June i, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



*<47 



VTlierever you see want, or misery, or degradation, 

 in this world about you, there, be sure, either in- 

 dustry has been wanting or Hidustry has been 

 in error." 



But we are now nearijig another station — "O'Biieu's 

 Bridge," so named after the (anions Smitli O'Brien, 

 who hved for some years in exile here. You can 

 just see the little wooden shiinty near to the public 

 road, with a burnie trickling past its gable end. 

 At its best, it could only have been a poor little 

 •'but and ben" now frail and tcnantless. Imagine 

 the six great Irish patriots forgathering here- -as 

 they often continued to do :— Meagher, O'Donoghue 

 McManns. Mitehel and ,Tohn Martin. I fancy I 

 hear the coo-ece of the approaching visitors, answered 

 by the expectant O'Brien, — the warm greeting, the 

 row on yonder bay, the jolly evening, the clialT 

 and story — all spiced with a little sedition ; then 

 the serious part of the business, the plans of 

 escape. 



It was here that P. J. Smyth, the well-known 

 M. P., met them; he came out ostensibly as cor- 

 respondent of an American paper really, to further 

 the escape of his countrymen. Meagher, I remem- 

 ber, wrote some beautiful letters to his friend Sir 

 C. (i. Duft'y dated from here. Mitehel, too. wielded 

 a very facile and charming pen. Men wholly bad ' 

 could scarcely write as they did. Nevertheless, 

 O'Brien was the gentleman of the lot, and most 

 favourably remembered here. But I must hurry 

 on from this pretty little clachan with its thriving 

 hop gardens, and tolerably well kept orchards. 

 The lion of the locality seems to be, the hnKL^lip 

 which is invariably pointed out to strangers with 

 the remark that •' it is over 100 acres and the 

 whole came down one dark rainy night with a ter- 

 rific roar." On expressing my doubts, that there 

 were more than 30 acres : the village official said : 

 '•You have no idea how steep it is"! There are 

 evidently Irishmen here still. About five miles from 

 here is lUxtiwrr],-, said to be a very thriving town- 

 ship, the frugal German settlers numbering about 

 MUO ; this I mean to visit on my return. Mean- 

 while we go swinging along on our 3J feet railway, 

 still keeping close by the water-side. Berrieilale 

 and Austin Ferrii stations are soon passed and 

 we come to Norfolk road, where we part company 

 with the train which now crosses the Derwent, while 

 we take the coach and continue our journey up 

 the river side. I do not know if the name of 

 the ollicer who traced this road has been preserved ; 

 but this I know, had any Ceylon planter been imilty 

 of such a piece of work, the inevitable sack would 

 have been liix reward. 



Fortunately the iron horse is creeping up the other 

 side of the water, slowly of course, for with labour 

 scarce at lis Inl lO 7s per day, it is not much, a poor 

 country can do in Railway Extension. Better times 

 for road-makers, when the Hobart and Launceston 

 road was made, one of the very best thorough- 

 f.ires in the world. What very picturesciue 

 peeps of river scenery now open out at every turn, 

 as we briflily canter along! The reflection of the 

 tall gum trees in the still water is very striking 

 and hrautirul, and liere comes a large paddle 

 steamer lieavily l.'ideii with hops and fruits. I 

 wonder liow many millions Melbourne would give for 

 a river like this ? The marvel is that there is so 

 Httle cultivation in a locality so highly favoured 

 as this : the melancholy fact again forces itself 

 upon us, that for 100 miles on either side of 

 this river the land has simply been frittered away, 

 and converted into very indilTerent sheep-runs, 

 with here and there a smiling little orchard, hop 

 garden or dairy-farm, showing what it might have 

 been, and may still be, when the land has been re- 

 covered from "these barbarous slieep-owners who. 



though owning or holding -i-utlis ol the best land 

 in the country, cannot supply half the mutton 

 ici|uired by its scanty population. 



.\ beautiful little oasis in this wilderness is New Nor- 

 folk, at which we have now arrived, iA miles from 

 Hobart. An air of substantial comfort pervades 

 the township, with its two excellent Hotels well- 

 plenished stores, neat churches, schools and library, 

 to say nothing of the capacious Lunatic .\syluni — 

 tor, strange to say, men and women go mad even 

 in this perfect climate, where bare existence is a 

 luxury. " 



I much admire the beautifully kept little gardens 

 sloping down to the river side, the first buiui fide 

 bit of cultivation I have seen since I left England. 

 On the opposite side of the river is Valley Field, the 

 extensive hop-plantations of Mr. R. Shoobridge, 

 which I purpose visiting on my return. Mean- 

 while, I take coach again, and go on a dozen miles 

 further to visit " The Member" at his sp.acious 

 demesne Hii.iliy Pari;, and to those who know 

 Bushy Park, it is needless to speak of the cordiality 

 of our reception, or the hospitality of the entertain- 

 ment. I have rarely spent a more pleasant after- 

 noon than in wandering along tlie banks of the 

 placid Derwent, and the shady rippling Styx, and 

 never met more keenly intelligent agriculturista 

 than the Messrs. Shoobridge, the chief hop-growers 

 and orchardi.sts of Tasmania. Tlie hop-picking 

 had just commenced, and I had the opportunity of 

 seeing the whole process of picking, drying, cooling 

 and dispatching. 



r>.flOO busy lingers at work in one paddock, looks 

 something like business, and what a delightful 

 outing it must be for the women and children of 

 Hobart ! The process of picking is simple enough and 

 a fairly active woman can make her ,os per day easily, 

 indeed, I'd back Carpie to do more; her nimble, 

 black fingers would be just in their element amongst 

 these hops. Splendid hops they are too. I do not for a 

 moment believe that Kent can produce better, though 

 it is not easy for an Englishman to overcome a 

 prejudice— especially, in anything relating to his beer; 

 and the fact remains, that the price obtained for 

 the best Tasmanian hops is still considerably under 

 that for the ordinary home-grown. The soil here is 

 a very good, rich alluvial, capitally cultivated and 

 iiTigated. Irrigation is absolutely necessary in this 

 climate, and by cutting a water-course from the 

 Styx this has been easily accomplished here, the 

 arrangement for distributing the water, excellent, 

 simple and effective. Anyone accustomed to the 

 management of estates can see at a glance that the 

 whole system of cultivation here is admirable. The 

 average yield in a good year is about 15 cwt. dry hops 

 per acre. The cost of cultivation, say somewhat over 

 .t;'20. Prices vary tremendously — from '.Id per lb. to 

 4s Gd. The present prices are not encouraging. 

 "I based my cultivations on taking over this place 

 two years ago," said a planter to me, " at '2s per 

 lb. ; now I am receiving lOd." 



The arrangement for drying and cooling the hops 

 at Bushy Park, are perhaps, the most complete in 

 Australasia. The system of drying is almost ident- 

 ically similar to the •' Clerihew " adopted by the 

 coffee planters of Ceylon '.W years ago. The metal 

 pipes, the mode of applying the fire is the same; 

 only the heated air chamber is circular, the floor 

 revolves, and the fans are at the top of the 

 builuiiig. Coffee can scarcely be dried too rapidly 

 whereas luip- must be dried slowly, in or- 

 der to preserve the essential oil and tougiiness. 

 This has altogether been a splendid season, and 

 if a novice in liops may judge from the sample 

 at Bushy I'ark, Tasmania will more than main- 

 ! tain its reputation for good hops this year. But 

 ' Bushy Park has more than one string to its bow. 



