July h iB86s] 



THE "rmpiCAL Ai^mcuL'^anmT, 



ii 



bartered away the millions of acres of purely 

 agricultural land in this island. B^or the vulgar 

 cry in England of restoring the land to the 

 peoijle, I have no sympathy. Landed, or any other 

 property honestly acquired, must be respected, but 

 to speak of ' conjiscatioii ' as applied to the recovery 

 of the agricultural lands of Tasmania is a contemjjt- 

 ible misuse of language. The shady transactions 

 by which these lands were alienated will not bear 

 light, and the sooner light is brought forcibly to 

 bear upon them the better. A thousand pities 

 that a valuable island like this was not retained 

 as a Crown Colony, or united to Victoria until 

 able to walk circumspectly alone. 



Near the 2ith mile-post from Hobart we reach 

 theHuon, — a dark and dismal-looking water, crossed 

 here by a fine bridge, at one end of which is a 

 good hospitable little hotel, and here roads branch 

 otif to Port Cygnet on the one hand, and up 

 the riverside to Victoria on the other. A pleasant 

 drive of seven miles more brings us to Franklin, 

 the iJrincipal township of the locality, situated on 

 the banks of the black sluggish river. Franklin 

 is by no means a cheerful spot, .showing but few 

 signs of life, and, like too many other townshi2)3 

 of Tasmania, seems to have begun to decay ere 

 it reached a tithe of the dimensions anticipated by 

 the sanguine surs'eyor who traced its stately streets on 

 paper. There are two comfortable hotels — where much 

 hospitality is received at very little cost — which 

 is more tlaan one can say at most places, 

 two unattractive little churches, two miscellan- 

 eous (very) store.s where haberdashery and honey, 

 silk sashes and soft soap, gold bracelets and galvanized 

 iron barrows may be bought at the same counter; but 

 the general aspect of the place is not inviting, 

 and I am soon fain to seek the suburb of the 

 village in ho)ies of finding something more attractive, 

 nor was I disappointerl. The climb up a rough 

 lane was both exhilarating and inspiring. Suri^rised 

 and delightt'ii, I was too, to see so many of tke 

 Old World fiivourites growing wild around me. 

 The air was laden with the scent of white clover; 

 soon it chan:;"<l, for the white gown-like flowers 

 on which I iiod, were nothing else than camomile, 

 (the vuiitabk rnmowi/ne o' my dear auld mither) ; 

 and yonder i aLhery bush is Soiitlierincoud, to be 

 sure; lost M.:n./, too, like dockons, and mint, 

 horehound, Ihyme and marjoram, all wasting 

 their fragrance on this desert air ; while tlie bells 

 o' bonuie blue, deck the dykes and the whins 

 and sweet briar still struggle for the mastery:^ 

 " And golden rods, aud tausy ruuiiiug high, 

 That o'er tlii', pale top smiles on passer-by ; 

 Flowers in uiy time, that everyoue would praise 

 Though thrown, like weeds, from gardens uow- 

 a-days." 



All this is very delightful and unexpected. It 

 is only when I come to the more prosaic orchard 

 that my feelings of dismay and disappointment 

 return. Coffee in its darkest days was never so 

 rudely treated as these poor fruit trees, which 

 seem so willing to do their best, and yet few 

 things more amuse me than the conceit of the 

 crude cultivators. The cooly used to say : " Tamil 

 teriyadu oonum teriyadu," meaning, I daresay, 

 that the man who knows not Tamil, knows nothing. 

 The Tasmaa is equally decided in his opinion 

 that the new-comer must necessarily be an ignoramus. 

