AUSTRALIA— BACTERIA 



563 



ly grown. In South Australia, in addi- 

 tion to the apple, pear, peach, apricot, 

 plum, orange and lemon, the almond and 

 the olive are also largely grown. In 

 Western Australia, the apple, orange, 

 peach, pear, plum and fig are the sorts 

 chiefly grown, while in Tasmania, al- 



though the apple represents four-fltths of 

 the area in that state devoted to fruit 

 growing, small fruits, such as the currant, 

 raspberry, and gooseberry, are very ex- 

 tensively grown, and {he balance of the 

 area is mainly occupied with the pear, 

 plum, apricot, peach and cherry. 



Area Under Fruit in tlie Commonwealtli, Year Ending March 31st, 1918 



N. S. W. Victoria Queensland S. A. W. A. Tasmania C'wealth 



Fruits 49,389 63.209 18,.'556 29,005 19,.540 30,575 205,174 



Vines— Wine : 8,103 24,579 1,428 25,208 3,010 fi2,388 



Vines — Table 3,893 2,624 1,046 2,194 1,891 .... 11,648 



Market gardens 9,836 10,414 2,386 2,857 3,664 1,458 30.676 



Melons 4,174 2,632 6,122 731 13,662 



Hops 131 5 1,247 1,383 



Acres 75,455 103,589 29,538 60,169 28,836 33,280 324,931 



Valne of Fmlt (Eng:Usli Pounds) in the Commonwealtli, Year Ending March 31, 1913 



N. S. W. Victoria Queensland S. A. W. A. Tasmania C'wealth 

 Fruits (not including 



vines) 832,472 880.657 365,177 393,433 210.531 384,877 3,067,147 



Hops 10,421 100 104.031 114.552 



Pumpkins, melons 74,805 25,000 61,758 .... 5,751 .... 167,354 



Market gardens 369,069 286,385 64,265 106,736 121.874 12,295 962,535 



1,276,346 1,202,463 491,200 500,269 338,156 501,203 4,311,588 



Baisins and Currants Dried 1912-1913 



Victoria, 12,283,824 acres; New South 

 Wales, 494,704 acres; South Australia, 

 3,947,776; Western Australia. 176,400 

 acres. 



For the statistical year ending March 

 31, 1913, there were in the jam manufac- 

 turing business 133 factories working in 

 the Commonwealth; total number of em- 

 ployees was 4,499; the wages paid 

 amounted to £275,138. The total value 

 of the output reached £1,884,045, and 

 the amount of material used was £1,276,- 

 180.— From the Fruit World. March 1, 

 1914. 



Babylonia, Iebigation in. See Irriga- 

 tion. 



Bacteria 



The subject of bacteria is treated here 

 only so far as is necessary to give the 

 reader some facts which will enable him 

 to understand the references to the sub- 

 ject which are made in other parts of the 

 work. 



These minute organisms are sometimes 

 called microbes, micro-organisms, micro- 

 phytes, bacilli, microcci, etc. All of these 

 terms are more or less limited in their 



meaning and the term "bacteria" is the 

 one in most common use. 



Early in the history of the subject 

 these minute organisms, of which there 

 are now known perhaps a quarter of a 

 million species, were called by the gen- 

 eral name of animalculae. The term 

 implies what was believed to be the case 

 that these organisms were animals, but 

 the classification was later discovered to 

 include plants as well as animals. In the 

 unicellular forms it is often impossible 

 to determine which is animal and which 

 plant and in this discussion it is not im- 

 portant to do so. In general, bacteria 

 are defined as minute organisms, devoid 

 of chlorophyl, unicellular, spherical, ob- 

 long, cylindrical or filamentous, and mul- 

 tiplying by division. 



Distribution 



Bacteria exist practically everywhere; 

 in ponds, ditches, streams, seas, refuse, 

 meat, milk, beer, fruits, vegetables, soils, 

 and enter into all putrifactive processes. 



Nitrifjing Bacteria 



The bacteria in which the farmer is 

 most interested are the various soil bac- 

 teria and the nitrifying or nitrogen gath- 

 ering bacteria in particular. It has been 



