears from 
 Mr. H. Christian, of Kew, to the efl'ect '' that he had already 
 manufactured 10,000 halters in this colony chiefly from New 
 Zealand flax, and that there was no more difliculty in making 
 New Zealand flax a marketable commodity than there was in 
 threshing a sheaf of wheat." As Mr. Christian states he has had 
 40 years' experience in the working of hemp and flax, his statement 
 as to the value of the article should be considered conclusive. 
 
 * Dr Ure. 
 
 f In 1859 we imported cordage to the value of i!59,'246, and twine to the 
 value of £8814. 
 
 ^^.
 
 300 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 GAS. 
 
 "With one exception (whicli I sliall hereafter refer to), g-as has 
 been manufactiired in our Victorian g^s works from imported coal, 
 our own coal iields being, as it were, inaccessible, partly from the 
 want of railways, and partly fi'om the great expense of working- 
 them. 
 
 The Melbourne Gas and Coke Company was established in 
 1850, and in 1859, no less than 50 miles of main pipes were laid, 
 supplying; about 45 millions cubic feet of g-as per annum j since 
 then 40 miles of mains have been received, for the purpose of 
 supplying- Richmond, Prahran, St. Kilda, Emerald Hill, Sand- 
 ridg^e, and North Melbourne : so that we may calculate that in 
 1861, at least 70 millions cubic feet will be consumed in Melbourne 
 and its environs. In 1859, the price of the g-as su])plied to the 
 public was 22s. Gd. per 1000 feetj it has since been reduced to 
 l?s. Gd. per 1000 feet.* 
 
 In January, 1859, the Colling-wood Gas Company issued a 
 prospectus, wherein thoy stated that " it had been satisfactorily 
 ascertained, from careful estimates of gas eng-ineers, and from the 
 experience of colonial estaUiskments, that gas of high illuminating 
 power can be manufactured from British and New South Wales 
 coals at a co^-t of about ten shillings per 1000 cubic feet, inclusive 
 of interest on capital ;" and also that "it is anticipated that the 
 comjiany will be enabled to su])ply gas of pure ([uality at a jirice 
 for the first year not exceeding fifteen shillings per 1000 cubic feet, 
 and subsequently at a lower rate." These gas works are expected 
 to be in ojjoration towards tlie close of the present year (1860), 
 and from the small outlay of capital, as compared with the Mel- 
 bourne Gas Works, are likely to become a juolitable imdertaking, 
 even at 15s. per 1000 cubic feet.t 
 
 The Balliiiirat (Jus Works yield about 300,000 cubic feet of gas 
 j)er aiiimiii. 'I'hcrc snc also gas works at Geelong, Castlemaine 
 
 * By postinp bills in Melbourne I find tbat the Melboiirnc Gns and Coke 
 Comimny intend making :i liirtlier peiural redurtion to fifteen sliillinps per 
 1000 cubic feet, including the »ise of meters, after tlie Ist of July next. — C. 
 Maveh, June 28, 1861. 
 
 f These gas works are now in full oi)eration. and arc iiroducing gas at the 
 rate of about fiO.OOO cubic feet i)er week, but will shortly be able to produce 
 at least three tinicH this (juuntity.— C. Mavi;h, June 2S, 18C1.
 
 X 
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 301 
 
 and Sandhurst, the g^as being- in each instance manufactured from 
 imported coals. It is, therefore, not unlikely that, during- the 
 year 18G1, no less than 90 millions cubic feet of gas will be 
 consumed in Victoria, requiring' about 10,000 tons of coal, from 
 which about GOOO tons of coke, 1000 tons of ammoniacal liquor, 
 and about 830 tons of tar may be produced. Hitherto, but little 
 profit has accrued from these pi-oducts to our Victorian gas works ; 
 they are valuable, and should, therefore, not be wasted, or unprofit- 
 ably disposed of* I will endeavor to show to what use they may 
 be applied. 
 
 Coke is generally used for heating- the retorts, about half the 
 produce being- consumed in this way, but as the coke is worth nearly 
 as much per ton as coal, it is desirable to ascertain the practica- 
 bility of heating- the retorts with firewood. It would require 
 about two and a half tons of ordinary firewood to produce heat 
 equal in amount to that produced from one ton of coke. In many 
 of our inland towns it may happen that coke would be worth 
 from five to ten times its weig-ht in firewood, and in such cases it 
 would be most profitable to use the latter. In England coke is of 
 sufficient value to render it profitable to make it from coal in coke 
 ovens, in which all its volatile products are consumed. In 
 Victoria it is not less valuable for locomotive engines, judging- 
 from its imported price, which is about £0 per ton. 
 
 In 1858 coke and fuel were imported to the value of £12,800 ; 
 by fuel I imagine patent fuel is meant to be understood, the 
 value of which is small compared with the coke. In the first six 
 months of 18G0 no less than 2150 tons of coke were imported, 
 valued at £14,2G2, being- about £6 12s. per ton ; and 34,000 tons 
 of coals, vahied at about £1 16s. per ton. From which I am led 
 to believe that coking-, or the manufacture of coke from coal, in 
 proper coke ovens, whereby the coals lose only 20 or 25 per cent, 
 in weight, (without regard to its volatile products,) would pay 
 Avell in Melbourne. 
 
 * The Melbourne Gas and Coke Company in May last, advertised for 
 tenders for the purchase of the tar manufactured at their Gas Works during 
 three or five years, (at the option of the tenderers,) from the 30th inst. On 
 the 19th inst. there was an advertisement in the Argus for a foreman of 
 chemical works, acquainted with the manufacture of the products of tar 
 and patent fuel.— C. Mates, June 29, 1861.
 
 302 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Tar. — Tbe next product to be considered in the distillation of 
 coals is tar, and, as before mentioned, we may reasonably expect 
 about 830 tons to be produced in 1861, which, at £10 per ton, 
 would be worth £8300. Should we find little or no demand for 
 coal tar it can be converted into oil and j)itch, 830 tons of 
 tar producing- about 910 tons of oil, and about 400 tons of 
 pitch. The patent kerosene oil now coming* into general use in 
 Melbourne, and its environs, is nothing more than distilled coal 
 oil, which is sold at 8s. per g-allon retail ; reckoning the whole- 
 sale price at 6s. per gallon 210 tons of coal oil would be worth 
 about £13,000; the pitch would be worth about £15 per ton, 
 or £6000, which, with the coal oil, amounts to £19,000, being 
 an increase on the value of the coal tar of £10,700, or neai'ly 
 60 per cent, for expenses of distillation, a considerable, if not 
 the major portion of which £10,700 must be clear profit, over 
 and above the original value of the tar * Should there be no 
 demand at a remunerative price for either coal tar, coal oil, or 
 pitch, the coal tar may be converted into gas, as shewn under 
 Olcjiant gas (which sec) ; it will yield about thri-e times as much 
 gas as can be produced from an e(|ual weight of coals similar to 
 those from which it was obtained, and should, therefore, be worth 
 at least three times the price of the coals per ton. 
 
 Avimonuical Lujuor, which is deposited with the tar in the tar 
 tank, is most valuable as a li(|uid manure, and when diluted with 
 four times its bulk of water becomes an invaluable top-dressing 
 for grass lands, and for all other purposes to which guano and liquid 
 manure are applied. Or it may be sold to the manufacturing 
 chemists, who obtain about fourteen ounces of sulphate of am- 
 monia from every gallon of liquor, and conseijuently from the 1000 
 tons before referred to about 110 tons of sulphate of ammonia may 
 be obtained by saturating the solution with oil of vitriol, and 
 
 * Those remarks ap])ly more to a substitute for kerosene, sold as parafflnc 
 oil in Mi'lbournc. Tlie imported kerosene is either distilled from coal or 
 from the petroleum or roek oil, whicli is obtained in preat abundance from 
 wells sank for the purpose, on Oil ("reek, a branch of the Allr^jhauy Uiver, 
 in Krio County, I'ennsylvania ; at Tidionti*. in Warren County, fiirtlur up 
 the Alleghany; the eastern jjart of the State of Ohio; and from a large 
 territory on the Thames Hiver, in Canada West ; the last loeality yielding 
 a SMi)f>ly almost fabulous. Sec " American Kock Oil," (from the Times,) in 
 the Anjim of the 28th of May last— C. Mavkh, June '29, 1861.
 
 
 'ft 
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 303 ^/ 
 
 evaporating" to dryness ; in tlie same manner we may obtain sal 
 ammoniac or muriate of ammonia by iising; muriatic instead of 
 sulphuric acid. Carbonate, or ses(|ui-carbonate of ammonia is 
 generally prepared by subliming- in a retoit a mixture of one and 
 a half parts of clean dry chalk, and one part of sal ammoniac ; it 
 is used in medicine, and by confectioners, to g-ive sponginess to 
 their cakes by its volatization from the doug-h in the oven. Many 
 patents have been taken out for manufacturing- the different salts 
 of ammonia from the ammoniacal liquor obtained from gas- 
 works, among- which that of Mr, Crolls stands pre-eminent, for 
 purifying- g-as from ammonia (before it enters the lime purifier); 
 this is effected by passing- it through diluted sulphuric acid ; this 
 ing-enious and valuable process not only purifies the g-as, which 
 would otherwise destroy the pipes, g-as-fitting-s, g-ilding- and me- 
 tallic surfaces of ornamental apartments, but also yields a valuable 
 product in the form of five pounds of sulphate of ammonia, which 
 may be obtained from every g-allon of the saturated solution of 
 diluted sulphuric acid.* Its ado})tion is now becoming- g-eneral in 
 most g-as works. 
 
 Coal Oil. — Dr. Ure states that "■ the coal oil, when rectified by 
 distillation, is extensively employed for dissolving- caoutchouc in 
 making- the varnish of waterproof cloth, and also for burning- in 
 a peculiar kind of lamp under the name of naphtha." It is some- 
 times used to advantag-e in nnphthahsing poor g-as, by which the 
 density and consequent brilliancy of the gas is increased ; this is 
 effected by merely passing- the gas through the distilled coal oil 
 before it enters the gasholder. 
 
 Cyanide oj' Ammo7iia is likewise obtained from the ammoniacal 
 liquor, which may be converted into Prussian blue by saturation 
 with muria'^ic or hydrochloric acid, and then adding- sulphate of 
 iron. According to M. Jacquemyns, the quantity of cyanogen and 
 cyanates contained in twent}' gallons of ammoniacal liquor is 
 sufficient to form one ounce tro}- of Prussian blue. Cyanide of 
 potassium and prussiate of potash are also obtained from the 
 cyanates, but in siich small quantities that it is doubtful, in the 
 present state of the colony, whether they are of sufficient import- 
 ance to engage the attention of manufacturing chemists. 
 
 Bitximm. — The value of coals for the manufacture of g-as 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 304 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 depends upon the quantity of bitumen they contain, cannel coal 
 being- the best. Mr. N. W. Pollard, of the Railway Department, 
 has obtained a patent in this colony for the manufacture of gas 
 from Trinidad and other bitumens, and applying the residunm 
 products to the manufacture of black varnish, or japan, and tar; 
 the patentee informs me that Trinidad bitumen can be imported 
 here, by the cargo, at about £6 per ton, and that from experiments 
 he made at gas works in New York in 1851, he obtained no less 
 than l?r,000 cubic feet of gas from a ton of bitxmien. 
 
 Olefiunt Gas is more easily manufactured, and produces a more 
 brilliant light than coal gas. It has been superseded by coal 
 gas in Great Britain on account of the low price of coals and the 
 high price of oils and fats as compared with their relative value 
 in Victoria. Oil or liquid fat produces about 15 cubic feet of gas 
 per lb., while cannel coal produces only 4, and ordinary coal from 
 2 to 3 cubic feet per lb. ; olefiant gas, from its greater density, is 
 worth at least twice as much per 1000 cubic feet as ordinary gas 
 from inferior coal ; the value of oil, fat, or tallow, when used for 
 gas will consequently be about ten times the value of such coals 
 per ton, and where the cartage exceeds £3 or the cost of the 
 inferior coals delivered at the gas works exceeds £5 per ton, it 
 will be found cheaper to use oil, liquid flit, or tallow, where either 
 of them can be procured at about £40 per ton, whicli is likely to 
 be above the cost in many parts of the colony, since the tallow 
 exported in 1858 was valued at only £43, including the cartage 
 from the bush.* The blubber and sediment of whale oil may be 
 employed with advantage in the absence of good coal j this may 
 occur in the neighborhood of whale fisheries, as at Portland and 
 Twofold ]]ay. Two patents have been obtained in this colony for 
 the manufacture of gas from oils and fatty substances, one of 
 them by a Mr. John Hart, in Deceml)er, 1858, who also lays 
 claim to certain ini])rovement8 in the construction and shape of 
 the retorts used : the other patent was obtained b}' a Mr. J. T. 
 ►Sanders, who claims the numufacture of gas from oil of resin, and 
 other oils and fatty substances, the gas being purified in the retort 
 before it passes into the condenser, and lastly in the general man- 
 agement of the necessary apparatus. '' In England, the relative 
 
 • In 1859 the tallow exported from Victoria was vulucil at about X4'2 per 
 ton.— C. Mavi'h, .June 29, 18C1.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTU RES. .30.5 
 
 cost of coal g'as and oil gus may be estimated as one to six at 
 least," as stated by Dr. Ure, who also adds, " Resin gas is cheaper 
 than oil g'as." The exceptions to this rule likely to arise in Vic- 
 toi'ia will be owing' to the g-reat cost of" carriage ; the coals in 
 Melbourne being- only £2 per ton, it follows that where coals cost 
 £5 per ton in our inland towns, three-fifths of the cost will be for 
 carriag-e; this is not the case with cannel coal, since it is worth 
 about double the amount of ordinary coal, not only on account of 
 its yielding- a larg-er amount of g-ns, but also on account of the 
 greater density and superior illuminating power of the gas ob- 
 tained; therefore where cannel coal can be had for £10 per ton it 
 will not be cheaper to make olefiant gas from tallow or waste fat 
 even at £40 per ton. 
 
 Hcsin Gas. — The wholesale price of resin is about £12 per ton 
 in Melbourne; and resin, according to Dr. Ure, will produce the 
 same quantity of gas as can be produced from pitch, that is, 
 about 10 cubic feet per lb., and will piobably be found as valuable 
 as coal-tar in producing an equal amount of light per ton ; both 
 resin and coal-tar may be considered to be worth about twice as 
 much per ton as cannel coal so far as their gas-producing qualities 
 are concerned: it follows, therefore, that at 120 miles from Mel- 
 bourne, reckoning the carriage at one shilling per ton per mile, 
 the cost of two tons of cannel coal at £3 per ton would be equal 
 to the cost of one ton of resin or coal tar ; therefore, if these 
 materials have to be carted a greater distance than 120 miles, the 
 two latter (ccetcris paribus) will be the cheapest. 
 
 Portable Gas Apparatus. — Since writing the foregoing remarks 
 upon the comparative cost of gas made from resin, tar, and coal, 
 I have met with a pamphlet published by the Maryland Gas 
 Company, of Baltimore, United States. This company manu- 
 factures portable gas apparatus for converting resin oil into olefiant 
 gas; the apparatus is very simple and easily worked, and costs in 
 Baltimore from about £70 for a complete apparatus, the gasholder 
 of which contains 300 cubic ieeX, to about £200 for an apparatus 
 with three retorts and a gasholder containing 1000 cubic feet; 
 this apparatus is suitable for dwellings, churches, hotels, foundries, 
 manufactories. Sec. Other apparatus with four or more retorts 
 and gasholders of any required size can be either made to order 
 and imported from Baltimore or constructed in this colony under 
 the sanction of the Victorian patentee before referred to, Mr. J. T. 
 
 X
 
 306 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Sanders. Mr, Ricards, sen., of the firm of Fislier, Ricards, and 
 Co., of Melbourne, lias a complete apparatus imported from 
 Baltimore, which was temporarily erected between Spring street 
 and the Parliament g-rounds about two years ag'o. He found 
 it would not answer ; that is, the g'as would cost more in Mel- 
 bourne than coal g-as ; this is also the case with g-as made fi'ora 
 tar, ])itL'h, or oil, as I have before shown. The information con- 
 tained in the above pamphlet is confirmed by some of the leading 
 citizens of Maryland who have used the portable ap])aratus, and 
 testify as to its superiority both in brilliancy and economy to 
 either coal gas or oil lamps. From this pamphlet I also glean 
 the following : "That a gallon of the resin oil will make from 75 
 to 100 cubic feet of gas of about twice the value in brilliancy as 
 compared with, common coal gas ; " and, therefore, worth about 
 50 per cent, more than an equal rpiantity of cannel coal gas, from 
 which I deduce the following estimate showing the comparative 
 cost of cannel coal gas and resin oil gas, where the cartage of the 
 material from Melbourne for producing the gas costs £4 per ton. 
 
 Besin Oil in Melbourne costs ,1^19 per ton, and cartage £4 
 = £23 per ton, reckoning 80 cubic feet of gas ])er gallon : this is 
 equal to about 20,000 cubic feet per ton, equal in light produced 
 to 30,000 cubic feet of cannel coal gas. Against this we have 
 cannel coal producing 10,000 cubic feet of gas per ton, which 
 will require 3 tons for 30,000 cubic feet ; cost of coal in Mel- 
 bourne £12, and carriage £12=£24, showing a saving of £1 in 
 favor of resin oil gas ; I therefore cunclude it is cheaper to use 
 resin oil in any locality in \'ictoria where the cost of carriage is 
 more than £4 per ton from Melbourne. Tlie original outlay for 
 the manufacture of resin oil g-as would not in any case exceed 
 one-half the cost of outliiy for ordinary gas works, on account of 
 the greater simplicity of the apparatus and the saving in main 
 ])i])es, since several jiortiilile gas works could bo maintained 
 without materially increasing tli(! comparative outlay. Against 
 this, and in favor of coal gas works, we liiivc the liquid products 
 and one-half the coke, the otlier half being r(M|iiir('d for heating 
 tiie retorts. Fuel is also re(|uir('d in heating the retorts in the 
 resin-oil ajqiaratus, but as only :i low lifiit is necessary it can 
 easilv be miiiiitaiiicd with firewood ; and against this slight 
 addition to the cost, as compared with coal gas, we may fairly set 
 the great saving in attendance and thi' cost of jjurifying resin oil
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 307 
 
 gas, which is actually purer on leaving- the retort than the coal 
 gas of Victoria after ])assing' through lime purifiers, no other 
 means iiaving, up to the present time, been acIo])ted to free our 
 coal gas from ammonia, although (as mentioned under the head 
 of Ammoniacal lAquor in this Article) CroU's patent apparatus, 
 which is most efficient for this purpose, has been successfully used 
 in England for many years ; the destmctive effects of ammonia, 
 and the consequent necessity for its removal from coal gas, I have 
 before referred to. 
 
 Gas from Leaves^ (jr. — In October, 1857, Mr. G. W. Praagst 
 obtained a patent in this colony " for obtaining, by distillation 
 from the several varieties of gum leaves — first, a spirito oleaginous 
 compound or crude oil ; and secondly, carburetted hydrogen gas, 
 pyroligneous acid and tar." 
 
 That portion of the patent relating to the distillation of car- 
 buretted hydrogen gas from gum leaves, was successfully carried 
 into effect in the gas works of Kyneton, this township having 
 been lighted with such gas for about two years.* From the 
 information I have been able to obtain, it is superior in illu- 
 minating properties to the gas obtained from the Australian 
 hardwoods, but inferior in this respect to the coal gas made in 
 Melbourne, which is produced fi-om a mixture of common with 
 from 5 to 10 per cent, of cannel coal. The quantity obtained from 
 a ton of gum leaves is from 9000 to 10,000 cubic feet, whereas, 
 wood produces only fi-om 4000 to 0000 cubic feet of gas per ton, 
 and even this small quantity is poor in quality, consisting chiefly 
 of hydrogen gas. It will not, therefore, of itself produce gas fit 
 for ordinary^ uses, but might successfully be used in combination 
 with olefiant gas, gas obtained from resin oil, or with cannel coal 
 gas. 
 
 Gas from Wood and Coal. — In December, 1857, Mr. J. A. 
 Huxtable obtained a patent in Victoria for the manufacture of gas 
 from wood and coal. He claims the invention of 'the manufacture 
 of illuminative gas by the " distillation of peat or wood con- 
 
 * I have since ascertained that the patentee was compelled to resort to 
 the use of cannel coal at the Kyneton Gas Works, to bring the gum-leaf 
 gas to the required standard ; and ultimately, on account of the difficulty 
 of obtaining gum-leaves, the gas was made wholly from cannel coal. — C. 
 Mayes, June 29, 1861.
 
 308 PRIZE K5SAY. 
 
 jointly with cannel coal, bituminous schist, or shale,* and natural 
 bitumen." 
 
 This patent mipht be successfully carried out in supplying- our 
 inland towns with gas, the bitumen or natural aspluilte (before 
 referred to) being carted from Melbourne, and the wood found 
 in the locality, used either in the same retort or in different 
 retorts, the gas from each in equal volumes mixing in the gas- 
 holder, by which an average rpudity of gas might be obtained for 
 probablv Co per cent, less than gas wholly from fat, resin oil, 
 cannel coal, or bitumen. 
 
 Gas and Pyroligneous Acid. — There is an advantage attending 
 the manuHicture of gas from wood, if the crude vinegar can be 
 collected and distilled into wood vinegar, or pyroligneous acid^ 
 which may easily be effected, and would prove more profitable than 
 the distillation of wood for its charcoal and liquid products only. 
 This will be better understood when we consider that wood is 
 distilled in clay retorts for its produce in charcoal and wood 
 vinegar, in the same manner that coal is distilled for gas, coke, 
 tar, and ammoniacal liquor in our gas works; the chief difference 
 consists in the larger size of the clay retorts, used for distilling 
 woods. *' In an establishment at Glasgow the retorts hold 8 cwt. 
 of hardwood each — oak, ash, birch, and beech, being used. The 
 heat of the retorts is kept up during the day, and the furnace is 
 allowed to cool at night ; the charcoal is then removed, and a new 
 charge of wood introduced. The average product of crude vinegar 
 or pyroligneous acid from the 8 cwt. of hardwood is 35 gallons, 
 which is contaminated with tar; the charcoal left in tiio retort 
 weighs abotit one-fifth of the wood used;t hence ilearly half the 
 weight of the wood is lost in incondensible gas, which might be 
 purified in its way to a gasholder, tliero to be mixed with richer 
 gas. 
 
 * A paper was road by Dr. Ralph, at the Royal Society of Victoria, on 
 the 27th May last, upon a iniiiiTal called dysodilo, from Tasmania, when it 
 was shown to he a hitiiminous Hcliist or shale, containing a larjfo amount of 
 microscopical n\^\v, coated with a rcsinons stihsrancc. Dr. C!rook slated 
 that a company had hcen already formed in 'rasmania to extract the oil 
 from the suhstancc, and tiiat the mineral wiis distilled in connnon iron 
 retorts, and was likely to hecdiiie an article iif great (iiminercial value. — 
 C. Mavkh. June 2!l, IHOl. 
 
 t I)r Ure.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 309 
 
 Pyrolig'iieous acid is used in the arts for such purposes that it 
 need not be highly purified. Tlie quantity of sap or crude pyro- 
 lig-neous acid in red gum and othei* eucalyptii must be ver}" great, 
 since these liardwoods lose about one-third of their weight in 
 seasoning. This acid in different woods also varies considerabl}' 
 in strength or acidity ; that contained in red gum must be very 
 strong, because if a saw is laid upon a fresh sawcut, it soon turns 
 the saw black, showing the presence of a powerful acid on the 
 surface. 
 
 Creosote and the real })arafl[ine is obtained from the wood tar 
 distilled with the crude vinegar. " It exists in the tar of beech 
 woods to from 20 to 25 per cent., and in crude pyroligneous acid 
 to the amount of 1| per cent."* 
 
 Acetic Acid. — " The crude acid is rectified by a second distil- 
 lation in a copper still, leaving about 20 per cent, of tarry matter ; 
 it has now become a transparent brown vinegar, and its acid 
 powers are 50 per cent, superior to household vinegar. B}' redistil- 
 lation, saturation, evaporation, conversion, &c., a colorless strong 
 vinegar is obtained, which is well known as the acetic acid of 
 commerce," and is the vinegar used in large pickle manufactories, 
 and imj)orted here under the name of pale malt and white wine 
 vinegar, with and without pickles, in large quantities. 
 
 Green hardwood timber is best for charcoal, and yields the 
 largest quantity of wood vinegar. 
 
 Salts of Vinegar. — ''When acetic acid is concentrated it 
 becomes a ver}' powei-ful scent, and is used in sickness and 
 fainting fits. Salts of vinegar is sulphate of potash impregnated 
 with acetic acid, and rendered aromatic with the oil of rosemary, 
 lavender, &c., and is sometimes called " aromatic vinegar."* 
 
 GIN. 
 
 In 1858 we imported gin to the value of £108,208. t 
 The manufacture of Hollands or Geneva., as pursued in 
 Schiedam is as follows : — Two parts by measure of unmalted rye, 
 and one part of malted higg (a light small grained kind of barle}'), 
 are steeped together in a mash tun for about two hours, the water 
 being added at about 105° Fahr.; the contents are vigorously 
 
 * Dr. Ure. 
 
 t In 1859 we imported gin to the value of £109,992.
 
