ao Dec, 1909.] Development of Agricultural Production. 775 



DEVELOPMEXT OF ACIRTCULTURAL PRODUCTION 

 IN VICTORIA. 



T. C'Jierrjj, M.D., Jf.S., Director of Af/ricn/fure. 



In the Journal for Aiifjust I showed that there is a vast tract of 

 Victoria, representing one-third of the entire State, with a rainfall of fnjni 

 20 to 30 inches, in which agricultural progress has been exti'emely slow, and 

 in which agricultural interests, in many respects, have been lying dormant. 

 The greatei- part of this 18,000,000 acres is represented by a belt of country 

 ■comprising the whole of the Western District, bounded by the sea coast from 

 South Australian border to Warrnanibool, tlience along the Western 

 Railway to Geelong, and then by the northern shores of Port Phillip Bay to 

 Mordialloc. The northern boundar}^ begins on the South Australian border 

 about 25 miles south' of Serviceton, thence runs almost due east to Stawell 

 . and north-easterly through Maryborough, Bendigo, Rushworth, Dookie to 

 Yarrawonga. To the north-east of Melbourne the Sydney line of railway 

 runs almost through the centre of the area in question. The explanation 

 why agricultural interests are lying dormant in what ought to be the most 

 productive portion of Victoria is a ver}^ simple one. Soil and climate are so 

 extremely favourable to the land-owner that he is able to make a fairly 

 comfortable living l)y grazing alone, and will not face the additional worr}'' 

 and expense of putting his land under cultivation. Along the North-eastern 

 Railwa3% agricultural piogiess has been retarded to a very great extent by 

 the profitable nature of the firewood industry. In a great number of cases 

 land-owner.s make their living out of the firewood and the precarious retui-ns 

 from grazing, instead of setting to work resolutely in the direction of more 

 cultivation, more fodder and more live stock. Moie than three-fourths of 

 all the cultivated land in Victor-ia lies to the north of the area which we are 

 now considering. It is in the drier parts of the Wimmera and the northern 

 plains that cultivation is steadily progressive. Here again the explanation 

 is that the soil and climate are not so favourable as in the central area we 

 are considering, and that therefore the farmer is compelled to keep the 

 plough going if he wishes to make substantial progress on his farm. In the 

 whole 18,000,000 acres already described, the main areas under cultivation 

 are approximately 100,000 acres eaoh in the counties of Bourke, Ripon, 

 Grant and Grenville. In the case of the countv of Grant, much of the 

 cultivation in the Ballarat district is not included in the 18,000,000 acres, 

 because it has a heavier rainfall than 30 inches. In the same way, most of 

 the cultivation in the GouHiurn Valle}' is located in the drier portions of the 

 counties of Rodney and Moira than those indicated by the boundary which 

 I have described. 



Now, I think it can be shown without any possibility of dispute that the 

 grazing capacity and the number of stt)ck carried on a farm in any part of 

 Victoria, so long as cultivation does not form a prominent part of the 

 system of management, are strictly limited and caimot be made to steadily 

 increase from year to year. None of the gi-asses are sufficiently deep-rooted 

 to withstand the effects of our normally dry summer; they do not wake up 

 into sufficient activity until the rain comes in autuiuii. The main hope of 

 increasing the stock-carrying capacity by grazing only is to grow lucerne on 

 every farm where this can be done, and to replant the paddocks as fast as 

 they are destroyed by a few years' grazing. This, however, involves 

 •cultivation, and, therefore, does not belong to the system of farming by 

 ^grazing alone, which I am attacking. On the other hand, cultivation 



