xl Reports of Committees. 



supply of water, so as to insure a more constant and less costly one, 

 valuable assistance wUl be given to existing industrial pvirsuits, many 

 of whicli are less permanent, at present, than if they could fall back on 

 a reliable water supply, thus adding to the profitable employment 

 of the population and the increase of the available wealth of the 

 country. 



The second essay deals with an important branch of gold mining 

 enterprise, and while, to some extent, necessarily taken up with dis- 

 cussing the theories as to the formation of quartz lodes, it yet enters 

 into practical details which cannot fail to be of benefit to those en- 

 gaged in quartz mining pursuits, enabling them to conduct their 

 operations with more economy, and to utilise what has often been 

 hitherto considered the refuse of the mines, the waste arising from 

 ignorance of its value, or the proper method of treating it to ad- 

 vantage. 



The third essay is occupied with the geological and chemical 

 character, &c., of the various soils of the country, a correct knowledge 

 of which alone can enable the agriculturist to carry on his operations 

 with success when the original qualities of the soil have been ex- 

 hausted, and it becomes necessary to add fertilising elements to make 

 lip for those in which it has become poor. To those who are informed 

 on such matters the essay in question may not be entirely profitless ; 

 while to those — and they are many — whose farming oj)e rations are 

 frequently matters of haphazard, this essay will be read with plea- 

 sure, and the principles laid down in it probably followed with 

 advantage. 



The questions of water-supply, agriculture, and gold mining having 

 been so far disposed of, the fourth essay is occupied with the cousider- 

 atioia of the manufactures which may be necessary to the economical 

 development of such resources as have been as yet but partially re- 

 cognised in Victoria. A proper degree of attention to the several 

 matters treated of in these essays will, to some extent, enable those, 

 whether in Victoria or at a distance, who possess either less know- 

 ledge or more capital than the writers, to judge of the fitness of 

 Victoria as a field for the employment of labor, or the investment of 

 capital. 



Whatever else may be the result, it is to be hoped that the 

 perusal of these essays will incite to a more careful study, and a moi'e 

 economical use of the vast resources which require but science and 

 industry to develop them, that Victoria may go on from prosperity 

 to prosperity, celebrated not only for her fertile soil and inexhaustible 

 mineral wealth, but also for her superior manufactures, and the 

 quality of the raw materials she is destined to supply so largely for 

 the industry of other countries. 



John Macadam, M.D., 



Honorary Secretary to the Royal Society of Victoria. 