 310 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 stiiTed and the mash tun closely covered iip immediately after. 
 After two hours steeping-, the transparent spent wash of a previous 
 mashing- is then added witli as much cold water as will reduce the 
 whole to about 85° Fahr. Flanders yeast is then introduced to the 
 amount of one pound for every 100 gallons of the mashed material. 
 The fermentation occupies from 48 to GO hours, when the wash is 
 transferred to the still, and converted into low wines; to every 100 
 gallons of this liquor two pounds of juniper berries and a quarter 
 pound of salt are added ; the whole is then ])ut into the low wine 
 still, when the fine Hollands spirit is drawn off by a gentle and 
 well-regulated heat." " The quantity of spirit varies from 18 to 
 21 gallons per quarter of grain,'' the spirit being- 2 or 3 per cent, 
 above proof, "this large product being partly due to the spent wash 
 of the preceding fermentation, which also improves its flavor." 
 The quantity of rye, and (here or bigg) grown in Victoria during 
 the year ending the 31st March, 1860, was 2714 bushels, showing 
 an increase over the preceding year of 2003 bushels. I have no 
 official information as to the use that is made of these cereals ; 
 but on referring to my article on " Brandy," it will be seen that 
 illicit distillation is carried on to a large extent throughout the 
 colony. Were distillation to be legalised, doubtless much of the 
 £108,000 now annually spent for gin would be retained in the 
 colony. 
 
 The preceding infonnation on the manufacture of Hollands is 
 abridged from Dr. Ure's article on gin, the details of which he 
 obtained from a distiller who liad studied the art at Schiedam, 
 and who tried to bring it into general use in Great IJritaiu, "but 
 found the palates of our gin-drinkers too much corruj)ted to relish 
 so pure a beverage " From this it is clear that Dr. Uro considers 
 Hollands more wholesome than British gin, about which latter 
 article ho is ominously silent. 
 
 We alread}' grow rye and bigg in Victoria, .hiiiipcr berries are 
 grown hero; they are not in re(iuest for this ])urpose, Imt would 
 be if distillation was allowed ])y license at a low rate of duty ])er 
 gallon, when wo could compete successfully with the imported 
 sj)irits, both as to quality and cost. 
 
 GLASS. 
 
 In IH.^M ^^•e imported ])lato glass to the value of £12,213, and 
 window glass valued at .{.'IT), 400; since then the iiujiortafion of
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 311 
 
 plate g-lass has greatly increased. In tlie first six months of 
 18G0 we imported hottles to the value of £1850 (exclusive of 
 those containing- liquoi-s, &c.) and glassware valued at £22,000 j 
 we may therefore safely take our annual importation of glass 
 at not less than £60,000.* Witho\it entering- into the tedious 
 details of the manufacture of glass, I will g-ive a few recipes of 
 the materials used in making- certain kinds of g;lass, and then 
 show that these materials are either among- the raw materials of 
 Victoria, or can be made from them, with one or two trifling- 
 exceptions. 
 
 " Bottle Glass. — Yellow or white sand, 100 })arts j kelp (Ijurnt 
 seaweed), 30 to 40 ; lixiviated wood ashes, from IGO to 170 parts- 
 fresh wood ashes, 30 to 40 parts j potter's clay, 80 to 100 parts ; 
 cullet or broken g-lass, 100. If basalt be used the proportion of 
 kelp may be diminished."! 
 
 In the best bottle g-lass, as the JIash glass of St. Etienne, some 
 heavi/ spar or sulphate of barytes may be used, but only to the 
 extent of about 1 per cent. ; this last is the only article that need 
 be imported for the manufacture of any kind of bottle g-lass. 
 
 " Crown Glass. — 300 parts of fine sand ; 200 of good soda- 
 ash ; 33 of lime ; from 250 to 300 of broken g-lass ; GO of white 
 sand (or crushed quartz); 30 of purified potash; 15 of saltpetre 
 (1 of borax); h of arsenious acid."t 
 
 The soda ash is cinide carbonate of soda made from sea salt, 
 and could be made from the saline deposit of our salt lakes ; the 
 potash is made from calcined vegetable matter such as thistles, 
 straw, (fee. (see Potash) ; saltpetre is a natural combination of 
 potash and nitric acid, hence called nitrate of potash ; the arse- 
 nious acid is obtained from various metallic ores found in Victoria, 
 but as it only forms about t^Vq part of the materials used for 
 crown glass, and about -ji^ part of some kinds of crystal glass, it 
 is an insignificant item in the manufacture of glass, and could be 
 imported. 
 
 " IMiitc Table Glass. — 100 of sand ; 50 of purified potashes ; 
 20 of chalk (or pure limestone) ; and 2 of saltpetre." 
 
 * In 1859 the value of imported glass was, for bottles, £4,920; plate, 
 £17,860; window, £22,895; and glassware, £23,522; total, £69,197.— C. 
 Mayes, June 29, 1861. 
 
 t Dr. Ure.
 
 312 PRIZE KSSAV. 
 
 " Crystal or Flint Glass. — 60 parts purified potashes ; 120 
 sand ; 24 of clialk (carbonate of lime) ; 2 of saltpetre ; 2 of arse- 
 nious acid ; -^^ of niang-anese."' Mang-anese (oxide of) has been 
 found associated with the lithographic limestone of Geelong. 
 
 Another Crystal Glass which is fit for optical and chemical 
 purposes, is made with " 120 white saud (or quartz) ; 40 of puri- 
 fied pearlash ; 35 of red lead; 13 of saltpetre; -jV of manganese."* 
 Pearlash, like potash, is a preparation of calcined vegetable matter. 
 Red lead or minium is j)repared by calcining common lead with a 
 slow fire, lixiviating it, &c. 
 
 '' Plate Glass. — Very white sand (crushed milk-white quartz), 
 300 parts ; purified soda, 100 parts ; carbonate of lime (pure 
 limestone), 43 parts ; manganese, 1 ; cullet or broken plate glass, 
 300."* These are the materials used for mirror plate glass on the 
 Continent of Europe, the purified soda is carbonate of soda (see 
 article on " Soda.") Thefe are other kinds of glass, such as 
 (fix'en window, or broad glass, the common dark green bottle 
 'glass, ij'c, the last two being cheap inferior glasses. An improved 
 broad or spread window glass is made in Birmingham, etc., under 
 the name of British or German plate glass. Chance's British 
 sheet glass is made in the same way, but with the materials used 
 for crown glass. 
 
 A'elp and ^Soda Ash. — Kelp, or calcined seaweed, which used 
 to be largely used in the manufacture of glass, is now supei-seded 
 by the economical manufacture of carbonate of soda and soda ash 
 from sea salt, which from its well known invariable properties, can 
 be safely depended upon, wIrmcus kelp, from its variable consti- 
 tuents, was too often a source of annoNanco and loss to the glass 
 manufacturer.* 
 
 Saltpetre or nitre, one of the materials used in making crown, 
 crystal, or fiint and j)Iate glass, could be made here from nitre 
 beds, us practised in Sweden and France (2000 tons fit for the 
 manufacture of gunj)owder were annually made in Franco duiing 
 the wars of the Kcvoluticui) ; but as it is a natural cfHorescence 
 from porous stones and tlie surface of the ground in certain 
 parts of Spain, Egypt, India, itc, it coidd always be imported 
 much chc'.qjer than it could be nnide, the three last named coun- 
 tries generating sulHcient for the wants of the whole civilized 
 
 • Dr. Urc.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 313 
 
 world, since it almost unaccountably re-ap})ears annually after the 
 surface of the ground, stones, (fee, has been carefiilly cleared of 
 the previous crop.* 
 
 Enditjenous Materials. — It will be seen from the foreg-oing 
 remarks that in materials for glass making" we are not inferior to 
 any other civilized country in the world, since we possess inex- 
 haustible su])])lies of line white sand or quartz, the principal 
 material of g'liiss, and can either manufacture or import all other 
 necessary materials. It is to be hoped that the time is not far 
 distant when the i)ure white sand of our beaches and the milk- 
 white crushed quartz of our g-uld-fields will be soug-ht for this 
 purpose. I recollect reading- many years ag"o that the sea-sand 
 on the coast of Gipps Land was unsurpassed for its purity and 
 whiteness by any other sand for the manufacture of the best kinds 
 of g-lass, and that it had been imported into Eng-land for that 
 purpose. 
 
 Furnaces. — In the construction of the furnaces, which seldom 
 last more than twelve months, and therefore form an important 
 item in the current expenses of g-lass making-, fire-bricks are 
 required made from equal portions of silica and alumina, or pure 
 quartz sand and washed clay, as described under " Brick Earth," 
 in the article '^ Bricks " (which see). 
 
 Fire Clay. — The melting- pots are also made from a superior 
 kind of fire clay, mixed with broken pots or crucibles, as shown 
 under *' Pottery" (which see). 
 
 Slip. — Instead of lime or cement mortar (which is fusible), a 
 fire-mortar is used called slij}, which is made from the constituents 
 of fire-clay, g-round, washed, and properly mixed by passing- it 
 through a hair sieve ; this mixture is used to connect the fire- 
 bricks, and as a substitute for mortar in the furnaces. • 
 
 Polishing and Grinding ])late glass is done by mfichinery, the 
 last or finishing polish being the work of females in France, 
 " who slide one plate over another while a little moistened putty 
 of tin finely levigated is thrown between."! 
 
 Silcering Plane Mirrors "consists in applying a layer of tinfoil 
 alloyed with mercur}' to one surface."! This process is now carried 
 on in Melbourne, by Messrs. Kamsay Bros., where a mirror 10 
 feet by 7 feet has lately been silvered, and is described in the 
 
 * See article on Glass, by Dr. Ure. t ^^- Ure.
 
 31i PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Arg^is (about Augiist 5, 18C0). The tinfoil, which is rather 
 larger than the glass, is covered with mercury and amalgamated 
 with it by rubbing the mercury over the tinfoil ; the glass is then 
 slid on to the tinfoil, the mercury being pushed before it; it 
 is then pressed down by a large number of covered weights, 
 which remain upon the glass for about thirty-six hours. This 
 process ditiers little from that described by Dr. lire, who, 
 however, states that about a month is required for draining out 
 the superfluous mercury from large mirrors, and from eighteen to 
 twenty days fi'om those of moderate size. 
 
 Fud. — In regard to the kinds of fuel used in the furnaces, .Dr. 
 irre says : '' Formerly wood fuel alone was employed for heating the 
 melting furnaces of the mirror-plate manufactory of St. Gobin ; 
 but ^\-ithin tliese few years, the director of the works makes use 
 with nearly equal advantage of pit-coal. In the same establish- 
 ment two melting furnaces may be seen, one of which is fired 
 with wood, and the other with coals, without an}' difference being 
 perceptible in the quality of the glass furnished b}' either.'' * * * 
 " The construction of the fiirnaces in which coal is burned is the 
 same as that with wood, with slight modifications. Instead of 
 tlie close-bottomed hearth of tiie wood furnace, there is an iron 
 grate in the coal-hearth through which the air enters, and the 
 waste ashes descend." 
 
 " When billets of wood were used as fuel they were well dried 
 beforehand, by being placed a few days on a framework of wood 
 called the wheel, placed two feet above the furnace and its arches, 
 and supported on four pillars at some distance from the angles of 
 the building." 
 
 There are many localities where glass might be made with 
 advantage, such as a white sandy beach accessible by small 
 vessels, and iiaving plenty of wood or coal in the neighborhood ; 
 also, on the l)anks of our salt lakes, supposing the sand to be 
 suitable, fuel near, and the locality easy of access ; all these pre- 
 recjuioites are ])robably attainable. 
 
 In tliese two supj)oscd localities the soda could be made on the 
 sp(jt from the sea water of the beach, or salt found on the banks 
 of our salt lakes. Slioidd it be deemed iinadvisabh! to manufacttiro 
 the soda, the other ingredients, snnd and fuel, might be obtained 
 in himdredft of places in the colon}', and even quartz-crushing for 
 gold and sand carried on simultaneously.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 315 
 
 GLUE. 
 
 In 1858 we imported 20 tons of g-lue, valued at £2030, or 
 about £101 per ton.* Glue is the substance g-elatine in a dry 
 state, and is prepared from the parings of ox, horse, and other 
 thick hides, and the reftise of the leather dresser, which afford 50 
 per cent, of their weig-ht in g-lue. The tendons and similar offal of 
 slaughter-houses also afford materials for glue, but it is inferior 
 to that made fi-om those first named. Skin of any kind, if 
 uncombined with tannin, will make glue ; the tannin is inse- 
 parable from the glue by any known chemical process, and this is 
 why leather cannot be made into glue. The skins must be 
 thoroughly cleansed before being used for tbis purpose by mace- 
 rating in milk of lime. They are then, with other animal matters, 
 boiled in a copper, with a false bottom to prevent the glue from 
 burning; after being boiled for a certain time, the jelly formed in 
 the bottom of the copper is drawn off by a stop cock ; the first 
 boiling is alwaj-s the best, the second and third being weaker, and 
 are again used for boiling fresh animal matter; the jelly, after 
 being drawn oft' for glue, is kept hot for five hours to settle, the 
 clear solution being then drawn off into casting boxes, which 
 remain all night, when they are turned out on to tables, cut up into 
 the required form, and suspended in nets to dry ; if the weather 
 is too damp for this puqiose, the glue is dried upon hurdles in a 
 drying-room, heated with a stove. " The pale colored, hard, and 
 solid glue, made from the parings of ox or horse hides by the first 
 boiling is the best and most cohesive."! 
 
 In 1858, we exported 106,811 skins, besides 311,013 horns and 
 hoofs ; there were also fifty-eight fellmongeries and tanneries in 
 the colon}^ at the same time;+ from tliese combined sources it is 
 probable there was ample waste material for at least 20 tons of 
 glue, the quantity imported in 1858. 
 
 The Victoria Glue Company now have works at Sandridge. 
 
 * In 1859 we imported glue to the value of £3534, showing an increase 
 as compared with 1858. — C. Mayes, June 29, 1861. 
 
 t Dr. Ure. 
 
 X In 1859 we exported 251,293 skins, and 295,503 horns and hoofs, weigh- 
 ing 28 tons 12 cwt. ; at the same time there were 20 fellmongeries and 31 
 tanneries in Victoria.— C. Mayes, June 29, 1861.
 
 316 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 HATS AND CAPS. 
 
 These articles of a]iptirel were imported here in 1858, to the 
 value of £85,173, but during the first six months of the present 
 year, 1860, the importation has fallen to £32,000, as compared 
 with £4:!i?,000, the amount for the corresponding- period of 18o9.* 
 
 "The materials used in making- stuft" hats are the /?/r^" of hires 
 and rabbits freed from tiie lomj hair, tog;ether witli wool and 
 beaver."t We have but few rabbits in the colony ; but, as a 
 substitute, we have a large number of opossums and kangaroos, 
 wallabvs, wombats, Sec, whose furs mig-ht be appHed to hat 
 making, the long hair being- used for the manufacture of felt for 
 this and other purposes. 
 
 The skeletons or shells of stuif hats are made of whalebone, 
 horsehair, paper, etc., which are washed over or saturated with a 
 waterproof composition ; the nap is then worked on to the shell by 
 being dipped into a hot liquor and rolled. There are many 
 operations connected with hat-making which would be too tedious 
 to describe ; but most of them can be effected by macliinery, such 
 as separating the nap from the long hairs by a kind of winnowing 
 machine ; machines may also be had for making the shells, ironing 
 the hats, roaghing or working the nap on to the shell or skeleton 
 of the hat, &c. 
 
 "With the exception of silk and beaver, we have all the materials 
 required for hat-making; these are whalebone, wool, and horsehair, 
 and the furs of animals, as abovementioned, which are also suitable 
 for the manufacture of felt, either for hats and cajjs, or for other 
 purposes to which felt is applied, as f(jr roofing, coating-, boilers of 
 en"-ines, as a non-conductor of sound between ]iartitions of cabins, 
 ttc. ; for these latter ])urj)oses the hair of oxen, horses, itc, is also 
 made into felt. I'^verv imported hat costs 3s. for fieight, cases, 
 insurance, itc, which would he saved if they were made here.t 
 
 • In 1859 we imported hats and caps to the vahie of £86, ir).*!. 
 
 t ])r. Ure, 
 
 J From the evidence given before tlie TiirilVConnnittee, in Miireli, 1860, 
 I abstract tlie followinj^ : — " Tliere are from 100 to l.'iO journeymen hatters 
 in Mclliournc, ami only about 1-' emiiioyed at tlieir trade; — tliat a man can 
 m.ike IH black Hilk, felt, or hIicII bats in a week, for wliidi he would be i)aid 
 from £3 to X.:\ l:2.s."' 'I'hat imported bats are inferior to those made in
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 317 
 
 Straw Hats and Bonnets. — Tn tlio list of" imjjorts for 18ij8, no 
 mention is made of bonnets, which are probably included under 
 drapery. The number of Italian or Lef^horn, Tuscany, and English 
 straw bonnets imported here must be considerable, if we consider 
 that only a portion of our population, say 50,000 females, were to 
 require even one straw bonnet during- the year, at an averag-e value 
 of 10s. each, it would amount to £25,000. 'I'hat this estimate is 
 rather below than above the mark will be apparent, since Eng-lish 
 straw bonnets vary from 5s. to 20s., and Leg-horn (worn by ladies) 
 from £1 to £4 each. It is this very expensive kind of bonnets, 
 the straw for which is exported from Tuscany and other parts of 
 Italy into England, and there woven or j)laited and sewn for 
 bonnets, which we might probably g-row and manufacture in ^uc- 
 toria. It aj)])ears, fi-om the account given by Dr. Ure, that the 
 Italian and Tuscan straw is made or prepared from the bearded 
 wlieat, which is pulled up while the ear is in a soft milky state, and 
 spread out in the sun for three or four days to dry; it is then tied 
 up into sheaves and stacked for about a month, when it is removed 
 to a paddock and again spread out to be bleached by the aid of the 
 sun, air, and dew ; the roots and the lower joint of the straw is 
 then separated from the stem, leaving- the upper part fit for use ; 
 it is then sorted according- to qualit}', steamed for the purpose 
 of extracting- its color, and submitted to the fiimes of sulphur to 
 complete the bleaching-. In this state, (the dried ears of wheat 
 being- still on the straw), it is imported into Eng-land to be split 
 and dyed, the Leghorn being- then g-enerally woven, and the 
 Tuscan plaited and sewn. The valuable properties of this straw 
 may be chiefly due to the climate of Leghorn or Ital}', which 
 resembles that of Victoria. 
 
 IIORNWARE, 
 
 The horn of oxen, cows, goats, sheep, itc, is a tough, semi- 
 transparent substance, which can be pressed into a variety of forms 
 recpiired for combs, rings, handles for knives and forks, &c. The 
 best process is to boil the horn after being- sawn in two, long-itudi- 
 
 Victoria because they are injured in transit by the dampness of the salt 
 water. That, supposing we could compete with imported hats, nearly as 
 many females as men might be employed — C. Mayes, Juno 29, 1861.
 
 318 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 nally, and press out the leaves, or sheets, by iron vices; these 
 pieces are then sawn to the required thickness, if tor sheets or 
 plates, which may be joined tog^ether, by being; first iixed in an 
 iron mould, and, while so fixed, plunged into boiling- water till 
 the edges are softened, when they are joined and plunged into 
 cold water, the edges being thus perfectly united ; horn can be 
 spotted to imitate tortoise-shell by a simple process. Cutting the 
 teeth of combs is accomplished either by hand or b}- machinery; 
 one of the machines used resembles a lathe iixed with fine circular 
 saws at the requisite distance apart to cut the whole of the teeth 
 simultaneously, the plate, or intended comb, being pressed against 
 the saws for that puii)ose ; another machine, invented by a Mr. 
 Lyne, cuts two combs at once by means of chisels, which prevent 
 any waste of material as in sawing. "The kind of horn most 
 preferred is that of goats and sheep, from its being whiter and 
 more transparent than the horn of any other animals." " Bullocks 
 horns may be softened by roasting in the flame of a wood fire, 
 when they are split up and pressed as before stated." * Without 
 entering into the details of the process of manufacturing rings, 
 handles for knives and forks, knol)s for handles of furniture, 
 powder-horns, drinking-horns, snufl-boxes, &c., it may be sufficient 
 to call attention to the fact that in 1858 we exported 311,000 
 horns and hoofs, valued at £0150 ; many of the above articles are 
 either turned or made by machinery, so that their cost does riot 
 altogether depend upon the value of skilled labor. 
 
 IRON. 
 
 In 1858 we imported rod and bar iron to the value of £58,042; 
 hoop iron, £l?4.'n ; iron wire, £TJ,(!30.t 
 
 IroJi Ores of Virioria. — Hitherto iron has not been obtained 
 from the ores of the colony, although they tire found associated 
 with coal, fire-clay, and limestone at Western Port, Cape Tater- 
 son, and other \'i(,'toriun coiil-iields. 
 
 • Dr. Ure. 
 
 t In 1859 tlip value of imported iron was as follows : — Kod and bar iron, 
 X8:).981 ; rastinf;s, X0()8<t ; ^'iilvanised, Xsri.Oi: ; palvanised wire, £:\<.)r>r, ; 
 liodj) iron, £'2<JU ; pij,' (east iron), X'2(),48.') ; iiijxs, X:r2,(ir)5 ; nluct. X'.I422 ; 
 wire, X'JO.OTG ; undcscrilH-d, X.l.'i.'i'.t ; railway materials (cliiefly iron), 
 ie95,630 ; together equal to X3G4,914.— C. Mayks, June 29, 1861.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 310 
 
 Hcematite. — The most valuable ores in this or any other part 
 of the world are the red and brown haematites, which generally 
 contain about (jQ per cent, of pure iron, being- about double the 
 per-centage of the carbonates from which nearly the whole of the 
 iron of England is obtained. Hcematite is found in large quanti- 
 ties in many parts of Victoria, as at Western Port and throughout 
 our numerous and extensive gold-fields, where it generally encases 
 the quartz reefs or veins of the palaeozoic or auriferous strata. 
 Titaniferous iron-sand is found in abundance on the eastern coast 
 of Port Phillip Bay, on the coast of Cape Liptrap, and many 
 other places where the tertiary formation occurs. Its commercial 
 value is, however, inferior to hiematite, unless it is of that kind 
 which is attracted by the magnet, when it partakes more of the 
 nature of magnetic iron ore from which the celebrated Danne- 
 mora, or best Swedish iron is made. The ferruginous sandstones 
 found on the east side of the Bay contain nodules of ironstone as 
 rich in iron as haematite ; a specimen assayed by Mr. Davey, gave 
 07 per cent, of iron, and a very little titanium. 
 
 Facilities. — We possess, then, fire-clay for the manufacture of 
 fire-bricks, indispensable in the construction of cupolas, or smelt- 
 ing-furnaces ; iron ore, with the coal for fuel ; and limestone for 
 a fiux to assist the reduction, or smelting process ^ and these 
 materials are generally associated in the coal-fields of Victoria. 
 Independently of this source of iron we have, associated with 
 hfematitic iron ore, immense qtiantities of hardwood timber, which 
 is easily converted into the best description of charcoal for smelt- 
 ing purposes ; in many such localities may also be obtained suit- 
 able limestone for a flux ; * fire-clay fit for fire-bricks to construct 
 the cupola, the same clay being- a refractory substitute for the 
 mortar, called slip, used for the joints of the brick lining ; and, 
 lastly, clean silicious sand for moulding. 
 
 Iron ores of England. — Previous to 1740 the brown and red 
 hsematites and the earthy iron ores of England were smelted 
 
 * As valuable iron ores are found contiguous or associated with basalt, in 
 many parts of Victoria, where limestone cannot be easily obtained, it would 
 be well worth our while to ascertain by actual trial the value of basalt as a 
 flux for reducing iron ore ; it has been long used for this purpose for smelt- 
 ing copper. Basalt and rich iron ore are found associated on Batman's Hill, 
 Melbourne.— June 29, 1861. *
 
 3-0 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 entirely with charcoal ; but it does not appear that tlie clay iron 
 ores of the coal measures were then used, although they are the 
 chief source of British iron at the present day. In 1796 the 
 process of smelting with charcoal was almost given up in conse- 
 quence not only of the scarcity of wood fuel in England, but also 
 on account of suitable iron ore being discovered and obtained 
 from the pits that furnished the coal ; from which favorable conti- 
 nuity of iron ore and coal England owes iiiucli of her present 
 wealth and wide-spread commerce. 
 
 Smt'lfiugi fvith Cohc. — As before stated, we have a similar com- 
 bination in our \'ictorian coal-fields to that last mentioned, and 
 where such localities are near to good shipjting places, or have a 
 market within a reasonable distance, it is highly probable that 
 .^melting with coke woidd be found remunerative. Such iron 
 would be softer and more suitable for castings than charcoal iron, 
 although for most other purposes inferior to it. 
 
 Thii iron ore would require to be roasted before being smelted, 
 which could be easih' accomplished in the same manner that quartz 
 is roasted on our gold-fields before being crushed, that is by being 
 piled upon a heap of wood, which is fired and allowed to burn 
 out ; if the saving of wood fuel should be deemed advisable the 
 ores could be more economically roasted in runmng-hih}^. (See 
 " Kilns," in article " Cement and Lime.") 
 
 Smelting in England. — The blast furnaces of Staffordshire are 
 constructed almost wholly of bricks, the sides of the cupola being 
 bound with a great many iron hoops, by which a great saving 
 is effected in the thickness of the walls. In South Wales the 
 furnaces are much slighter than those of Staffordshire, and are 
 also higher in proportion to their diameter ; tliey are used chiefly 
 for refining the cast iron preparatory to its conversion into 
 bar and rod iron, boiler-plate, iCc, while those of Staffordshire 
 are used chicHv for castii.gs. 'I'hese furnaces will last fi-oni 
 three to seven years without re])airs to the lining of the lower 
 part of the furnace, the upper part of the lining lasting much 
 longer. 
 
 'I'lir rnn-siniijifion o/' nidi per ton of east iron varies I'roni tlir(>e 
 to four tons ; the (pnintitv of limestone reijuired as a flux is about 
 one-third \\\o. weight of unroasted oie (carbonate of iron), which 
 yields about one-tliiid of its weight of pnre iron, therefore the 
 quantity of limestone re(juired is about equal in weight to the
 
 KCONOMICAL MANUFACTURKS. 321 
 
 iron ])roJiiced from carbonate of iron, or cla_y ironstone, the kind 
 of iron ore g-enerally found in combination with coal.* 
 
 The blast of air supplied to blast furnaces is produced by the 
 rapid revolution of a fan enclosed in a box open on one side to 
 admit the air, which is jjropelled from the circular case, or box, 
 into a pipe leading; to the hearth, or crucible, of the furnace; 
 this pipe may supply any number of branch pipes with compressed 
 air, and any of these may be heated by furnaces before enterin<>- 
 the tuyeres, or blowpipes, of the blast furnace. 
 
