Dec. 1895.] 



GENERAL AGRICULTURAL NOTES. 



343 



success. Moreover, the charges on small consignments are, 

 proportionately to the value, so heavy as to be practically pro- 

 hibitive. Through the depot a means ot* co-operation is provided 

 by which the resources of several consignors are made available 

 in the common interest, and incidental charges are reduced to a 

 minimum by grouping together the parcels of small producers 

 in one shipment. 



The object of the depot is not only to provide facilities for 

 the marketing of produce, but also to afford a guarantee of 

 quality. All goods consigned to the depot are examined by 

 experts prior to shipment ; if found to be in good condition and 

 properly packed they are sent forward to the London manager 

 with a certificate to that effect. This system of inspection has 

 been adopted in order to prevent the export of inferior goods 

 which might have an injurious effect on the reputation of South 

 Australian products. 



Agriculture in the Falkland Islands. 



In the last Colonial Report relating to the Falkland Islands, 

 it is stated that tillage and land cultivation are practically 

 unknown in the Colony except for domestic purposes. 



About 100 acres may be said to be appropriated to the 

 cultivation of kitchen gardens by separate families for home 

 consumption only. Tubers and ground crops do well, but the 

 high wind normally prevailing is fatal to the healthy existence 

 of any plant or fruit growing to a height of more than two or 

 three feet above ground. The Colony is essentially pastoral and 

 its sole industry is sheep raising, to which the entire acreage of 

 6,500 square miles or 4,166,400 acres, is devoted. 



Some portions of the land are, of course, useless for any purpose, 

 being nothing but soft bog, and stone runs, where neither grass 

 will grow nor animals can tread. Locomotion inland is entirely 

 on horseback, every farmer keeping a sufficient number of horses 

 for all his hands. 



There were at the close of 1894 over three-quarters of a million 

 sheep in the Colony, one firm alone being able to compute its 

 flocks at a quarter of a million. Horned cattle amounted to 

 8,192, and horses to 3,294. 



According to the annual statement of the trade of the United 

 Kingdom for 1894, there were imported last year into this 

 country from the Falkland Islands : 6,394 cwts. of fresh mutton, 

 81,506 undressed sheep-skins, and 5,383,000 lbs. of sheep or 

 lambs' wool, which alone was valued at over 134,000^. 



