

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF AGRICULTURE. 



SUI'PLI Ml ST. 



:<l iu.>~t Indi ci imlnately t" 

 the lii >t colonists made tea from 

 or white gum trei -. u applied to 

 The wood of trees of tins genus 



a kinds of Melaleuca and LepUxpermum, because it is supposed tint 

 the leai i of the species of (he*e genera. The terms blue, red, 



different species ol the genua Bucal] ptus, n i.t t,, the colour ol the bark. 

 is very durable : as I proof of which, Dr. Lang informs us that a stump 



of s pedes of Eui alj ptus i blue gum 

 tree) remained quite sound for thirty- 

 live years in the ground, after having 

 been cut down. When it was neces- 

 sary to remove it, it took a fortnight 

 to i>urn out the root. The circum- 

 stance of this trunk remaining quite 

 sound for such a great length of 

 time is very remarkable ; and re- 

 minds us of what Dutrochet states 

 respecting the stump and roots of the 

 silver fir (Card. Mag., vol. x. p. 

 408.) ; viz., that they will continue 

 to live, and even grow, during a 

 great number of years alter the tree 

 has been felled. (Lang's Hist, and 

 Statist. Account.) 



S044 — 1041. Agriculture in Aus- 

 tralia appears to be making consi- 

 derable advances, from the more 

 frequent influx than formerly of emi- 

 grants with capital. Some Scotch 

 farmers have settled in the interior 

 of New Holland ; a good many have 

 located themselves in Van Diemen's 

 Land, and there are some even on 

 the Swan Kiver. In 1830, the Cash- 

 mere goat was imported into the 

 colony by Mr. Riley, and about the 

 same time a German gardener, that 

 Mr. Kiley took with him from Eng- 

 land, established vineyards in dif- 

 ferent parts of the country, which, 

 from accounts received in 1834, have 

 already produced wine. (See Gard. 

 Mag., vol. x. p. 159.) 



8045. The principal agricultural 

 products of New South Wale* are 

 wheat and maize. The cost of clear- 

 ing heavily timbered alluvial land is 

 about ol. an acre, but sometimes a 

 single crop of maize clears the ex- 

 pense. The return of wheat varies 

 from 15 to 40 bushels an acre, and in 

 the Argyle district it has reached 45 

 bushels ; but the system of husban- 

 dry is, generally speaking, wretched 

 in the extreme. The staple article of 

 Australian produce is wool, of which 

 Or. Lang says, 1,515,156 lbs., and 

 Sturt, '2.500.000 lbs., were exported 

 in 1833. It is generally supposed that 

 John Macarthur, Esq. was the first 

 to introduce line-woolled sheep into 

 the territory ; and, though the ho- 

 nour is also claimed by another in- 

 dividual, there is no doubt that Mr. 

 Macarthur had the merit of having 

 demonstrated their adaptation to the 

 climate, and the capability of the co- 

 lony to produce wool to almost any 

 extent. This has been effected in 

 comparatively a very short space of 

 time. About 1792, Mr. Macarthur 

 commenced sheep farming, and in a 

 year or two, he had an opportunity 

 of crossing his coarse- fleeced sheep 

 with merino blood. So prolific was 

 the mixed breed, that in ten years, 

 a Hoik, originally consisting of not 

 more than seventy Bengal sheep, had 

 increased to 4000. In 1^03, Mr. Mac- 

 arthur went to England, carrying 

 samples of his wool, which was so 

 much approved of by a committee 

 of manufacturers, that government 

 were Induced to encourage him in 

 his attempts to produce fine wo 1 in 

 the colony, by directing that he 

 should receive a grant of land for 

 that purpose, in the low pastures, 

 which is now named the district of 

 (ambden. In 1806, Mr. Macarthur 

 returned to New South Wales with 

 two ewes and three rams, purchased 

 by him Irom the merino fioek of 

 George III.; his flock was removed 

 to the low pastures, and sinie that 

 period, the wool of New South 