 Hot blast. — The hot blast is g-enerally supplied at from GI2° to 
 662° Fahr., and produces about 50 per cent, mo-e iron in a given 
 time, with the same amount of fuel. The coal is always car- 
 bonized, or converted into coke (before beinu- used lor smelting-, or 
 refining-, iron), by which means most of the sulphur in the coals 
 is driven off which would otherwise materially deteriorate the 
 quality of the iron. 
 
 Although the quantity of iron produced in a given time, fi-om 
 the same amount of fuel, is so much in favor of the hot blast over 
 the cold blast furnace, even to the extent of 50 per cent., (or, to put 
 it in another form, one-third of the fuel may be saved by using the 
 liot blast,) and, although a much greater heat can be obtained, by 
 which means finer and thinner castings may be made, it seems 
 strange it has not come into general use in Victoria, where the 
 saving in fuel, one would imagine, would be of almost paramount 
 importance. I am not aware of even one foundry in the colon}^ 
 where the hot blast is used ; it may l)e on account of the additional 
 outlay in capital required to construct the air-heating furnaces. 
 
 Tlie finery furnace, or riinnlny-outjire, is a smelting hearth, in 
 which, by first fusing, and then cooling, crude cast iron, it is con- 
 verted mto fine iron, for making malleable iron by puddling. 
 
 " Whatever care is taken in the process of fining, the bar or plate 
 iron finally resulting is never so good as if charcoal had been used 
 in the refinery." * 
 
 The puddling furnace is of the reverberatory form. In this fur- 
 nace the fine iron, prepared by the refinery fiirnace, is pnddled or 
 workeil about with a rake, by which process the oxyde of carbon is 
 disengaged from the iron, which is worked up into balls*, to be 
 afterwards forged or beat out, and then rolled into sheet, plate, bar, 
 
 . * Dr. Ure.
 
 322 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 or rod iron, as required, by the aid of powerful macliiner5\ " The 
 puddlinj^ process lasts fi-om two to two and a half hours, and is 
 attended with a loss of iron of from 8 to 10 per cent., even when 
 skilfully manipulated. In Wales the consumption of coal is equal 
 in weight to the fine metal puddled. About five puddling- fur- 
 naces are required for the service of one smelting- fiu-nace and one 
 finery."* 
 
 The Jorge hearth is emjdoyed for working- up scrap into boiler 
 plate, sheet, bar and rod iron, &c. : as before stated, wood charcoal 
 is the best fuel for this purpose. " About 22 bushels, or 4 cwt. of 
 charcoal are consumed in making- (<ne ton of iron of this descrip- 
 tion, from boiler-plate parings." * 
 
 Swedish bar, imported into England at about three times the 
 ])rice of English iron, where it is used chiefly for conversion into 
 the best cast steel, is made fi'om h;ematite, smelted, refined, and 
 puddled, with charcoal fuel. In Sweden it yields on\y 47 per cent, 
 of cast iron, with a consumption of 130 per cent., by weight of 
 charcoal, as compared with the weight of cast iron produced. 
 
 The furnace used to produce so small a per centage of iron, from 
 hrematite, with so inadequate an expenditure of fuel, is elliptical, 
 30 feet high, and 8 feet smallest diameter, and is worked with 
 forge-bellows, mounted with leather. Were proper hot blast furnaces 
 to be used, the results should not fall short of the blast furnaces of 
 Staffordshire or Wales ; the force or ])ressure of the fan blast would 
 require to be modified, to prevent the charcoal being blown out of 
 the furnace, or some other, and perhajis more efficacious method 
 could be arrived at by actual experiment to attain this desirable 
 result. 
 
 Charcoal Iron, the best Iron. — The mo.st valualtlc iron is made 
 from hajmatitic iron ores, smelted, refined, and puddled, with 
 charcoiil, iiml bar iron, made in this manner, is the best iron for 
 conversion into all kind.s of steel. I have before shown that we 
 possess hiematitic iron ores in alnnidiince, often in contiguity with 
 hardwood, which is ea.sily converted into excellent cliarcoal, so that 
 it i.'^ possible to make the l)est iron and steel in such localities, but 
 we mu.st invent some more efficient process tlmn that jnirsucd in 
 Sweden, where only one cwt. of cast iron is j)ro(luced for each ton 
 obtained from a blast furnace of the same size in Staffordshire or 
 
 • Dr. Ure.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 323 
 
 Wales. This g-reat difference is due chiefly to tlie absence of the 
 blast fan in the Swedish furnace before refeiTed to, and the small 
 quantity of charcoal used for each ton of iron produced. 
 
 Victorian Iron. — The forging- of u horse-shoe is considered to be 
 a g-ood test of the quality of iron. At the Melbourne Exhibition 
 of 1851, a specimen of native iron was exhibited from Western Port, 
 and a horse-shoe made from it, superior in density and texture, to 
 the g'enerality of horse-shoes, so far as I could judge from a casual 
 inspection. A large specimen of native iron from the same place, 
 is now (September 1st, 1860), to be seen in Mr. Norton's shop- 
 window, in Collins-street east. 
 
 Iron-rollins? mills have been recently opened in West Melbourne, 
 for the manufacture of bar and rod iron, from i inch square or 
 round, up to 2| inches. The material used is old or scrap iron, 
 which is cut to the proper length and made up into fagots of about 
 30 lbs. each. They are then subjected to the furnace, from a half 
 to three-quarters of an hour, drawn out in fused masses, and rolled 
 into bar or rod iron. The fuel used is coal, and the iron produced 
 is at least equal, if not superior, to that imported. Several speci- 
 mens of bar and rod iron, from this manufactory, were submitted to 
 the Royal Society of Victoria, but it is only from actual experiment 
 that the peculiar characteristics of iron can be ascertained with 
 certainty. It is well known that coal, as a fuel, renders the iron 
 softer and more ductile than the same iron would be, if prepared or 
 manufactured with hardwood charcoal. If it should be deemed 
 advisable to convert the waste iron of the colony into sheet or 
 plate iron, or into bar iron, to be afterwards made into steel, hard- 
 wood charcoal would be found to be the best fuel for the purpose, 
 although in Melbourne it would cost about double the price of coal, 
 or at least £4 per ton, although on many of the gold-helds it is 
 made for about 50s. per ton. 
 
 Natural Steel may be prodiiced in the conversion of cast into 
 wrought iron, by a slight difference in the working ; this may be 
 more readily understood, when we consider that steel is merely 
 carbonised iron, and that cast iron, which generally contains more 
 carbon than steel contains, is deprived of its carbon in refining and 
 puddling, the process employed for its conversion into wrought 
 iron. " In Sweden, the cast iron pigs are heated to a cherry-red, 
 and in this state broken to pieces, under the hammer, before they 
 are exposed to the steel furnace. These natural steels are much 
 
 Y 2
 
 8C-1 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 employ ed, on the continent of Europe, in making" agricultuial im- 
 plements, on account of their cheapness. Natural steel is made 
 in large quantities at the celebrated steel iron works of Upper 
 Silesia, in Germany. The natural steel of Styria is also regarded 
 as a very good article. Wootz is a natural steel i)repared from a 
 black iron ore in Hindustan; it is smelted with charcoal, in a small 
 clay furnace, with hand-bellows." * 
 
 Hoematitic Iron. — " In 183r Mr. X. W. Chiy obtained a patent 
 for improvements in smelting and rctluing hieniatitic iron ores, 
 lie mixes bruised hivmatite with 20 per cent, by weight of clean 
 carbonaceous matter, in coarse powder (this may be charcoal, coke 
 or coal dust), and subjects this mixture, in a zj sha])ed retort, to 
 a bright red heat for at least twelve hours; the metal is then 
 transferred into a puddling furntice. In his second patent, in 1840, 
 Mr. Clay prescribes fi-om 30 to 40 per cent, of carbonaceous matter 
 to be mixed with the ground or crushed iron ore, which mixture is 
 to be directly treated in a puddling furnace.''* By this last 
 method the fine iron is produced, at one ojieration, from the crushed 
 iron ore, without a smelting furnace. Such a method of obtaining- 
 refined iron fit for immediate conversion into malleable iron, in 
 tlie shape of rod, bar, plate, or sheet iron, is well worth a trial on 
 our gold-fields, where hipraatitic iron ores are generally found 
 encasing" and permeating our (pjartz reefs. Even the iron cement 
 of our gold-fields might be found profitable to convert either into 
 cast or malleable iron, where both charcoal anil limestone are easily 
 obtained. It is not necessaiy that a large outlay shoidd be made 
 to construct iron works or foundries for the jnujtose of trial. The 
 process of reducing iron ores, either into cast iron or natural steel, 
 is so sim])le, that two men with fire-clay, luematitc, or other rich 
 iron ore, chaicoal, liiiiestone, and a forge-bellows at hand, could 
 construct a fire-clay ciiiidla or I'lirnace, prcjiaic and smeltfsay one 
 cwt. of cast iron in about two days, and could reconvert tliis iron 
 into steel, in the same furnace, in a few hours. 
 
 Hindoo Iron mul Stti'L— A.\\ that is necessary to convert 
 iron into steel is to make several n^fracfory or flrtj-clay retorts, 
 into which 'Mhe cast iron is placed in small jiieces, mixed with 
 chaicoal powdei- in the retorts, which are placed in the small blast 
 liirnace, kejit coveied with chairoal, ami sulijected to heat urged 
 
 • Dr. llrf.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 325 
 
 by the blast of the forge-bellows for about three hours. The cruci- 
 bles or retorts are then taken out of the furnace and broken, when 
 the steel is found in the form of a cake in the bottom of the 
 crucible."* This is the system pursued b}' the natives of Hindostan 
 for obtaining- iron and steel, only thoy have no proper forg-e- 
 bellows, but merely a g-oat's skin with bamboo nozzle and handles, 
 which must be a miserable substitute for proper forg-e-bellovvs. 
 Then, ag-ain, instead of putting- several pounds of iron into each 
 crucible with powdered charcoal, thoy seldom put more than one 
 pound, the retort being- filled up with dried chopped wood ; yet, 
 with such rude materials and miserable appliances, the best cakes 
 of Indian steel, when remelted and tilted, or hammered into rods, 
 are stated, by a very competent judg-e, to be " superior to the best 
 English cast steel for fine cutlery."* 
 
 I am credibly informed by a gentleman, long resident at 
 Pleasant Creek gold-fields, in the Ararat district, that cast iron 
 basins for quartz-crushing, weighing- about three cwt. each, are 
 sold there for £12 each ; similar cast iron basins could be obtained 
 in England for about 30s., and could be made on our gold-fields 
 probably for about £3 each. It is more than probable that in 
 every locality throughout the colony, where the cartage from Mel- 
 bourne exceeds say £o per ton, and where fire-clay or any kinds 
 of refractory clay, rich iron ore, limestone, and charcoal are at 
 hand, that all kinds of iron and steel could be manufactured equal 
 in quality to and at the price of that imported. 
 
 JVails are made by machinery, with but very little assistance of 
 the human hand. It is in such manufactures, requiring little 
 manual labor in their production, that we can most easih' compete 
 with imported articles, since the cost and working expenses of 
 machinery, as compared with manual labor, are smaller here than 
 in Britain, America, &c. 
 
 So far back as 1810 the Americans possessed a nail machine 
 that could turn out 100 nails per minute, cut and headed at one 
 operation. The manufacture of cut nails by machinery originated 
 in America, -and they are equal to wrought nails where they do 
 not require clinching, which may be considered an exceptional 
 practise in using nails. The rolling and slitting mills of America 
 cut up about '3400 tons of sheet iron per annum into nails and 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 326 I'RIZE ESSAY. 
 
 brads. At least ten patents were taken out in England between 
 1820 and 1830 for improvements in the mamifactnre of nails. I 
 do not know what improvements have taken place since, but the 
 description of the machines and improvements up to 1836 appear 
 to leave little to expect in the shape of improvements, so far as I 
 can judge from the information given by Dr. Ure on this subject. 
 The machinery in the rolling and slitting mills prepare the rods 
 from plate or sheet iron, preparatory to their conversion into cut 
 nails. 
 
 In 1858 we imported nails and screws weighing 1983 tons, and 
 valued at £64,302. Probably at least three-fourths of this amount 
 was for nails, which might be advantageously manufactured in 
 Victoria, where the bar and sheet iron can be made from our raw 
 materials. 
 
 Founding. — From the evidence given before the Tariff Com- 
 mittee on the 9th March, 1860, an eminent iron foimder of Mel- 
 bourne stated that " manufactured articles made here were abotit 
 two and a half times the English jirice, and that the iron founders 
 of Melbourne could not compete with imported articles, except in 
 gold-crushing machinery. That wages were three times as high 
 here as in England, but that suitable mechanics were continually 
 offering their services at half the present rates," showing that the 
 demand, on account of the high rate of wages, was small compared 
 to the supply, and yet there is an evident disinclination on the 
 part of the iron founders of Melbourne to reduce the rate of wages, 
 so that the high price of machinery here is simply the result of an 
 arbitrary trade combination, and any attempt to reduce the wages 
 of mechanical engineers, although for the mutual benefit of the 
 iron foundei*s, their workmen, and the public reijuiring machiner}', 
 would prol)ably lead to a general strike on the part of the men, 
 who now hold the iron founders, and the ])urchasers of their la])pr, 
 in subjection, while at the same time not more than one-half the 
 mechanical engineers in the colony are employed, so that, as a 
 body, they an; ])oorer than if they worked for one-third less 
 than at present, when the whole of tliem might be employed. The 
 same gentleman also stated that *' if a new finn were to start 
 with men at less wiiges than we sire paying, wo might reduce the 
 wages of our men, in order to comj)ete." Another founder stated 
 " that although there was plenty of ironstone in the country, that 
 then' was not sufficient fuel Iktc to manufacture iron." One
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 327 
 
 would suppose that this gentleman was never ten miles out of 
 Melbourne, or he would not have made sucli a random state- 
 ment. There are numerous densely timbered forests in the colony 
 abounding in ironstone ; and it is a fact that charcoal may be 
 obtained at Pleasant Creek, and other gold-fields, at less than 
 one-half the price (by weight) of imported coke in Melbourne. 
 
 In addition to the abundance of rich iron ores, in combination 
 with either coal or timber, we also have tin ores, which we now 
 export, and can also import any rpiantity of copper from South 
 Australia, so that iron founders might, in many instances, establish 
 iron-works in many of otir inland towns, and if near to a proposed 
 railway, might manufacture the rails and chairs required for the 
 permanent way, the iron girders for the railway bridges, besides 
 innumerable other less weighty articles required, not only for rail- 
 ways, but for quartz-crushing and other machinery; also iron pipes 
 for water-works and gas-works, now the general concomitants of 
 most towns. Although iron founders cannot compete with imported 
 goods or articles in Melbourne at the present rate of wages, yet, 
 as before stated, in certain localities, where the carriage amounts 
 to say more than £5 per ton from Melbourne, it is probable they 
 could successfully compete with most kinds of iron work. 
 
 Waste heat. — It must be apparent to most people who have 
 seen the flames bursting out of the tops of the cupolas in which 
 iron is reduced, or pig iron smelted, that great loss of heat must 
 arise therefrom. " In Germany these waste gases have been col- 
 lected and used as fuel in refining, puddling, and welding furnaces, 
 and even in the genei-ation of steam from steam engine-boilers." * 
 This may be a desideratum where fuel is very expensive. 
 
 Victorian Iron. — Since writing the foregoing article on iron, I 
 have been informed by an iron founder in Melbourne that a com- 
 pany is about being formed to establish iron-works about a mile 
 and a half from Sandhurst, near the railway, where there is an 
 abundance of heematitic iron ore, with timber, &c., required on the 
 spot. The company contemplates being able to make iron rails 
 for the railway at £8 per ton, or about one-half the cost of the 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 3'28 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 imported rails at Sandhurst. Charcoal iron would be far too good 
 for such a purpose, when we consider it makes much better steel 
 than the common or coke iron. 
 
 Cost at Sandhurst. — Since two and a half tons of coke is the 
 averag-e consumption in the Staffordshire iron-works for reducing 
 one ton of iron from the iron ore by the cold blast, and one and a 
 half ton by the hot blast furnace ; and as charcoal produces fifteen 
 per cent, more heat per ton than coke, and haematite contains twice 
 as much iron as the carbonate of iron of England, and therelbre 
 only half the bulk, we ma}' safely estimate' the charcoal required 
 to reduce ha?matitic iron ore by the hot blast furnace at two tons 
 per ton of iron ; this at Sandhurst would cost about £5 ; the lime 
 required for flux would cost about 10s. ; the labor at double the 
 cost in Staffordshire would be 30s. ; to which may be added 20s. 
 for the ore, motive power for blast fan, &c., making a total of £8 
 per ton for charcoal pig iron. This would have to be refined, and 
 rolled into rails, which would increase the cost to about £14. For 
 the same price it could be rolled into rod and bar iron, which, 
 being charcoal iron, would be worth at least £20 per ton in Mel- 
 bourne, or £25 per ton at Sandhurst. 
 
 stei:l. 
 
 "With the exception of the Ulverstone charcoal iron, no bars 
 are manufactured in Great Biitain capable of conversion into 
 steel equal in quality to that made from the Madras, Swedish, and 
 Russian irons so largel}' iinjmrtcd for that purpose."* As before 
 stated, charcoal iron is made from hiematite, smelted and puddh'd 
 with charcoal. We coidd make such iron liei-e, having the raw 
 materials largely distributed. 
 
 " Jitir or Blistered Steel is merely carbonised iron rods or bare: 
 the jtrocess of manuficture is simple, and consists in placing the 
 bars of iron in a troiiyk made of fire-clay or fire-tiles; the iron 
 bars are in layers |)laced on edge a short distance apart, and 
 imbedded in rnnerif, (a mixture of ground charcoal and common 
 salt,) as follows: the bottom of the trough is covered with 
 
 • Dr. Urc
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 329 
 
 cement about two inches deep, and between each layer of iron is 
 a layer of cement about half an inch deep; the trough or troughs 
 (for there are generally two in each furnace) are surrounded by 
 heated air, i.e. the flames of the furnace play round them as with 
 gas retorts; they are sometimes from twent^^-six to thirty-six inches 
 square inside, and from eigiit to fifteen feet long, and being filled 
 to within a few inches of the top, as much as twelve tons of bar 
 iron may be converted into steel at one charge, the process lasting 
 "from six to eight days for steel of modenite hardness, fit for 
 tilting (or hammering) into shear steel; softer steel for saws and 
 springs takes a shorter, and harder steel for cold chisels used in 
 cutting iron, a longer period. The higher the heat of the fiirnace, 
 the quicker is the process of conversion." * 
 
 Cist Steel is merely blistered steel broken up and melted in 
 fire clay crucibles. 
 
 In 1858 we imported 204 tons of steel, valued at £56 per ton.f 
 We can manuflicture steel here with advantage, seeing that we 
 have the raw materials*of the most approved kind for the manu- 
 facture of charcoal rod and bar iron similar to that of Ulverstone, 
 Sweden, India, &,c., and also abundance of hardwood charcoal 
 (which is far superior to any kind of softwood charcoal) with the 
 necessary refractory or fire-clays for conversion into fire-lumps, 
 fire-bricks, fire-tiles, &c.; gritstones or millstone grits for the 
 hearth of the fiirnaces, limestone as a flux in smelling iron, and 
 fire-clay for the joints of the brickwork, for hithig joints of tap or 
 trial holes, &c., used for testing the quality of the steel from time 
 to time during its cementation. 
 
 JEWELLERY. 
 
 From the evidence given before the Tariff Committee, on the 
 2nd March last, I glean the following: — There is a protective duty 
 in England on imported gold jewellery of 17s. 6d per ounce, and 
 2s. 6d. per ounce export duty from Victoria, making a total of 
 20s. per ounce on jewellery made here for exportation to England. 
 There is also a duty of thirty-three per cent, on jewellery imported 
 
 * Dr. Ure. 
 
 t In 1859 we imported 223 tons 3 cwt. of steel, valued at £12,711.— C. 
 Mayes, June 29, 1861.
 
 330 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 into America, so that both Eno-land and America are effectually 
 closed as markets for jewellery made in Australia. Although the 
 wages })aid to working jewellers in Victoria are about ninety per 
 cent, higher than in England, if the same import duties were levied 
 here as in England, our jewellers could compete with imported 
 jewellery, which amounted in 1858 to the value of £44,265.* 
 There is no good jewellery imported into Melbourne, although 
 many people may be tempted to ]nu-chase it as such, for instances 
 have been known of imported gold jewellery of twelve carats, sent 
 here to be sold as colonial jeweller)' of eighteen cai-ats fine. To 
 prevent this nefarious jiractice, a Goldsmitlis' Hall is very much 
 required, which would materially lessen the present enormous im- 
 port of inferior jewellery, because it would have to be scraped or 
 cut before it could be assayed, wliereas colonial jewellery might be 
 assayed in an unfinished state (before the gems were set for in- 
 stance) by ascertaining its specific gravity, or by scraping or cutting, 
 since any slight abrasure might be obliterated or rectified in the 
 finishing. First-class jewellery is almost exclusively made by hand, 
 whereas inferior jewellery is assisted by machinery, dies, &c. 
 
 LEATHER. 
 
 In 1858, according to our Blue-book, sixty-three tons of leather 
 were imported, and valued at £5)?00, or about £140 ])er ton, 
 whereas in the same year fifty-five tons were exported at only 
 £90 per ton;t this was colonial leather, and, judging from the 
 price, little of it was curried, being sole leather cliiefiy, since but 
 little curried, or upper leather, is made here, in consequence of the 
 great expense attending its manufacture. 
 
 77/r' nuitrrials employed in the manuiacturo of leather consist 
 of the hides of cows or oxen, buffaloes, and horses, whicli are used 
 for the thick sole leather; and the skins of calves, kangaroos, kids, 
 goats, seals, S:c., for the more flexildc upper leather of boots and 
 shoes. In the conversion of hiiles iind skins into leatlu'r tiio princij)al 
 material employed is tannin contained in the bark of various trees, 
 
 • 111 Ih:)'J wc iiiiportcd jcwcHltv tn (lie value of X44,()G7. — C. Mayks, 
 .June iili, 18CI. 
 
 t In 1859 wc imported 66} tons of Iiatlicr valurd at Xl(),481, and exported 
 J43 tons 11 cwt., valued at X10,3l('>.- C. Ma^eh, .luiii' 29, 18f)I.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 331 
 
 more particularly our Australian wattle, which is the most valuable 
 bark obtainable for this purpose. In 1858 no less than 166,811 
 skins, and 124,580 hides, were exported from Victoria, which were 
 valued at £106,463 ; * this is exclusive of the hides manufactured 
 here into sole leather. In the same year we exported 240 tons of 
 bark, valued at £2800, and these materials have to travel about 
 30,000 miles before they return to us in the form of leather, boots 
 and shoes, or saddlery and harness. We can produce sufficient 
 hides, skins and wattle-bark to be made into leather for these 
 purposes. 
 
 There is evidently a larg-e amount of sole leather prepared 
 from hides in this colony, since in 1858 there were no less than 
 thirty-three fellmongers' establishments, and twenty-five tanneries, 
 three of each, only, being in the county of Bourke ; on the other 
 hand, that very few skins are prepared here for upper or light 
 leather, may be inferred from the fact that such leather is curried, 
 and in 1858, according- to the Blue-book, there was only one 
 curr^'ing- establishment in Victoria, and that was in the county of 
 Grant J t this trade is sometimes combined with tanning, although 
 I have reasons to suppose it is but little practised here on account 
 of the great expense as compared with the cost of importing 
 curried leather, and this difference in the cost is entirely owing to 
 the high price of labor attending this process. 
 
 In the Melbourne Exhibition, in 1854, could be seen excellent 
 specimens of hide leather tanned with mimosa bark, suitable for 
 harness and boots; since then great improvements have been made, 
 and excellent samples of leather exhibited at the annual exhibitions 
 of the Industrial Society ; colonial-made sole and harness leather 
 is now preferred to the imported article. 
 
 Parchment is also made here, and samples were to be seen at 
 the Melbourne Exhibition, in 1854. A.s this is a great wool-pro- 
 ducing colony, we might manufacture parchment from sheepskins, 
 not only sufficient for our own coneumption but also to export 
 largely ; here again the high price of labor stands in the way. 
 
 Varieties of Leather. — Other kinds of leather might be made 
 
 ♦ In 1859 we exported skins and hides to the value of £172,422, and bark 
 to the value of £1310.— C. Mayes, June 29, 1801. 
 
 f In 1859 there were thirty-one tanneries and twenty fellmongeries in, 
 Victoria.— C. Mayes, June 29, 1861.
 
 332 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 here, such a.< kid and himbskin for g-loves; Morocco or Turkey 
 leather from goatskin ; kip, or buffalo, from young* oxen ; upper 
 leather of ordinary boots and shoes from calves' skin, a softer and 
 more endurable upper leather from kangaroo skin ; cordovan for 
 harness, and shagreen for cases, boxes, bags, etc., from horses hides. 
 In the month of May, 1800, an account was given in the Argus of 
 the slaughtering of about 800 kangaroos in one day near Geelong; 
 it stated that the kangaroos were afterwaids buried or biu-nt, no 
 allusion being made to the skins, which are even more valuable 
 than calves' skins. I can scarcely imagine (despite the apathy 
 and indifference so often manifested by our should be manufac- 
 turers) that the skins of these 800 kangaroos were destroyed. 
 
