146 On the Resources of Victoria, 



horse-feed, as horses prefer it to hay, which, in Victoria, often 

 rises to enormous prices. It is most extensively cultivated 

 in New South Wales, and is considered a most remunerative 

 crop. In Spain two crops are reaped in one year — one in 

 spring, from seed sown the preceding autumn, and one in 

 autumn, from seed sownin spring. The practice of sowing clover 

 or ryegrass with the barley should be universal, as it is consi- 

 dered one of the great modern improvements in agriculture. 



Now, what I have just said refers to the desirability of our 

 raising barley extensively, to do away with the necessity of 

 our importing it as horsefeed. A far more important use 

 of barley yet remains to be considered. Malt is barley 

 converted into the material for brewing. And of malt we 

 did not make 50 bushels in 1858 ; and we imported the 

 large quantity of 215,000 bushels, worth, at lis. the bushel, 

 £118,000. In the case of malt we made no effort to help 

 ourselves, yet the malt which comes to us from England 

 is deteriorated by the long sea voyage. One would almost 

 suppose that two-thirds of our farmers did not know that 

 malt was simply barley or other grain which has been steeped 

 in water till it swells, then is laid on floors till it heats and 

 germinates, at which period it has attained its maximum 

 of sweetness, and then it is kiln-dried. Now, all these are 

 simple operations (in fact, malting is considered as a change 

 of the starch of grain into sugar, preparatory to a further 

 change into spirit) . There is rather a fine field here for our 

 farmers. We should raise annually 350,000 more bushels of 

 barley than we do, principally for conversion into malt. 



In the case of maize, though our climate is admirably adapted 

 to grow this valuable grain, yet last year we raised only 7,000 

 bushels ; and we imported, to our shame be it said, the large 

 quantity of 150,000 bushels, for which we paid away in ready 

 money £52,000. Nearly all this imported maize came from 

 New South Wales, a gold colony like our own. This fact 

 speaks volumes on our inertness in taking advantage of our 

 colonial resources. 



Of gram we imported in 1858 a quantity worth £37,000 ; 

 and this is a grain that grows to perfection in Victoria, and 

 only requires to be better known to come into universal re- 

 quest as an economical horse food. 



Thus, in the year 1858, a year in which there was great 

 distress in this colony among the laboring classes, we actually 

 sent away for the above five descriptions of grain the follow- 

 ing sums, viz. : — 



