country has been opened. The effect of 

 climate and soil on the growth of crops 

 and the rearing oif ca^ttle and sheep is 

 well known. The me<,hod 'of dealing with 

 fungi and inisects inimical to cultivated 

 crops has been put upon the solid basis 

 of experience, and there is every prospect 

 of remunerative employment for a very 

 much larger population than Tasmania 

 has at present. While Victoria "was pass- 

 ing through the first exei'teme.nt of the 

 gold diggings, Tasmauia supplied a very 

 large portion of ithe food cif that colony^ 

 and, owing to the facilities of water car- 

 riage, can still place produce in Mei- 

 bourne and in other capital cities oif Aus- 

 tralia at a lower rate for freight than 

 mainLand districts that are very much 

 nearer -lo those capitals. 



Freietrade. — In the past, the transfer of 

 produce was very much hindered by in- 

 tercolonial duties, but these are now all 

 done away with. 



The advantages of the climate and soil 

 of Tasmania .have been brough-t into great 

 prominence by the dry seasons tha-c have 

 pbtained upon the mainland, culminating 

 in the severe drought of lajst year, and 

 many mainland farmers are coming to 

 Tasmania to farm, where the land Laws 

 are liberal, the horrors of drought, ex- 

 tremes of heat, and devastaiting floods are 

 unknown, and in ma,ny places grass is 

 green all the 3"ear round. Also, owing to 

 i«rs position, its available water power, 

 and that factory legislation in Tasmania 

 places less restriction upon trade than 

 other States of the Commonwealth do, 

 it is certain that factories will be sev' up 

 in Tasmania in preference to other parts 

 of the Australian mainland, and there is 

 already a noticeable increatJe of activity 

 hi agriculture, trac^, and manufacture. 



SMALL INDUSTEIES. 



It is undoubted that in the first place 

 the prosperity of new countries must de- 

 Ipend largely upon agriculture, especially 

 wpon what are termed small industries — 

 .tnduistries where profits are derived fnom 

 'th& economical working of the soil, and 

 Which enable large »families to live com- 

 fortably on small acreages. The grrowth 

 of fruit and pota-coes meets this require- 

 ment, and by them it is quite possible to 

 have a population of as much as one to 

 the acre. In this, these industries differ 

 widely (from what until recent years has 

 been the staple indus'try of the colony, 

 the rearing of sheep and export of wool. 

 In rearing 'sheep, people strive for loneli- 

 ness, so that the sheep may not bo dis- 

 turbed, and in many cases efforts are made 

 to keep population away; but with small 

 indu£>trie3 siipporting families of ten, 



upon ten to fifty acres of ground, well 

 tilled, it is quite possible to support a 

 population of one to the acre, as subsi- 

 diary mechanical industries, such as saw- 

 mills, wheelwrights, carpenters, black- 

 smith?, tailors, ;shoem;ak&rs, tinjsmitlis» 

 casemakers, all follow just as water fills 

 up a hollow. 



During the past twenty years the ifruit 

 export industry has been developing, and 

 in 1902 fruit and jam were exported to the 

 value of nearly ,£450,000, being an in- 

 crease of about 30 per cent, on the pre- 

 ceding 3'ear. This industry has been grow- 

 ing at an increasing rate for some years 

 pas-:, and has been the cause oif wide- 

 spread prosperity", great increase in the 

 value of land, and has brought several 

 trades to TasToania previousily unknown 

 in the island. 



Potato growing has become another 

 large industry. Duriug last year 



potatoes were exported to -the value of 

 ^£325,000. Both these industries need, 

 only small capital and small holdings, 

 and the benefit from them is very wide- 

 spread, tending more to the general pros- 

 perity a.nd activity than industries m 

 which onl.y a few are benefi-'bed. They 

 also are bringing other industries in theili- 

 train, in the canning, drj^ing, preserving, 

 and packing tfor distant markets. 



Canning and Drying. — These trade® of 

 canning, preseiwing, and drying are as 

 yet in their infancy, but when they ars? 

 fully developed fluctuations and gluts in 

 "the markets will be largely done away 

 with. There is very little done in dryiag 

 potatoes, for which there are sph^ztdid op- 

 poritunities, and the making of starch has 

 not been touched. 



Starch. — On some occasions duringr r»^ 

 cent rears large quantities of potatoes 

 that have missed the markets h'ave been 

 spoilt, thus causing great loss. 



Spirits. — The making of sitarch entails 

 the making of spirits, which would be 

 another item of profit. 



Cider.— Cider also could be made very 

 largely, and besides being a source of pro- 

 fit in itself would help to steady the 

 fruit trade. Cider is made in a small 

 way at present, with very fair success, 

 but not as a large business. In some of 

 (the fruitgrowing districts in England, 

 the cider press comes round to the farm- 

 ers just as the chaff-cutter, threshing ma- 

 cbine, and straw baler, do here. 



Oats and Barley. — The northern parts 

 of the island are especially suited for the 

 cultiviation of barley and oats, both for 

 the home market and for export. In 1902 

 about c£140,000 wor^th of oats were ex- 

 ported. 



Hops. — Hops also do well, and are cul- 

 tivated successifully to a limited extent. 



