774 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[June  i,  1893. 
featur-s  of  the  situation  are  bnu. id  to  make  them-  W-s 
felt.  As  iready  stated,  ibere  is  very  little  stock  on 
the  wfc5,Mnd  moct  of  that  is  ar  off.  The  first  v---!-e; 
to  arrive  is  the  “Saerimner”  vvitii  about  three  hun  re 
tone,  but  as  she  did  not  sail  until  February  10  L 
she  cauuol  get  here  mcch  before  May.  Foiiossiu^ 
come  two  or  three  vessels,  with  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  tons  each,  and  following  them  is  the  “Glen 
Morag,”  which  will  bring  the  fi  st  i voice  of  conse- 
quence, and  she  is  not  expected  to  arrive  much  before 
the  middle  of  July.  The  “Harriet  S.  Jackson”  is  to 
bring  the  cargo  of  the  wrecked  "N- ach  IV.,”  but  it  is 
uncertain  when  she  will  get  here.  — Drug  Reporter  New 
fork,  April 
AUSTRALIAN  AGRICULTURAL 
INDUSTRIES. 
(FROM  THE  LONDON  “TIMES  ” SPECIAL  CORRESPONDENT.) 
The  use  of  the  refrigerating  ch  mber,  which  is 
giving  us  the  benefit  of  the  Australian  meat  supply, 
has  alone  made  the  dairy  export  trade  of  Australia 
possible.  If  it  were  not  f r the  long  winte  of  some 
of  the  most  closely  inhabited  portions  of  our  northern 
hemisphere,  such  a trade  ought  hardly  to  be  needed, 
but  the  Auslral.au  summer  begins  just  as  ours  is 
coming  to  an  end,  aDd  their  sweet  grass-fed  butter 
begins  to  overstock  the  local  market  at  the  very  mo- 
ment of  the  year  in  which  our  butter  supply  runs 
6bort.  The  export  seas  n begins  in  Australia  in 
September,  and  ends  in  February — that  is.  consign- 
ments errive  in  London  from  October  until  March. 
Australian  Dairy  farmers  eiunt  upon  this  natural  fact 
as  the  basis  of  a stable  trade,  and  this  reversal  of 
the  reasons  is  evidently  tbe  great  fact  to  be  con- 
sidered in  our  entire  food  trade  with  the  Antipodes. 
It  gives  South  Africa  the  advattige  which  her  colonies 
have  been  a little  backward  to  profit  by  in  the  fresh 
fruit  market,  and  there  can  bs  little  doubt  that  there 
are  still  many  mutual  benefits  to  be  developed  bet- 
ween Eugland  ant  Aus’ralie.  The  carrying  trade 
in  refrigerating  ships,  and  under  the  rapid  conditions 
»f  modern  locomotion,  is  still  relatively  in  its  infancy. 
The  producers  of  the  southern  hemisphere  and  the 
consumers  of  the  northern  have  everything  to  gain 
from  farther  development  and  application  cf  its  uses, 
an  in  becoming  acquainted  with  the  immensely  produc- 
tive powers  of  the  Australian  Oon  inent.  It  is  difficult 
to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  cons'antly  increas- 
ing importance  of  the  export  trade  must  some  day 
lead  colonial  public  opinion  to  appreciate  the  a ivmtsga 
of  throwing  Australian  markets  more  fredy  open  to 
the  world.  Compared  with  the  magnifioent  remits  which 
are  to  be  obtained  from  ber  soil,  the  manufactures 
of  Australia  take  the  place  of  a child’s  game.  Yet, 
to  proteot  them,  life  is  made  difficult  and  expensive 
for  the  cultivator  of  the  land,  and  pr<.  ductio  i is  pro- 
portionately diminished.  In  the  mallee  country  I 
found,  as  among  the  sngar  planters  of  Qaeenshnd, 
that  the  current  of  opinion  was  strongly  in  favour  of 
free  trade.  As  the  country  party  grows,  this  opinion 
is  likely  enough  to  spread,  and  to  become  more  re- 
presentatively efficient.  It  is  more  than  possible, 
therefore,  that  even  in  protectioi  i;t  Victoria  the  last 
word  has  not  been  said  upon  this  subject. 
Before  quitting  the  subject  of  the  wealth  now  being 
produced  in  Victoria  by  bringing  the  mallee  country 
under  cultivation  and  irrigating  already  cultivated 
districts,  I would  like  to  pohit  out  that,  while  crops 
grown  under  irrigation  are  so  heavy  as  to  double  and 
treble  the  value  of  the  land,  BDd  to  make  it  capable 
of  supporting  a proportionately  larger  population,  cul- 
tivation, especia  ly  where  the  old  system  of  dry  farming 
is  abandoned  fer  the  iutense  culture  of  Mildura  and 
the  Goulburn  Valley,  demands  more  constant  and 
elaborate  care,  A malee  farm  of  a thousand  acres  will 
employ  three  men.  Fifty  acres  of  wines  or  fruit  will 
employ  four  men  and  give  them  rather  more  than  they 
can  do.  The  average  of  labour  required  for  this  kind 
of  cultivation  is  usually  fixed  at  about  one  man  to  ten 
or  twelve  acres.  If,  therefore,  improved  methods  are 
tendering  the  laud  oapable  of  supporting  au  almost 
indefinit*  ly  inorcased  population,  they  are  at  tne  same 
ime  creating  a demand  for  population.  Tbe 
■ I f thirteen  of  the  l-.rgest  shares  ia  Victora 
nke  -ether  and  representing  an  important 
ricult-nrnl  district,  comprises  something  over 
16,hCO,000  acre*,  and  in  1890  it  was  estimated  that 
they  had  between  them  a population  of  72,000  people. 
