16 AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE. 



choose a location for any particular description of agricul- 

 ture. Thus, for instance, sections of the hill districts, on 

 the slopes of the Dividing Ranges, are found suitable for all 

 kinds of European fruits and grain. The average rainfall 

 there is about 30 inches ; while other places, at nearly the 

 same distance from the sea, have scarcely one half the 

 rainfall. And so it is all over the country. Local know- 

 ledge is of great value ; for places are found at no great 

 distance apart where the seasons, the cold, heat, and rain- 

 fall are essentially different. Still, these peculiarities are 

 merged in the leading seasons of the country which mark 

 the time of spring, summer, autumn, and winter with a 

 degree of accuracy which does not seem to be generally 

 understood. In so far as the grass vegetation is concerned, 

 the seasons are unmistakable, and in neglecting what they 

 teach we are but shutting our eyes to facts, and com- 

 plaining against conditions of climate over which we have 

 no control, but concerning the effects of which we can do 

 much. The great bulk of the grasses die off during the 

 winter months. In sheltered places this is scarcely noticed. 

 Here the grass merely goes to seed, stands like so much hay, 

 and makes tolerable food for stock it keeps life in them 

 at least. So the case stands during the winter. In such 

 places the soil heat seldom goes lower than 50 deg., and as 

 soon as rain falls in the spring months, young grass 

 displaces the old, and so the seasons run into each other. 

 But where frosts occur, the case is different. Its first effect 

 is to reduce the indigenous grasses to dust, or dry woody 

 particles; its next is to lower the point at which indigenous 

 vegetation grows vigorously. When the rain falls at this 

 stage while the soil is cold the evil is aggravated. The 

 soil takes longer to rise in heat when wet, and the land 

 continues bare of grass until the temperature is sufficiently 

 high to cause a spring, so that the growing season is 

 shorter. It is in noting this peculiarity that we see the 

 adaptability of the climate for cultivating European 

 grasses and forage plants. During the cooler, damp season 

 of the winter, that destroys the indigenous grasses, wheat, 

 oats, barley, rye, potatoes, turnips, and the annual grasses of 

 Europe generally, thrive freely in good soil, and form a 



