AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH OF. 



value of gold exports, which reached 5,451,368 

 in 1899, was 3,799,124 in 1900. Other exports 

 in 11MK) were pearl shells of the value of 815,513; 

 pearls, about 20,000; sandahvood, 39,038; 

 timber, 4:.s.4(il: wool, 270,718; skins, 54,109. 

 Of the total imports 2,743.502 in value came 

 from other Australasian colonies. 2.225,74(5 from 

 Great Britain, 279,593 from other British pos- 



ions, 22(5,035 from the United States, and 



Ul>7.:iiij from other countries; of the total ex- 

 ports 4.2(i,s.4l! went to Great Britain. 1,125,- 

 33S to Australasian colonies, 1,214,75(5 to other 

 British possessions, 175 to the United States, 

 and 243.3(5(5 to other countries. 



Of 1(5,778,000 acres, the area of Tasmania, 

 : 'iH acres had up to Dec. 31, 1900, been sold 

 or granted to agricultural settlers, leaving 

 11.943.or>6 acres still the property of the Crown, 

 >n-i-ting mostly of forest and mineral lands. 

 There were 19,422 persons engaged in agriculture 

 and l.ssi in pastoral pursuits in 1901. The area 

 Ica-ed as sheep-runs was 1,206,794 acres. The 

 area under crops in 1901 was 224,352 acres; 

 under grass, 306,180 acres. The yield of wheat, 

 from 51.S25 acres, was 110,421 bushels; of oats, 

 from 45,073 acses, 1,406,913 bushels; of pota- 

 toes, from 23,068 acres, 93,862 tons ; of hay, from 

 til. :,41 acres, 94,198 tons; of hops, from 624 

 acres, 696,679 pounds. One of the most impor- 

 tant products is fruit, which was exported, fresh 

 and preserved, to the amount of 279.988. The 

 live stock in 1901 was 31,607 horses, 165,516 cat- 

 tle, 1,638,956 sheep, and 68,291 pigs. There were 

 420 licenses on Jan. 1, 1901, for gold, 441 for tin, 

 29 for coal, 229 for silver, and 102 for copper 

 mines. 



The value of gold exported in 1900 was 207,- 

 162; of silver and silver ore, 252,080; of cop- 

 per ore, 901,660; of tin, 270,998; of wool, 

 261,214; of timber and bark, 71,618; of hops, 

 19,870. The output of silver and copper ore 

 was 446,436 tons, valued at 1,583,404. The 

 duty levied on imports is on the average 22.44 

 per cent. The imports of textiles were 436,632 

 in value in 1900; of hardware, 131.128; of 

 sugar, 114,499; of machinery, 112,044. Of the 

 total value of imports 908,722 came from Vic- 

 toria, 337,672 from New South Wales, 154,- 

 904 from other British possessions, 628,663 

 from Great Britain, and 43,696 from foreign 

 countries ; of the exports 688,600 went to Great 

 Britain, 613,161 to New South Wales, 388,913 

 to Victoria, 109,088 to other British posses- 

 sions, and 810,855 to foreign countries. 



Irrigation. The stock growers of Australia 

 have been relegated in the older colonies to the 

 semiarid regions, and part of these have been re- 

 claimed for agriculture by irrigation. The colo- 

 nial governments and private individuals have 

 given attention to securing a water-supply by 

 artificial means for animals, great numbers of 

 which have perished in years of unusual drought. 

