52 



Mr. BoTCE thought it very hard on the orchardist that he 

 should be taxed directly he put in his trees. He was of opinion 

 that the rates should not be collected till the trees came into 

 bearing, 



Mr. Stone pointed out that the same principle was adopted 

 with a man who built a shop on a piece of vacant ground. 



Mr. Allen thought that the present method was a mistake 

 altogether and was putting back the industry. He went into a 

 district and made a gardeu, and on the other side of the road 

 nothing was done. He was rated specially for his buildings and 

 garden, and by his work the other side was considerably improved. 



Mr. Ceaikb said that this was a very old question. When he 

 came to G-eelong twenty years ago it was a burning question with 

 the. Geelong Vine-growers' Association. He had attended con- 

 ferences where it was discussed. He agreed with the Minister 

 that it was a very serious question indeed, and one that Mr. 

 Kavanagh was justified in bringing under the attention of the 

 Conference. 



The Chairman thought that it was a question that deserved 

 consideration not only on the part of those interested in fruit- 

 growing but of all thinking men. There was the principle in- 

 volved of whether a man who spent his money in making improve- 

 ments, thereby increasing the value of his property and employing 

 labour, should pay an additional tax. 



Mr. Williams, on behalf of the association he represented, 

 thanked the Minister for having called the Conference together, 

 and having in the circular issued asked for attention to any matter 

 other than horticultural. This had led him to prepare a short 

 paper on — 



The present requirements of our Experimental Farms and 

 Agricultural Colleges. 



The consideration you have given agricultural and horticultural 

 matters evinced by calling this Conference together, and the finan- 

 cial condition of the agriculturalists of Victoria, have induced me 

 to state very briefly what I consider is required from our experi- 

 mental farms and agricultural colleges. 



I believe, in the past, experimental farms like the one at Dookie 

 have been expected to keep expenditure on a level with receipts, 

 or even less, if possible, and in the past our agriculturalists might 

 have stood by quietly and looked on without passing any comment, 

 but now things have changed, I regret to say, very much for the 

 worse. Wheat, our main produce, has fallen to a ruinously low 

 price, and that, coupled with the excessive rates charged by our 

 railways for its transit to the seaboard, and the still heavier rates 

 charged for carriage inland on farmers' requirements, has caused 



