LAND, LABOUR AND COMMERCE. 123 



finally overcome in 1819, Bigge and Macquarie held consulta- 

 tions with leading colonists in 1820 as to the regulations for the 

 trade. 1 These were published in 1821 2 and distillation com- 

 menced in 1 822. Wheat, rye, barley, oats and Indian corn were 

 to be used in the distilleries, but if on two successive days the 

 price of wheat in the market was above ten shillings a bushel, the 

 Governor might prohibit distillation from any grain, and peaches 

 could be used as a substitute. 



To prevent distillation falling into the hands of a few 

 wealthy settlers only, the license to distil was issued at the 

 moderate cost of 25, and stills with as small a capacity as 

 forty- four gallons might be used. The distilleries might be 

 established in any district, and it was hoped that the settlers 

 would thus be able to dispose of their grain without having the 

 expense of bringing it down to Sydney. 



At the end of Macquarie's governorship, therefore, the future 

 for the agriculturist was considerably brighter than it had been 

 for the preceding ten years. 



The other important branch of production was that of stock- 

 raising. The Government ration included a pound of meat a 

 day, and so constituted the chief market for the settler's supplies. 

 The reasons against supplying the stores by tender were even 

 stronger here than in regard to grain, for it would have been 

 far easier to engross stock than wheat. The system adopted, 

 however, was not quite the same. 



The Governor issued an order stating the price at which 

 meat would be received, and stock-owners then tendered a 

 certain number of pounds at that price. Soon after the Com- 

 missary published in the Gazette a list of names of those whose 

 tenders were accepted, the amount which would be received 

 from each, and the dates and place of delivery. Only the 

 actual owners of the stock could tender supplies, a rule en- 

 forced with some strictness to prevent engrossing and check 

 cattle-stealing. 3 



For some time after Macquarie's arrival the price of meat 



1 S.G., 30th December, 1820. a Regulations, loth February, 1821. S.G. 



3 If a man tendered cattle for the stores who had not given in any returns 

 of cattle at the previous General Muster, his tender was refused unless he could 

 make some conclusive explanation of how he became possessed of it. See S.G.,. 

 gth January, 1817. 