Even  if  a fourth  o!  these  were  adul'  laboure-s,  whioh 
they  probablv  were  not,  there  woffid  still  be  little 
more  than  one  man  to  every  1,000  acres.  This  being 
so,  it  is  evn  ent  tha  the  natural  resources  of  Victoria 
are  still  far  ahean  of  In  r capability  to  make  use  of 
them.  I have  scarcely  touohed  upou  her  wins  in- 
dustry, because,  when  I come  to  speak  of  the  wine 
industry  of  South  Australia,  the  two  can  be  more 
advantageously  treited  together.  There  are,  however, 
many  thou-ands  of  acres  in  Victoria  devoted  to  this 
lucrative  form  of  small  farming,  and  there  might 
be  many  thousands  more  if  the  necessary  labour 
and  capital  could  be  found.  Neither  is  it  possible 
to  speak  here  of  the  mineral  wealth,  which  is  amply 
demonstrated  in  its  principal  centres  by  the  flour- 
ishing oendition  of  the  towns  of  Bendigo  and 
Ballarat.  Both  of  these  towns  grow  daily  larger, 
and  furnish  always  more  important  markets  to 
the  surrounding  country.  The  goldmines  of  Bendigo 
are  the  deepest,  not  only  in  Australia,  but  in  the 
world,  and  in  one  whioh  i descended  for  2,800  feet  gold 
indications  of  a satisfactory  nature  were  declaring 
themselves  at  that  depth. 
A colony  which  possesses  all  this  wealth  in  its 
back  country,  combined  with  the  energy  and  enter- 
prise that  is  already,  as  I have  showD,  engaged  in 
the  work  of  even  partial  development,  cannot  possibly 
be  regardod  as  suffering  from  any  inextrioable  financial 
embarrassment.  What  I have  bad  to  say  has,  I hope, 
made  it  clear,  not  only  that  the  cmniry  districts 
are  perfectly  sound,  but  that  they  offer  an  outlet  for 
English  as  well  as  for  Victorian  enterprise.  In 
travelling  through  them  the  conclusion  which  must, 
I believe,  be  forced  upon  any  impartial  observer  is 
that  Victoria  suffers  from  exaotly  the  same  want  as 
Queensland  and  New  South  Wales,  atd  that  from 
Cape  York  to  Port  Phillip  the  supreme  need  of  Aus- 
tralia ianot  money,  but  population. 
HINTS  FOR  PRUNING  FRUIT  TREES. 
( From  a Planter.) 
“Young  trees  should  be  regularly  weeded  ( monthly ) 
and  all  gormandizer  like  suckers  taken  off  eveiy 
three  months  at  least.  Peaches  need  light  pruning 
every  year  and  once  in  four  or  five  years  a heavy 
one.  Pears,  light  pruning  regularly  seems  to  be 
enough.  Plums,  light  every  one  or  two  years  and 
then  a heavy  pruning  but  of  this  you  must  judge 
by  the  look  of  the  tree.  Oranges  when  young  trimmed 
up ; very  liqhtly  pruned;  only  taking  out  young  branches, 
which  run  across  and  would  be  likely  to  get  matted,  and 
as  they  get  older,  only  take  out  dead  or  dying  wood  ; 
heavy  pruning  won’t  suit  them.  Calcutta  guavas 
give  finer  fruit  if  trimmed  up  when  young  and  lightly 
pruned  afterwards,  Apples  never  gave  me  enough 
wood  to  prune  : all  I did  was  cut  off  any  dying  branch 
or  tipped  those  that  were  hide-bound  and  scarified  the 
barb.  This  I have  done  to  other  trees  as  well,  but 
when  doing  so  find  a liberal  dose  of  manure  gives 
extra  good  results.  Figs  need  pruning  ; you  cannot 
hurt  them  much  by  cutting ; extra  pruning  gives 
smaller  crop  thatyear.but  larger  fruits,  and  the  next 
year  a heavy  crop.  For  all  these  I find  farmyard 
manure,  cattle  manure,  the  best  ; a little  bone  dust 
will  not  do  any  harm,  but  stimulating  manure  I think 
shortens  the  life  of  the  tree. 
♦ 
A Topaz-Bearing  tract  of  country  has,  we  hear, 
been  found  in  this  Presidency,  and  that  gem  gives 
promise  of  being  in  sufficient  quantity  to  render 
the  exploitation  of  the  tract  a commercial  etiooeea 
Madrat  Maily 
