lo Aug., 1909.] Agriciiliiiral Production in Victoria. 



483 



Fluctuations in the yield of potatoes and of the hay crop exhibited a 

 similar history, and the truth of our original statement about the inter- 

 mittent character of Victorian agxiculture is clearly seen from the accom- 

 panying diagrams. 



In many districts, some of them most favoured as far as soil an(d 

 climate are concerned, the last twenty years has exhibited retrogression 

 instead of progress. For instance, of the four counties, Villiers, Dal- 

 housie, Delatite, and Moira, the total area under cultivation has shrunk 

 from 586,700 to 493,200 acres. Villiers comprises the rich land in the 

 neighbourhood of Warrnambool, where cultivation is 28,000, as compared 



VICTORIAN BUTTER EXPORTS, 189O-1909. 



with 27,000 acres ten years ago. There would have been a considerable 

 actual shrinkage if it were not for wheat-growing, which has lately been 

 started in the neighbourhood of Green Vale and Dunkeld, in the north of 

 the county. The chief agricultural districts in Dalhousie are Kyneton and 

 Kilmore. Here, cultivation in ten years has fallen from 49,800 to 43,400 

 acres, a result which could not in anv way have been due to either un- 

 favorable climatic or .soil conditions. In Delatite, comprising the large 

 area to the south of the north-eastern line between Longwood and Wan- 

 garatta, cultivation has fallen from 44,000 to 39,000 acres, yet there is no 

 evidence of any diminution in the return per acre. The maxima and 

 minima vields for the wheat, oats, hav, and potatoes in these counties as 

 compared with the rest of the State are shown in the following table : — 



