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there is no difference of opinion. It is agreed that they may be easily naturalized and extended here. 
The only question is, will they give a pecuniary return for the cost of fostering them for a time? And 
the laissez faire objectors are not in the proportion of one to ten, as compared with those who write 
strongly in favor of their encouragement, even if this has to be effected by the outlay ot a considerable sum 
of public money for a few years. The ultimate gain to the State is to arise from the more full and 
profitable employment of a rural population, now scarcely able to earn a bare subsistence by ordinary 
farming, more especially where the holdings are limited in extent. 
Plants foe different Districts. 
Query 2. What •particular plants would you recommend as eligible in your neighborhood 
for industrial and commercial purposes, and as deserving of prominent attention^ 
In disposing of the answers to this question the colony must bo divided, in a general way, according 
to its climates. On the northern slope of the Dividing Pange, and between that and the Murray, the 
climate is warm and dry ; on the southern slope much cooler, with shelter from the direct action of the 
hot winds. The plains towards the sea again are hot, but not so hot as those further north ; and near the 
sea the air is more tempered with moisture, and the range of the thermometer is not so wide. Gippsland 
has not only the benefit of the air from the sea, but is almost entirely sheltered from the ill effects of the 
hot winds from the north and north-west. 
plants for tdf. warmf.st parts of the colont. 
Taking the warmer parts of the colony first — there are recommended for them the mulberry, olive, 
almond, fig, orange, ricinus or castor-oil plant, some of the varieties of maranta and other plants for airowroot, 
ginger, sorghum, indigo, and the sorts of vines suitable for producing currants and raisins. To show that 
these plants are not mentioned at random or without some little experience ot them, part of the answei 
to this question, forwarded by a gentleman residing near Swan Hill, may be given. After expressing his 
opinion that with irrigation, easily to be applied, the rich land of the Lower Murray would grow to j)Ci- 
fection nearly every tree and plant not strictly tropical, as well as many from colder climates, this gentleman 
continues — “I have tried the sorghum saccharatum and find that it grows to the greatest perfection. I am 
therefore of opinion that the variety known as ‘planter’s friend’ would thrive equally well, and if cultivated 
for the production of sugar would prove highly remunerative — the cost of carriage to market being small 
compared with the value of the article. This industry might therefore be most profitably establi.shed in 
this district. *♦***• I have also tried Indigo fera tinctoria, the common indigo plant of India, as 
well as Ricinus communis, the castor-oil plant, both from seed procured from India, and find that they 
also thrive well. I am of opinion that they also could bo made highly profitable if cultivated in the 
district. Oranges also grow here to the greatest perfection. I haveabout one hundred trees planted, mostly 
now bearing fruit. From one tree, six years planted, I have taken one hundred and eighty oranges of the 
finest description, but I consider that this fruit would not pay for production on a large scale, the cost of 
carriage to market being so great.” Other extracts might be given in support of the opinion that the plants 
named could be cultivated advantageously in the warmer parts of the colony ; but this vvill suffice to 
indicate the practical character of the answers to the invitation for aid in the present inquiry. 
PLANTS FOR THE MEDIUM CLIMATE. 
The plants or trees known or supposed to be suitable for the portions of Victoria enjoying what may 
be called a medium climate, form a very long list. These are the mulberry, olive, orange, lemon, almond, 
fig, raisin vines, prune, peach, apricot, apple, pear, jujube tree, ricinus, sunflower, millet, tobacco, flax, hemp, 
phormiura tenax, bochmeria nivea, rape for oil, poppy, the willow for osiers, the cork-oak, the hop, sumach, 
cinchona, walnut, Spanish chestnut, tea, sugar-beet, chicory, caper, liquorice, Turkey and Chinese rhubarb, 
various species of acacia for bark and tannic acid, madder, tho smilax for sarsaparilla, and some otheis 
of less importance. The almond is especially mentioned as a tree of easy propagation and quick growth, 
coming into bearing early, and therefore well calculated for tho production ot oil. Some of the other trees 
are named with a view to the drying of fruit either for home use or exportation. Although many peisons 
who tried tobacco for a time have ceased to grow it, others, who cither had sufficient skill or took the 
trouble to learn, have found it as profitable a crop as they can grow. On this point, as well as in 
relation to two other plants, your correspondent from Oxley says — “ I have cultivated tobacco almost 
exclusively for the last eight years and found it to pay a fair profit. I have also eleven acres of hops, 
which will be in full bearing this year, and at present look very promising. From what 1 have observed 
of tho castor-oil plant in America, as compared with plants grown here, I think the making of this oil would 
be a very profitable industry.” The hop finds a place in the above list and is favorably spoken of by a 
few of the residents under what has been called our medium climate, but it can be only exjiected to yield 
with any degree of certainty or profit when completely sheltered from the direct action of the north winds ; 
and the same may be said of a few other plants enumerated, which, although liking a tolerably high degree 
of average heat, yet wither up before our hottest north winds as they would before a blast from a furnace. 
Of the fibre plants, flax is recommended for nearly all parts of the colony, as a native and good-looking, 
though perennial variety, is found wherever the soil is of superior quality, llenqi has been tried in different 
places and grows readily, as might be expected. The boehmeria nivea, or Chinese grasscloth plant, is less 
generally known; but of this a gentleman residing near Berwick, and supplied from the Botanic Gardens, 
says — “ About four or five years ago I obtained a plant of it. I planted it on dry sandy soil ; it grew from 
two to three feet the first season, four or five the next, and between five and six and a half the third 
season. It has not grown beyond that since. It has grown altogether from twelve to fifteen stems at a 
time. 1 think it would have groitm much better if I had known the proper time to cut it, and could 
be easily made to yield two crops in the year. It is now (26th September) nearly three feet high, and 
cuttings planted last winter are nearly two feet high. I believe this would be a most profitable plant to 
cultivate but for the difficulty of extracting the fibre economically.” Of the cinchona, the same gentleman 
says — “About four years ago I received a plant of the cinchona. After growing nearly two years it 
was accidentally broken off close to the ground. It is now about two feet high again, and growing 
