ioDec, 1909.] Development of Agricultural Productioft. 781 



•addition to the above figures regarding live stock, it must be remembered 

 that, in the three counties in question, the number of acres under cultivation 

 has fallen during the above period from 114,000 to less than 100,000, or 



including fallow from 121,000 to 111,000. On the other hand, the 



-expansion of agriculture in the State as a whole is seen from the fact that 

 during the same eight years the area has risen from 3,650,000 acres to 

 4,120,000 acres. As a matter of fact, there is no getting away from the 

 position that in the three counties in question tlie decrease in wheat, oats 



-and barley amounts to 35,000 acres, and the increase in potatoes and hay to 

 slightly over 20,000 acres, leaving a net debit balance foi- the eight years of 

 14,250 acres. There is a slight improvement in the rate of increase in sheep, 



'but not enough to affect the general conclusion. 



CONTKASTKD WITH THE HlOHLY UNSATISFACTOUy StATE OF AFFAIRS 



Indicated in the Above Paragraph, 



Let us turn to what has actually been done on a Western District 

 property near Skipton, in the county of Ripon. This is the well-known 

 Baangal Estate, belonging to Mrs. M. Gardiner and Sons. The area comprises 

 "2,250 acres, and the remarkable fact has to be recorded that, at the present 

 moment, only 50 acres out of the total area are under natural grass. About 

 twenty-five years ngo this property was bought from the late Honorable 

 Francis Ormond, and was then looked upon as typical Western District 

 sheep lands capable of cariying rather more than one sheep to the acre. It 

 was carried on in this way for about twelve ^^eai's until the death of 

 Mr. Gardiner, when it became apparent that a change in methods was 

 necessary in order to make a living off the pioperty. Cultivation on a small 

 :scale was therefore commenced, and for the first few years it was handicapped 

 by the fact that the trustees of the estate were not at all favourably 

 inclined to view any innovation on well-established Western District 

 methods. Gradually, however, the area under cultivation was increased 

 until in the year 1901 a complete answer to all hostile criticism was 

 furnished by the fact that the profits from 200 aci'es under cultivation 

 were far and away greater than the profits off the remaining 2,000 

 acres. Since that time cultivation has been extending year by year. The 

 returns from cultivation have supplied the capital necessary to transform 

 this estate into the best example of a well-improved and completely ecjuipped 

 •estate known to the writer in any part of Victoria. All the improvements 

 have been paid for out of the profits made by cultivation. A careful survey 

 ■of the photographs which have supplied the illustrations for this article will 

 indicate the nature of the transformation. The net result has been that 

 the value of IJaangal has been increased probably five-fold during the las*" 

 fifteen years, while the u!ideniable results obtained from this estate have had 

 the effect of uplifting the cash value of every acre of land in the Western 

 District of Victoria. 



The first pf>int that strikes the visitor on reaching the estate is the extent 

 to which tree planting has been carried out. The whole estate is gradually 

 being subdivided into paddocks, averaging not much more than 100 acres 

 •each, and each of these is surrounded by a plantation of trees a chain in 

 width. The total area under plantations is 320 acres, and the total length 

 -of the plantations nearly 40 miles. The plan adopted is the usual method 

 of ploughing and discing the strip into a fairly fine tilth and then sowing a 

 ^mixture of Eucalyptus and other seeds eaily in the winter. The amount of 



