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anust be occupied, if not by the purchaser himself, by a hired hand, who 
is to cultivate at least 20 per cent. of the land. After survey, the 
land is held for selection at £1 per acre. If there be more than one ap- 
plicant for land, it is sold to the highest bidder. Installments of 10 per 
cent. of the purchase- -money are required in cash, and at the end of three 
years; at the end of six years one-half the remainder of the purchase- 
money must be paid, and the remainder may continue on interest at 4 
per cent. Improvements to the extent of 5s. per acre must be made 
before the close of the second year of occupation, and to the extent of 
10s. per acre before the close of the fourth year. These improvements 
consist of dwelling and farm buildings, wells, water-tanks, fencing, 
draining, clearing, &e. 
The method of wheat-growing is generally rude and unscientific. The 
ground is scratched to three or fourinches deep, and the seed sown broad- 
cast. If the seeding be not too late, the yield will be from 10 to 20 bush- 
els per acre. Older lands show signs of exhaustion from continual crop- 
ping, without manure, from ten to thirty years. A year or two of fallow 
and stock-pasture partly restores the fertility. Red rust, locusts, hot 
winds, and a peculiar wheat malady, known as * take all,” from its effect- 
ive ‘destruction of large patches of the crop, are the main difficulties 
in the way of the wheat-farmer. Cf late years many small farmers 
have sold outin order to appropriate new land on the frontiers of the 
wilderness. The new line of settlements has reached from five to sev- 
enty miles inland from the coast, and as far as one hundred and sixty 
miles from Adelaide. The amount of land under cultivation has, in 
five years, increased from 959,000 acres to 1,330,484 acres, with large 
additions every year. Less than a fourth of these lands are under till- 
age, which is mostly directed to wheat-production. The crops gathered 
in December, 1874, from 839,638 acres, amounted to 9,862,000 bushels, or 
112 bushels per acre. This shows an increase upon the previous year of 
-3,633,377, while the acreage increased only 54,000. Hay occupied 160,- 
931 acres; barley, 13,724 acres ; potatoes, 4,582 acres; permanent grasses, 
27,076 acres; gardens, vineyards, and orchards, 7,334 acres. Flax was 
also found to do well in some localities. During the last ten years 
~wheat-production has doubled, while population has increased only 30 
percent. Labor-saving machinery is used on an increasing scale, espec- 
ially harvesters and reapers. South Australian wheat is of high qual- 
ity, as is shown not only by prizes at late European expositions, but also 
by the fact that Victoria and New Zealand, though producing a surplus 
-for export, import South Australian wheat ‘to mix with and give char- 
-acter to their own product. 
The rich chocolate loam of the hill-sides produces excellent grapes, and 
most of the best varieties of France and Spain have been introduced. 
The vineyards already cover 5,051 acres, yielding at the last vintage 
648,186 gallons of wine, most of which is consumed in the colony. 
Some brands secured prizes at the London, Paris, and Vienna expo- 
sitions. The Sultana and Muscatel yield several tons of raisins per 
annum. Orange-culture has been successfully inaugurated. Fruits and 
melons of delicious quality have been grown. The olive thrives on this 
-soil, and, for several years, a thriving trade in oil has been prosecuted. 
It commands 10s. per gallon, and is regarded as fully equal to the im- 
ported article. Mulberry-trees are being extensively planted under 
bounties from government to encourage silk-production, for which the 
-climate is supposed to be well fitted. Sugar-beet and other roots have 
been introduced. Tobacco thrives, though with but little attention 
-hitherto. 
