42 _ Agricultural and Horticultural Resources. 



swamps, and ranges (the latter clothed with dense underwood) ; 

 and southward by a coast hitherto accessible to vessels at few 

 points — this part of the colony has remained as yet but com- 

 paratively scantily populated ; and its resources have become, 

 therefore, but sparingly developed. Yet the serenity of its 

 lowland climate, and the extensive fertility of the soil, offer 

 every inducement to the agriculturist to settle in the district. 



Whilst the influence of the Pacific Ocean renders the climate 

 of the eastern part of Gipps Land milder than in equal latitudes 

 westward, and whilst the Alpine ranges afford a shelter to the 

 country against the distressingly hot winds, to which many other 

 parts of the colony are subject, Gipps Land enjoys also the 

 great advantage of possessing a never-failing supply of water 

 from mountain streams, available for extensive and easy irri- 

 gation ; and many delightful ever- verdant' valleys run back 

 into the ranges. All this combines to open there for husbandry 

 a most extensive field of operation. 



If we further take into consideration that a considerable 

 tract of the territory promises to be auriferous, and that pro- 

 bably, ere long, the activity of the miners will enliven the 

 solitudes of the Alps, it cannot be otherwise than gratifying to 

 learn that, however limited the information hitherto gained on 

 the agricultural productiveness of this part of the country may 

 be, all that we have learned has proved satisfactory in so a high 

 degree, and augurs so well for future prosperity. Thus we are 

 informed by A. McMillan, Esq., the discoverer of Gipps Land, 

 that not less than 80 bushels of maize per acre, for several suc- 

 cessive years, have been obtained on that gentleman's estate on 

 the Avon river, whilst the yield of wheat amounted to 35 

 bushels, oats 50 bushels, barley 45 bushels, and, on an average, 

 potatoes 6 tons to the acre. A double crop of potatoes is not 

 uncommonly gained from the same piece of ground. The pro- 

 prietor of Clyde Park, the Honorable K. Thomson, estimates 

 the average produce of wheat during three years in newly 

 ploughed land at 18 bushels per acre. The harvest during the 

 subsequent years yielded from 24 to 28 bushels per acre, 

 without manure, for a series of years. Oats, on previously 

 worked land, were produced on the same estate at the rate of 

 30 to 38 bushels per acre. The average yield of potatoes may 

 be fixed at about 4 tons per acre. Lucerne is extremely pro- 

 lific, so many extensive localities being suitable to its growth. 



John D. Smith, Esq., obtained at his farm at Lindenau an 

 average yield of 35 bushels of wheat, about 50 bushels of oats, 

 40 bushels of barley, and 6 tons of potatoes per acre. Vines, 



