362 



NA TURE 



[March 11, 1875 



instrumentality, we are informed, the knowledge of the 

 rotation of crops was irtroduced into districts where 

 rotation cropping had been previously unknown, and 

 where the potato and oals were the only crops formerly 

 cultivated. Before embarking in any scheme of agri- 

 cultural education, the people of Victoria would do well 

 to study the "ups" and "downs" of this Irish system, 

 which has been in operation for upwards of thirty 

 years, and which, if report be true, is about being freely 

 pruned by the Treasury. This Irish system of agricul- 

 tural education is directed by a body of twenty Com- 

 missioners, of whom one is a paid administrator, nineteen 

 being unpaid. We take it for granted that they and the 

 Government of the day concur in the action of the Trea- 

 sury. There is a widespread feeling that there are, or 

 have been, men at the Treasury who are opposed to 

 public grants for agricultural education, and who say 

 there is no reason why farmers should be taught their 

 business any more than shoemakers or caipenters. 



But all that the best friends of agricultural education 

 claim is, that the fundamental truths of agricultural sci- 

 ence should be taught in our rural schools, and that 

 there should be a few normal schools or colleges in which 

 the best minds of the country could be thoroughly edu- 

 cated in the science of agriculture, so as to qualify them 

 for making investigations, and for taking a leading part 

 in agricultural progress. This is, according to our in- 

 terpretation, all that the Secretary of the Agricultural 

 Department of Victoria asks ; and we trust the Govern- 

 ment of Victoria will carry out his views. If they care- 

 fully study the several sides of the Irish system, they 

 cannot fail to devise a system of agricultural education 

 which would confer lasting benefits on the colony. 



It has been already stated that Mr. Ivey contributes 

 two papers, one on Chemistry and the other on the State 

 Forests. It is not often that a man professes chemistry 

 and forestry. Many a chemist is also a naturalist, and 

 why should not a man study the habits of forest trees as 

 well as those br.inches of knowledge included in natural 

 history ? Mr. Ivey's report on the forests is interesting, 

 but his chemical report concerns us more. He gives us 

 several chemical analyses of virgin soils, and endeavours 

 to show that such analyses are of direct use to the 

 farmer. We agree with Mr. Ivey when he says that the 

 chemist, by discovering some compound in the soil un- 

 favourable to crops, can afford the settler information 

 which will save him from the loss of pitching his tent on 

 a barren location. We must, however, assure Mr. Ivey 

 that he pushes a little too far his argumtnt in favour of 

 the value of chemical analyses of soil. We have now 

 before us a most remarkable sheet, drawn up by an 

 advanced agriculturist, in which appear thirteen chemical 

 analyses of soils and subsoils, and the| rents of these 

 soils, and we must say that we have never seen any 

 return showing a great discordance between the indi- 

 cations of analyses and the judgment of men who know 

 to a shade the actual value of lard. If ]\Ir. Ivey is am- 

 bitious to make his investigations in this department of 

 chemistiy of real use and benefit to the farmer, he must 

 strike out a new line of thought. Until he does this he 

 should, if he would retain the good opinion of men who 

 are competent to form a correct estimate of his work, 

 confine himself to those fields of labour in which there is 



ample room for the application' of the established prin- 

 ciples of chemistry. 



Mr. R. L. J. Ellery, F.R.S., Government Astronomer, 

 contributes to the Report now under review an able and 

 interesting report on the meteorology of Victoria. Many 

 of the rising generation cast their thoughts on the colonies 

 with a view to emigration ; and to the^e Mr. Ellery's report 

 must be instructive. In the following passage we get a 

 general notion of the physical features of the country : — 



" By an examination of a contoured plan of the colony, 

 we find that the most prominent feature is an extensive 

 mountain range running approximately east and west, 

 rising somewhat abruptly about lat. 37° 30', and long. 

 141° 40', vai7ing in altitude from 1,000 to 5,000 feet, and 

 culminating in the N.E. in lat. 36° 30', long. 148° 20, 

 at Mount Kosciusko, the highest part of Australian Alps, 

 where it attains an altitude of over 7,000 feet. The higher 

 parts of this range are covered with snow for several 

 months in the year. The mountain country is for the 

 most part densely wooded with fine timber, even to the 

 very summits ; at some of the higher elevations, however, 

 especially in the N.E., many of the peaks are quite bare, 

 or only partially covered with dwarfed trees or shrubs. 

 The country north and south of this great dividing range 

 is moderately undulating or flat, consisting often of large 

 plains, in some parts quite destitute of trees, but closely 

 wooded in others. Along some parts of the coast-line, 

 however, especially in the Cape Otway, Western Port, 

 and Wilson's Promontory districts, the land rises to con- 

 siderable altitude (from 2,000 to 3,coo feet) by ranges 

 generally well covered by timber to their summits. On 

 the whole, the country is not well watered ; the rivers are 

 few and insignificant and are often nearly dry in summer ; 

 there are several lakes, both salt and fresh, in different 

 parts, but not of sufficient extent to have, any marked 

 influence on the climate. The coast-line itself is for the 

 most part flat, with a moderate elevation ; although, as 

 just stated, at some places lofty ranges abut on the sea, 

 and the coast becomes precipitous and rugged. An exten- 

 sive sea-board, open to polar winds and oceanic currents, 

 modified, no doubt, by the presence of the island of Tas- 

 mania, an extensive and wooded mountain range running 

 across the whole breadth of the colony, the higher por- 

 tions of which are often clothed in snow, and the gene- 

 rally arid sub-tropical Australian interior, dominating on 

 its northern and western boundary, must each necessarily 

 exercise considerable influence in producing conditions of 

 climate varying with the locality." 



The notion is generally entertained in these countries 

 that the climate of Victoria is extremely dry. Mr. Ellery 

 shows that the rainfall attains to the average of similar 

 latitudes in other parts of the globe. He puts the average 

 at 25'66 inches per annum. Spontaneous evaporation is, 

 however, very great ; and a large quantity of the raiirfall is 

 also lost in consequence of the vast area of the country 

 which has been unbroken. 



The mean temperature of the year is given as follows : — 



The minimum of heat occurs in June, July, and 

 August. The lowest known at Melbourne is 27°, or 5° 

 below the freezing-point ; at Portland, 27° ; at Sandhurst, 

 27"-5, and at Ballarat, 22"". 