 Harness. — Under the head of saddlery the imports in 1858 
 amounted to £74,000, and leatherware £0700, together upwards 
 of £80,000* I cannot imagine that £74,000 worth of saddles 
 could be imported here in one year ; the greater part of this 
 amount must be for what is commonly known as harness, which 
 is made from the hides of oxen, horses, calves, itc, the saddles 
 being made from hogskins. Creditable samples of colonial-made 
 harness and saddles were exhibited at the Melbourne Exhibition in 
 1854, and since then at the annual exhibitions of the Vic 
 torian Industrial Society, and may now be ^ci^n in the numerous 
 saddlers' and harness-niakei*s' shops in Melbourne ; they are 
 fully equal, if not superior, to similar imported articles, as 
 their ready sale testifies ; by the Melbourne directory for 1860 I 
 find no less than seventy-eight saddlers and harness-makers in 
 Melbourne and its environs. It might be worth while to adapt 
 machinery to reduce the amount of labor bestowed upon this 
 branch of industry, which, in the absence of cheap labor, might 
 reduce our enormous imports of these articles by increasing at a 
 cheaper rate our own production. 
 
 Bouts ami Shoes were imported into this colony in 1858 to the 
 enormous amount of £052,Q£)0,t being equal to about 25s. per 
 annirn jx-r head for the whole po])ulation, or about £5 for each 
 
 ♦ In IR.'iO we imported saddlery (which I infer inchidcs harness, since I 
 do not find ftny entry of liiimess) to tlie value of £4'2,446, and leatherware 
 to the valiu! of XHOf.O.— (" Maykb, .Tune 29, 1801. 
 
 f In 18.')1) we imported boots and shoes to the viiluc of X(j()7,703.— C. 
 Mavks, June 29, I HOI.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES, ^'.\S 
 
 family j the retail j)i ice is ubout 50 per cent, more than these 
 amounts, and this is exclusive of boots and shoes made in the 
 colony, so that the expenditure for each family cannot be less 
 than £10 per annum.* If only one half, or £uL'G,000 worth 
 of women's and children's boots and shoes, were imported, and the 
 men and large boys of Victori;) were to wear boots and shoos of 
 colonial manufacture I do not think that a larger outlay would 
 ensue to the whole population, for, although the price of colonial- 
 made boots and shoes are about double the price of imported ones, 
 yet, as they are well known (by those who have made the experi- 
 ment) to wear about two and a half times as long-, they are found 
 to be actually cheaper than the imported article. The boot and 
 shoemakers of Victoria need no other protection to their trade 
 than the g-eneral reception of this fact, which wants only a 
 trial to convince any ])urchaser of imj)orted boots and shoes 
 of its truthfulness There are many reasons for this, among- 
 which are the following-, viz., imported boots and shoes are 
 slop-made, the work and material both being- inferior ; the 
 soles consist of two thin pieces, filled up \vith frag-ments of 
 leathei', the consequence being- that the outside casing- forming- 
 the lowei' part of the sole soon wears throug-h, and the boots or 
 shoes (if the dippers are worth it) must be re-soled ; before this 
 sole is half worn throug-h the sides of the boots open, g-enerally 
 from the upj)er leather giving- way, wheieas colonial boots ai-e 
 made of the best material, the soles being colonial sole-leather, 
 and the vijpers of imported calfskin propeily tanned and curried ; 
 these never, or very rarely, burst or come unsewn ; and the soles, 
 which may be obtained of solid leather at least one-quarter of 
 an inch thick, if they do not last out the tippers, the vjypers will 
 generally bear re-soling, when the boots or shoes are again sound, 
 and even then sometimes superior to those imported. 
 
 From the evidence given before the Tariff Committee, on the 
 10th February, 18G0, I learn that it is the general opinion of the 
 trade that if a dut}- {ad vah»rm) of 1?0 per cent, were levied upon 
 imported boots and shoes, that the colonial workmen could com- 
 pete with imported goods, which a'e, geneially speaking, ver}' 
 inferior, and last only from one-third to one-sixth as long as colo- 
 
 * I have reckoned the Victorian faniiUes to average four ; tlic families of 
 the United Kingdom average five each.— C. Mayes.
 
 334 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 nial-made articles ; that such a duty would induce the bulk of the 
 workmen who are now engtiged in other pursuits to return to their 
 trade, and hundreds of boys and women who would be glad to get 
 into the trade would join them. That although wages here are 
 only 8d. per hour, it is about three times as high as the wages 
 paid to shoemakers in England. All the witnesses examined by 
 the Committee agree that boys would be of great service to the 
 trade, but because the trade is so bad, they will not take ap- 
 prentices. 
 
 f'^uhdicismi of Labor. — By a proper subdivision of labor, colo- 
 nial boots and shoes would be cheapened ; this might be 'brought 
 about by the boot and shoe makers of the colony forming them- 
 selves into a company, and contracting to sujiply individuals and 
 families with boots and shoes at the same rate they have hitherto 
 paid per annum for imported goods, which they might do with 
 advantage, even if their goods lasted only twice as long as those 
 imported. By such a combination they might all find constant 
 employment, and also employ hundreds of women in the light work 
 of ladies and children's boots and shoes, and hundreds of bo^'s who 
 would be apprenticed to them ; they would b}- this means soon out- 
 strip their contract orders, and obtain a large stock of superior 
 ready-made goods, which would soon be bought up as their real 
 value became known. 
 
 MALT. 
 
 In 1858 we imported 220,777 bushels of malt. The imports for 
 the first six months of 1859 and 18G0 show a considerable falling 
 off in the quantify imported.* This is not met. by an increase in 
 the growth of barley ; on the contrary there is a ilecrease in the 
 growth of barley in Victoria during the year ending the 31st March, 
 18(i0, as compared with the jtrevious year, of ir>,r)i?8 bu.shels, 
 which is not owing to any failure in tlu; croi)s, but to the fact that 
 there were 1200 acres more under crop in 1858 than in 1869. 
 
 .Mr. S. Egan, a farmer in Victoria, in his c'vidcnce given before 
 the Taritl* ('oninutt«e on L'lst Fubruury, ISliO, says : — "There has 
 be(fii but little barley gi'own liere, because the brewers give no 
 
 • In 1859 wc iinjiortcd 198,791 huslicls, valui'd iit £90,104.-0. MatKb, 
 June '29, 18C1.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANITFACTURES. 335 
 
 encouragement for farmers to g-row it. Brewers can purchase malt 
 here at such a price that they will not malt themselves, as it 
 requires a large outlay of capital;" and in corroboration of there 
 being- but little demand for barley here, Mr Egan states '' that he 
 had sold 1200 bushels of barley last week at 5s. per bushel," being 
 less than the estimated value of 5381 bushels (the whole of the 
 barley) imported in the first six months of the year 1860, which 
 was valued at 6s. per bushel. 
 
 With the view of encouraging the growth of barley and the 
 manufacture of malt in Victoria, this gentleman recommends an 
 ad valorem duty of " 3s. ])er bushel on imported malt, and Os. 6d. 
 per bushel on imported barley;" this would have increased the 
 value of barley as then imported to 8s. 6d, per bushel, whereas 
 this same gentleman was compelled to sell his barley at 5s. per 
 bushel. It is very clear from the foregoing facts that there has 
 been a great falling off, not only in the importation of barley and 
 malt, but also in the growth of barley in Victoria, and consequently 
 in the consumption of malt, although the manufacture of colonial 
 beer has rapidly increased. {See " Beer.") 
 
 From the great care taken in shipping malt for this colony, 
 it is landed here perfectly uninjured by its transit from Britain. 
 '■' It is packed in zinc cases, hermetically sealed, and surrounded 
 with three-inch deals," as stated by one of the first brewers in Mel- 
 bourne, in a letter addressed to the Editor of the Argus, in June, 
 1860, He also stated in this letter that "four of the principal 
 breweries in Melbourne produce 600 hogsheads of beer weekly, and 
 that the pioprietors in the aggregate give a premium of upwards of 
 £100 annually for the best sample of barley grown in the colony, 
 and that he had, at an expense of upwards of £2000, erected a 
 malthouse on his property, in the hope at no distant period of being- 
 able to dispense with importations of the principal ingredients used 
 in the manufacture of colonial ale, and thus give an impetus to 
 another important but somewhat languishing branch of colonial 
 industry." 
 
 About a week after the above letter appeared in the Argus, the 
 Creswieli and Ciunes Advertiser gave a description of Quinn's 
 malthouse and brewery in that neighborhood. " The malthouse is 
 a two-story building, the growing floor being 8 feet under ground, 
 and made of cement ; the tank for steeping the barley is able to 
 contain 200 bushels. The withering floor (which is the upper
 
 336 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 floor) is also made of cement; on this floor the harley remains 
 until in a fit state to go to the kiln." There is also an ing-enious 
 machine for sifting the malt after it comes from the kiln, and two 
 mills for frrindinji: or crnshinc- it. A moderate and uniform tem- 
 perature is best adapted for maltino;, and for this reason the walls 
 of the malthouse should he thick, and if partially underground, as 
 above, a more uniform temperature is most likely to be obtained, 
 at least on the lower floor. A suitable temperature is about 00°, 
 and this would be difficult to mainta'n during the summer. 
 
 Malted barley .is g-enerally used in the manufacture of " gin," 
 and "whiskey" (which see). Malt, when used for distillation, 
 should always be of the palest kind, and steam dried; although 
 raw grain is likewise used for this j)urpose, it is generally mixed 
 with malted bai-ley. " Cape barley would be a g-ood distilling 
 barley, being light," and in this respect resembling " beir," which 
 is used in the manufacture of gin. " Barley, if jjartially malted, 
 will produce from 1(3 to 20 gallons of sjiirits per quarter; taking 
 the average crop of barley here at 32 bushels per acre, an acre 
 would produce from (J4 to 80 gallons of spirits;" and for this 
 ])urj)o.se barley would be a profitable crop were it not for the duty 
 of 10s. per gallon levied on all spirits distilled from grain in 
 Victoria. Until this enormous dut}' is diminished, there is but 
 little likelihood of any considerable quantity of sj)irits being dis- 
 tilled here. 
 
 Brewers also find that they can produce g-ood wholesome pala- 
 table beer throughout the colony from otiier saccharine matter than 
 mult; they therefore use suyur as the cheapest substitute for malt. 
 The most conscientious brewer will not brew wholly from malt 
 when it is at its highest price ; he only considers himself bound to 
 use saccharine matter of a certain value ))er barrel of beer ; and, 
 therefoie, as malt rises in price, the consumption of sugar by the 
 biewcr increases. In IHiOH we imported sugar to the value of 
 .i^(')3(),012;* the imports during the first six months of 1809 and 
 1800 were .^31)8,24;') and £347,720 resj)ectively, showing a con- 
 niderable increase since 18;")^, whcresis the importation of malt 
 (luring the first peiiod has nuiteriiilly decreased, as I have before 
 shown. ' 
 
 •In 1859 wc iiiijiurlcil siinar to the valuu of Xau3,854. — C. MAVtB, June 
 2'J, IHCl.
 
 KCONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 337 
 
 OILS* 
 
 Oils, unchioiis, fat, or fixed, are f^-enerally obtained Ij}' expres- 
 sion. Animal fixts are o-nmular, and consist of small sacs or bays 
 of fat, which vary in size and shape in different animals. Neats- 
 foot oil is made in the colon}', and is nsed chiefly by harness- 
 makers. 
 
 Sperm oil. — In 1858 we imported sperm oil to the value of 
 £7871. Many years before the foundation of the colony, the 
 Messrs. Henty established a whale fishery at Portland Bay, and 
 this locality is still noted for the frequent ca])ture of whales, one of 
 about 60 feet in length having' been recently captured and valued 
 at £400. The whale lately killed in Hobson's Bay and tugg-ed up 
 to Sandridg-e pier, was about the same size. Whales are also 
 occasionally captured in Twofold Bay ; and there a{)pears to be a 
 wide field open on our coasts for enterprising* capitalists to fit out 
 whaling- parties. The blubber of the whale from which the oil is 
 obtained is of g-reat thickness, and has been known to yield 
 upwards of 100 tons of oil from one whale ; this is not the only 
 product, since the jaws furnish large quantities of whalebone, and 
 the head, spermaceti, which fills the larg-er portion of the cavities <>f 
 the head and certain parts of the body. 
 
 Porcine oil, made from lard, was very much used for lamps in 
 INIelbourne until su])erseded by Kerosene oil, which is distilled from 
 anthracite coal in the United States of America, and is now gene- 
 rally used with the Kerosene lamps throug-hout the colony. f 
 
 Yegetahle oils. — Those imported consist of Colza, Linseed, 
 Olive, and Rape oils, of which in the ag-g'regate 83,467 gallons 
 were im])orted in 1858, valued at £23,313. 
 
 Dr. Ure, in his dictionary, gives a list of 41 plants yielding the 
 ordinary unctuous oils of commerce, among which are the Hemp 
 plant, Olive, Almond, Cucumber, Beech, Sunflower, Rapeseed, 
 
 * In 1859 the quantity and value of imported oils was as follows:— sperm, 
 21,899 gallons, £6888 ; colza, 27,961 gallons, .£8506 ; linseed, 81,871 gallons, 
 £17,944; olive, 10,815 gallons, £2868; and rape, 16,964 gallons, £4561.— 
 C. Mayes, June 29, 1861. 
 
 f This information I received from an importer of Kerosene oil, in August, 
 1860. It may also be obtained from rock oil. See note on " Tar," under 
 article "Gas." — C. Mayes, June 29, 1861. 
 
 z
 
 338 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Castor, Tobacco, Plum, Grape, Cocoaiiut, Palin, Laurel, Groundnut, 
 Colza, Chen-jstone, Horse-chesnut, &c. 
 
 Colza oil. — Colza oil is an excellent lamp oil, and is produced 
 fi-om a nut grown in France, which yields two-fifths of its weight 
 in oil ; it is much used in France, and is also used as a lamp oil in 
 Victoria. The quantity imjiorted in 1858 was about the same as 
 Raj)eseed oil, viz., 12,860 gallons. 
 
 Rape oil. — " Rapeseed oil has a yellow color and a peculiar 
 smell J at 25° Fahr. it becomes a yellow mass, consisting of 46 
 parts of stearine and 54 of oleine, in which the smell resides." 
 Rapeseed produces about 27 ])er cent, of oil.* 
 
 '■^ Hempsecd oil has a disagreeable smell and a mawkish taste j 
 it is used extensively for making both soft soap and varnishes." 
 
 " Linseed oil is obtained in greatest purity by cold pressure ; 
 but by a steam heat of about 200° Fahr. a very good oil may be 
 obtained in larger quantity. When kept long cool in a cask 
 partly open it deposits masses of white stearine along with a 
 brownish powder : this stearine is very difficult of saponification. 
 Linseed yields from 20 to 25 per cent, of its weight in oil." * 
 
 Linseed. — ''The chief difference in the quality of the oil 
 depends upon the quality of the seed used. Heavy seed will yield 
 most oil, and seed ripened under a Iwt sun and where the ^fux is 
 not gathered too green, is the best. The weight of linseed varies 
 from 48 to 52 lbs. j)er bushel, 41) being about a fair average ; 
 a quarter yields about 14.^ gallons of oil, weighing 7i lbs. per 
 gallon."* It is crushed l)y machinery with stampers resembling 
 the stampers of quartz-crushing maeliines, which drive wedges 
 between two bags of linseed, by which means they are effectually 
 pre.ssed, the oil freely exuding during the stainjiing, and leaving 
 an oil-cake, u})on which cattle are feil. " Jn Jjondon a 20 hor.se- 
 power engine, with 13 light stampers, one In-draulic press of 800 
 tons pre.s.sure, 1 pair of rollers, 2 pair of edge stones, 8 table 
 kettles of a small size heated by fire, will crusli two quarters per 
 working hour, with two pressings."* 
 
 Linseed. Oil Pltivf. — 'i'he liinseed Oil Plant grows in all 
 climates from Peter.sburgh to the I'^ast Indies If grown at uU in 
 \'ictoria it is not to such an extent as to find a place in the Agri- 
 cultural Statistics of 1858. The best and heaviest seed is generally 
 
 ♦ Dr. Urc.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 339 
 
 grown and ripened in a warm climate, so that it mig-bt be larg-ely 
 grown here, not only for its oil, but also for its refuse or oil-cake. 
 
 " Olive oil is sometimes of a greenish and at others of a pale 
 yellow color. There are three kinds of olive oil in the market : 
 the best is obtained by pressure when cold j the common sort is 
 procured by stronger pressure, aided with the heat of boiling- 
 water ; and an inferior kind by boiling the olive residuum with 
 water, whereby a good deal of mucilaginous oil rises and floats on 
 the surface. The latter serves chiefly for making soaps."* The 
 manufacture of olive oil is likely to become an important branch 
 of colonial manufacture, not only for our own consumption, but 
 also for exportation. In 1868 we imported 8715 gallons of olive 
 oil. I am not aware that the olive has been grown to any extent 
 in Victoria, but when we consider the similarity of climate of the 
 countries bordering on the Mediterranean, and Victoria, we may 
 safely predict that the olive will be largely grown here within a 
 few years. Taking the temperature of INaples as an average of the 
 olive-growing countries, and comparing it with Melbourne, I And 
 that the difierence of the average heat of either of the four seasons, 
 does not in any instance exceed 5° ; the difference in the average 
 annual heat being only 21 degrees. 
 
 Rape, SunJlo7ver, Almonds, Vines, Fruit Trees, c}c. — JRape has 
 been grown to advantage in the Experimental Farm ; the sunflower 
 also grows freely here, as well as both sweet and bitter almonds, 
 plum trees, vines, cherry trees, cucumbers, linseed, &c.; the whole 
 of which, as before stated, produce the unctuous oils of commerce. 
 
 Castor Oil, Tobacco, Olive, Colza. — Other oil producing plants, 
 the growth of which hitherto in Victoria must be regarded as 
 experimental, may yet flourish here, such as the castor oil plant, 
 the tobacco plant, olive tree, colza oil plant, &c. 
 
 " Oil of Vine Stones is extracted from the seeds of the grape, 
 which yield about 10 or 11 per cent of o\\; it is used as an article 
 of diet,"* and will become worthy of attention as our vineyards 
 increase. 
 
 ^^ Oil of Almonds is manufactured by agitating the kernels in 
 bags so as to separate the brown skins, grinding in a mill, then 
 enclosing them in bags, and squeezing them strongly between 
 cast-iron plates in an hj'draulic press, without heat at first, and 
 
 * Dr. Ure. 
 
 z 2
 
 3-iU PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 then between heated plates. The first oil is the piirest ami least 
 apt to become rancid. Next to olive oil tbis oil is most easily 
 saponified. Bitter almonds being- the cheapest in England, 
 are used in preference for obtaining- this oil, and they afford an 
 oil equally bland, wholesome, and inodorous."* Almonds are 
 produced in Victoria in g-reat perfection, although not in s\ifficient 
 cpiantities to be used for this purpose at present, but could be 
 whenever the manufacture of scented soaps and other periumery 
 render it necessary. 
 
 Paroffine. — From Dr. Ure's article on paraffine I learn " that it 
 is distilled from beech-tar; in distilling- beech-tar pyrelaine passes 
 over, containing- crystalline scales of ])araffine, which is a white sub- 
 stance, devoid of taste and smell, and feels soft between the fingers; 
 it hurm with a dear wlutcjiame, without smoke or residuum, and 
 has the same comjwsition as olefiant gas. It dissolves readily in 
 warm fat oils, and is a singular solid bicarburet of hydrogen; it has 
 not hitherto (184r.'3) been aj^jtlied to any iise but would form admira- 
 ble candles." It would a|)pear from this that some one has taken 
 uj) Dr. Ure's suggestion by dissolving crystals of paraffine in warm 
 oil, and given the compound the name of Paraffine oil, to be used 
 in lamps ; an oil is sold in Melbourne as Paraffine, which resem- 
 bles Kerosene in many respects, but is darkei-, smokes when 
 consumed in the Kerosene lamp, and while smoking emits a disa- 
 greeai)le odour : this last oil may be only a substitute for the real 
 Paraffine, or the fact of its smoking in a certain kind of lani]) may 
 merely shew that the lam]) is not adapted for its perfect combus- 
 tion ; there is at present such a great variety of lamps of different 
 construction more or less in use, that in all jtrobability a more 
 suitable lanij) will be found for it. 
 
 (fih volatile or essential occur in ditl'ci-cnt parts of odoriferous 
 plants, and in some instances in all parts of the j)lant, as in thyme, 
 parsley, fennel, sweet marjorem, lavender, southernwood, itc. 
 Some jjlants, as the orange, furnish different kinds of oil from 
 different |)arts of the j)lant ; thus the leaves, the Howcrs, and the 
 skin of the fruit yield each its peculiar oil. "Tlic quantity of oil 
 varies not only with the s|)ecies, but also in the same plant, with 
 the soil, and espcciall}' the climate, it hciiig g-enerated most 
 profusely in hot clinuites. In tlcnvers it is iormed continually 
 
 * Dr. Urc.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 841 
 
 upon their surface, anil flies off at the morucnt of its forma- 
 tion,"* so that immense quantities of rose leaves (according- to 
 the Athencenm about 000 l])s.) are required to produce one ounce 
 of the oil or otto of roses ; other l)lossoins, such as violets, orang-e, 
 acacia, jfissamine, hyacinths, and other tuberoses, white lilies, 
 Sec, require a much smaller quantity, since 500 lbs of orang-e 
 blossoms yield about two pounds of j»ure neroli oil : the chief jdaces 
 of their g-rowth have hitherto been confined to the south of France 
 and Piedmont. The French, favored by their climate, furnish 
 half the world with this branch of their industry. The south of 
 France is bounded by the Mediterranean, which I have before 
 shown bears a striking resemblance in climate to Victoria, so that 
 the whole of the above-mentioned plants and flowers might be 
 g-rown here with equal advantage to Victoria as they have hitherto 
 been to France. 
 
 Oil from flowers. — As I have before stated, the perfume of 
 flowers is formed continually upon their surface, and flies ofl" at 
 the moment of its formation, and this is why such larg-e quantities 
 of flowers are required to obtain such a very small quantity of 
 their oil or essence, which is retained by packing alternate layers 
 of flowers and thin cotton fleece, or woollen cloth wadding-, pre- 
 viously soaked in a pure and inodorous fat oil to catch the perfumes 
 as they fly. It appears to me that a much larger quantity of oil 
 might be obtained by covering- the flowers while blooming or 
 blowing- with a similar preparation of cotton or woollen, by which 
 means the perfume instead of '' wasting its freshness on the desert 
 air" (or at most for the benefit of a few woi-kmen or visitors) might 
 be retained by the unctuous covering, all volatile or essential oil 
 having- a peculiar affinity for unctuous fat or fixed oils, and when 
 so retained could bo distilled in the same manner as it now is from 
 the unctuous cotton or woollen layers, which are submitted to dis- 
 tillation along with water when they g-ive up their precious per- 
 fumes in the form of a volatile oil. "In order to extract the oils of 
 certain flowers, as, for instance, of white lilies, infusion in a fat oil 
 is sufiicient."* On account of the g-reat value of pure volatile oils 
 from flowers they are generally mixed with alcohol, or "adulterated 
 with fat oils, resins, or balsam of capivi,"* but the adulteration can 
 g-enerally be detected by simple tests. 
 
 " Oil of laveyider is extracted from the flower spike of the 
 
 ♦ Dr. Ure.
 
 3-i2 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 lamndula spica." The oil of spike of commerce is distilled from a 
 wild variety of the same plant. 
 
 OiJ of orange flowers or neroU is obtained as before stated. 
 "Orange-flower water is obtained either by dissolving- the oil in 
 water, or by distilling with water the leaves, either fresh or 
 salted, the first being- the stronger, but the last being the more 
 fragrant preparation.'"* iSice and Cannes together produce about 
 300,000 lbs. of orange blossoms annually. t I look forward to the 
 time when the banks of the Murray below the Campaspe will teem 
 with orange plantations, not alone on account of the ])erfunie to be 
 obtained from tlieir blossoms but also on account of the valuable 
 oil expressed from their leaves, and the rind of their fruit, or orange- 
 peel, which contains a large quantity of oil, as any one can attest 
 bv simpl}' squeezing a piece of orange-peel between their finger 
 and thumb into the flame of a candle, when the oil from the peel 
 will readily take fire. This oil is easily obtained by expression, 
 and is used largely in scenting soai)s and other ])erfumery. From 
 the large quantity of essential oil obtained from orange-peel it might 
 and probably would be found profitable to collect, by purchase or 
 otherwise, the immense quantity now wasted in tlie colony; it could 
 be expressed in the same way as linseed (which see). 
 
 Oil of hergamot, lemons, citron, ^r., is obtained in the same 
 way from the rind of the fruit. 
 
 " Oil of hitter almonds is prepared by exposing the bitter almond 
 cake, from which the bland or unctuous oil has been expressed, in 
 a sieve to the vapor of water or steam rising within the still, which 
 carries off" the volatile oil and condenses along- with it in the worm 
 of the still."* Perfumers employ a large quantity of this oil in 
 scenting their soaps. The oilier essential oils likely to ])e manu- 
 factured liere are the oil of juniper, wliich is obtained by distilling 
 bruised juniper berries along with water; the oil of parsley, pepj)er- 
 mint, rosemary, sassafras, thyme, acacia and jessamine blossoms, 
 violets, hyacinths, and other tuberoses. Sec. 
 
 VWVM. 
 
 In the year 1858 we imported paper, in the form of stationery 
 and paper-hangings, to the value of alxtut £200,000.+ During the 
 
 • Dr. Urp. t Athcndum. 
 
