•59 
Nov. i, 1885.] The Australasian Scientific Magazine. 
butter manufactured by the farmers around Calgary is equal, if not 
superior, to any make in the Dominion, and those engaged in the business 
express themselves highly in favour of the country and its adaptability for 
dairy farming. There is held to be room for thousands of dairy farmers 
in Alberta, and capital so invested will, it is believed, insure good interest. 
That tne manufacture of cheese has not commenced before now is chiefly 
owing to the rapid development of the country. I’ractical men who have 
settled in the district this year profess themselves so pleased with the in 
ducements that they intend starting in the business next season. Alberta 
possesses every essential necessary for the production of fust class cheese ; 
grasses of the richest and sweetest description, and innumerable streams 
of the purest and coldest water. 
The colony of New South Wales contains an abundance of soil of the 
richest description for the support of a very large population, when the 
conditions shall be more favourable for the pursuit of agriculture, for 
which in most districts the climate is very suitable. On the coast strip 
eastward of the dividing range there is a large atea of very rich land in 
the river valleys. It has been extensively cleared, and in the southern 
part of the colony is mostly under lucerne, corn, and potatoes, and yields 
immense crops. On the northern river-flats splendid crops of sugar 
cane are grown, as well as of corn. The tobacco plant flourishes on this 
strip of land, as well as almost all the cereals and fruits of temperate and 
semi-tropical climates. Wheat crops formerly were grown extensively 
here, but for many years past the area planted with wheat has been very 
much reduced, owing to the extreme liability of the grain to rust when 
coming into ear. It is this that has doubtless rendered the production of 
wheat in the colony so far behind the yield of the southern colonies. 
However, when we get on to the tabic-lands we find a large area of soil of 
very rich quality among the surrounding rocks and country of granite 
formation, and this promises to be the future granary of the colony. At 
present the yield of the crops in some instances amounts to as much as 
30 and 40 bushels per acre from the virgin soil of this part of the colony. 
Here flourish the English fruits — -gooseberries, cherries, currants, and the 
like. As you go further westward the climate becomes less and less 
favourable for agriculture, owing to the uncertainty of the rainfall, and, as 
far as present appearances indicate, the great salt bush plains of the 
interior, unrivalled for fattening stock, will for generations to come be 
chiefly devoted to that pursuit. With regularity of seasons, agriculture 
might be possible: but the rainfall is very irregular in that part of the 
colony. Briefly summed up, we may say that the coast climate and soil 
favour the production of almost all kinds of vegetation found in temperate 
and semi-tropical regions; that the table lands, with a magnificent 
climate, will produce all the cereals and fruits of the temperate Zone : 
while away westward are hundreds of thousands of square miles of the 
finest stock-fattening country to be found in any part ot the world. 
Ye Narcissus or Daffodyl Fuowre, and his Roots. — Under this 
quaint heading, Mr, Peter Barr, the head of the firm of Messrs. Barr and 
Son, 12 King-street, Covent Garden, W.C. ; assisted by that excellent 
authority, Mr. T. W. Burbridge, the curator of the Trinity College Botanic 
Garden at Dublin, have just published an interesting pamphlet on the 
history and culture of the daffodil, now so popular because of its varied 
and charming hues of yellow and orange. It comprises the lecture on 
the narciss delivered by Mr. Burbridge on the occasion of the Daffodil 
