TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



333 



State whether the land is vii'gin or 

 cultivated, if the former, whether under 

 bush or grass ; if the latter, how long it 

 has been under cultivation, to what crops, 

 and the nature of the last crop produced, 

 together with the general results of such 

 crops. 



State whether any manure has been 

 applied, when, what sort and how much 

 to the acre ; whether the land is naturally 

 or artifically drained, and if the drainage 

 is good, also the behaviour of the laud in 

 wet or dry seasons. 



Give all details possible as to the char- 

 acteristics of the soil, and where advice 

 in manuring is sought, specify what crop 

 it is intended to plant. 



Manures. 



When sampling artificial manures, 

 select four or five bags from the consign- 

 ment, and empty each one out separately 

 on a clean wooden floor. Work each 

 heap thoroughly with the spade, then 

 take a spadeful from each, place them 



together in one lot, and work well up 

 until a uniform mixture is obtained ; 

 divide into four parts, take one of these 

 parts and mix thoroughly, breakingdown 

 any lumps with the hand, so that when 

 finished it may represent a fair average of 

 the bulk. Place about 1 lb. in a bottle, 

 and cork up tightly, so that no loss oi! 

 moisture will take place. 



When a sample is i-equired for analysis 

 to confirm a purchase, the seller, or his 

 agent, should be sufficiently notified of 

 this purpose, so that he, his agent, or two 

 witnesses, may be present during the 

 picking and sealing up of the sample. The 

 portions so selected should be at once 

 placed in bottles, sealed up, one or more 

 handed to the seller, one retained by pur- 

 chaser, and one sent on to the Chemist for 

 analysis. 



Samples may be forwarded by rail or 

 parcel post, either to the Minister of 

 Agriculture, or direct to the Agricultural 

 Chemist, Government Laboratory, Berea, 

 Durban. 



To Australia and Back. 



By the Hon. T. K. MURRAY, C.M.G., M.L.A., Natal Representative to the Opening 

 of the First Federal Parliament, May 9th, 1901. 



FROM MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY. 



We left Melbourne for Sydney on 

 Tuesday evening, April 30. The Govern- 

 ment reserved a compartment for us, and 

 did all they could to make us comfortable. 



Shortly after leaving Melbourne, we 

 got into the gum country, although I had 

 so often heard of the Australian Bush, I 

 did not think it was almost all gum. For 

 hundreds of miles it is trees, and nothing 

 but trees, which mostly look alike, not 

 tall, as the gum tree grows in Natal, but 

 bushy at the top ; practically the only 

 open spaces between Melbourne and 

 Sydney are what have been cleared. The 

 only variety which strikes the eye is the 

 white barked, or, as it is commonly called, 

 the satin wood. The country is so very fiat 

 that one can seldom see more than "half- 

 a-mile or so, and I began to wonder 

 which was the most monotonous, gums 

 or karoo. It must be very depressing to 

 live shut in among these trees, and be 

 very hot, too, in the summer. 



We went over one range of hills 

 between Melbourne and Albany, which 

 is on the Murray River, 190 miles from 

 Melbourne. The flatness of the Colony 

 can be better understood when it is 

 mentioned that that place is only 500 feet 

 above the level of the sea. There are 

 dead trees and stumps everywhere. 

 Where the land has been cleared, there 

 the dead ringed-trees stand, or have 

 fallen, and lie rotting. We often saw 

 men burning the logs to get rid of them, 

 and this occurs all, along the railway. 

 Here and there were saw mills cutting 

 this dead wood up into short lengths for 

 firewood. The evenness of the surface 

 also struck me — no dongas, s'^ones, ant 

 heaps ; and were it not for the stumps 

 and fallen wood one might ride a bicycle 

 anywhere, the grass, where there is 

 any, is now so very short. The soil 

 seems mostly of a sandy nature, and 

 ploughing seems to be limited to the land 

 which has been cleared. I frequently 

 saw ploughing round the gum stumps. 



