58 



TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



authorities for the disposal of the city's 

 sewage, and was greatly ini])ressed wdth 

 it8 utility, apart from the fact that it was 

 paying its way. The farm, which is 500 

 acres in extent, is connected with the 

 sewage canal at a convenient pointy from 

 which the water can he distributed over 

 the entire area, the soUds being inter- 

 cepted at this point by means of screens, 

 and removed for treatment, after which 

 they are sold, or used on the farm itself. 

 The whole work is carried on with a 

 wonderful freedom from unpleasantness, 

 and furnishes a very instructive lesson as 

 t.) the disposal of sewage. This farm is 

 entirely devoted to pastures, chiefly exotic 

 grasses and lucerne, and the number of 

 stock it carries is surprising. Two pad- 

 docks of fifty acres each carry one hun- 

 dred cows between them throughout the 

 year, and another paddock of sixteen acres 

 carried twenty horses annually. The 

 price paid by the owners for running the 

 cows (best dairy cattle), was £5 per head 

 per annum, and 5s. each per week was paid 

 for the horses, which chiefly consisted ot 

 overworked animals sent out to recui)erate. 



Fruit. 



Fruit growing is largely carried on m 

 several of the States, usually in conjunc- 

 tion with one of the other branches of 

 farming, and numbers of very fine orch- 

 ards are to be seen. The i)oints to which 

 Australian f luit growers attach paramount 

 importance are the selection of good 

 trees, constant cultivation and destruc- 

 tion of weeds, careful pruning, spraying at 

 the proper times for combating disease 

 and insect pests, regular gathering and 

 destruction of unsound fruit, and careful 

 packing and grading of produce for the 

 market or factory. 



Coal. 



As this product is one of ccmsiderable 

 importance to Natal, it occurred to me 

 that the followiiiir information which 1 

 acquired in New South Wales pertaining 

 to the industry may be of value, viz. 

 That although under normal conditions 

 ihc coal is iniiHMl by while labour, Ibe 

 mines, notwithstanding this dear labour, 

 not only supi)ly local re(|uiremcnts, which 

 are "-reat, at very low rates, hut have de- 



veloped a large export trade, the article 

 being put on" board steamers in Sydney 

 Harbour at 9s. Gd. per ton, trimmed, the 

 l)rice at the pit's mouth being about 5s. 

 tkl. to Gs. per ton under normal condi- 

 tions. Prices at present are higher, on 

 account of the war, the average being 

 about lis. to 12s., trimmed, on board m 

 Sydney Harbour. A shaft is at the pre- 

 sent time being sunk in Sydney Harbour 

 itself, to enable the working of a seam 

 which has been found at a depth of about 

 3,000 feet, by means of the diamond drill. 

 Timber. 



The Australians are very fortunate in 

 having an almost inexhaustible supply of 

 timber, some of which is amongst the most 

 valuable in the world. In Queensland I 

 v,-as informed that over 300 varieties of 

 Kucalvpti had been catalogued and classi- 

 fied, but, of course, the greater proportion 

 of these were of little or no value for com- 

 mercial purposes, the valuable varieties 

 being comparatively few. I was also in- 

 formed that it is a characteristic of the 

 Eucalypti that the dilferent varieties 

 grow on different soils, and this is so dis- 

 tinguished a feature that an Australian 

 is able to sufficiently describe the nature 

 and condition of the soil and geological 

 toi niation bv giving the names of the gum 

 trees growing thereon. In view of this 

 characteristic we should therefore get 

 whatever advice is obtainable respecting 

 the soils and situations suitable to the dif- 

 ferent varieties of these trees from Austra- 

 lian colonists before planting largely. 

 Mr. Maiden, the director of the Botanical 

 Gardens in Sydney, has kindly promised 

 to assist our Government in any enquiries 

 it may wish to make in this direction. 



Through the kind assistance of the 

 o-cntleman referred to 1 was also able to 

 secure a small (|uantity of seed of several 

 of the most valuable timbers, which has 

 been handed over to the Agricultural De- 

 iiartment for distribution. On several 

 occasions mv informant expressed regret 

 tliat we had introduced the Tasmanian 

 Blue Gum (which is regarded as one of 

 Ihe most useless of the Australian woods) 

 into our Colony, a mistake which they said 

 had also been made by some of the Euro- 

 pean countries. 1 am strongly of opinion 

 that the Eucalypti will succeed as well m 



