I50 



Silk Culture. 



By W, S. Campij-ell, Department of Agriculture. 



It is becoming very apparent to tliose avIio liave given the matter 

 serious consideration that the settlers in the country districts of this 

 Colony will find it necessary, in the near future, to give more attention 

 to those branches of Agriculture which are generally known as ''minor 

 branches" than has been the custom up to the present time. 



There are complaints on all sides that such crops as maize, wheat, 

 sugar-cane, hay, &c., &c., yield very little profit ; and numerous inquiries 

 are made from time to time to the Department of Agriculture for 

 advice as to other crops likely to be suitable to our various climates 

 which may prove more profitable and more sure than those which the 

 farmers have been accustomed to produce. 



In course of time necessity Avill compel our settlers to practise better 

 systems of cultivating their lands ; to produce more food for their own 

 use ; to improve their productions for foreign markets ; and to concen- 

 trate as much of their produce as possible into as little bulk as can be 

 effected without deterioration. 



There seems to be no reason why very many settlers cannot fol- 

 low the admirable examples of some of the European nations, where 

 each family produces on its own small farm most, if not all, the food 

 required, and even the greater part of the raw material for clothing. 

 In countries with climates far more severe and trying than ours, the 

 requirements of the families are produced on remarkably small areas. 

 An area of 10 acres would be considered a large farm, and on this a 

 family will live contentedly, and nothing would induce the members to 

 leave their little plot. This is the case in many districts in France, 

 which is probably in consequence the most wealthy country in the 

 world, and where about 50 per cent, of the population is engaged in 

 farming operations. On their little areas of perhaps 1 or 2 acres, a few 

 olives, some vines, figs, mulberries, maize, wheat, vegetables, &c., are 

 grown, and fowls, goats, and a few other kinds of stock are kept, and 

 every inch of land is made use of. In this Colony of New South Wales 

 many settlers with, hundreds of acres each, can hardly make a bare 

 existence. 



In Germany, " In 1882, at the time of the last occuj)ation census, the 

 total number of farms (including arable land, pasture, meadow, culti- 

 vated pastures, orchards, and vineyards), each cultivated by one house- 

 hold, was as follows : — 



Under 1 hectare (2-471) acres) 2,323,316 



Between 1 and 10 hectares (2-471 to2-l-71 acres)... 2,27-4,096 



10 and 100 hectares (24-71 to 247-1 acres) 653,941 



Ahove 100 hectares (217-1 acres) 24,991 



Total 5,276,344 



These farms supported 18,8-1-0,818 persons, of whom 8,120,518 were 

 actually engaged in agriculture.^' 