 \ In 1859 wp imported Htationcry to the value of £174,700, and papcr- 
 hangingH to the value of X29,3»l.— C. Mayes, June 29, 1861.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 343 
 
 same year we ex[)ortecl 516 tons of rag-s, which was probably not 
 one half the quantity of rag-s that might annually be obtained here, 
 because, in the first place, it is not g'enerally known that rags are 
 purchased in the colony, and, in the second place, the price g;iven 
 is so trifling" as compared with their market value at home that few 
 would care to save them for sale. As long- as rag's are purchased 
 for exportation the price given will be very small; were paper- 
 mills to be established here a larger price would be offered, and we 
 should not then be in the habit of seeing cast off wearing- apparel 
 among our numerous rubbish heaps, or in the back yards and 
 rig'ht-of-ways of our city and towns. 
 
 Up to the commencement of the present century paper was made 
 entirely by hand, when the labor cost about 16s. per cwt.; the cost 
 is now about Is, per cwt. "This great change has been chiefly 
 effected by Donkin, who has made for himself a place along- 
 with Watt, Wedgwood, and Ai'kwright, in the temple of mechanical 
 fame."* Independent of the great superiority of machine over hand- 
 made paper, manufacturers are not troubled with combination of 
 workmen forming- strikes, which was one of the serious drawbacks 
 to the manufacturer of hand-made paper, another drawback being- 
 the large amount of waste, generally about 20 per cent., whereas 
 by machinery it is a mere nothing-. " Even so far back as 1843 
 there were 280 machines working- in Great Britain, producing 
 together 1600 miles of paper, from four to five feet broad, every 
 day."* The great improvement in the patterns of china and earthen- 
 ware is due chiefly to the manufacture of a superior description of 
 tissue paper, "the hand-made paper being- too coarse to trace the 
 fair engravings required."* There is also an advantage when used 
 for this purpose in the paper being of great length, and even in 
 1834 tissue paper was used in the potteries 1200 yards long; this 
 length of paper, or in fact any great length, had never been made 
 by hand labor. "In 1843 each machine was ca])able of making 
 under the impulsion of any prime mover, unwatched by human eye, 
 and unguided by human hands, from 20 to 50 feet in length by 
 5 feet broad of most equable paper in one minute."* Since then 
 several patents have been taken out for improvements in paper- 
 making machinery. 
 
 " The Chinese not only use rags in the manufacture of paper, 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 344 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 but also the fibres of the young bamboo, of the Chinese mulberry 
 tree, the envelope of the silkworm cocoon, cotton down, and 
 espeoiall}- the cotton tree ; they also make paper from their myrtle 
 tree." * 
 
 In 1807 (Nov. ISth) a ^Ir. Alexander Tolmer obtained a patent 
 in this colony for the manufacture of i)aper and pasteboard from 
 the stems and leaves of the plant known as the Lcpidos sperma 
 yladiata, and also from the root, stem, and leaves of the Hifh'tscus 
 or uuiish-mallow. This last plant gi-ows luxuriously and spreads 
 rapidly in deserted sheep stations, homesteads, and other places 
 where it is not destroyed as a weed. 
 
 Paper Plant. — The Mineral Point Tribune has a descrip- 
 tion of a plant with the above name, discovered in Wisconsin by 
 Miss A. L. Beaumont, who describes it as follows : " I discovered 
 two 3'ears ajjo a plant that 3'ields both cotton and flax from the 
 same root, and I believe I am the first person that ever cultivated, 
 spun, and knit from it. I am peisuaded that any article that will 
 make as good cloth as can be made from this plant will make 
 g-ood paper, hence I call it the 'paper plant.' It can be planted 
 in the spring and cut in the winter. It bleaches itself white as 
 it stands, and will yield at least three or four tons to the acre. 
 From a single root that I transplanted last sjn-ing there grew 20 
 large stalks with 305 pods containing the cotton, with at least GO 
 seeds in each. From this root I obtained 7 ounces of pure cotton 
 and over half-a-j)ound of flax. It is a very heavy ])lant, and 
 grows from six to seven feet high. The editor of the Tribune 
 who has seen samples of the cotton from this plant thinks that as 
 an article for the manufacture of j)aper it must be far liettor and 
 cheaper than any other known." — Austndian Jiuihler, Oct. l?iid, 
 18o(). 
 
 As the pro))or cotton tree grows best within the trojiics, and, 
 therefore, not likely to be successfidly cultivated in Victorin, it is 
 interesting to know thiit tiie jiaper ])lant is indigenous to Wis- 
 consin, which lies between 43° and 41)° N. latitude, and assimi- 
 lates more to the climate of Vict/tria than to that of tlie tropics. 
 We may, therefore, reasonal)ly ('xj)ect to iliid laiL litth' difficulty 
 in acclimatizing the paper ]»lant in ^'ictolia, to which it would be 
 a most valuable ac(piisition. 
 
 • Dr. Ure.
 
 ECONOMICAL MAN UFACTU KKS. 345 
 
 Paper from Maize. — The Illustrated London News by Aug-ust 
 mail, 1860, contained an article on the " maize [)lant " which 
 stated, among other important facts, that "The productiveness of 
 this plant being- so g-reat, it is not to be wondered at that efforts 
 have been made to cultivate it in Great Britain, and many years 
 ag;o the late William Cobbett, of political celebrity, wrote a 
 book on its virtues, recommendinf^ it to the British farmer. The 
 leaves and straw make good paper, and Mr. Cobbett's book was 
 printed on paper made of this material." It has been tried in 
 England, but as was to have been expected, the averag-e tempera- 
 ture of the seasons was not high enough to ensure the ripening* of 
 the g-rain. It is extensively cultivated in both N. and S. America 
 from the tropics to 40° N. and S. latitude. It also produces good 
 crops in Victoria, 7012 bushels being' the produce of 750 acres 
 during the year ending- 31st March, 1860; this must either be a 
 false return, or shows inferior cultivation, the averag-e produce per 
 acre being- less than 10 bushels. From the Report on the 
 Resources of the Colony I take the following : — " We are informed 
 by A. McMillan, Esq., the discoverer of Gipps Land, that not less 
 than 80 bushels of maize per acre for several successive j'ears 
 have been obtained on that gentleman's estate on the Avon River, 
 whilst the yield of wheat amounted to 35 bushels ; oats, 50 
 bushels ; barle}', 45 bushels ; and potatoes 6 tons to the acre." 
 
 In addition to the paper plant, which ma}^ be grown here, and 
 the leaves and stalks of maize which, with proper management, 
 produces large crops, we have the flax plant, (a very fair crop 
 of which was obtained in 1858, on the Experimental Farm, near 
 Melbourne, and the fact that it will thrive well in this climate 
 has, therefore, been fully established) ; * and several trees and 
 plants indigenous to the colon}^, the bark of which might be 
 converted into the coarser, if not the finer, kinds of paper. The 
 cotton tree might also be grown on the north side of the River 
 Murray, and the cotton transmitted to Melbourne b}' the Govern- 
 ment railway now being made between Melbourne and the River 
 Murray. The cotton tree could also be grown in the northern 
 parts of South Australia and New South Wales ; it has been 
 already successfully cultivated in Queensland. 
 
 We have, therefore, abundant sources of material suitable for 
 
 * Report on the Experimental Farm.
 
 346 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 the manufacture of all kinds of paper, and, as I have before 
 shown, since 1843 it has been made in Eng-land with machinery 
 so perfect as to require a very small amount of manual labor to 
 produce miles or tons of paper. Even at the present rate of 
 wages, with imported machinery propelled either by the Yan 
 Yean water or the Yarra Falls, paper mig-ht yet be made in 
 Melbourne as cheaji as that imported. 
 
 Tracint/ Paper of the "best kind is made from the refuse of 
 flax mills, and prepared by the eng-ine without fermentation : 
 it thus forms semi-transparent paste, and aifords transparent 
 paper." * 
 
 Paper Pipes. — An extract from an Eng-lish paper appeared in 
 the Argus of the 20th Aug-ust, 1860, g'iving- particulars of the 
 "paper pipes'' invented by a Mr. John Kennedy, which are likely 
 to (a considerable extent at least) supersede the use of iron, lead, 
 and clay pipes for "water, gas, or sewerage; they have been proved 
 to stand a pressure of from ?20 to 2.50 lbs. per square inch," which 
 is more than sutiicient for an}' practical purpose they can be 
 applied to. "Then look at the price : a 3-inch pipe can be had at 
 the rate of Is. per yard, and other sizes in pro])ortion ; " a yard 
 of 3-inch iron pipe ^' of an inch thick would cost at least 3s. in 
 Eng-land! "When they were referred to by Mr. Gladstone in 
 his celebrated speech of the 10th February last, the idea of paper 
 pipes was scouted ; since then they have been largely patronised 
 bv the Government and many juiblic ])odies. In fact, the 
 patentees for England cannot even meet the orders they receive." 
 I have been given to understand on good authority that tlie patent 
 has been extended to this colony, the patentees having an agent 
 here, so th-.it'if they are not exchanged for our deleterious lead 
 pipes now supplying water to the inhabitants of ^Iclbourne and 
 its suburbs, we may at least hope to see them used in our contem- 
 plated water and gas works throughout the colony. t It is not at 
 
 * Dr. Urc. 
 
 f I'attnt l)ituminis((l paper jiipcs arc now niado in Mclbonrnp, samples of 
 wliich have been tested liy a riovernmcnt Cnnuniftee, from whose report 
 dated April 2'.ith, 1801, I learn that the i)ipe8 were "tried by hydraulic 
 pre»sure, and 499 lbs. per square inch caused no leakajje or breakage in a 
 pipe 7J inches external and fi] indies internal diameter." Tlie pij)es arc 
 estimated to withstand a burstinjf ]>reHsiire of 3(10 lb per S(|uare inch ; and 
 the C'onnnittee feel that the excess named al)ove that amount was ample as
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 347 
 
 all improbable that they will yet be made in the bush partly from 
 the bark of our numerous forest trees. 
 
 PERFUMERY. 
 
 In 1858 we imported perfiimery to the amount of £4267, ex- 
 clusive of perfumed or scented spirits, which amounted to £13,021.* 
 Under the head of " Oil" I have given particulars of the unctuous 
 and essential oils, many of which are used in manufacturing- 
 pomatum or pomade, scented or perfumed oils and spirits, (and 
 more especially " Eau de Colog-ne"), pastes, pastilles, ttc. 
 
 Had we to import the principal ing-redients required to manu- 
 facture perfumery, or perfumed spirits, it mig-ht not be worth 
 particularising- in this Essay; but when we consider that the whole 
 of the ingredients are either produced or may be produced in this 
 or the adjoining- colony, and that we have no other use for the 
 immense quantity of china or g-lassware in which they are 
 impoited, and which in many instances are as valuable as their 
 contents, it seems probable that at no distant period we may not 
 only manufacture for our own use, but also for exportation. As 
 before stated, when treating- of "Oils," "the South of France 
 supplies at least half the world with perfumes." Some idea may be 
 entertained of the mag-nitude of this branch of industry from an 
 extract from the Athenccum, by which I learn that " Cannes and 
 Nice produce 13,000 lbs. of violet blossoms annually. One g^eat 
 perfumery distillery at Cannes, uses yearly about 140,000 lbs. of 
 orange blossoms; 20,000 lbs. of acacia blossoms; 140,000 lbs. of 
 rose leaves ; 32,000 lbs. of jessamine blossoms ; 20,000 lbs. of 
 violets, and 8000 lbs. of tuberoses, tog-ether with a g-reat many 
 other sweet herbs." 
 
 Pomades or Pomatums, are made by mixing- in a peculiar 
 manner hog-'s lard, beef suet, and the leaves of the flowers whose 
 perfume is required ; these materials underg-o certain preparations, 
 simple and easily understood, but which I need not refer to more 
 
 evidence of the power of internal resistance. For further particulars, see 
 Government report, to be obtained at the Depot, 127 Flinders lane cast, 
 Melbourne. — C. Mayes, July 1, 18G1. 
 
 * In 1859, we imported perfumery to the value of £6812, and perfumed 
 spirits to the value of £11,553. — C. Mates, July 1, 1861.
 
 34:8 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 particularly. As a substitute for flowers, which are too valuable 
 except for the best pomades, " the essences commonly used in 
 the manufacture of pomades, are those of bevg-amot, sweet lemon, 
 rosemary, thyme, lemon thyme, lavender, maijoram, itc."* 
 
 Scented Oils are made by infusing' flowers in pure fresh oil, 
 such as rose leaves, orang-e flowei*s. Sec. ; the more delicate flowers, 
 such as jessamine, jonquil, and violet, are spread upon stretched 
 calico, saturated with salad or other suitable inodorous oil • fresh 
 flowers are renewed until the oil is saturated with their odour, 
 the calico is then pressed to obtain the scented oil, which operation 
 requires seven or eig^ht days.* 
 
 Essence of roses, orang-e flowers, violets. Sec, nre obtained by 
 distillation, which is repeated for the best kinds. 
 
 Sceyited or perfumed spirits, of which so Inrg-e a quantity are 
 annually imported into this colony, are obtained by digcstivg 
 25 lbs. of the scented oil of roses, orange flowers, jessamine, 
 or violets. Sec, and 05 quarts of spiiits of wine, for three days, 
 when the perfumed s])irits are drawn ofl".* 
 
 Eau de Cologne. — " The only essences which should ])e em- 
 ployed, and which have g-iven such celebrity to this water, are 
 berg-amot, lemon, rosemar\', Portiig-al, neroli, or the essence of 
 orang-e flowers." * 
 
 Pasfis are made from the kernels of apricots, nlmonds, Sec. 
 
 PaslUlcs for burning are nuide with gum, nitre, cloves, charcoal 
 powder, vanilla, Sec. 
 
 Vanilla is the oblong narrow jiod of the epidendron luniilln, 
 Linn., which g-rows in Mexico, Columbia, Peru, Sec. It has a 
 delicious aroma, and is much sought after by makers of chocolate, 
 ices, creams, by confectioners, perfumers, and distillers ; * and is, 
 therefore, a fruit well worth cultivating- in Australia. 
 
 riSE. 
 
 I would call the attention of flio jiublic to the considei-iition and 
 trial of pis6, as a substitute for brick and stonework, in the 
 numerous, comfortable and cheap class of buildings recpiired in 
 this colony, such as cottages, houses, homestead.'i, and country inns, 
 with their necessary outbvildings and fences; also rilhige churches, 
 cluipeU, and scliooh; and, in fact, to all purposes to which second- 
 
 ♦ J)r. Urc.
 
 KCONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 310 
 
 rate brick or stonework can be applied. Pise is a French word, and 
 refez'S more to the metliod of mouklin<>- earths by compression into 
 walls, ifcc, in situ, than to the material used.* At least twenty 
 patents have been obtained in England during- the last twenty 
 years for artificial stones, or substitutes for brick and stonework ; 
 and although the majority of these inventions were deemed worth}'' 
 of notice for a time, they were ultimately lost to the public, 
 because they were found to be as costly or even more so than 
 brick or stonework. 
 
 The common kind of pise has been in use more or less since it 
 was used by the Romans, in the time of Pliny, who speaks of 
 buildings of compressed earth so durable as to be worthy of his 
 especial notice. This kind of pise has always been in use in most 
 civilized countries, and has commended itself for its cheapness 
 and durability. In Mexico, and some other parts of America, 
 pise houses are in general use. The city of the Mormons, on the 
 Great Salt Lake, is built of pise. In this colon}' little has hitherto 
 been done, although I have seen at Yan Yean common pise houses 
 about twelve years old, and the conspicuous pise tower known as 
 Bear's Castle. 
 
 Concrete Pise. — Concrete is a mixture of sand, gravel, and 
 common lime, in proper proportions to form an artificial stone. 
 In Great Britain, it is extensively used in foundations, particularly 
 for bridges and other engineering works. It seems to have been 
 little used in this colony; and I have seen valuable buildings 
 cracked from top to bottom by unequal settlement, the foundations 
 of which are saturated with water; this might have been pre- 
 vented by the use of concrete. About the year 1837, Ranger's 
 patent concrete made its apjiearance, in the walls of two important 
 buildings in London, \inder Sir Charles Barry, the eminent archi- 
 tect. Mr. Ranger also built with his })iitent concrete several docks, 
 wharves, the great sea wall of Brighton, (2000 yards long, and 
 in parts 40 to 70 feet high), a church, a school (on the model of 
 the Propylcea, at Athens), and several houses. t In 1851 I saw 
 some concrete pise houses at Norwood, near Adelaide, which, I 
 believe, are still standing. 
 
 * For the method of constructing piso walls, &c , see Weale's Kiuli- 
 mentary Treatise on Cottage Buildings, Cresy's Cyclopaedia of Civil En- 
 gineering, &c. — C. Mates, July 1, 1861. 
 
 f See Civil Engineers and Architects' Journal.
 
 350 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Beton Pise. — Beton is the term g-iven in France to a kind of 
 concrete, made with hydraulic or water lime, and more g-enerally 
 used on the Continent than concrete is in Eng-land, for we find it 
 applied not only to foundations and walls of houses, but also to a 
 bridg-e, which, in 1840, was wholly built of hetim, over the canal 
 at Garonne : it was about forty feet span, and only five feet rise, 
 and has stood some severe fi'osts without injur3\ 
 
 Although the application of concrete has been g'enerally suc- 
 cessful, it has failed in hydraulic works, such as the sea wall of 
 Brig-hton, and the Woolwich and Chatham Docks ; the reason 
 of this is simply that proper hydraulic lime was not used in the 
 face of the walls to protect them from the destructive effects of 
 waves, tides, and frosts. It will be found in all such cases, 
 where g-ood strong* hydraulic lime was used, the result has been 
 satisfactory. Any one who has seen the hi'ton walls of the Roman 
 Tower of St. Alban's Abbey, and the massive concrete wall? of 
 Colchester Castle, will need no other conviction of the durability 
 of this material, when applied to external walls. The g-reatest 
 enemy to the preservation of pise, heton, or concrete, is the action 
 of the frost ; and as the}' have been found to answer even in cold 
 climates, I have g-ood reason to suppose they will answer much 
 better here, where it seldom freezes. Pise has been broug-ht to 
 great perfection in most warm climates, and is in more g-eneral 
 use on the Continent than in Eng-land. 
 
 The Victorian Industrial Society has from year to year offered 
 premiums for the best method of manufacturing; pise, but I am 
 not aware that their exhibitions have been attended with any 
 marked success in this or any other branch of colonial industry, 
 and the society has since died from the want of patronag'e. 
 
 In spite of the inferiority of either bark or slab liuts, and the 
 inefficiency of wooden houses to meliorate the sudden changes of 
 temj)erature to which this colony is at all seasons so liable; and 
 althoiig-h neither bark, slab, or boarded houses, will keep out 
 the intense heat of our Australian suiiiiiiers, so effectually as either 
 stone, brick, or j)ise, we still find such miserable sul)stitutes for 
 comfortable dwelling's bein{^ erected throughout the bush, and 
 blab huts with gaping chinks between ev(>ry slab, occupying the 
 place of ccpially cheap and really comfortable pise walls, made of 
 either loam, brick-earth, cobs or sods, concrete, beton, itc. 
 
 Under the head of cement and lime, I have shown how preva-
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 351 
 
 lent and universal is either limestone, cement-stone, or calcined 
 earth ; that the calcined earth would form a substitute for the real 
 puozzalano of Italy, and that having- limestone and cement-stone, 
 combined with abundance of timber as fuel, we can readily manu- 
 facture lime or cement, and build concrete or beto)i walls without 
 skilled labor. 
 
 POTASH. 
 
 Potash, or Potassa, so named because orig-inally obtained from 
 the lixivium of wood ashes evaporated in iron pots. " If lime is 
 added to the solution of ashes, a corresponding- portion of caustic 
 potash will be introduced into the product with more or less lime, 
 according to the care taken in decanting- off the clear ley for 
 evaporation." 
 
 " In America, where timber is in many places an incumbrance 
 upon the soil, it is felled, piled up into heaps, and burnt, solely 
 with a view to the manufacture of potash," * which is also 
 larg-ely produced in Canada; in a similar manner "the farmer 
 finds what is equivalent to a valuable crop; some extra trouble 
 is, of course, necessary in the manufacture, but in many cases 
 the product is sufficient to pay both for the land and the clear- 
 ing*." t Throughout Australia, although thousands of tons of 
 timber are burnt annually, the ashes are never hxiviated for the 
 purpose of obtaining- potash ; not that we have no use for it, since 
 it forms an essential constituent in the manufacture of soft soap, 
 and we have had soap manufactories in Victoria for many years. 
 It is also used in the manufacture of glass (see " Glass "), for which 
 it will be required here, when the natural faciHties we possess for 
 the manufacture of glass are better known. 
 
 Water containing potash is softened by its presence, and this is 
 the reason that the waters of the Yan Yean Reservoir are rendered 
 so deleterious by contact with lead. The bush fires periodically 
 occurring on its watershed deposit the wood ashes of the timber 
 consumed, which is lixiviated by subsequent rain-falls, and finds 
 its way into the reservoir, or, before the reservoir was formed, on 
 to its site, an immense swamp, which from time immemorial has 
 been periodically impregnated with the lixivium of wood ashes or 
 potash. When the immense embankment was about being con- 
 
 * Dr. Ure. f Canadian Correspondent.
 
 352 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 structed across the entrance to the ampliitlieatre of hills formings 
 the Yan Yean Reservoir, the timher upon its site was felled and 
 hurnt, not only into charcoal, which would have purified the water, 
 but also into ashes, which has increased the presence of potash. 
 
 " All kinds of plants do not yield the same quantity of potash, 
 althoug-h all plants yield moi-e than trees. The more succulent the 
 plant the more potash does it afford, since it is only in the juices 
 that the vej^-etable salts reside, which are converted by burning- 
 into alkaline matter." *' Canadian potash, as imported in casks, 
 contains about GO per cent., and the best pearlash 50 per cent, of 
 absolute potassa." " The proportions of absolute potassa contained 
 in 1000 parts of certain plants, are as follows, viz. : — Flax stems, 
 6; vine shoots, 5^; barley straw, 5^; fern, 61; larg-e rush, 7^ ; 
 stalk of maize, 17^; bean and sunflower stalks, each 20; thistles 
 in full g:rowth, 35^ ; dry straw of wheat before earing-, 47 ; wine 
 lees, dried and pressed, 160." Stalks of tobacco, potatoes, broom, 
 heath, furze, sorrel, vine leaves, beet leaves, and many other plants 
 abound in potash salts." 
 
 " Pcorhish is prepared by calcining potash upon a reverberatory 
 hearth till the whole carbonaceous matter and the greater part of 
 the sulphur is dissipated, then lixiviating the mass, evaporating- 
 the clear lev to diyness in flat iron j)ans, and stirring it towards the 
 end into white lumiiy granulations"* 
 
 By mixing and otherwise manipulating lime with jtotash, caustic 
 potash, or common caustic is juoduced. Carbonate, sulphate, 
 nitrate, tartrate, ifcc, of potash, are obtained by certain chemical 
 manipulations. 
 
 POTTERY. 
 
 Pottery is made from infusible earths which are refi-actory in the 
 kiln, and continue opa(jue, such as earthenware, stoneware, flint- 
 ware, delftware, ironstone, china, &c. 
 
 Inijtrontunifs hy J. 'Wedifn'ood. — " The greatest inij)rovements 
 in the riinnufactur.) of j)ottery and pdrcdain or china are d\ie to 
 Josiah Wedgwood. So sound were his ].iiii{-ipl('s, so judicious his 
 plans of procedure, and so ably hiive tliey been prosecuted by his 
 successors in StaflbrdNhiro, that a population of (10,000 operatives in 
 
 • Dr. lire.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. .j03 
 
 1843 derived a comfortable subsistence, within a district (formerly 
 bleak and barren) of about 48 square miles in area, and wliich in 
 1843 contained 150 kilns, and was then, as it is now, sif^nificantly 
 called the "Potteries."* Were an enterprising potter, with suffi- 
 cient capital at his command, to endeavor to bring' about such a 
 change in V^ictoria as the enterprising- indefatigable Wedgwood 
 effected in England, his task would probably be far less arduous, 
 since he would merely have to a[)ply such materials as were at 
 hand, and for every step and nearly every improvement he might 
 find a pi-ecedent in the labors of Wedg-wood, now so fully 
 developed and understood. The truth of this statement will be 
 made more apparent by the information I shall endeavor to convey 
 in the course of this article. 
 
 • Clays. — The potter}'' clays of Eng'land are in such demand that 
 from 50,000 to 70,000 tons of blue clay are annually sent out of 
 Dorsetshire, most of which finds its way to the Potteries in Stafford- 
 shire. This branch of industry alone finds employment for upwards 
 of 7000 operatives merely in preparing- the clay, which yields to 
 St. Austell alone upwards of £240,000 every year.f Feldspar is 
 also sent from Cornwall to the Potteries, and immense quantities of 
 flints from the chalk formations of Yorkshire, &c., to the same 
 place. 
 
 Victorian materials. — We possess all the materials required for 
 the manufacture of earthenware and porcelain. 
 
 In the Report emanating- from the Committee of the Royal 
 Society of Victoria, I find it stated that " cla3's of a most excellent 
 kind, suitable for bricks, and for the finest pottery, have been 
 discovered at Phillipstown, Brunswick, and Hawthorn, and bricks 
 are now made which are believed to be equal, in durability, to 
 those of which the old Roman walls were constructed." + 
 
 Mr. Selwyn, also, in his geolog-ical reports, refers to clays suita- 
 ble for pottery of all kinds, occurring- in many parts of the colony, 
 exclusive of the fire-clays of our coal-fields. 
 
 Flints. — There are no flints in Australia; at least, none have 
 yet been discovered, since we possess no chalk with which they are 
 always associated. As a substitute for flints we have an abun- 
 dance of pure milk-white quartz, which we are pulverising- for the 
 
 * Dr. Ure. f Home paper. 
 
 \ See article in Appendix on " Bricks and Tiles." 
 
