8 
college—could be called into existence.” The hope of a year 
ago is a realized fact to-day, and the horticulturist, as well as the 
agriculturist, has his training school, to which he or his sons may 
go, provided by a paternal Government. Then, again, the mone- 
tary value of the fruit industry alone to the colony argues the 
necessity for the best possible training being given to those about 
to engage in it. I find that while the imports of cereals and 
preparations thereof have declined within the last ten years from 
£235,000 (in round numbers) in 1881 to £109,000 in 1890, and the 
amount retained for home use from £178,000 to £64,000 in the 
same time, making us almost self-supporting in the matter of 
grain, in the matter of other vegetable products for food (including 
preparations), i.e., fresh fruit, dried fruits, &c., the imports have 
increased from £468,000 in 1881 to £552,000 in 1890, and the 
amount retained for home use from £328,000 to £552,000 in the 
same time. The necessity for importing for home use, however, 
is now likely to become less and less, for, while the area under 
cultivation for orchards and gardens has been stationary, and 
sometimes even decreased during the three years from 1887 to 
1889, in 1890 there were 1,714 acres approved of for the bonus 
for planting fruit trees, and this, of course, only represents a 
portion of the increased area taken in. In the Mildura irrigation 
settlement alone there are about 6,000 acres devoted to vines or 
fruit trees, and it is a valuable object-lesson to show what can be 
done by scientific irrigation and intense culture. 
No doubt but we are rapidly approaching the time when we 
shall be able to supply our own wants with regard to fruit, and 
have a surplus for others; and, seeing that many of those who 
are engaging in this industry are novices in the art of husbandry, 
and that an evident desire is abroad for obtaining the highest 
practical skill and the best scientific knowledge in the department 
of horticulture, the necessity for this school and the timely estab- 
lishment of it will be acknowledged by all. 
And even the farmer of the future—in Victoria, at least—will 
require to grow a greater variety of products than hitherto, in 
order to survive the competition of the Indian ryot and the Rus- 
sian peasant, in wheat-growing at any rate. This means that a 
general training in horticulture is desirable for all agriculturists 
who do not wish to be left behind in the march of progress, and 
that the farmer would do well, where the conditions are suitable, 
to become a fruit-grower in addition. This school, therefore, 
supplies a decided want in the education of the farmer, and a 
term of at least one year might profitably be spent here. 
INDUCEMENTS TO GO TO THE COUNTRY. 
We have heard a deal of late of the flocking of the population 
to the cities causing a congested state of affairs there, so that we 
