538 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



ventiou of the law biuding upou common carriers, and against 

 the provisions of the Railway and Canal Traffic Act. For the 

 defendants it was niaiutained that there was a contract with 

 the secretary of the society on the part of the exhibitors, by 



which it was stipulated that the latter should run all risk in- 

 curred in the conveyance of implements, and that therefore 

 the railway company were absolved from all liability. A ver- 

 dict was given for the defendants. 



THE AGRICULTURE OF AUSTRALIA. 



With slow sales, and prices down again — with money 

 scarce and rents due — with Napoleon opening his ports, 

 and all sorts of things to tell against us, Agriculture 

 still shows a sanguine, cheerful spirit. The days of her 

 mourning, indeed, appear to have passed away. She 

 has made herself equal to the position. After the good 

 time they have lately had of it, of course every- 

 body will say that the farmers, above all others, 

 should be able to stand a pinch or two. There is, 

 as a rule, no class of people so leadily credited 

 with prosperity. Still it must be remembered, 

 that if the art does flourish — if Agriculture has main- 

 tained her position in the State, she has few to thank 

 for it but herself. It is not so many years ago 

 that gi-eat Authorities argued on the cultivation of 

 our own soil as a matter of very little moment. 

 It really could not much signify whether it was pro- 

 Ijerly tilled or not. And on some such terms did they 

 proceed to care for it. A farmer was a man whose 

 opinions were to be pooh-poohed, or more openly ridi- 

 culed. In a word, British Agriculture was no great 

 feather in our cap. And so, if there was anyone else to 

 be served, it was of no great consequence whether she 

 went to the wall or not ! 



A train of unforeseen, but happily ordained circum- 

 stances tended rather to qualify this indiflPerence to her 

 interest, and Agriculture had another chance. There 

 is no one will say but that she has made the most of 

 this. The art— that a dozen years since might have 

 been complacently abandoned — has become a feather 

 in our cap after all. With her limited area, Great 

 Britain may not be able to grow corn for other nations, 

 or even enough for herself. She is the example, how- 

 ever — the tutor of other states. Any people who wish 

 to thus improve themselves, must come to us for their 

 books and tools. There is, moreover, an increasing 

 demand for these. No sooner does one market appear 

 to be supplied than others open upon us. France may be 

 somewhat satisfied for the present, but in her place 

 we have the whole Continent to deal with. America 

 may look like a bad customer just now ; while Australia 

 promises to be a better one than any we have yet had 

 to welcome. 



Do om" farmers and breeders think enough of this ? 

 Are they quite justified in leaving so good a business, 

 as it were, to take care of itself? We believe they are 

 not. We think, on the other hand, that, notwithstand- 

 ing low prices and shortness of money at home, there 

 is a fine trade opening upon us from abroad. We pro- 

 vide, in fact, a direct remedy when engaging in it. Give 

 your horses, pigs, sheep, and cattle, and take in return 

 pure gold. The country that can furnish this metal so 



abundantly, is longing for such a system of exchange and 

 barter. Australia is liourly becoming something better 

 than a mere sheep-walk or cold-field. In no part of 

 the world is the art of agriculture so rapidly developing 

 itself, and no where do they look so certainly for aid 

 and instruction as this colony does to lis. Let her 

 speak for herself. In the latest intelligence received, 

 we find it thus written in the Melbourne Argus : — 

 " A complete abstract of the statistical returns for this 

 colony was published last month, and from this it ap- 

 pears that we have made considerable progress during 

 the year 1856. There has been a much greater increase 

 in the quantity of grain raised last season than was 

 generally exi^ected. The yield of wheat is less than 

 the average of the previous year by four bushels to the 

 acre, being only 23 last season to 27 in 1855 ; still the 

 total increase in the produce of this description of grain 

 alone is more than 700,000 bushels. In the quantity 

 of oats grown for corn there has only been an increase 

 of some 30,000 bushels, and of barley 24,400. Of hay 

 the quantity made in 1856 is less than was saved the 

 previous year by more than 2,000 tons; and the effect 

 of this, coupled with the high price of horse-corn, is 

 now to be seen in its enhanced value, this article of 

 produce being at the present time in demand at just 

 double the price it realized this time twelvemonth. The 

 extent of land under hay was much greater last year than 

 the year before ; but there was agreater falling off in the 

 ci'op, the average being nearly one ton to the aci'e 

 less. This is to be accounted for by much of the late- 

 sown and inferior wheat having been cut for hay when 

 it became apparent that it would yield no corn. Al- 

 though root-crops are rather uncertain in this climate^ 

 the cultivation of both mangold-wurtzel and turnips is 

 extending — the produce of the foi-mer having been in- 

 ci'eased fourfold, and that of the latter having been 

 doubled. Last season was an unfavourable one for 

 most crops, and our progress in agricultural matters is 

 better shown by the additional number of persons who 

 have turned to that pursuit, and by the greater breadth 

 of land under the plough, than for the actual amount 

 of produce raised. In 1856 the number of occupiers 

 of purchased land was 7,523, while in 1855 it was only 

 4,326; the number of acres under crop was 1 79,982, 

 compared with 115,135 in the latter year. There has 

 also been a considerable increase in the live stock of 

 the colony during the year 1856." 



More wheat, more barley, more oats, the cultivation 

 ofi'oot crops extending — more persons, in short, engaged 

 in agriculture, and more land under the plough. 

 Without that concluding sentence, do not our readers 

 draw a direct inference from all this ? They cannot have 



