February i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
54i 
JOHN BULL'S VINEYARD.* 
Under the above title an Australian landholder has 
written about the wine-producing capabilities of the 
land of his adoption; with regard to which wines it 
may be noted as somewhat remarkable that they 
have never established any perceptible hold on the 
palates of Anglo-Indians. 
Mr. Do Oastella's own estate, according to the 
Saturday Review, of which he gives an enchanting 
picture, 18 situated in a valley enclosed by the Plenty 
and Dandenohg ranges and watered — the expression 
can rarely be used of any Australian valley— by the 
Yarra Yarra Here are grown the wines which have 
been honored with the German Kmperor's prize — the 
Sauviguous, (Jarbinets, Hermitjage*, .Rieslings, which un- 
der the genera] name of St. Hubert are esteemed in 
Victoria itself as the best among the native growths. 
Our author speaks with a becoming modesty of his 
own products. His book is commendably free from 
all taint of self-seeking, and is conspicuous for 
nothing so much as its note of patriotic enthusiasm. 
He is a champion rather Of the wine-growiug cap- 
acity of the Australian soil than of the quality of 
the Australian wines. He is sensible of the defects 
aud shortcomings of the local wine-growers. A princi- 
pal source of failure is in the very ease with which 
the grape can bo grown and the wine made in most 
parts of temperate Australia, The temptation to 
everybody who lias a few acres of land to make wine 
is irresistible, and the opportunities aro unparalleled. 
The plant is one of the simplest cultivation, the 
labor ploasant and not excessive, the yield enormous. 
Nothing imported thrives so well as the vine in 
Australia, not even the rabbit or the sparrow. The 
cuttings are stuck into holes made with a crowbar 
from six to ten feet apart, according to the 
toil. In three years they begin to produce grapes 
fit for wine-making. When in full btaring an acre 
will yield from 300 to 500 gallons. There are uo 
accidents to fear, no enemies to encounter, no frost 
to blight the young shoots, no rain to damage the 
ripo berries. The phylloxera, it is true, made its 
appearance a few years ago in the Oeelong district; 
but the wines attacked were promptly rooted up, 
and the pestiferous intruder has ceased to exist. To 
make wine is almost easier than to grow grapes, 
and it is the fatal facility with which it is made, 
not to speak of the idyllic nature of the industry, 
which temp's the fortunate freeholder into multi- 
plying the number of vintages, to the confusion of 
the tasters and the discredit of the colony. To the 
complaint of European experts that Victorian grow- 
ers, " in contempt of all truth, take the names of 
the great wines of Europo to adorn their products," 
Mr. De Cxstella's answer ia easy. It is not the 
growers, but the me. chants, who give the names of 
claret, hock, Madeira, and port to the wines — those 
appellations being only genet)] C — to iad$oa&i tho kinds 
of wine offered to the consumer. As the grapes 
are all of Kuropeun origin, it is natural that the 
growers should attach their names to the wiues 
made from them. But Hermitage, Rie ding, Burgundy, 
Tokay attached to Victorian wines, only indicate 
that they are made of the Hermitage, Riesling, 
liurgundy. or Tokay grapes ; the produce of which 
in Australia is somotimes very different in character 
from w><nt it is in Europe. 
Mr. Do Castella complains that John Bull has 
hitherto heeu neglectful of his vineyard, that Aus- 
tralian wiues are less esteemed than they deserve, 
DOOMM "fashion rules tho drinking of most of the 
BrilotiS." Wine grown in tho Colonies is not a 
fiwhii'iuiblo beverage, and therefore it must be cheap. 