 2 A
 
 354 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 sole view of extracting tbe g-old it contains. This may at some 
 future period be eag-erly soug-ht after, not only for pottery, but 
 also for the manufacture of glass. Flints are ground in Europe 
 expressly for mixing with kaolin or china clay for pottery ware, 
 and the glaze with which they are coated. 
 
 Earthenn'are from Sludge. — The very sludge of our gold-fields, 
 on account of its present uselessness, has to be treated and disposed 
 of at vast expense as an intolerable nuisance, jnay at some future 
 period be sought after and used for earthenware. In the Ballaarat 
 Star, in 1869, I found the following : — " We have seen some very 
 nicely moulded and carefully burnt chimney pots made from sludge 
 by a person near the cemetery. The specimen articles we inspected 
 are beautifully smooth, of fine texture, and ring as soundly as a 
 bell. Something will yet be made out of the ' sludge nuisance.' '' 
 
 In England and other parts of the civilised world, clay is washed 
 and made into bricks, tiles, and other earthenware, and even into 
 highly valuable porcelain and china ; but in Victoria we wash with 
 an equal amount of trouble, and at least double the expense, 
 equally valuable clay, and throw it away, or rather i7i our way, 
 and then expend thousands of pounds sterling to get rid of the 
 " sludge nuisance." 
 
 As mentioned under the article " Bricks," natural clays, or clay 
 fit for bricks or earthenware, without being mixed with any other 
 material, is rare in England. In the case of the " sludge 
 nuisance," we find, near the sources of the sludge, that it consists 
 mainly of silica or sand, which is heavier than pure clay or 
 alumina, and, therefore, subsides sooner ; but, if we follow down 
 the sludge channel, we shall find that the ])roportion of sand to 
 sludge, or liquid day, is not so great, and at its nnhoucherc, (unless 
 the sludge has been agitated or stirred on purpose to cause it to 
 hold the sand mechanically suspended, and thus carry it away) 
 we shall find it to consist, for tiie most j)art, of finely pulverised 
 washed clay, containing but little silica, or sand, and that little of 
 X\w finest description. By siinj)ly washing, in a tum))ler, and 
 weighing samples of x\u\ clay or sludge in certain localities, we 
 may ascertain the proportion the silica or sand bears to the aluniina 
 or clay, and mix it with other sludge or clay in such known pro- 
 portions fia are requinid for the artich* we intend iiianufact.uriiig. 
 
 Victorian manv/'acfure. — From tiic Blue-book for 1858, I find 
 there were five potteries in the colony ; two of these were at
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 355 
 
 Melbourne, one at Ballaarat;, one at Sandhurst, one at Preston, 
 and the other at Geelong-. 
 
 Hitherto we have manufactured such articles as bricks, tiles, 
 drain-pipes, chimney and flower pots, pans, and other stoneware, or 
 common red earthenware. We have not hitherto made any delft- 
 ware or crockery, porcelain or china, although I suspect the greater 
 part of the £03,000 worth of earthenware imported here in 1858, 
 consisted chiefly of delftware or crockery, in addition to £11,500 
 worth of tobacco-pipes for our smoking- community. We also 
 imported, and paid in the same year, £6086 for earthenware 
 drain-pipes.* 
 
 At our Exhibition, in 185'4, were to be seen, fire-bricks and 
 flower-pots, made at the Toorak potteries ; and also, flower-pots, 
 water-coolers, spirit-jars, drain-pipes, made at North Melbourne, of 
 common earthenware or stoneware. This seems hitherto to have 
 been the height of our ambition in the manufacture of pottery, 
 being- the only kind that can generally be made with natural clay, 
 without the intermixture of ground flints, or, as a substitute, 
 ground quartz, which would require flint or quartz mills to grind 
 it even finer than it generally comes from the quartz-crushing 
 machines. 
 
 High Rate of Wages here. — Although we have abundance of 
 suitable material in Victoria for all kinds of pottery, not excepting 
 crockeryware or delft, and porcelain, on account of the present 
 high price of labor, we cannot compete with the imported articles 
 in Melbourne, although we may do so at Ballaarat, Sandhurst, and 
 other places where the carriage and breakage would considerably 
 enhance the present prices in Melbourne. 
 
 Ecidence given before the Tariff" Committee in 1860. — From the 
 evidence given before the Tarifi" Committee, on the 2nd March 
 last, I learn that although the pipe-clay of Batman's Swamp 
 is of the best kind for pipes, jars, bottles, pans, &c., that the 
 proprietor of the potteries there could not compete with similar 
 imported articles. The rate of wages for potters were nearly 
 double, and for laborers employed in the potteries, about four 
 times the rate paid in England ; and that, earthenware pipes, 
 pans. Sec, being packed one inside the other, came out as ballast, 
 
 * In 1859 we imported chinaware to the value of £4888 ; earthenware 
 £47,869 ; drain-pipes (chiefly of stoneware) £7280 ; tobacco-pipes, £7322. 
 
 2 A 2
 
 356 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 for £1 per ton, or even less; that the retail price of coals was ns 
 high as £3 per ton in Melbourne, and at the potteries (near the 
 coal-fields) in Eng-land, only 10s. per ton. It was also stated in 
 evidence, that notwithstanding" these great dit^'orences in the price 
 of labor and fuel, six-inch drain pipes, e.g., could be made here 
 for about l?o per cent, more than the cost of importing them, but 
 that small articles, such as ginger-beer bottles, on account of the 
 greater proportion of labor to material, cost nearly three times as 
 much, even when made with the assistance of a machine. The 
 proprietor of the Flemington potteries stated that he could make 
 one mile of drain-pipes per week, in his establishment, and that 
 there were thousands of acres of clay here as good as at home. 
 Another potter stated that the fire-bricks made here would stand 
 fire, but not the cooling afterwards, and that the real fire-clay, 
 equal to the English, was found at Cape Patterson, and that with 
 the proper fire-clay, good fire-bricks could be made here for less 
 than we could import them. It is very evident that the greatest 
 drawback to the economical manufacture of pottery, and many 
 other articles, near Melbourne, is the high rate of labor, and the 
 high price of coals ; although, in the case of pottery, it by no means 
 follows, that potters should use coals, particularly when suitable 
 fy-ewood can be obtained at about one-third the cost. In France, 
 wood is the only fuel used for burning every description of pottery, 
 not excepting the renowned Sevres porcelain or china. 
 
 Preparation of Clays for Pottery. — The clay is freed from 
 stones when dug, and is then puddled and tempered, the same as 
 for brick-making; it is then worked up into earthenware, stone- 
 ware, itc, but even for this purpose, as before stilted, natural clay 
 of a suitable fjusdity cannot always be obtained, and most clays 
 are genei-allv mixed with eertain proportions of silica or sand ; but 
 for delft and poirejaiu, ground flints :ire added in suitable pro])or- 
 tions, according to the (puiiitity or projjortion of silica in the nafurnl 
 clay. 'J"he flints uvv burnt or roasted in kilns, ground in flint mills, 
 and sifted to different degrees of fineness, according to the quality 
 of ware required, in the same manner that quart/, is loasted and 
 crusluMl on the gold-fields ; and which, as before stated, woidd 
 answer all the piu'poses of pottery and jiorcelain. This flint 
 powder, fine silica or (piartz, is further reduced by flint mills into 
 an iiuj)alj»abl(! powder; both the clay and flint powd(>r are reduced 
 to 11 standard degree oi tbiiditv, mixed in ceitain pi'opnitions, and
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 357 
 
 intimately incorporated by })ug- mills. The mixture is next freed 
 from excess of moisture, by -evaporatino; in dipJiilns, wliich re- 
 semble salt pans of saltworks, and, like them, have furnaces 
 beneath them. When brought to a proper consistenc}-^, the dough 
 is removed from the troughs or pans into damp cellars, where it 
 is kept several months, by which it is mellowed, and is better 
 than new paste for any kind of ware. The mass is once more 
 incorporated by sluicing machines, and also by cutting lumps of 
 the paste into, and slapping them together, when it is fit for the 
 potter's wheel. 
 
 Throwing consists of shaping the dough previously weighed for 
 certain articles by placing it upon the centre of the potter's wheel, 
 wliich revolves rapidly while the potter gives it the required circular 
 form by manipulating with his hands, assisted by wooden pegs and 
 gauges for the size required ; he then cuts it off the wheel with a 
 fine brass wire, when it is gradually dried until it has attained a 
 certain consistency, called the green state ; it is then nicely turned 
 to its proper shape in the turning-lathe, and slightly burnished 
 with a smooth steel surface. The wheels and lathes in large 
 establishments are worked by machinery. The handles, and othei- 
 appendages are next attached to the vessel or article ; they ai*e 
 then taken to the stove-room and heated to 80° or 90° Fahr., by 
 which means they are fully dried. Such articles as cannot be 
 fashioned in the lathe are pressed through apertures of the required 
 size, the worm, or pipe-shape dough, as it issiies is cut to the 
 proper length and bent to the desired form 
 
 Casting consists of pouring liquid clay into moulds of plaster 
 of Paris which absorbs the moisture from the outside of the article, 
 when the inside, which remains liquid, is poured out, leaving a 
 shell of the thickness required. The castings, ornaments, &c., 
 are joined together by slip, or liquid clay cement. Imitations 
 of flowers and foliage are made by hand and joined in this 
 way, which is called fui'nishing. The articles, being now 
 ready for the kiln, are placed in fire-cla}^ boxes, or saggers, 
 which are piled up in the kiln into columns called bungs. 
 The fuel used for firing the kilns in England is coal, which 
 is supplied from time to time, test pieces, called ball-watches, 
 being used to determine the temperature, and to guide the 
 degree and duration of the tiring, which lasts from forty to 
 forty-two hours, when the kiln is gradually cooled and emptied,
 
 358 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 the articles being dipped into a g-laze ; they are then fired in the 
 g-laze-kiln for about fourteen hours to fix the glaze. 
 
 Glazes consist of white lead, red lead, ground flints, flint glass, 
 feldspar, soda, nitre, borax, chalk, oxide of tin, I'cc. 
 
 Metallic lustre for outside use consists of a glaze composed of 
 sixty parts of litharge, thirty-six feldspar, and fifteen ground flints. 
 
 Gold lustre, jjlatina lustre, iron lustre, marbling, t)r., may also 
 be produced and applied for ornamentation.* 
 
 rORCELAIN. 
 
 Porcelain consists of a fusible with an infusible earth, which, 
 when combined, are susceptible of becoming semi-vitrified and 
 translucent in the kiln. 
 
 The biscuit of the hard porcelain made at Sevres is generally 
 composed of kaolin clay and decomposed feldspar ; the kaolin is 
 washed at the pit and sent to Sevres under the name of decanted 
 earth. 
 
 Kaolin and feldspar are found in large quantities in the granite 
 formations of Victoria. f 
 
 Fuel. — The fuel used at Sevres is aspin and white-wood for 
 porcelain, the glaze being ground feldspar mixed with a little 
 vinegar; every article is put into a sagger by itself, as they must 
 not touch each other ; the saggers are composed of similar 
 materials to those used for glass-house pots. 
 
 The fir it) f/ continues altogether from thirty to thirty-six hours, 
 about twelve times as much fuel being used tlian is reipiired for 
 stoneware. With forty cubic metres of wood 12,000 stoneware 
 plates may be completely fired, both in the biscuit and glaze kilns, 
 while the same (piantity of wood would bake at most only 1000 
 plates of porcelain. 
 
 Glass-house pots (see glass) are composed of a pure fire-clay 
 (the constituents of which are eipial portions of alumina and 
 
 • Sec article "Pottery," in Ure's Dictionary. 
 
 t The Victorian Government advertised for sale by tenders (in April, 
 1861) fifteen acres of kaolin or porcelain clay at Hulla Bulla, a post town 
 ciKhteen miles from Melbourne, and from a Utter headcil " Kesources of the 
 Colony," which appeared in the Anjus in February or March, 1861, I learn 
 that works for the manufacture of jxtrcclain, or chinaware, had been already 
 entablishcd there.— C. Maykh, July 1, 1861.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 359 
 
 silica, and in tbis respect resembles kaolin, wbicb is disinte^ated 
 grapbic g-ranite, containing- equal portions of feldspar and quartz), 
 mixed witb a fourtb part of broken crucibles, or eartbenware 
 ground to powder.* 
 
 RUM. 
 
 The rum imported into Victoria in 1858 was valued at 
 £70,519.t 
 
 Jamaica ncm. — Rum is distilled fi'om the fermented skimmings 
 of tbe sugar-pans, or teacbes, mixed witb molasses and diluted 
 witb water to tbe proper degree. " Tbe wort is made in Jamaica 
 by adding to 1000 gallons of spent-wasb, or dunder, 120 gallons 
 of molasses, 720 gallons of slummings (^120 molasses in sweet- 
 ness) and 160 gallons of water, so tbat tbere may be in tbe liquid 
 nearly 12 per cent, by w^eight of solid saccharum, or pure sugar."t 
 
 Flavor of rum. — Spirits distilled from molasses do not contain 
 tbe flavor of rum, tbe flavor of wbicb is due to tbe larg-e 
 quantities of lees, or spent-wasb, of former distillations. The 
 fermentation goes on best in large masses, and requires from nine 
 to fifteen days to complete tbe process. Tbe quantity of rum 
 produced is from four to five and a half gallons to each cwt. of 
 sugar. 
 
 " The wash should be examined from day to day, and when it 
 has reached its maximum strength, which can be ascertained by 
 the hydrometer, it should at once be transferred to tbe still, and 
 worked oft' by a proper-regulated beat (see alcohol) ; if it is 
 allowed to stand over it will deteriorate by acetification."! The 
 cane-juice, like the juice of grapes, will undergo spontaneous 
 fermentation, but so slowly and irregularly that it is advantageous 
 to quicken it b}'' the addition of dunder ; rum-distillers even soak 
 woollen cloths in the yeast of fermenting vats to preserve tbe 
 ferment from season to season. Sugar, if properly fermented, will 
 yield its weight in proof spirit. 
 
 Svgar Hejincry at Sandridge, near 3Ielbovi'ne. — A sugar 
 refinery has been recently established at Sandridge in connection 
 
 * See Dr. Ure's Dictionary. 
 
 t In 1859 we imported rum to the value of £52,601. — C. Matks, July 2, 
 1861. X Dr. Ure.
 
 360 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 with a distillery for tlie manufacture of rum, the only one of the 
 kind in Victoria. There is a duty on all spirits distilled here from 
 sug-ar of Os. 3d. per gallon, and from grain 10s. per gallon.* 
 
 SALT. 
 
 Salt (culinary), or chloride of sodium, occurs in the form of rock 
 salt in the saliferous or new red sandstone formation ; the rock 
 salt with the brine springs from it, affords the whole of the salt 
 made in Eng-hind. This formation is not known in Australia: 
 we have therefore no rock salt here, but we have other sources of 
 supply from our salt lakes and sea water. In 1858 we imported 
 659? tons of salt, valued at £22,956, being about £4 per ton.t 
 
 Native salt is found on the shores of our salt lakes ; it is very 
 coarse (as all natural salt is) owing to the low temperature at 
 which the salt water is evaporated. At Lake Hindmarsh it is 
 found in vast quantities, and is very easy of access, as may be 
 inferred from the fact that it is sold in the Ararat district at £3 per 
 ton, being only a low charge for its cartage of about 100 miles on 
 the Adelaide road. We have other salt lakes about 50 miles west 
 of Geelong, the largest, Lake Korangamite, being about 100 
 square miles and Lake Colac about 20 square miles in area, besides 
 many salt lagoons in this and other parts of Victoria, affording 
 native salt already evaporated on their banks, the crystals being 
 cubical, with their sides about -,V, of an inch in length. 
 
 Facilities for Mamifacturiny Salt. — With such vast quantities 
 of native salt in several inland localities, all towns within say 60 
 miles of a salt lake might be supjjlied at a cheaper rate than from 
 sea salt, obtained by the evaporation of sea water on our coasts. 
 Salt from sea water is obtained by natural evaporation. The water 
 is first retained in reservoirs constructed below the level of high 
 water mark, in suitable localities, on the sea shore, tlie water being 
 admitted by means of an inlet or open clmiini'l provided with sluice 
 gates, bv which it can be easily admitted and retained. In this 
 reservoir its injpiirities may subsid*' before it is allowed to flow 
 
 • In 185'J there were 4624} gallons of ruin (iistilkd in Victoria.— C. 
 Mayes. July I, 1861. 
 
 ■f In 1859 we imported 8970 tons 18 ewt. of salt, valued at X42,606.— C. 
 Maykh. July 1, 1801.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 361 
 
 into brine-pits, which are divided by compartments, so as to be 
 easily accessible for the purpose of raking- the crude salt (left by 
 evaporation) on to their sides.* 
 
 Brine-pits. — These brine-pits may be of any extent collectively, 
 the object being- to expose the larg-est amount of surface to the action 
 of the sun and wind. Both the reservoir and brine-pits should be 
 excavated in clay, or otherwise made impervious to watei-, or they 
 would be likely to fill from fresh water land springs. Where clay 
 forms the only lining-, the salt derives its color from the color of 
 the clay, and may be either brown, red, white, or grey, in which 
 case it must be cleansed by boiling-, and if quickly evaporated by 
 proper salt-pans, will form fine table salt.* As this would probably 
 be the description of salt generally required, there would be but 
 little advantage in lining the reservoirs and brine-pits with either 
 brick, paving- tiles, or cement, which would add greatly to the cost 
 of the excavation. 
 
 Purijicatioyi of natice salt. — Native salt is never found in a 
 pure state, but contains from 1 to 7 per cent, of lime, magnesia, 
 soda, oxide of iron, clay in a state of diffusion, &c. The chief 
 of these impurities consists of magnesia, sea salt containing nearly 
 nine parts in 1000, and twenty-five parts or 2^ per cent, of 
 pure salt; but sea w'ater is easily purified and sweetened, by 
 merely adding lime equal to the magnesia, or about 1 per cent, 
 by weight of the water used, when it may be safely ci-ystalised 
 by rapid evaporation. The boilers constructed in Bavaria, at 
 the salt-works of Rosenheim, consume 1 lb. of wood for every 
 83 lbs. of water evaporated, which is there considered a favor- 
 able result, but which might easily be increased to 51bs. by a 
 better ari-angement of the furnace and evaporating- pans.* Should 
 salt-works be established in Victoria, (with the view of dissolving 
 and rapidly evaporating, for table salt, our vast depositories of 
 lake salt) it would probably be advisable to establish such works 
 as near as practicable to any lake in a thicklj' wooded district. 
 According to M. Gay Lussac, 100 parts of water at 62° Fahr. 
 (which is not greater than the average teni])erature of water in 
 Victoria during the summer months) will dissolve thirt^'-five parts 
 of salt. Supposing our lake salt to be dissolved with this propor- 
 tion of water, one pennyworth of wood, at 5s. per ton (the ])rice if 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 362 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 obtained on the spot), will evaporate loOlbs. of water (reckoning- 
 only 4 lbs. of water to lib. of wood); this would be equal to at 
 least 50 lbs. of salt contained in loOlbs. of water. At 10s. per ton 
 (the wholesale price of firewood delivered in Melbourne), it would 
 only cost one penny for fuel to evaporate Qo lbs. of fine table salt. 
 
 European inamifacture. — In France and Germany sea water 
 is pumped into immense cisterns, built upon lofty towers, called 
 graduation houses, from which it descends between skeleton walls, 
 filled with bundles of thorns or fag-ots of brush-v/ood, the object 
 being to bring the water in contact with the largest surface, 
 for the purpose of speedy evaporation by the wind and sun. At 
 Salza, near Schonebeck, there is ti graduation house 5817 feet long, 
 the thorn walls of which are fi'om 33 to 52 feet high, and present 
 a total surface of 25,000 square feet, but the water has to be 
 raised and passed through the thorn walls about ten times to in- 
 crease its specific gravity 0*013, so that sea water of the specific 
 gravity of 1-030 would only be increased to 1-043 by this tedious 
 process, allowing that during our summer months only five falls 
 of the same water would produce this result, it is questionable 
 whether the same result could not be obtained more economically 
 by brine-pits. The saturated solution of salt before referred to 
 would be about 1*1 9(5, and would therefore not require much 
 boiling to raise it to a specific gravity of 1-200, when it is fit to be 
 transferred to the evaporating or finishing salt pans, which are 
 very shallow, and present nearly the whole of tiioir underside to 
 the furnace and flues. 
 
 In addition to lime, which is added to the brine, to convert the 
 chloride of magnesia into an available deposit of chloride of lime, 
 it is usual in the boiling to add a little bullock's Mood, by which 
 the sediment is thrown down in clarifying.* 
 
 Sea Water contains about 2^ per cent , or one-fortieth of its 
 weight of chloride of sodium or ])ure salt, so that it would cost 
 one penny for firewood, at 10s. |)(!r ton, to evaporate 801bs. of sea 
 water, yielding at least 2 ll)s. of pure salt; this would be equal to 
 a halfi)enny per II)., or about one-fourth of the value of the salt 
 per lb. imjiortcd in 185iS. 
 
 With the, slight difibrencc^ in lieight between high and low 
 wat«r, and the porous nature of the ground on the north coast of 
 
 * Dr. Urc.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 363 
 
 Hobson's Bay, it might not be considered advisable to excavate 
 reservoirs and brine pits near Melbourne to evaporate sea water 
 for the purpose of obtaining- salt, but there are many suitable 
 localities for such works, where wind-pumps, or pumps worked by 
 wind, might be broug-ht into use to raise sea water into reservoirs, 
 whose surfaces might be above the high water level of the 
 adjoining beach. 
 
 SOAP. 
 
 In 1858 we imported 151 tons of soap, valued at £8161, or 
 about £54 per ton; and during- the same year we exported 174 
 tons, valued at £6000, being- about £34 per ton.* The Blue-book 
 for 1858 does not furnish any clue to explain this great difference 
 in the value of imported and colonial soap. The only kind of 
 soap (as far as I have been able to ascertain) hitherto made in the 
 colony is the common brown bar soap. The whole of the soft 
 soap used in Victoria is imported, and as it is about three times 
 the price of common hard soap, the difference in the value of our 
 imported and exported soaps may thus be partially accounted for. 
 
 The number of soap-boiling establishments in Victoria in 1858 
 was eighteen, three of which were in Melbourne, four in Prahran, 
 and about the same number in Footscray. As we export more 
 soap than we import, we may regard the successful manufacture 
 of common hard soaps at least as a fait accomjjU. This descrip- 
 tion of soap is made by boiling together a decoction of soda, 
 called soda ley, and tallow. In 1858 we imported 975 tons of 
 alkali, chiefly soda, the greater portion of which was probably 
 used in the manufacture of hard soap. 
 
 I am at a loss to account for the non-manufacture of soft soap 
 in Victoria, since potash, the alkali used in the manufacture of soft 
 soap, is imported for other purposes. Both potash and soda might 
 be manufactured in Victoria from the raw materials, which are 
 disseminated in abundance (see articles " Potash," and " Soda"). 
 Whale or cod oil is used with tallow in making soft soap, which 
 may therefore easily be manufactured in Victoria, since it affords 
 
 * In 1859, we imported 335 J tons of soap, valued at £13,036, and ex- 
 ported 305J tons (121 J tons of which were the produce of the colony) 
 valued at £10,601.— C. Mayes.
 
 364 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 all the raw materials required. Toilet soaps are made from purified 
 hogs' lard, olive, almond, hemp-seed, and other oils saponified with 
 soda ley, and perfumed with herg-amot and other scents. 
 
 SODA. 
 
 Crude carbonate, or the soda-ash of commerce is used in the 
 manufacture of glass and soap. Although it may be obtained 
 here, it is questionable whether it could be made as cheaply as it 
 is imported, viz , at about 2d. per pound, owing to an essential 
 ingredient in the manufiicture, sulphuric acid, not being procurable 
 from our i-aw materials in sufficient quantity for commercial pur- 
 poses. Taking it for granted that we must import sulphuric 
 acid at about 3d. per pound, and that about eleven ounces 
 mixed with about fourteen ounces of common salt is required to 
 make one pound of sulphate of soda, which has to be converted 
 into crude soda or soda-ash, valued at 2d. per pound, it is evident 
 it will not pay, unless the muriatic gas evolved and condensed 
 into muriatic acid during the process of mixing the salt and acid 
 be of sufficient value to make up the absolute loss in the production 
 of soda, as shown by the above calculation. To convert sulphate 
 of soda into soda-ash, the following pi-ocess is necessary: — 
 
 Process of maniifacture. — To 100 parts sulphate of soda add 
 110 parts of carbonate of lime or pure limestone, and fifty-five 
 parts of coal-dust, or fifty parts of powdered chai'coal ; this 
 mixture must be well ground and mixed together; it is then in- 
 cinerated upon the hearth of a reverberatory or decomposing 
 furnace, where the suli)hur is driven off in from one to five hours, 
 according to the quantity or charge: a charge of about i?00 pounds 
 of the last named mixture requiring not more than one hour and 
 one man to complete the process: the product will consist of 108 
 parts of crude soda = •)(') dry carbonate from the above mixture 
 of 200 or 205 parts. 
 
 The extraction of j)ure carbonate of soda from soda-ash is 
 acconi])lislu'(l by mixing it with its own weight of saw-dust, coal- 
 dust, or ])()wden'd charcoal, and incinerating the mixture in a 
 reverberatory furnace. It takes three or four hours to com])lete 
 the process, the heat being just al)ove the melting iieat of lead.* 
 
 ♦ Dr. Ure.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTUKKS. 366 
 
 STAKCH. 
 
 In 1858 we imported starch to the value of £14,000. Ordinary 
 starch may be made from wheat, barley, oats, maize, potatoes, &c. 
 The starch of commerce is made chiefly from wheat and potatoes. 
 