 The water-supply has already been increased by 

 artesian borings to such an extent that millions 

 of sheep and cattle are thriving on lands where 

 grazing was formerly impossible. In all Aus- 

 tralia on Jan. 1, 1900. there were 1,639,127 horses, 

 0,878,422 cattle, and 72,624,735 sheep. By Jan. 1, 

 1901, the Government of New South Wales had 

 completed the sinking of 82 wells, of which 56 

 flowed spontaneously, 18 required pumps, and 8 

 were failures. The daily supply of water from 

 these wells is 32,700,000* gallons. It was neces- 

 sary to drill 4.467 feet in the rainless district 

 west of the mountains in northern New South 

 Wales, at which depth the Dolpelly well gives 

 745,000 gallons a day. The Kenmare well, on the 



arid northern plains, supplies 2,050,000 gallons 

 trom a depth of only 1,682 feet. The well at 

 Pera, 1,262 feet deep, gives 300,000 gallons a day, 

 and here and at Native Dog, Barrington, and 

 Cungonia fine crops of lucerne, corn, tobacco, 

 wheat, and sugar-cane have been grown experi- 

 mentally by irrigation, as well as vegetables and 

 pineapples and other fruits, proving that the soil 

 of the waterless plains of Australia possesses every 

 element of fertility except moisture and offers 

 great prospects for agriculture through irrigation 

 wells. On the desert route from Wanaaring to 

 Milparinka 7 artesian wells now supply 2,300.000 

 gallons a day. Farther north borings have given 

 satisfactory results. Besides the Government 

 borings private individuals have sunk a great 

 number of wells, yielding in the aggregate a sup- 

 ply of 45,000,000 gallons a day. In Victoria 

 borings have not been generally so successful. 

 Many proved dry, and in many wells that were 

 struck the water was salty and worthless. 

 Nevertheless, success has on the whole repaid 

 the efforts in that state. A remarkable settle- 

 ment at Mildura, on the river Murray, is peopled 

 by 4,000 emigrants from the British Islands, who 

 in thirteen years have invested over 1,000,000 in 

 the cultivation of vineyards, orange groves, and 

 fruit farms and are making large profits from 

 raisins, currants, and other dried and frefeh fruits. 

 A railroad 100 miles in length will connect 

 this community with the trunk line to Mel- 

 bourne. Here irrigation is supplied not from 

 wells, but from reservoirs in which the river 

 water is stored. The Government of Victoria has 

 proposed united action on the part of Victoria, 

 New South Wales, and South Australia for con- 

 serving the waters of this river so as to afford 

 adequate irrigation to the northern districts of 

 Victoria and adjacent parts of the neighboring 

 states. 



On the plains of Queensland a great future for 

 irrigation is promised. In the western districts 

 water is easily obtained by boring. Up to June 

 30, 1900, the number of wells sunk was 839, of 

 an average depth of 1,160 feet. The proportion 

 of failures was large, especially in the Govern- 

 ment borings, but in many of the wells the flow 

 is exceedingly copious. At Winton, 430 miles 

 from the coast, is a Government well of great 

 depth. One not so deep at Charleville, 420 miles 

 west of Brisbane, yields 3,000,000 gallons daily. 

 The deepest bore, at Bemerah, is 5,045 feet, and 

 11 others exceed 4,000 feet. There are 151 wells 

 the flow of which exceeds 750,000 gallons a day. 

 and 60 of these give over 1,150,000 gallons. In 

 South Australia the Government has made many 

 attempts to reach water on the arid plains of 

 the interior, but the hope of rendering the desert 

 regions suitable for stock raising has been disap- 

 pointed. Only 33 wells were found, most of them 

 near the southern border of the desert. On the 

 western frontier a well was sunk on the Null ar- 

 bor plains which yields a good supply, and in 

 the remote north, at Kopperamana, a flow of 

 800,000 gallons a day was obtained at a depth 

 of 3,280 feet. The Government of Western Au~- 

 tralia has bored a series of wells on the route to 

 the Coolgardie gold-field and toward the frontier 

 of South Australia, and has extensive operations 

 in progress for increasing the water-supply by 

 this means. The yield of 16 wells is 4,806,000 

 gallons a day. The deepest bore is 2,000 feet at 

 South Perth," yielding daily 1,120.000 gallons. 



Drought has prevailed over the greater part 

 of Australia for five years, more severely in the 

 last three years, and most so in 1902, when it 

 was partially broken in the autumn months. 



