166 



HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Tart I. 



to the colonics, having been fired upon by them soon after their first, settlement, by which 

 numbers were killed. Fortunately, however, the natives seldom act on the offensive, and 

 two persons with muskets may traverse the island from one end to the other in perfect 



safety. 



1013. The agricultural fnilitus of Van Dicmcns Land are still greater than those of 

 New South Wales. Large tracts of land, perfectly free from timber or underwood, 

 and covered with the most luxuriant herbage, are to be found in all directions, but more 

 particularly in the environs of Tort Dalrymple. These tracts of land are invariably of 

 the very best description, and millions of acres, which are capable of being instantly con- 

 verted to all the purposes of husbandry, still remain unappropriated. Here the colonist 

 has no expense to incur in clearing his farm : he is not compelled to a great preliminary 

 outlay of capital, before he can expect a considerable return. He has only to set fire to 

 the "rass to prepare his land for the immediate reception of the ploughshare ; insomuch 

 that, if he but possesses a good team of horses or oxen, with a set of harness and a couple 

 of substantial ploughs, he has the main requisites for commencing an agricultural estab- 

 lishment, and for insuring a comfortable subsistence for himself and family. 



10-19. To litis great superiority which these southern settlements may claim over the 

 parent colony, may be superadded two advantages, which are perhaps of equal magnitude 

 and importance. In the first place, the rivers here have a sufficient fall to prevent any 

 excessive accumulation of water from violent or continued rains, and are, consequently, 

 free from those awful and destructive inundations to which the rivers of New South 

 Wales are perpetually subject. Here, therefore, the industrious colonist may settle on 

 the b3nk of a navigable river, and enjoy all the advantages of sending his produce to 

 market by water, without running the constant hazard of having the fruits of his labour, 

 the golden promise of the year, swept away in an hour by a capricious and domineering 

 element. Secondly, the seasons are more regular and defined, and those great droughts, 

 which have been so frequent in Port Jackson, are altogether unknown. In the years 

 181:?, 1814, and 1815, when the whole face of the country was there literally burnt up, 

 and vegetation completely at a stand still from the want of rain, an abundant supply of 

 it fell here, and the harvests, in consequence, were never more productive. Indeed, 

 since these settlements were first established, the crops have never sustained any serious 

 detriment from an insufficiency of rain ; whereas, in the parent colony, there have been, 

 since its foundation, I may venture to say, half a dozen dearths occasioned by droughts, 

 and at least as many arising from floods. 



1050. The system of farming in Van Diemens Land consists principally of growing 

 one crop year after year. There are a few enterprising individuals who grow the various 

 descriptions of grain ; but wheat is what the old settler grew first, and from that he can- 

 not depart. It is not many years since, when the plough might be said to be unknown 

 in the island, the ground was then broken up with a hoe, similar to those used in the 

 West Indies, and the corn brushed in with thorns. This rude system is now abolished, 

 a pair of bullocks and a plough being within the reach of the smallest landholder. New 

 and old land are generally broken up at the same season of the year. Once ploughed, it 

 is sown and harrowed, and never again interfered with until the crop is cut down. 

 Wheat, barley, and oats may be sown at the same season, namely, about the beginning 

 of August, although wheat is sometimes sown late in November, and a good crop reaped 

 in the early part of March. There is no fear of injuring the grain by sowing early ; I 

 have seen seed sown in the beginning of winter, and flourish surprisingly. From ten 

 to fifteen crops of wheat have been taken in succession, until the land has been com- 

 pletely exhausted. It is then abandoned, and a new piece broken up. The exhausted 

 land generally becomes covered with young mimosas (acacias). (IVidowson.) 



1051. As a country to emigrate to, the circumstance of Van Diemen's Land being 

 exempt from those calamitous consequences which are so frequent in New Holland, 

 from a superabundance of rain on the one hand, and a deficiency of it on the other, is a 

 most important point of consideration for all such as hesitate in their choice between the 

 two countries. In the system of agriculture pursued in the two colonies there is not 

 any difference, save that the Indian corn, or maize, is not cultivated here, because the 

 climate is too cold to bring that grain to maturity. Barley and oats, however, arrive at 

 much greater perfection, and afford the inhabitants a substitute, although by no means 

 an equivalent, for this highly valuable product. The wheat, also, which is raised here is 

 of a much superior description to the wheat grown in any of the districts of Port Jack- 

 son, and will always command, in the Sydney market, a difference of price sufficiently 

 great to pay for die additional cost of transport. The average produce, also, of the land 

 is greater, although it does not exceed, nor perhaps equal, that of the rich flooded lands on 

 the banks of the Hawkcsbury and Nepean. The produce of both colonies, it is stated, 

 would be double what it is, if the operations of agriculture were as well performed as 

 in Britain. At present, however, this can only be the case when a settler is so fortunate 

 as to get wliat are called country convicts, that is, Irishmen who have been employed as 



