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Bot supported by the vine-growers throughout the colony. If 

 they had a little active support from such men as Mr. Irvine they 

 might persuade the Government to carry out the schemes that 

 they were now charged with failing to carry out. In speaking of 

 the phylloxera, Mr. Bear said that the inspection had been 

 altogether insufficient to enable the Government to decide upon 

 •the best method of dealing with the outbreak of the disease at 

 Bendigo. He would inform that gentleman that the Board of 

 Viticulture approached the Government on the subject, but nothing 

 was done. Had there been an inspection the outbreak at Bendigo 

 would have been discovered years ago, and probably hundreds of 

 acres of vines would have been saved to the colony. He quite 

 agreed that the various schemes that had been propounded 

 required to be thrashed out in committee, and if the papers that 

 had been read had the effect of rousing the Department to the 

 fact that a little more attention might be given to the advice of 

 those Boards the time would not have been thrown away. 



Mr. Kavanagh observed that it was not to be expected that 

 the members of the old Board would be very eloquent when called 

 upon to attend their own funeral. Speaking as a member of that 

 Board, he thought the vine-growers of the colony must admit that 

 that Board had laboured, perhaps not successfully altogether but 

 to the best of their ability, for the success of the vine-growing 

 industry. The suggestions contained in the three papers that had 

 been read were exactly in keeping with the suggestions of the 

 Board of Viticulture, the members of which had been anxious for 

 some time to fall in with the views of the Minister. As to Mr. 

 West's suggestion that a rate should be imposed upon vineyards, 

 and that the Government should supplement the amount so raised 

 in order to provide a fund to deal with any outbreak of phylloxera, 

 he thought the best way to interest people in the matter was to 

 impose a slight tax on vineyards according to their acreage. 



Mr. O'G.RADT said that in his district the great objection to the 

 Board of Viticulture was that they had not sufficient power. If 

 land was vested in the Board the same as it was in the Council of 

 Education they would have an income which they could use in 

 the establishment of a college, and the fees from students would 

 give them the means with which they could work. In his opinion 

 the lack of power arose from the lack of means. Advice was 

 nothing— they wanted power, and then the Board would become Sf 

 ■recognised body, and would do more work. There were many 

 things showing the urgent requirement for a college of viticulture. 

 For instance, every one knew there were several varieties of 

 grapes, but every one did not know the proper varieties to plant, 

 and it was to such a college they would have to look to obtain 

 that information. 



Mr. Ibvine said he had listened very attentively to the remarks 

 that had been made on the various papers, and he thought the 