 Armed witli an introduction to an orchardist 

 who had advertised his garden for sale, I pro- 

 ceeded at oiice to critically inspect his property, 

 but it was easy to see that if I did not over- 

 value his piactical cultivation, he did not over- 

 estimate my experience ; if I made awkward 

 allusions to surface weeds, grass, yellow leaves, 

 dead tipti and falleu apples, lie waa ready to i 



overawe me with dissertations on the mysteries 

 of budding and grafting; and while I attempted 

 to make commonplace remarks on the hopeless 

 state of the strawberry beds, or jungle of rasps 

 and brambles, he spoke eloquently of the delicious 

 flavour, and the tons per acre, " them paddocks " 

 produced. But to business, "What is your lowest 

 figure for cash down ?" " £100 per acre " " £100 ! 

 Why I could buy virgin forest for £2 per 

 acre." " Yes and it would cost you £90 to 

 clear out them stones and roots." But I do not 

 consider it neceosary to clear out stones and roots 

 for the purpose of fruit growing. A look of 

 withering scorn was the reply to this, enough to 

 daunt the boldest V. A. and no further attempt at 

 business was nuade, though— as I have often said 

 of the Ceylon planter of 1873-4— it would be very 

 interesting to ascertain upon what basis ho framed 

 his valuation. 



I observe that in most cases the cultivation of 

 small fruits is Jjeing abandoned here, the price 

 (;ls Id per lb.) realised at the Jam Factory being 

 insullicient to pay for the gathering ; the great 

 staple being now apples, the crops of which are 

 quite as heavy as in the best parts of the Derwent 

 Valley, and as yet they are free from the codlin 

 moth, which the oichardists confidently attribute 

 to their wet climate ; but as I have seen the 

 ruinous effects of this pest in districts of the 

 island where the rainfall exceeds even that of 

 Franklin, I hope there is something else to account 

 for this immunity. 



Being now in the neighbourhood of what is 

 stated to be the principal .Jam Factory of Tasmania 

 I had a desire to inspect the establishment. "You 

 need not trouble yourself, " said my friend the 

 apple planter, " strangers are not admitted," and 

 on knocking at the gates the manager frankly told 

 me "it was against their rules." However, after 

 eyeing mc from head to foot, and satisfying him- 

 self I did not look like one of those newspaper- 

 writing-fellows, he admitted me. I feel now almost 

 sorry he did, for I do not like to seem ungrateful 

 or to betray contidence, but one has a duty to- 

 wards their neighbours at large, and Jam is a 

 very important article on the breakfast table of 

 the Anglo-Indian. I am not satisfied with this 

 Jam Factory. To speak plainly, it is no factory at 

 all. Merely a rcccivinfj houne, and a very dirty one. 

 The immense quantities of small fruit smell like a 

 pulp heap, as they are pitched into large casks, 

 and the only curing they got here, is a bit of burning 

 brimstone, the fumes of which are blown into the 

 bung hole ! This may for a time effectually prevent 

 decomposition or the growth of fungi, and if anyone 

 thinks that it sufficiently preserves the colour, flavour, 

 and wholesomeness of the fruit, he is at liberty 

 to do so. In this state it is shipped to Mel- 

 bourne in order to save the heavy protection duties 

 imposed by our big sister, and best customer, 

 Victoria. In Melbourne, the mess is boiled with 

 sundry additions, duly labelled and sent out to the 

 world as "Finest Tasmanian Jam:'" Try it, — and com- 

 pare with Moir or Keillor. I have no object in 

 advertising either, but the comparison may be inter- 

 esting as showing the difference between Free 

 Trade Jam and Itcciprocity Jam. 



Thk First Suipmkxt of Ceylon Te.^ reached 

 Hobart a fortnight ago and has all been sold at 

 Is 8d (in bond). There is no mark on the chests, 

 not even the weight, and the quality is rather a 

 dusty P. S. though it liquors better than the 

 atrocious stuff in common use here, which reminds 

 one of ^Itip or Waverley Hotel tea. If the peo- 

 jile here excel in anything it is in tea drinking! 

 I have never seen anything approaching to it. 

 It 'i tea to breakfast, dinner and suppev. Tea wiien 



