1^2 Journal of Agriculture. [8 March, 1907. 



i)hO'sphoric acid supply to the fact that the continent has never been 

 heavily stocked by large animals of any kind. In Victoria we know that 

 previous to settlement by white men the number of kangaroos and emus 

 was much less than the number of sheep is at present. Periodical 

 droughts reduced them in the north ; vast areas were so densely timbered 

 that there was little herbage for them to eat. There were never very many 

 natives in Victoria, but there were quite enough to keep the large animals 

 from becoming numerous on the open plains. Now the animal is the 

 great factor in concentrating phosphoric acid in the surface layers of the 

 soil. It is true that where no animals are present nearly all the com- 

 ponents of the plant are returned tO' the soil by the process of decay. But 

 the animal stimulates the plant to increased growth. As the flower shoots 

 ir {^articular are browsed off, fresh efforts are made to produce a new 

 crop of seed. Hence more phosphoric acid is drawn up by the roots from 

 the deeper layers of the soil. The animal concentrates the phosphates 

 chiefly in the bones, and when death occurs the bones are slowly but surely 

 incorporated in the earth. In addition, phosphates are being coi'tinually 

 returned to the soil in the excrements. The carcass of one sheep to the 

 acre represents the application of 2 11 )s. of phosphoric acid, or about 10 lbs. 

 of ordinary superphosphates. This quantity does not appear very large, 

 lAit when^ the process is repeated vear bv vear for centuries the amount 

 steadily accumulates. As phosphoric acid becomes .available in increasing 

 quantities the growth of plants of all kinds is stimulated, and consequently 

 more animals can be carried in a given area. Nature's methods throughout 

 all bygone ages are precisely what every thoughtful farmer aims at imitat- 

 ing at the present day. Just as living plants and animals have slowly 

 accumulated the potash and lime from the sea water till they form vast 

 m.asses of dry land, sO' the nitrogen and phosphoric acid have been 

 gradually made available for existing plants and animals bv the^r prede- 

 cessors throughout all the geological ages. The soils of Victoria are jast 

 beginning to be improved bv animals. The transformation of the hill 

 country which is brought about by the introduction of Merino sheep, 

 may be studied about Alexandra or Tallangatta, where a few years have 

 already made great changes. Judging by what has already occurred, I 

 think we may have no misgivings for the future. 



The average chemical composition of Victorian soils as taken from the 

 preceding table bears out the inferences drawn from the examination of 

 .&oils of various localities. Judged bv European standards the amount of 

 ■fertility is often small. When it is attempted to make an estimate of the 

 amount of plant food in readily available form (soluble in water or citric 

 acid solution), the results are very disappointing. Yet the practical results 

 are precisely the opposite, and it may well be doubted if any soil in the 

 world is more prolific. The total amount of agricultural products consumed 

 locally and exported is valued at over ^-,^2 0,000, 000, or an average produc- 

 tion of nearly ^400 per farm. As only one acre out of every eight of the 

 occupied part of Victoria is at present under cultivation, the above results 

 are achieved to a very large extent simply by grazing the natural pastures. 

 The soils from Mildura, in the JMallee, are much below the average in 

 phosphoric acid and nitrogen, yet under irrigation 10,000 acres support a 

 population of 5,000, or 330 persons to the square mile. Here again 

 development is just beginning, for with the application of more labour the 

 returns from the irrigated land could be vastly increased. From the 

 strictly chemical point of view, much of the wheat land appears to be in 

 danger of early exhaustion, yet after many years of grazing and cropping 