 Jllieat Starch. — Wheat produces from thirty-five to forty per 
 cent, of g-ood starch, therefore, if it is grown here at l^d. per 
 pound, or about 7s. per bushel, the starch produced therefrom 
 would cost 4d. per pound for material only, the present wholesale 
 price of starch in Melbourne. The waste or refuse being- at least 
 one-half of the wheat, should pay all expenses of manufacture if 
 used or sold as pig's' food. " Wheat partly damaged by storag-e 
 may be used, as the starch is not affected hj such injury." * It 
 may be used either cTound or not g-round, but in either case it is 
 steeped in water for from fourteen to twenty days, when it is put 
 into bag's and subjected to hydraulic pressure ; the water contain- 
 ing- the starch in solution on being- pressed out of the wet wheat, 
 is washed and allowed to deposit its starch in larg-e cisterns j this 
 deposit or pap is ])assed through fine sieves; when sufficiently 
 dried and firm it is broken up and fully dried in drying- rooms 
 which are heated by stoves in winter. It may be colored blue by 
 the addition of smalt if required. As colonial oats were sold as 
 low as 3s. 6d., and imported at 2s. 9d. per bushel, in Melbourne, 
 during' the year 18G0, it would be cheaper to use oats for this 
 purpose, being- only about two-thirds the jtrice of wheat, or Id. 
 per pound. Oats afford about the same quantity of starch as 
 wheat does, both by chemical analysis yielding at least sevent\' 
 per cent, of starch, by which it would appear that tbere is plenty 
 of room for impi-ovement in the mode of manufacture. 
 
 Starch from Potatoes. — Red and sweet potatoes each contain 
 fifteen per cent. ; English ])otatoes, thirteen ; and kidney potatoes, 
 only nine per cent, of pure stai'ch, according to the tabular state- 
 ment of Dr. Ure. Although not grown to any extent in Victoria, 
 Mr. E. Dacomb, of Portland, has grown both the red and white 
 variety of sweet potatoes, many of them weighing nearly three 
 pounds each. Such a prolific crop is well worth cultivating, if it 
 were only for the manufacture of starch. So far back as 1843, 
 machinery driven by two horses was able to rasp and perform all 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 366 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 other necessary operations in converting eighteen cwt. of potatoes 
 into starch in one hour, inchiding the pumping- of the water re- 
 quired, the product in starch amounting to seventeen or eighteen 
 per cent, of the potatoes. The quicker the process of making 
 potato starch the hetter, on account of the great liahiUty of potatoes 
 to ferment when macerated.* 
 
 Potatoes can be grown here for about one hallpenny per pound; 
 at this rate it would cost 8d. per pound for the materials of potato 
 starch; the refuse, as with wheat starch, being equivalent in value 
 as pigs' food for the cost of manufacture. Although potatoes may 
 be grown at the above price, this will not include cartage. The 
 starch mill may be used on the farm, the weight and consequently 
 the carriage of the starch being only one-sixth the cost of the 
 carriage of potatoes. It will thus be seen, that when the potatoes 
 are grown at a great distance from a market, it may answer the 
 purpose to convert them into starch, and thus save five-sixths of 
 the cost of carriage.t In 1858 potatoes were imported here to 
 the value of £107,540, although more than jC^^ per ton. 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 In 1858 we imported raw sugar to the value of £543,000, 
 and refined sugar to the value of £93,760, together upwards of 
 £G3G,000 ; we have therefore ample scope for the growth of beet- 
 root and its conversion into sugar, even to supply our own re- 
 quirements in this respect. 
 
 Supposing we were to grow beetroot and manufacture sugar to 
 this extent, we should only produce about one-eighth the quantity 
 of sugar annually produced by France from beetroot. Dr. lire 
 states, that " the southern limit (in the northern hemisphere) is 
 46° of latitude for the successftd cultivation of beetroot for the 
 manufacture of sugar." From the report relating to the P]xpe- 
 rimental Farm I find that both sugar-beet and sorgiio have 
 yielded good crops, and are used in France and on the continent 
 of Europe generally in the manufacture of sugar and spirits. Beet 
 Las not been grown to any extent in Victoria hitherto, only 8g 
 
 ♦ Dr. Ure. 
 
 f From the /I r^uj» of llie 20111 April, IHC.I. I karii tiiiit a starch iiiaiiu- 
 fac(r)ry was about being tstabiisluil at Wintrr"s Flat, mar Castkinaiiu', 
 wbich would be able to compete with imported starch. — C. Mavks, July 1, 
 18GI.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES, 367 
 
 acres having- been cropped during- tlie year ending; 31st March, 
 1860, exclusive of" that g-rown in market and kitchen g-ardens; 
 but the fact, an important one, has been established, viz., that 
 g-ood crops have been and therefore may be ag-ain obtained here 
 for the manufacture of sugar, if required for tliat purpose. In 
 the manufacture of sugar from beet the root is grated by a grating- 
 machine, which obtains from 76 to 80 per cent, of juice ; the amount 
 of sug-ar obtained is only one-twentieth of the weight of the root, 
 one ton of beet being- required to produce one cwt. of sugar. The 
 pulp obtained by the grating- machine is put into bags and sub- 
 jected to hydraulic pressure ; the juice thus obtained is purified by 
 adding; one pound of lime to eighty gallons of expressed juice, 
 which is filtered through blankets, concentrated by boiling, and 
 ag-ain filtered, but this time through bone black or animal char- 
 coal ; it is next evaporated in swing- pans over a brisk fire in 
 quantities equivalent to half a cwt. of sugar, or four hectolitres 
 of average juice.* 
 
 Sngar refining. — As before stated we imported refined sug-ar to 
 the value of £93,760 in 1858. Without entering- into the process 
 of refining sug-ar, it will be I think sufficient to state that a sugar- 
 refinery was established at Sydney some years ago and was found 
 so remunerative that a similar refinery has been recently (1858) 
 erected at Sandridge, in connection with a distillery, for the 
 economical application of the molasses obtained from raw sugar, 
 equal to about one-fifth of the sug-ar i-efined, which is taxed by 
 the Government to the extent of 7s. per cwt. 
 
 Sugar cane. — The cultivation of the sugar-cane succeeds best 
 at a mean temperature of about 7Q°, and may be successfidly cul- 
 tivated with an average temperature of not less than Q?^\ which 
 is probably higher than the average temperature of the north-west 
 boundary of Victoria, although not so much so as to warrant no 
 trial being made on the banks of the Murray below the confluence 
 of the Loddon river. The mean temperature of Melbourne is 59^°. 
 
 I have seen much information at various times upon the cultiva- 
 tion of the sorghum saccharatum for the manufacture of sugar, anil 
 am aware it is very much liked as green fodder by our cattle: 
 as before stated it has, like sugar-beet, yielded good crops here. 
 Maize has also been successfully g-rown in Victoria {see Paper) ; 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 368 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 like the other cereals it contains a considerable q\iantity of sugar 
 in its stem, which may be extracted as fi-om the sug-ar-cane. 
 
 TIN. 
 
 In 1858 we imported foity-seven tons of tin, besides tin- ware, 
 tin-foil, and sheet-tin, valued tog-ether at £25,770 ; during- the 
 same vear we exported 358 tons of black sand valued at £19,000, 
 or about £54 per ton. There has not been so much as this 
 exported since, probably on account of the operations of the 
 Victoria tin smelting company who have established w^orks in 
 William-street, Melbourne, since March or February, 1800; my 
 informant, who writes in the Colonial 3Ivung Journal for ]\Iai-ch 
 1800, says, " We were ag-reeably surprised to find the works in 
 operation, and the tin in ing-ots lying-in quantities. The establish- 
 ment of these works has been of g-reat service to the Ovens miners, 
 who now g-et the full value of the black sand. The company will 
 be able to compete with the home market, and we believe a larg-e 
 trade with the neighboring- colonies and India will follow." 
 
 Charcoal Slieet Iron and Tin Plate. — The best sheet-iron 
 (which when tinned is called tin-plate) is made from charcoal 
 iron {see Iron), which can be advantageously made from our 
 haematitic iron ores and excellent charcoal, and now that we have 
 tin-works mig-ht be profitably tinned here, larg-e quantities of 
 tin-plate or sheet-tin being- used in V'ictoria for the manufacture 
 of tin-ware. In 1858 we imported sheet-tin to the value of 
 £11,702. From the evidence g-iven by tinsmiths before the Tarift' 
 Committee on the 2nd March, 1800, I learn that "our tin smiths 
 can compete with imported bulky aiticle; on account of the hig-h 
 charg-c for ficight, but not without th«' Jiid of iiiiicliincry ; that 
 onlv the common and not the better chiss (if articles are got uj) 
 here ; that tea-koftles and coffee-pots are made in Kngliind and 
 Victoria too 1)V females ; and that a iiiiiiily of eliildreii make 
 such artich's in Hiclimoini." 
 
 TOBACCO. 
 
 'I'he duty, at 2s. j)er lb., upon toliacc-o iiiqioited in 1858 was 
 £132,381, of which £10H,327 was for American. During- the 
 vear ending- 31st March, IMOO, there were 3.S7 cwt. of tobacco
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 369 
 
 grown in Victoria, the average produce being about thirteen cwt. 
 per acre, showing an increase of three cwt. per acre over the pro- 
 duce of 1858 ; but these average crops are capable of being 
 extended to 20 cwt. per acre when properly cultivated with suitable 
 seed. It is considered a profitable crop in New SouthWales and 
 should be so here, the latitude of Victoria being the same as Vir- 
 ginia, where it forms an important article of commerce. From the 
 evidence given to the Tariff Committee in February and March 
 1860, by tobacconists and growers of tobacco, I learn that the 
 Australian is better for twist and as good for leaf tobacco as the 
 American, but the generality of it is mixed with imported tobacco. 
 The cost of manufacturing tobacco here is only sixpence per 
 pound ; the cost of producing the raw material may be estimated 
 from the fact that two men can cultivate three acres, and could 
 also pluck and prepare the leaf from June to February ready for 
 manufacturing. Large quantities of tobacco of an inferior descrip- 
 tion is imported and used for sheepwash, which might be grown 
 here for one-third or one-fourth less than the imported price. 
 
 The tobacco hitherto grown in Victoria has been inferior to that 
 grown in New South Wales, where it pays the farmers to grow it 
 at fourpence per pound, but here it costs eightpence. It is easily 
 grown, children can pluck the shoots from the plants, or nip off 
 the top of the stem, to tiirow all the strength into the leaves, as 
 well or better than men. The best sample of tobacco hitherto 
 grown in Victoria is that for which Mr. Christie, C.E., obtained 
 the prize at the Horticultural show ; it was grown from Havannah 
 seed, and could be profitably manufactured into cigars; it is 
 lighter in wei"ht than the other kinds of tobacco, and is worth 
 from one to two shillings per pound. All other tobacco hitherto 
 grown in Victoria is believed to be from American seed, and as it 
 is inferior to that produced by Mr. Christie, the cultivation 
 of tobacco from Havannah seed is well worthy of our considera- 
 tion. The witnesses examined by the Tariff Committee agreed 
 that if the duty was reduced on raw or unmanufactured tobacco, 
 that the manufacture of cigars in Victoria would give employment 
 to several hundred men, women, and children, and that there were 
 at present at least 200 cigar makers in the colony. 
 
 In 1858 we imported cigars to the value of £57,537, exclusive 
 of the tobacco before referred to. 
 
 Our tobacco and cigar manufacturers have not been able to 
 
 2 B
 
 370 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 compete \\'ith the imported article because our Victorian tobacco, 
 hitherto, with a few exceptions, has not been of the quality 
 required ; but since Mr. Christie has proved the practicability of 
 growing the best description of tobacco, it seems only necessary 
 to grow similar tobacco from seed of a similar kind to produce 
 tobacco here equal to any imported, and thus give employment to 
 our cicar makers, besides numerous women and children. " Thou- 
 sands are employed at home manufacturing tobacco from the 
 imported leaf, because evei-y man requires three or four boys to 
 help him." 
 
 " A good cigar- maker can make 1000 best, and from GOOO to 
 3000 common cigars per week; 20 lbs. of tobacco will make about 
 13 lbs. of regalia cigars, the remaining 7 lbs. is in the form of stalks 
 and dust which, although generally sold at a reduced price for 
 sheepwash, could be made into snuff." 
 
 VINEGAR. 
 
 Vinegar is produced by the fermentation of alcoholic drinks, 
 and all alcoholic liquors are produced by the fermentation of sac- 
 charine matter or sugar. 
 
 Acetic Acid. — The essence or sour ])rinciple of vinegar is called 
 acetic acid, and this may be made from any kind of alcoholic 
 liquor, or from alcohol itself. In Germany, where it is cheap and 
 plentiful, large quantities are converted into acetic acid ; but as 
 alcohol can be applied to so many other e(jually useful pur])oses in 
 Victoria, it is not likely to be used for this pui*pose, since acetic 
 acid may bo made from brandy, rum, gin, or any other spirits; 
 and should the manufacture of spirits bo ever carried on in Victoria 
 to any great extent, the bad sj)irits onl}' are likely to be used for 
 this purpose. 
 
 Vinegar. — The time required to convert any alcoholic liquor 
 into vinegar depends simply upon the quantity of oxygen or com- 
 mon air that can be introduced into it; for this end it is best 
 placed in shallow vessels, so that a large surface may be exposed. 
 Acetification is most rapidly produced by a vessel called a gradua' 
 tor, which may be a cask standing on end and partially (about 
 one-fourth) filled with the liquor required to be acetified, the 
 whole of the cask being loosely fiiii'd with loose brushwood, string, 
 or any light innocuous substance through which the air may
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 371 
 
 permeate and by which the liquor may rise and fall b}' capillary 
 attraction ; the cask or vessel is perforated with holes just above 
 the liquor and also a little below the loose head or cover which is 
 required merely to throw off the rain, if in the open air ; by 
 means of the ventilating- holes currents of air are introduced 
 throug-hout the vessel and acetification takes place, sometimes in 
 two, but the general period required is about twenty days. The 
 acetification in this instance, as in all vinegar manufactories, 
 being- merely the result of the second or acetous fermentation, 
 may be promoted by the introduction of vinegar or the scum 
 called motlier which rises during' the acetous, and acts in the 
 same manner as yeast in promoting the first or vinous, fermen- 
 tation in ale, &c. 
 
 Tlie temperature required may vary between 60° and 90° ; if it 
 is either below 60° or above 90° the acetification ceases. During 
 the process of the acetous, the liquor rises in temperature as in 
 the vinous fermentation, and a peculiar aromatic vapor is evolved ; 
 this continues until the whole of the alcohol is changed into acetic 
 acid, when it falls to the temperature of the surrounding- air.* 
 
 Having stated the principal facts to be borne in mind, with the 
 mode of operation to be pursued in the manufacture of vinegar, it 
 will be seen that this colony offers equal facilities with any other 
 country, since the process is so simple as to be easily understood, 
 and requires apparatus obtainable in any civilized country. 
 
 The particular kinds of vinegar likely to be made in this colony 
 are — 1, wine vinegar ; 2, malt vinegar ; 3, sugar vinegar. 
 
 1. Wine Vinegar. — As Victoria is likely to become a wine- 
 producing colony, and as a large quantity of this wine may 
 become sour, especially during the first few years, I will proceed 
 to show how easily it may be turned to the best advantage by 
 being completely acetified or converted into vinegar. I have 
 already stated the general process, which is applicable to all kinds 
 of vinegar- making. On account of a certain even temperature 
 being required, it is necessary to prevent loss of time that this 
 temperature should be preserved by a good fermenting room, 
 capable of being warmed by flues in the winter. The rapid absorp- 
 tion of oxygen or vital air, especially when the ijradxiator is used, 
 renders it necessary that the fermenting room should be well 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 372 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 ventilated ; and, if not warmed, that tlie ventilating holes should 
 be closed in cold weather to keep up the temperature. 
 
 The roow;, if heated to about 105° Fahr., will produce a heat in 
 the graduators of about 11°, which is found to promote rapid 
 acetification witliout injury to tlie vinegar. The upper part of the 
 room is always the hottest, and the upper vats or vessels are most 
 brisk in their operations. A supply of warm wash is kept near 
 the ceiling, which may consist of either mother or good vinegar 
 which is mixed with the alcoholic drink to be acidified; there are 
 means of ascertaining when the acidification is complete.* With- 
 out entering into further details, my object is simply to show that 
 the general principles of vinegar-making are simple and easily 
 imderstood, and that our sour wine may be made the subject of 
 an important manufactiu'e. — [See Wine.] 
 
 2. 3Ialt Vinegar. — ^lost of the British vinegar is made from 
 malt wine or beer witliout hops ; but that imported in the form of 
 pickles, although called malt vinegar, is only wood vinegar or 
 Pyroligneous acid (which see at the end of article on " Gas "). 
 Although malt liquor is made expressh' for vinegar, it must first 
 become alcoholic or intoxicating before it can be acetified. These 
 ])rocesses may be hurried by greater heat than would be deemed 
 requisite, or even advisable, in the manufacture of ale or wine ; 
 yet I know of no system by which tmfermented saccharine can 
 be converted immediately into vinegar without being first changed 
 into alcoholic fluids. By the ordinary methods three months are 
 required to make good malt vinegar, but by using the graduator 
 for the second fermentation this time may be much shortened. 
 Wine vinegar differs from that made from corn, cider, sugar, 
 (fee, on account of the tartar extracted from the grajK' stones ; 
 but these may be introJuced into the malt wine, or crude tartar 
 may be added.* 
 
 J3. »S'w//rtr Vinegar. — Vinegar may also be made from sugar, but 
 as this is not a raw material raised in the colony, I shall merely 
 add that vinegar may be made iroui any liquor containing alcohol, 
 and that alcohol may be engendered in any li(jUor containing 
 sugar or saccharine, and that saccharine can be produced in any 
 grain containing starch ])y simply stcej)ing and drying as with 
 malt. 
 
 • Dr. Ure.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 373 
 
 The quantity of vineg-ar imported into this colony in 1858 was 
 ahout 75,000 gallons, valued at £9300. The nett profit in 
 Eng-land by the annual produce of 100,000 gallons of malt 
 vinegar, as stated by Dr. Ure, is £1409. 
 
 After writing- the above I met witli the " Evidence given to 
 Select Committee on the Licensed Publicans Act," where W. 
 Hull, Esq, J. P., states that the ale sent here from England, 
 although g-ood when shipped, is often damaged on the voyag'e, or 
 even after being landed, before it leaves the merchant's hands : 
 this ale will make splendid vinegar." * * " I believe that those 
 pricked (sour) beers are used by the brewers here to get up their 
 own making more quickly ; they have not capital to hold." He 
 proceeds to say — " Beer that is pricked, however much it may be 
 doctored by the publican, nauseates the palate j" and, in the 
 previous answer, " All the vinegar that I have used at my house 
 for the last two years I have made myself from this beer." 
 
 WHISKEY. 
 
 Whiskey is the name given to ardent spirits produced fi-om grain, 
 potatoes, &c. 
 
 In 1858 we imported whiskey to the value of £40,466.* " Wheat 
 produces from 40 to 45 })er cent of (its weig-ht in) proof spirit ; 
 barley, 40 per cent.; rye, 36 to 42 per cent; oats, 36; and maize, 
 40 lbs. of spirit from 100 lbs., which is about the average pro- 
 duce of corn. Barley and rye are generally employed for making- 
 whiskey. It is deemed preferable to use a mixture of different 
 grain, as wheat with barley and oats, or barley with I'ye and 
 wheat. When barley is the only grain used, about 25 per cent, of 
 malt is mixed with it ; but when wheat and rye are added, about 
 one-twelfth of barley malt is sufficient. Oats are well adapted for 
 mixing with wheat, to keep the meal open in the mashing. The 
 malt should be steam dried, except the smoky flavor called peat- 
 reek is required, when it should be dried by a peat fire, or 
 the whiskey itself may be impregnated with peat smoke, as is now 
 often done. In 1843, when malt was 5s. per bushel in Scotland, 
 the cost of whiskey distilled there was about 3s. per gallon. "t 
 
 * In 1859 we imported whiskey to the value of £91,827.— C. Mayes, 
 July 2, 1861. t Dr. Ure.
 
 374 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 Potato Wliiskey is made from potatoes boiled with steam in a 
 close vessel, and mashed into a homog-eneous paste before they get 
 cold. The paste is next triturated by a hand-machine, which 
 triturates 1200 lbs. per hour ; which must be forthwith mashed 
 with some ground wheat or barley, and a small proportion of malt, 
 and then set to ferment. As potatoes readil}' pass into the acetous 
 fermentation, the mixing, mashing, and cooling should be rapidly 
 performed. 
 
 The fermentation is brisk, and furnishes a good head of barm, 
 which answers well for the bakers ; 100 lbs. of fresh dug potatoes 
 yield about 10 lbs. or 1^ gallon of proof spirits, but if they have 
 sprouted they will 3'ield very little spirit.* 
 
 WINE. 
 
 In 1858, we imported wine to the value of £269,432, £187,805 
 of which was direct from Great Britain, although not supposed to 
 be manufactured there. f 
 
 From the great attention lately paid to the cultivation of the 
 vine and manufacture of wine, there can be but little doubt enter- 
 tained of \'ictoria becoming in a few years an important wine- 
 producing colony. This result is almost inevitable from the high 
 opinion generally entertained of the superiority of Australian wine 
 already produced in tiiis or the neighboring colony of New South 
 Wales, and the high encomiums showered upon it by competent 
 judges in both England and France. "At the Exhibition, in 
 Paris, of wines from all parts of the world, it found few rivals, and 
 was enthusiastically declared to be generous, peculiar (Australian), 
 ricli, and full of beauties which develop with age.'' (Australian 
 Almanac, 1857). 
 
 Judging from the progress already made by Victoria in the 
 manufacture of wine, she will soon equal, if not outstrip, New 
 South Wales as a wine producing colon}-. During the year 
 ending 31st March, 1H(!0, we manufactured 13,1)54 gallons of 
 wine, being an increase of 0214 gallons made in 1858. From the 
 " Report of the Agricultural Association of the Ovens and Murray 
 District" I learn that " Vineyards only years old have yielded at 
 
 • l)r Ure. 
 
 t In 1859 wc inipiirtcd wiiu- to tlic vnluo of X342,013.— C. Mates, July 
 '2, 1861.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURKS. 375 
 
 the rate of 500 gallons of wine to the acre, and vines of 3 years old 
 have produced twelve pounds weight of grapes to each vine. An 
 experienced vine grower compares our plants at the age of 3 years 
 to those of 7 years' growth on the Ilhine." From such encou- 
 raging reports we may reasonably expect great results. 
 
 The value of the wine annually produced in France is from 
 £32,000,000 to £40,000,000, and upwards of 3,000,000 persons 
 are employed in the production. 
 
 As Victoria is naturally a wine-producing country, it is not 
 unlikely that we shall eventually produce an equal quantity as 
 compared with the population of France. The manufacture of 
 wine is beginning to be understood in Victoria through the 
 ventilation given to the subject by our local journals, assisted by 
 a pamphlet or two, published here. The details of wine making 
 may vary throughout the world, but certain principles must always 
 be attended to in order to insure success. 
 
 The grapes should be fully ripe, or rather over ripe, and also 
 quite dry, when they are gathered. 
 
 A layer of grapes should then be thrown into a vat, or cistern 
 of wood, and trod out, or otherwise macerated; the must, or juice, 
 with the husks and stalks, are next put into the fermenting tun, 
 or cask, where they will readily ferment without the addition of 
 yeast or any other leaven, the rapidity of the fermentation de- 
 pending upon the temperature of the air, which should not be too 
 hot, or the must will be apt to acidify. The fermentation, in 
 summer, will be active, or even violent, rising the liquor in the 
 vat; this should continue until it loses much of its sweetness, 
 when it should be drawn off into the ripening tun, the lees and 
 marc of the grapes being pressed, and the liquor, which contains a 
 considerable quantity of tannin, added to the wine. This liquor 
 has the same effect upon the wine as hops on beer, viz., enables it 
 to keep better and longer. 
 
 It is absolutely necessary that the ripening tun should be kept 
 quite full, and in a cool place, otherwise there is considerable risk 
 of the wine turning sour. The cask should also be allowed to 
 overflow through the bung hole on the top, if it has a tendency 
 that way, and should be iilled up, from time to time, as long as 
 the fermentation continues active ; when it has apparently left off 
 fermenting, a small bag of sand should be placed over the bung 
 hole, to allow any further escape of the generated gas.
 
 376 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 In about a month after the grapes were crushed, the sand bag' 
 should be replaced by a bung", surrounded witli a piece of canvas, 
 which should be driven tightly into the cask. The wine may now 
 be considered made, and only requires to be kept cool (for a year 
 at least) to ripen. If it cannot be kept in a well-closed under- 
 ground cellar, it should be buried, since it cannot be safely kept 
 in the wood during- the summer, but must in this case be bottled 
 off at tlie a]iproach of spring-, genendly some time in August. 
 The i-eturn of warm weather will induce a secondary fermentation, 
 and the wine will sparkle, when drawn, in proportion to the 
 amount of saccharine matter not hitherto converted into spirit of 
 wine. 
 
 In making wine in considerable quantities, underground cellars 
 for ripening* the wine will be found indispensable. 
 
 WIRE. 
 
 Wre is produced by drawing- metal rods throug-h a steel plate 
 pierced with tapered holes regularly graduated in size from the 
 largest to the smallest gauge ; this is fixed u])on a draw-bench 
 supporting the machinery, which is very simple and effective, and 
 may be worked by either one or two men. '' The metal requires 
 to be annealed now and then between successive drawings, other- 
 wise it would become too hard and brittle for further extension ; 
 it is also well suj)])lii'd with wax for the smaller, and grease for 
 the larger wires while drawing. Iron and brass wire of one-third 
 of an inch in diameter can be drawn at tlie rate of from twelve to 
 fifteen inches per second, but when one-fortieth of an inch in 
 diameter, at the rate of from forty to foity-five inches in the same 
 time. Wire by being diiniiiished one-half, one-tliird, A'c. in 
 diameter, is increased in length four or nine times respectively."* 
 iron wire was imported here in iHbH to the value of ,{.'11?,C)JJ().+ 
 When we take into account the high rate of freight for so bulky 
 an article as wire, (g(!nerally imported in largi; circular coils) in 
 conjunction with the fact that it is made by machinery, it seems 
 probable we may compete with imj)orted wire olall kinds. 
 