Hut if we insist upon cheapness, we cannot have 
quality, Should Jobn Hull retort that he must have 
nullity before he gives the prieo, the rejoinder from 
the Australian side ia, that the n-.it i il pulii'e hi, 
beoonie so dulled and depraved by indulgence in 
the brandicd and artificial wines of' Kurope as to be 
•V.j/i/i Hull's Vixnm ' Auttratian Sketehtn, Bj 
llnbert De Castella. Melbourne ; s»nds Ac 
London : TrUbuor H Co. 
incapable of appreciating the natural flavour of a 
pure wine. On this side there must be an education 
us well as on the other. Such a book us Mr. De 
Oastella's is calculated to lead to a better understand- 
ing of tho estate wo possess in Australia — an estate, 
to the due cultivation of which we are impelled 
by a double interest. Without doubt we have with- 
in our own Umpire a region capable of supplying 
us with all we desire in the article of wine, better 
and cheaper than we can get it elsewhere. All that 
is wanted to develop this beautiful and wholesome 
industry is to multiply the number of happy land- 
holders in that Eden which Mr. De Castella so 
picturesquely describes. This is an operation which 
carries a triple blessing. It blesses those that stay 
and those that go, as well as the land which re- 
ceives thorn; and the greater the number of wine- 
growers in Australia, the more numerous will be 
England's best oustomers and tho richer her colony. — 
Pioneer, 
BRITISH AND FOREIGN CONSULS' REPORTS. 
Straits Settlements. 
Gum Copal. The copal shipped from Singapore is 
found in deposits or layers near the surface of the 
earth on many of the islands of the Malayan Archi- 
pelago, promiuently in Celebes, Timor, and tho Moluc 
cas (much of it comes from Ternate, Amboyna, and 
Macassar) ; also from Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and 
the Malay peninsula. Gum copal arrives at Singapore 
raw, just as it is dug up by the natives, with earth 
and ground adhering to it, and has to be cleaned and 
"chipped" before being exported. The " chips " and 
dust are occasionally also exported, as they contain a 
fair percentage of pure gum. It is curious to note in 
the colonial trade statistics what effect this cleaning 
process " has on the weight and value of the article 
between imports and exports, as follows: — 
Imported. Exported. 
1884 Pic. 23,037 §1-15,708 Pic. 23,917 $159,745 
1885 19,864 153,600 19,779 168,927 
These aro certainly very strange figures, even if some 
old stock from 1883 was exported in 1S81, or quantities 
were received from native prahns without being re- 
ported at the import bureau, since it cannot well be ac- 
cepted that at the end of 1885 any stock was held 
for exportation in 188b, and one wonders how the 
' dust and chips" are accounted for, considering that, 
as per statistics, 795 piculs were exported in excess of 
reoeipts. The excess of the export values, though very 
large, is easier explained, t". c, in charges of receiving, 
shipping, weighing, cleaning, packing, shipping, insur- 
ance commissions, iic. The statistical figures show 
that the average import price was $6-97:J, and the 
average export price was jJ7 52 1/5 per picul. This is 
probably owing to the f.iet that the gum sometimes 
arrives here so full of foreign adhesions as to command 
only from $4 to $5 p- r picul, the price of tbo best being 
at present about $11. The margiu is thus very great, 
and the room for imposing and cheating in export* 
also. Oopal importers can therefore not exercise too 
much c.tre in their purchases, and it is probably best 
to buy it on commission in the uncleaned state from 
first-class firms only, and to have it cleaned at home. 
Gum Benjamin. — This gum is received principally 
from Sumatra and Siam Proper with a little from the 
Coromanile' mil the Philippine Islands. Its vapour being 
very aromatic, it is med in places of worship by Chris- 
tians, Islamites, aud Pugaes alike as incense, and many 
natives of Asii, who can afford it, burn it to give 
fragrance in 'heir dwelling-houses. The imports and 
exports were as follows: — 
Imported. Repotted- 
1881 Pic. 7,312 5J33.900 Pio. 7,112 $236,038 
l.vO 7^428 306,788 7,383 817,060 
The exports go to nearly all the countries i-i Europe, 
the 1'uito l Kingdom receiving by far the most. They 
wi re : 
Year Exported from Quantity Value 
188-1 Singapore Pio. 1,687 $110,03100 
[884 Ponang 136 19,17.t0o 
188:. Singapore 9,807 116,51-100 
l:>b."> Prawg 1,288 O.VDO-j 00 
