SUMMARY OF THE AMSWEES TO QUERIES CIRCULATED BY THE 
COMMISSION DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 1871, 
( Prepared hy the Secretary for the use of the Oommission.) 
In sending out the circular asking for information and advice on these several subjects, the object was, of 
course, to have it placed in the hands of those persons best able, from their experience in this or other 
countries, to answer the queries therein. Therefore, copies for distribution were sent in the first instance to 
all the representative bodies throughout the country, namely, the shire, district, and borough councils, as well 
as to the principal agricultural societies — amounting to about 170 in all. Single copies were also sent to 
gentlemen known to be capable of furthering the objects of the Commission. The editors of many of the 
nevvspapers did good service besides by publishing the circular in full, and directing attention to it in 
their leading or other columns, so that the circulation of the queries may well be considered to have been 
complete throughout the colony. Over 800 copies were thus distributed, and a fair proportion of these 
were returned fully, and in some cases elaborately answered. The answers contain a mass of useful 
information, as well as the opinions of many gentlemen qualified, from their long residence and practical 
participation in the several pursuits of the colony, to judge truly of its wants and capabilities. Valuable aid 
has also been afforded by a few gentlemen now residents in Victoria, but natives of different European 
countries. One lady has also assisted in this inquiry by furnishing practical suggestions for the teaching 
and employment of girls at the public institutions. 
Before proceeding to collate and summarise the information and opinions contained in the answers, I 
may bo permitted to point out that the mere circulation of the queries has been of use. By reading them the 
attention of many persons has been directed to the possibility of introducing branches of industry not 
thought of before, and inquiry will lead to experiments which ■would not otherwise have been undertaken. 
And with the spirit of inquiry once aroused, it may be easily kept alive by the dissemination of printed 
instructions, and the distribution of a fetv' seeds or plants of a novel character, with detailed accounts of 
experiments conducted at State establishment.^. 
Ihe number of queries issued was fifteen, and for the sake of couspicuity it will be needful to take 
them in rotation. 
Thus— 
Novel Industries. 
Query 1. What 7invel or special rural industry might, in your opinion, he established or largely 
extended in your locality, with a prospect of proving remunerative tinder the present circum- 
stances of the country 'i 
The answeis to this and the following question did not, in many instances, distinguish the industry 
from the plants to supply material for it. I find, however, certain industries, or branches of industry, 
stiongly lecommended. Ihcso arc principally sugar-making, the preparation of fibre and vegetable oils, the 
manufactuie of staich and arrowroot, of potash from native shrubs and the branches and leaves of certain 
frees, of acetic acid from waste timber, the making of baskets and of straw plait by children, the production 
of silk of different sorts, the drying and preserving of fruits, the making of brandy and citler, the growth 
and preparation of medicinal herbs and of plants for dye-stuffs, the growth and manufacture of tobacco, 
fiower-farming, or the collection of cultivated and native flowers for perfumery, the growtii often, the more 
extended cultivation of hops, and the collection of the various descriptions of gum and resins produced bv 
native trees. ^ •' 
SUGAR-MAKING. 
As thm is the first-named of the several new industries, so it may ultimately prove one of the most 
important. The value of the sugar now imported annually is not far short of a million of money, and there 
18 , according to the answers, a wide extent of land in the colony suitable for growing the sorts of beet from 
w Itch sugar IS so profitably manufactured in Europe. In the answ'ers from the districts around Gcelono' 
and through the rich lands to the westward, by Colac and Camperdown, as far as Belfast and Portlaiuf- 
roiii ffallarat and the rich country around it, extending along the ranges eastward even to Mansfield- 
amt from b-ippslaiid and wherever there is a tract of good land under a comparatively cool climate, the 
^gar-beet is insisted on as a crop easily to bo reared as soon as a market for it oilers. The district around 
Warrnambool has long been famous for its root crops, and we are told that there are, within a few miles of 
that town, 30,000 acres especially adapted for beet-growiiig. Not only is the soil adapted for it, but there is 
so much moisture in the atmosphere along the southern coast, that crops of this sort are alrao,st independent of 
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