 • Dr. Ure. 
 
 f In 18.59 we iniportc-d iron wire to tlie valiir of £20,C7C.— C. Mayeb, 
 June 29, 18C1.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 377 
 
 WOOLLENS. 
 
 In 1858 we imported woollens to the value of £226,GG3, and 
 hosiery to the value of £71,259, to which may be added say half 
 the wearing- apparel and slops, equal to £230,000, making- a total 
 of about £528,000, exclusive of drapery, hats and caps, &c., 
 which also include preparations of wool. Against this wholesale 
 expenditure in imported woollen goods, we exported in the same 
 year wool to the amount of £1,678,290, being- 21,515,958 lbs., 
 at about 18|d. per lb. . Next to g-old this is the chief article 
 exported from the colony. It will be seen above that we import 
 woollen goods to the value of upwards of half a million sterling- ; 
 and as we have the raw material at hand in g-reat abundance, 
 it is really important that we should endeavor to manufacture 
 some of those imported g-oods. An idea of the processes ne- 
 cessary to convert wool into woollens may be gleaned from the 
 following- : — 
 
 The wool is separated according- to the quality required for 
 different articles ; the long- wool is next separated from the short 
 wool, the two kinds being- used for different purposes requiring- 
 different treatment, the short wool being- used for cloth, flannel, 
 blanketing-, Scc.^ and the long- wool for hosiery, mousseline-de-laine, 
 and other open fabrics. 
 
 The long wool was formerly combed and straightened by men, 
 but for the last thirty years it has been done by machinery, attended 
 by children, by which means "■ the cheap and tractable labor of 
 children is substituted for the high priced and often refractory 
 workmen, too prone to capricious combinations." This remark of 
 Dr. Ure is particularly applicable to our colonial manufactures, 
 and shows the advantage of machine over hand labor. 
 
 All worsted and hosiery is made from the long wool, which is 
 spun into a continuous thread and knitted by machinery, such as 
 the plain and ribbed " stocking Jrames ;" this is different to the 
 weaving of cloth, which has two distinct threads crossing each 
 other at right angles, and known as the warp and the wej't. 
 
 Short wool for cloth is cleaned by machinery : it is passed 
 through a machine called a willy several times and embued with 
 oil; the wool is then carded, or straightened by machinery; the 
 slubbing machine reduces the cardings into cord, sometimes called 
 rovings, which is next spun into yarn or cloth by means of a mvle
 
 378 PRIZE ESSAY. 
 
 or jenny, which will also spin the finest mousselbie-de-laine 
 fabrics; the cloth is next fulled, by which means it is reduced to 
 about half its breadth and two-thirds of its length, and is conse- 
 quently very much thickened. 
 
 Teasling ivith thistles. — The next process is called teashng, 
 which consists of raising the loose ends of the filaments and 
 leaving the body of them entangled in the cloth. It is done by 
 machinery, with the heads of thistles strung on a fi*ame ; the 
 thistles were abandoned, not becaiise an}'' better substitute has 
 ever been invented, but simply because the thistle heads became 
 scarce in the neighborhood of cloth mills.* In the event of cloth 
 mills being establirshed here, even the " thistle nuisance " might 
 be abated ; nor is this the only use to which thistles can be 
 applied : by referring to the article on " Potash," it will be seen 
 that ripe thistles furnish the largest per-centage of potash excepting 
 nine lees. 
 
 Cropping, or shearing off the filaments brought up by teasling, 
 is also done by machinery, as well as the last operation, viz., 
 imparting a lustre to cloth by passing it through hot water.* 
 
 Sydney Tweed. — It will be seen fi'om the above imperfect 
 description of the processes wool undergoes for conversion into 
 woollen goods, that it is chiefly the work of machinery; and, 
 as we might have expected, our enterprising- neighbors of New 
 South Wales have successfidly competed with the importation of 
 cloth by the manufacture of Sydney tweed. From the evidence 
 given before the Tariff Committee, in February last, I learn that 
 "Sydney tweed made in New South Wales is chcai)er here than 
 imported tweed of the same quality : it is made entirely of wool, 
 and is therefore more durable than English tweed, which is more 
 than half cotton." Sydney tweed was largely used in Victoria 
 " before the gold-fields were discovered," which I imagine drained 
 oflF the workj)eople from the cloth mills, but now the fever of 
 gold-digging lias somewhat abated, it is again coming into more 
 general use. In nuiking tweed here we should save twelve months' 
 loss of time and interest of money, also two or three merchants 
 and brokers' profits, and the two freights, which has been found 
 to e(|ualise the cost of tweeds made in I'lugland and New South 
 Wales. The gentleman who gave this evidence to the Tariflf 
 
 ♦ Dr. Ure.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 379 
 
 Committee also stated " that he expected tweeds to be made here 
 in two or three weeks." It is now eig-ht months since, and I have 
 heard nothing of any cloth mills being- established in Victoria ; 
 such an event would be too important to be kept quiet.* 
 
 "CIVIL ENGINEER." 
 
 September 30th, 18G0. 
 
 * On the 14th January, 1861, Messrs. Alexander Donaldson, E. Liish, 
 and Colin Brown applied to the President of the Board of Land and Works 
 for a grant or a long lease on moderate terms of eight acres of land 
 contiguous to the waterfall in the Yarra, in Studley Park, where they 
 contemplated investing at least £15,000 in establishing a factory for the 
 manufacture of woollen cloth, by which means they would afford employ- 
 ment not only to the numerous weavers, but also to vagrant children, 
 whose time was not only lost to the community, but who helped to swell 
 our rapidly increasing juvenile criminal list. These enterprising gentlemen 
 met with no encouragement from the head of the Lands Department, who 
 considered it his duty to resist any further appropriation of the public 
 reserves in the vicinity of Melbourne. (See Argus, 15th January, 1861.) 
 It may be considered desirable to make an application for say one acre of 
 the waste land on the soutli side of the Yarra falls, in Melbourne, or for a 
 supply of the superabundant water from the Yan Yean, at a nominal rate ; 
 in the last case the projectors Avould have considerable latitude in their 
 choice of a site, contiguous to the line of pipes. — C. Mayes, July 1, 1861.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ANTIMONY. 
 
 In the Mclvor News about the 1st April, 1861, there is an account of 
 a rich reef of antimony of great purity, discovered on a station at the 
 Wappingtack, 8 miles from Heathcote. Several blocks of antimony weighing 
 from 2 to 7 cwt. each, were obtained within a week after the discovery, and 
 the account also states that the same line of reef has been opened up a 
 mile nearer to the township, the indications of which are better than the 
 first. This appears to be sulphuret of antimony, from which about 75 per 
 cent, of the antimony of commerce may be obtained, the remainder being 
 sulphur. — See the Introduction to this Essay. 
 
 Since the above announcement there have been several confirmatory 
 statements of the continued richness of these antimony reef which are so 
 extensive as to lead me to suppose that antimony will henceforth be among 
 the list of our raw materials. It need not be shipped to be smelted, since it 
 can be reduced by liquation, the method pursued at Malbosc, in the depart- 
 ment of Ardeche in France ; this process consists in sweating out by a 
 regulated heat, from an alloy (in this instance of sulphur and antimony) an 
 easily fusible metal from the interstices of a metal diSicult of fusion. Lead 
 and antimony are the metals most commonly subjected to liquation. The 
 ore is placed in luted iron crucibles, which are charged every three hours, 
 and when properly worked, 100 lbs. of antimony is obtained every hour. 
 The above operation is remarkable for the small consumption of fuel, the 
 economy of labor, and the complete exhaustion of the ore. * 
 
 Antimony forms part of the alloys of type metal, stereotype metal, music 
 plate, and Britannia metal. 
 
 BRICKS AND TILES. 
 
 In 1859, we imported 125,000 building bricks, valued at from 36s. to £10 
 per 1000, the former from Memel and the latter from Hamburg. In the 
 same year we also imported 136,624 firebricks, of these there were 37,000 
 from the United Kingdom, valued at £13, and 5000 from South Australia, 
 valued at £14 per 1000. The high priced bricks were doubtless of the 
 
 * Dr. Ure.
 
 a PRIZE ESSAY. — APPENDIX. 
 
 first quality, since I also find 10,000 firebricks from Stettin (a port of the 
 Baltic) among the list, valued at only £3 per 1000. 
 
 Hitherto we have not succeeded in making first class firebricks in 
 Victoria, at least I have heard of none equal to the best English firebricks, 
 most of those made here will stand any amount of heat, but will not stand 
 cooling, an essential property in all such bricks. A sample firebrick was 
 shown to mc lately at the Collingwood Gasworks, made by ilr. Stirling, in 
 Simpson's Road, East Collingwood, which in density, appearance and 
 texture was more like a Staffordshire or Glasgow firebrick than any other 
 I have hitherto seen.* 
 
 In the manufacture of ordinary colonial bricks we have a great need of 
 economy. In consequence of the high price of labor in Victoria, machinery 
 might be brought into use with greater advantage as compared with the 
 cost of manual labor than in any other part of the world. As a rule, one 
 pounds worth of firewood in Victoria will raise steam equal to that raised by the 
 same value of coal in England. 
 
 Brick machines capable of tempering clay and turning out 1000 bricks 
 per hour have been made in England and exported here, where they have 
 been badly worked by horse-power to but little advantage. With a port- 
 able engine such machines might be made very eflicient, and by a detailed 
 estimate I find we might manufacture good bricks at 30s. per 1000, including 
 25 per cent, for wear and tear, interest on outlay and profit — were the 
 machine to excavate the clay, the cost might be still further reduced. 
 
 Excellent bricks are made at Philipstown, Brunswick, Northcote, and 
 Hawthorn, all within 3 or 4 miles of Melbourne. They arc heavier although 
 not larger than the English bricks, and weigh from 3 tons and upwards 
 per 1000; the carriage from cither of the above places is therefore seldom 
 less than 12s. per 1000 including loading, unloading, and stacking. In the 
 case of Hawthorn this might be considerably reduced, on account of the 
 inexhaustible supplies of superior brick earth to be obtained contiguous 
 to the Melbourne and Suburban Railway, and its contemplated cxtention 
 towards Kew. By means of short tramways the company's trucks could 
 be loaded at the kiln, each truck containing two or three portable dray 
 bodies to contain 400 liricks each, which could be lifted on to a suitable 
 dray frame (with shafts, wheels, and axle complete) by means of a crane 
 at the Melbourne terminus. By connecting the Melbourne and Surburbnn 
 with the Hobson's Bay liailway, the bricks might l)e tmloadcd from the 
 railway trucks at either I'.iiuTakl Hill or Saiulriilge, at a sliglit additional 
 cost for carriage by rail. Unless railways can be used in this way they 
 are of no advantage for goods trafiic except in long distances, because the 
 extra cost of twice instead of once loading and unloading is greater than the 
 
 • Samples of these bricks may now be seen at the Exhibition, with certi- 
 flcntes from the Engineer of tlie Melbmime Gas Works and Mr. Fulton, to 
 the effect that they bad put the bricks to the most severe tests, and found 
 them equal to the best imported firebricks. With the bri<ks may also bo 
 seen samples of fire tiles, crucibles, &c., made at the same works. — U. MxYts, 
 41 h November, 18GI.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 383 
 
 saving in the carriage by rail ; the facility with which 25 or 30 cwt. is 
 removed a few yards with a crane is well known. 
 
 An enterprising firm or company who could deliver good bricks into Mel- 
 bourne at about £1 per 1000 would doubtless soon command the whole of 
 the market, and would also tend to give an impetus to building generally; 
 that such a result could be easily achieved is capable of demonstration, and 
 may occur to any one who understands the subject. 
 
 The few tiles that have been imported into Victoria are probably included 
 under the head of building materials, as tiles are not mentioned. The best 
 substitute for tiles are slates, which were imported in 1859 to the value of 
 £33,954. 
 
 Patent Tile Companij.— On the 7th January, 1859, Jlr. Joseph Curet 
 obtained a patent in Victoria for improvements in the manufacture of tiles; 
 this patent has been purchased by the above company, who have made tiles 
 (similar to the Marseilles tile), a sample of which may be seen on the roof of 
 the Building Museum, in Queen Street, Melbourne. I have seen and 
 examined a sample of these tiles, and consider them in color, texture, and 
 density equal to the English roofing tiles, but they are made with rolls and 
 have too little lap for our low-pitched roofs, otherwise they seem to be 
 much liked and are highly spoken of in testimonials (from Melbourne 
 architects) at the foot of the prospectus I have now before me. The slight 
 defect of insufficient lap will be easily remedied, and from the general 
 preference shown for tiles instead of slates I have no doubt they would soon 
 come into general use. Although much heavier and dearer than Countess 
 slates in proportion to their size, yet from the manner they are used in 
 roofing, a square of these tiles weighs less and costs less than a square of 
 Countess slating.* 
 
 Paving Tiles have not hitherto been made in Victoria as a marketable 
 article. The many uses to which this description of tiles are applied 
 throughout Great Britain, and to which they might be applied in this 
 colony renders it desirable that they should be manufactured here, where 
 we possess equitable materials for this and other descriptions of common 
 earthenware.* 
 
 Fire Tiles made with the same materials as firebricks are also much 
 required in Victoria for ovens, cooking ranges, furnaces, &c. Vast quanti- 
 ties of fire tiles and a similar material made into large blocks, called Welch 
 Lumps, are sent from Wales into London and other parts of Great Britain, 
 to be used in furnaces, fireplaces, &c. 
 
 In 1859 we imported 3437 tons of butter, valued at £480,258, which is 
 about Is. 3d. per lb., showing an increase over the quantity imported in 1858 
 
 * Other descriptions of roofing tiles, also paving tiles, may now be seen in 
 the Exhibition. — C. Mates, 4th November, 1861.
 
 384: PRIZE ESSAY. — APPENDIX. 
 
 of 1318 tons, and a decrease in the value of about Id. per lb. At the same 
 time we find this enormous increase in the importation of butter, of about 
 38 per cent., we also ascertain from our Statistics for 1859 that there were 
 no less than 2,636,880 acres of purchased land in Victoria uncultivated, 
 967,515 acres of which was not even enclosed, and at the same time we had 
 only 358,728 acres under cultivation. 
 
 Australian PruJuce. — In 1859 we imported butter not only from the 
 United Kingdom, but also from Denmark and Hamburgh ; these being old 
 established kingdoms we might reasonably have expected this as a result of 
 the low rate of wages, but when we also find that the adjoining colonies of 
 New South Wales, New Zealand, South Australia, and Tasmania, together 
 exported butter in 1859 to the value of £75,072, we may reasonably enquire 
 how it happens that these colonies, laboring under the same disadvantage of 
 high priced labor, and under other similar circumstances, should be able to 
 export butter while we pay nearly half a million annually for the importa- 
 tion of this very article which we might produce ourselves, since it has been 
 sold lately at prices likely to compete with the price of imported butter ; 
 as might have been expected the demand for fresh butter has generally far 
 exceeded the scanty supply. 
 
 The wholesale value of the butter imported in 1858 and 1859 was from 
 Is. 3d. to Is. 4d. per lb ; but in consequence of the absurd custom of the 
 exporters of butter allowing only for about one-half the actual tare, the 
 retail price, with only a reasonable profit, has often exceeded the price 
 of our own fresh butter. How long this anomalous state of our colonial 
 pastoral interests is to be tolerated, will depend greatly on the expected 
 increase of emigration, and the facilities oflered to men of small means 
 to establish dairy farms throughout the colony. 
 
 Dainj homesteads should possess suitable dairies, buildings, or cellars, 
 in which both the milk and butter can be kept at a proper temperature 
 throughout the year. In the maimlacture of butter, the proper temperature 
 has been variously stated to be from 54 to 62 degrees, by Fahrenheit's (now 
 the ordinary) thermometer. 
 
 Thermometer Churns. — Patent churns are imported hero from America, 
 called thermometir churns, to which a small thermometer is attached, but 
 in such a position that it cannot be read after the process of churning 
 is began. The face of the glass tube is soon obscured by the ajjplication 
 of hot water to the outer casing of the churn, couibined with the i>roces8 
 of churning. Tlie secret or art of the rajiid conversion of cream into butter 
 rests mainly ujmn a certain tom])erature being ob.scrved, stated by the 
 I'atentee of these cliurns to be 62 degrees: this can lir readily determined 
 by a common thermometer apjilied to any churn. 
 
 Johnson's Patent Churn. — The butter of cream, and even new milk, is 
 contained in small gloludes or sacs, which must be broken before they 
 can be proi>erly combined or agglutinated ; this desideratum was rapidly 
 a<hieve<l l)y .JolniHon's Patent American Cliurn. wliich was l)n)ugiit into use 
 tliroughont the States about two years ago, where it has since been exten- 
 sively patroniscfl. In tliis churn tlie milk or cream is passed between 
 rollers, which break liie small bags of oleaginous mutter forming the butter;
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 385 
 
 it is then manufactured or churned in a few minutes, if the proper tempera- 
 ture of about 62 degrees is observed tliroughout the operation. It thus 
 appears that the object to be first accomplished in all churns, is to bring the 
 milk or cream to the proper temperature, and then to break these little bags 
 or globules ; this has been generally done by concussion, but it is more 
 effectually and sooner accomplished by the milk or cream being passed 
 between rollers. It is not generally known that new milk may be churned 
 without the trouble of setting and skimming it to obtain cream in the usual 
 manner. 
 
 Temperature. — By referring to the original article on Butter, it will be 
 seen, on the authority of Dr. Ure, that butter is soonest produced from 
 cream when at a temperature of from 53 to 57 degrees Fahrenheit. I 
 cannot explain the discrepancy between so high an authority and the 
 Patentees of the Thermometer Churn ; but as I know parties who have used 
 this description of churn and have had no difficulty in producing butter 
 at 62 degrees in a short time, I am disposed to think that the latter is 
 the best temperature. 
 
 CEMENT. 
 
 In 1859 we imported cement to the value of £13,593, being £2387 in 
 excess of the previous year, although the quantity was less in 1859 by 
 seventy-three tons ; its estimated value being about £6 13s. per ton in 
 1858, and about £8 8s. per ton in 1859 ; the average invoiced value of all 
 cement imported in 1858 and 1859 being about £7 10s. 6d. per ton. 
 
 I have already shewn in the original article on this subject, that we 
 possess an abundance of raw materials suitable for the manufacture of 
 cement of many kinds ; and after having studied the subject both theoretically 
 and practically for many years, I am at a loss to know why cement manu- 
 factured in Victoria should not be equal to any that has hitherto been 
 imported. 
 
 Mr. T. Edwards took out a patent in October last in Melbourne for the 
 manufacture of lime and cement from materials brought to light in exca- 
 vating the ]?eilly-street drain at the north end of Fitzroy and East Colling- 
 wood. It is a magnesian limestone or dolomite, and appears to be a deposit 
 overlying the basalt or bluestone of that locality. Similar deposits (although 
 not to so large an extent as to lead me to suppose they are of any great 
 commercial value) may be seen on the surface of the cuttings on the 
 Government railway between Melbourne and Sunbury, also at Guildford, on 
 the Loddon, and on the Campaspe Plains, &c. 
 
 The Collingwood limestone has been analysed, and found to contain about 
 52 per cent, of carbonate of lime, 18 per cent, carbonate of magnesia, 12 per 
 cent, alumina, and 18 per cent, of silica (hydrated), combined with sand, 
 oxides of iron and manganese, alkaline salts. &c , the silica and sand varying 
 from 9 to 22 per cent. There is a slight variation in the appearance and 
 analyses of different samples, but the essential properties of good cement 
 stone were found in both the samples analysed. Magnesian limestone, con- 
 taining even 5 per cent, alumina, makes excellent hydraulic lime, and this 
 
 2 c
 
 386 PRIZE E>SAV. — APPENDIX. 
 
 stone contains from 11 to 12 per cent, of alumina (the distiiiguisliing cha- 
 racteristic of all cement stones as opposed to lime stones), it will therefore 
 make a good, if not a superior liydraulic lime. If cement is required to set 
 as quickly as the R )man and Portland cements, about one-eighth, or 12J per 
 cent, of pure clay should be imimatcly incorporated, by being ground up 
 with this stone, and well mixed in a pug mill ; the material must then be 
 dried in small pieces, calcined, and again ground, and packed in casks for 
 the market. If a market can be found here for a first-class hydraulic lime, 
 this limestone, without any other ingredient, if properly managed, will 
 supply such a market. 
 
 Vicat (the celebrated French engineer, and the first authority on limes 
 and cements) in a recent article upon magncsian limestones (which seldom 
 contain alumina) says, that "without clay (or alumina) limes cannot be 
 decidedly hydraulic. * * * If, then, some portions of clay be present, 
 it might happen that a triple hydrate of lime, of alumina, and of magnesia, 
 might be formed, which should possess all the conditions of hardness and of 
 progression (in hardness) which characterise the best hydraulic limes." He 
 further states that two siiecimens of magnesian limestone, the one contain- 
 ing 4, and the other 5^ per cent, of clay, gave limes possessing the hydraulic 
 character in an eminent degree. Parandicr, another French engineer of 
 note, states that "a magnesian limestone containing 11 per cent, of clay 
 yields a very excellent hydraulic lime." The Collingwood limestone contains 
 from 11 to 12 per cent, of clay.* 
 
 It is well known that cement made from stone containing too much silica, 
 swells in setting, and is therefore likely to disturb the masonry executed 
 with it. On the contrary, those cements in which alumina is in excess, are 
 likely to shrink and to crack. " The magnesian limestones, or dolomites, 
 appear to be the least exposed to these inconveniences, and to retain without 
 alteration their original bulk."t 
 
 I liave already treated upon the manufacture of charcoal in an article 
 on that subject, I have also referred to coke and coking under tlie article 
 " Gas." 
 
 Patent Hydrucarbonic Fuel. — "On the 2Gth November, 18.57, Messrs. J. 
 Chaplin and J. McUae, obtained a patent in Victoria for the manufacture 
 of hydrocarbonic fuel, by combining two parts of charcoal with one part of 
 coal, the charcoal to be first fully impregnated with hydrogen gas, the 
 whole to be crushed and amalgamated by the application of heat and steam, 
 and pressed into suitable sized blocks. Tlie patentees state that this fuel 
 leaves no clinkers and little or no smoke, and that one ton is equal to one 
 
 • Hydraulic lime may be seen in the Victorian Kxhibition, made by 
 mixing the alumina of fin-clay and liiinlin, ur tbcse articles in their crude 
 state, with carlionate of lime in tiie furm of pulverised limestone. — C. Mavub, 
 4fh NovemlKT, 18(Jl. 
 
 \ Limes, Cemtntu, Muitar, ^t. By (J. H. Uurnell, U.K.
 
 ECONOMICAL MANUFACTURES. 387 
 
 and a half tons of coal or three tons of wood, it will consequently occupy 
 less space and is not liable to spontaneous combustion," 
 
 Application. — It appears to me that this patent could be best carried out 
 in conjunction with the manufacture of pyrolignoous acid from our hard- 
 woods, by which means the charcoal and hydrogen gas could be obtained 
 from the wood, simultaneously with the crude wood vinegar. (See Pi/ro- 
 ligneous Acid, under the article on " Gas ")* 
 
 Artificial Fuel.— " On the SOth September, 1858, Messrs. J. S. and T. 
 Danks obtained a patent in Victoria for the manufacture of fuel from two 
 or more or the whole of the following ingredients, viz., coals, coke, and 
 charcoal in small pieces, or the dust of either, wood, wood sawdust, wood 
 turnings, cuttings, shavings, and dried vegetable substances mixed inti- 
 mately with pitch, resin, asphalte, wood or coal tar, naptha, turpentine, or 
 other inflammable spirits, suet or any fatty substance, the materials to be 
 moulded or cut into any convenient form." 
 
 The last patent appears to monopolize the application of nearly every 
 material of an inflammable nature, and as I have been accustomed to see 
 many of these ingredients thrown away as rubbish, and allowed to rot on 
 our wharves and rubbish depots, I am at a loss to know why the patent has 
 hitherto lain dormant. 
 
 Coal Tar. — According to Dr. lire 100 lbs. of coal tar will produce 26 lbs. 
 of coal oil, and 48 lbs. of pitch. As there is but little demand for coal tar 
 in Victoria it might be found profitable to convert it into coal tar oil, either 
 to be used as a substitute for kerosene and parafine, or distilled as a substi- 
 tute for naptha, in which form it is extensively used for dissolving caout- 
 chouc in making the varnish of waterproof cloth. The pitch may be used 
 in many ways, one of these is in the manufacture of — 
 
 Giant's Patent Fuel, which is composed of coal dust and coal tar pitch, 
 mixed together under the influence of heat in the proportion of 20 lbs. of 
 pitch to 1 cwt. of coal dust, by appropriate machinery which grinds, sifts, 
 heats to 220°, mixes, and moulds by pressure the fuel into lumps the 
 size of common bricks, these are whitewashed, which prevents them sticking 
 together even in hot climates. The advantages of this fuel over the com- 
 mon coals are many : it is said to produce 50 per cent more steam ; to 
 occupy less space ; to be used with greater ease ; to create little or no 
 dust or dirt ; also that the ignition is so complete as to produce but little 
 smoke and ashes : and lastly, to be not liable to enter into spontaneous 
 combustion. (See article Fuel in supplement to Dr. lire's Dictionary of 
 Arts, &;c.) 
 
 CHAS. MAYES, C.E. 
 
 Hawthorn, July \5th, 1861. 
 
 * Pyroligneous acid, in its ditFerent processes of manufacture from our 
 gum trees, may now be seen in the Victorian Exhibition. — C. Mayes, 4th 
 November, 1861. 
 
 By Authority: John Febkes, QoverDment Trliiter, Melbourao
 
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