THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



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the very place for the Bactrian camel; and tins animal 

 is not only a necessity (ov exploring parties in the far 

 interior, but would prove of immense advantage to 

 traders in the conveyance of merchandise, until a net- 

 work of railways cover the land. 



The importance of alpaca wool is now thoroughly 

 appreciated, and our manufacturers, and those of 

 France, would use twice the quantity if they could get 

 it. It is still largely in demand, although our imports 

 —2,500,000 to 3,000,0001bs. annually — are double 

 what they were a few years ago. Beautiful stuffs are 

 produced in great varieties from it, worked alone, or 

 mixed with wool or silk. 



With the view of benefiting the colony, the Govern- 

 ment of South Australia notified, some years ago, its 

 willingness to encourage the importation of camels and 

 alpacas by holding out a bonus of £00 to the first im- 

 porter of one male and two female camels, and the 

 sum of £50 to the first importer of two male and eight 

 female alpacas, in healthy condition, any time during 

 the year 1851. If the offer was not claimed in due 

 time, it at least led to some result; for we find that a 

 Mr. Ilaigh, of Port Lincoln, has now several Cashmere 

 goats, alpacas, and Angora goats thriving well. The 

 alpacas are of remarkable excellence : the black speci- 

 mens of a deep bright black, almost jet. These fleeces 

 weigh from six to ten pounds each, the wool being 

 thirteen inches long. The fleece of the Angora goat is 

 a mohair of a peculiarly soft and silky character. Tlie 

 fibres are wavy, and slightly inclined to curl. The 

 wool, even at four months' growth, is- six or seven 

 inches long. 



The extensive introduction of the alpaca into Austra- 

 lia offers a wide field of encouragement to the pastoral 

 settler. The climate and pasture are well suited to the 

 wants of the animal ; and the profit on the clip is far 

 beyond that of sheep's wool. Hundreds of thousands 

 of alpacas might roam among the mountain chains, or 

 cover the elevated plains of Australia, neither trench- 

 ing upon the sheep nor depasturing upon culti- 

 vated lands. They would not enhance the price of 

 a wheaten loaf, but would open up employment to 

 thousands — call a large and ever increasing capital 

 into circulation, and not only produce a new and valu- 

 able fabric, but also by degrees create a demand within 

 the colonies themselves for the employment of ma- 

 chinery for the production of the multitudinous ma- 



nufactures to which the silky alpaca wool can be ap- 

 plied. 



There are three distinct species of this animal : The 

 alpaca, the largest and most important ; the guanaco, 

 of a dark-brown colour, inclining to white under the 

 belly; and the vicuna, the smallest 8pecies, about the 

 size of a goat, whose body is covered with a remarka- 

 bly fine soft wool, of a pale reddish-brown. All the 

 species are easily domesticated; indeed, the alpaca has 

 ijeen a domesticated animal as long as we have any 

 record. The wool of the vicuna and guanaco, although 

 less valuable than that of the alpaca, enters into com- 

 merce for hat-felting and other purposes. 



The vicuna and guanaco inhabit the elevated regions 

 of Patagonia, where no other animal can live. They 

 are numerous in the Cordilleras of Chile, where flocks 

 of several hundreds are seen together, like sheep, and 

 hunted for their wool and flesh. If they could but bo 

 multiplied in the interior ranges of Australia, taking 

 the place of the native kangaroo, how great would be 

 the benefit ! 



So jealous are the Peruvians of the export of these 

 animals, that every possible obstacle — fine, penalty, and 

 imprisonment — are placed in the way of their shipment : 

 hence their purchase and transport have to be made 

 surreptitiously. That they can be obtained is evident 

 from the fact that at least a couple of hundred have been 

 imported into this country during the last fifteen years ; 

 and that they have thriven and bred in England and 

 Scotland. But they have been kept here more as ob- 

 jects of curiosity than for projiagating the breed and 

 increasing the supply of fine long wool. 



What we desire to see, therefore, is a strenuous and 

 business-like effort to extend this domesticated breed 

 of wool-bearing animals in our colonies, wherever the 

 climate and locality are suitable. If the Manchester 

 manufacturers find it to their interest to promote, by 

 every means in their power, the extended culture of fine 

 and improved cotton by associated enterprise, surely it 

 must be equally important to the second great manu- 

 facturing interest of this kingdom to stimulate and 

 encourage new supplies of fine long staple wool. What 

 has been done by Mr. Titus Salt is an earnest of what 

 can be done by others. The field of operation is a wide 

 one; the results likely to bo individually remunerative, 

 and generally beneficial to the great interests of the 

 wool trade. 



LOIS-WEEDOX HUSBANDRY. 



In the absence of a new edition of the " Word in 

 Season," all readers who feel an interest in tlie Lois- 

 Weedon husbandry will welcome the following letter 

 from the Rev. Mr. Smith : 



Lois-Weedon Vicarage, Aug, 23rd, 1858. 

 Our wishes and expectations are i-ealized ; and trench- 

 ing ia done by steam. If this is a boon to others, 

 you, who have entered so deeply into the practical de- 

 tails of Lois-Weedon husbandry, will foresee at once its 

 eventual importance to me. For trenching by steam costs 



but 12s. per acre, up to 18s. in extreme cases; and if so, my 

 moiety of each acre will cost but 6s. to J)s. at the utmost. 



But my great object in writing is to answer your ques- 

 tion, How my crops have turned out? Taking quality and 

 quantity together, never so well ; for on my three-acre 

 home piece of clay Land, the yield this year of fine red 

 wheat, tested by the bushel, was over ,5 qrs. to the mea- 

 sured acre •, sold at once for 45s, with a very heavy weight 

 of straw, estimated at more than 2 tons to the acre. And 

 you would not be surprised at the estimate, had you seen it 

 before reaping— a good deal of it upwards of 6 feet high, 

 and yet none of it laid. By the expression, " 5 qrs, to the 



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