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inasmuch as they deal with the food supply of the whole world 
Horticulture may be considered the parent of agriculture in one 
sense, for it determines upon a small scale the value of those 
principles upon which a more extended cultivation of the soil 
depends. No art demands a wider range of natural and experi- 
mental knowledge than the practice of horticulture. Like many 
other sciences it is never learnt ; there is always something fresh 
to be picked up, some new and improved: method of culture, 
whereby quality and quantity are improved, some new variety of 
vegetable, fruit, plant, or tree to be tested. It is the most ancient 
of all industries. Shakspeare makes his grave-digger declare 
there are “no ancient gentlemen but gardeners,” and since it was 
tke calling of our first parent, so. will the last man be dependent 
on the gardener’s energies. No business combines so much of the 
utile et dulce as gardening. By the sweat of his face mankind 
is fed, by the taste he exhibits the earth is beautified. 
Fortunately for our horticultural efforts we have in Victoria a fine 
genial climate and fertile soil, we can grow the currant of Greece, 
the olive of Italy, the lemon of Portugal, and the raisin of Spain 
as well in some parts as the countries I have mentioned—this 
is an indisputable fact. The gentlemen (leading grocers of the 
city) who acted as judges of dried fruits at our late Intercolonial 
Wine, Grain, and Fruit Exhibition stated that some of the Zante 
currants, muscatel raisins, and prunes were of -the very highest 
order of merit, and a few samples even superior to any imported ; 
this fact is very encouraging, and should lead, and no doubt will 
lead, to extensive areas being placed under these crops. Now, when 
we remember that we annually import some seven to eight million 
pounds weight of currants and raisins alone, we can see what an 
opening there is for the extensive'cultivation of these fruits. In 
addition to these two kinds we import something like a million and 
a half pounds weight of other kinds of dried fruits, some of which, 
for instance, figs and prunes, can well be grown here. We also 
import considerable quantities of almonds, walnuts, and other nuts, 
and these we can grow in some part or other of the colony as well 
as in any part of the world. We Victorians are often boasting of 
the enormous wealth of our natural resources, but these resources 
must be developed and not permitted to lie dormant in the soil. 
Our farmers tell us that the growing of our great staple product, 
wheat, barely pays, and that a smaller yield, unless better prices 
were obtained, would mean disaster. We have yet a few million 
acres available for wheat-growing in the mallee, where land can 
be rolled, cleared, and ploughed at a very low cost, and our wheat 
yields will doubtless, unless serious droughts or other calamity 
ensue, increase annually for some years to come. My main object 
is to direct attention to a-few plants and trees which are not 
ordinarily cultivated in the colony, but which may probably be 
