Tasmanian Almanac. 463 



of vegetables pay uncommonly well for die expense and labour of planting, 

 it would be advisable for the small settler residing near Hobart Town to 

 give his particular attention to their culture ; indeed, too much time could 

 not be bestowed in this occupation, as it would afford him a certain means 

 of supporting his family, by supplying the shipping and the town. But it 

 may not be useless to add, that a much more considerable portion of care 

 is required to secure horticultural success in this colony than In England ; 

 and as the summer rains are not to be depended upon, it is pressingly ex- 

 pedient that no garden should be made on too steep a rising ground, down 

 which the moisture would drain before it could assist vegetation." 



Fruit Gardens. — Under this head it is stated that the produce of grapes 

 is wonderfully great ; that " this fruit will no doubt, in the course of a few 

 years, be of considerable benefit to the colony, not only to supply wines 

 for our consumption, but for exportation , as one gentleman last year made 

 upwards of 200 gallons from the produce of his own garden." Strawberries 

 " grow wonderfully to leaf in this country, and are not of certain produce ; 

 but the fruit is always very fine." Raspberries " are a favourite fruit, of* 

 certain produce, and extremely delicious." Mulberries are highly flavoured, 

 and the tree bears as well as it does in England, if not better. The 

 apple and peach are the two most plentiful fruits in the island. ". The 

 apple is so astonishingly prolific, that instances have been known of very 

 young trees having borne fruit the season immediately after they were 

 grafted." The cherry, especially the Kentish, appears to be very well 

 adapted for this climate. Pears are uncommonly productive. Filberts and 

 cobnuts have not yet borne, but walnuts and chestnuts have. The fig tree 

 bears much fruit, but the frosts of autumn set in before it arrives at matur- 

 ity. The elder grows in several places, and wine of a very superior quality 

 has already been made of the berries. The green gage and damson plum 

 are becoming plentiful. Currants and gooseberries grow luxuriantly. The 

 quince bears abundantly, and the loquat has been introduced, and ripened 

 Fruit. 



Forest Trees and Shrubs. — " Sweet briar, English hawthorn, the broom, 

 the furze, and in fact every other plant and shrub grow luxuriantly in this 

 climate, and perhaps more so than in any other part of the world. The 

 English oak, and a great number of other favourite trees, are also growing 

 in many places here in the greatest luxuriance. Among those lately intro- 

 duced into the colony are, the sweet Spanish chestnut, as well as the com- 

 mon horsechestnut, the oak, the beech, the ash, the fir, the Norfolk pine, 

 and the willow." 



It is curious to observe the gardening instructions of the almanac of a 

 new country concluding with injunctions to plant timber trees for the 

 benefit of posterity. In new countries cutting down is generally much 

 more necessary than planting ; that this should not be the case here, proves 

 how very favourable the situation is for British emigrants. In point of 

 soil and climate, indeed, we believe Van Dieman's Land to come nearer 

 to England than to any other country in the world, and the consequence 

 is, that every gardening and agricultural plant and practice of England, may 

 be considered the plants and practices of Van Dieman's Land. 



We are sorry to find that the Tasmanian Almanac is not without a 

 fragment of the bad part of the common almanacs of the mother country. 

 We did not expect to meet, in a work compiled by the Editor of the 

 Colonial Times, " the dominion of the moon in man's body passing under 

 the twelve zodiacal constellations," People in the agricultural stage of 

 domestication, living in log-houses and cooking their own dinners, one 

 would think, would hardly' find time to attend to the corporal pains for 

 every day in the year. But a hint is sufficient, and we have no doubt the 

 example of the British Almanac (p. 461.) will be followed in future editions 

 of that of Tasmania. 



