Agricultural and Horticultural Resources. 39 



while hundreds of miles of country, now looked upon as useless to the 

 farmer, could, by artificial irrigation, be rendered productive. 



Ovens and Murray District. 



The folio-wing extracts are from a report of the Agricultural 

 Association : — 



Wheat and oats, the latter being grown in large quantities, both as 

 food oats and for hay, are equally successful. Wheat varies, according 

 to the seasons, from 20 to 25 bushels per acre, oats from 30 to 50 

 bushels per acre, and oaten hay from 1 to 2^ tons per acre. Wheat 

 succeeds best in the stiff clay lands and in the red loamy land 

 with clay bottoms ; oats, either in the clay or sandy soil ; potatoes of 

 excellent quality are grown in the mountainous parts of the district, 

 but are very uncertain in other parts. 



Maize and tobacco have been experimentally tried ; the former 

 succeeds well in the low lands, or alluvial flats, yielding about 50 

 bushels per acre, and there are good reasons for believing that tobacco 

 can be cultivated profitably in this district. 



Vineyards only six years old have yielded at the rate of 500 

 gallons of wine to the acre, and vines of three years old have pro- 

 duced 12 lb. weight of grapes to each vine ; and it is the opinion of 

 competent judges that this district is destined to become the vineyard 

 of the colony. In this district nearly every description of fruit of the 

 temperate zone grows well. 



The uncertainty from, and the blighting effects of hot winds pre- 

 vailing, sometimes from October to March, are adverse to cultivation, 

 except in the case of the vine, which resists everything but the late 

 frosts. But, for the last few years, we have suffered very little from 

 the hot winds. 



It is quite impossible to estimate the immense benefit which 

 would accrue from a system of artificial irrigation, if it could be econo- 

 mically applied. 



Seymour District. 



The following extracts are from a report of the Seymour 

 Agricultural Society : — 



Wheat is the general description of crop grown in this locality ; but 

 barley, oats, and potatoes do well. The average yield per acre is as 

 follows : — 



Wheat ... ... 25 bushels per acre. 



Oats ... ... ... 40 „ 



Potatoes ... ... 4 tons „ 



Maize, sorghum, lucerne, and vines promise well, and are likely to be 

 extensively cultivated. In a wet season almost any kind of grain and 

 fruit can be grown, and as double crops in one year, potatoes and barley 

 will succeed if rain is plentiful. 



Want of rain, hot winds, and the aphis are to be contended with. 

 O.wing to the latter, turnips and cabbages are a failure ; and the oats 

 and barley in some places have suffered from the same cause. 



