Suvcexj of the Work, &c., of Victorian Agriculfiircd Department. 805 



Mr. Luifmann's work does not eud with his duties at Burnley. 

 He has six experimeutal orchards under his care in various parts of 

 the State, and his popuhar lectiu-es and demonstrations are greatly 

 appreciated, so much so that he cannot tind time to lecture in all 

 centres where his services are desired. 



Other Officers. 



In addition to Mr. Knight's other duties he is busy in superin- 

 tending the inspection of exports other than perishable products, and 

 now that the Agent-General has arranged that the War Office will 

 accept the Department's certificate of quality as final, his work will 

 be even more important. One very simple idea of Mr. Knight's will 

 greatly assist in the sale of Victorian Algerian oats. For example, a 

 contract was let in South Africa for a large quantity of oats, the 

 agent arrived in Victoria to execute the order, but owing to the long 

 shape of Algerian oats very few could be procured of the required 

 standard — 4U lbs. per bushel. Mr. Knight informed me that the 

 order was likely to go to New Zealand, but that if we passed the oats 

 through the barley awner which is usually attached to thrashing 

 machines he was sure we could raise the weight by two or three lbs. 

 per bushel, and so secure some of the order. This was at once tried, 

 and the result far surpassed expectations, the weight being raised as 

 much as 5 to 6 lbs. to the bushel by this simple process of clipping 

 the tails of the oats, at a cost of |d. per bag. An order of 100 tons 

 was secured and shipped, and now we are in a position to supply a 

 better, drier, and as heavy an oat as New Zealand, with a fair chance 

 of further orders. 



Dr. Cherry has done good service on his lecturing tour in inducing 

 farmers to make better provision for their stock in winter. Numbers 

 of silos have been erected under his supervision, and when the good 

 results of his mission become apparent during this winter it is hoped 

 that the making of ensilage will become more general in future. 



Dr. Brown, Inspector of foods for export, has, unfortunately, had 

 very little beef and mutton to inspect, but he is so constituted that 

 he cannot possibly be idle, his natural activity often leading him to 

 undertake work which other officers consider belong to their 

 branches. He was the first to discover swine fever, and declared 

 unhesitatingly that he was sure of his diagnosis. He has assisted 

 me in the management of the Labor Colony and has aided greatly 

 in preventing the spread of fowl tick. 



Mr. Hawkins has been engaged to lecture upon poultry, their 

 breeding and management, and his services are very much in demand; 

 large audiences attend wherever he lectures, and good results are 

 already apparent I am very hopeful that through the medium of 

 instruction Victorian farmers will seriously take up poultry breeding 

 as a business, both for export and egg production. 



