November 2 , 1891.] THE TROMCAL ACjHIOULTURIST, 
340 
with each aero of land ho purchases, and he hccoinos 
owner of the plant to that extent. These shares can 
never afterwards bo separated from tlio land. In 
process of time the whole inanagcnicnt will fall into 
tha hands of the settlors; till then Messrs, (vliaifey 
niana>(o tlie irrij^ation. They have already put up 
about the bigge.st pumping plant in the world at 
Mildnra, and are lifting their water at a cost of about 
a penny per cunic feet per 40 feet lift. The 
present annual water rate is 0 shillings per oers 
occu})iod, and it will probably not cxccen 10 shilling 
at any time. Willi each acre sold there goes a shave 
in the Irrigation Company, and to each sliaro is 
attiuihod the liability to water rate, so that a huyor 
on speculation may leave his land idle, if he so 
wislics, l)Ut ho pays the annual water-rate of 0 shil- 
lings wlicthcr the land is idle or cultivated: this does 
not pay the luero specnlator. 
The Company is making canals, roads and hridgos, 
has put up foundries and workshops; at IMildura it 
lias commenced an Agrienltuval College, whicli the 
Government concession binds it to cnaow with onc- 
liftoenth of all the irrigated land ; the Kenmark 
College will follow very soon. It has imported 
powerful machinery. A canning and raisin (Vying 
and packing factory is already started at IVUldura; 
another will follow at Hemnark. I'lcctric lighting 
and tolcphonos are in use. Telegraphic comnuinica- 
tion is established with both l\Ielhourno and Adelaide. 
Special freiglits arc alreiuly obtainalde by thccolynies, 
and when they are fairly developed ^ they will ho 
able to charter their own fleets ami trains. 
The INIossrs. ChafTey have imported skilled irrigat rs, 
fruit cannors. raisin iinishors, machinery, and packers 
from California. There nro enormous nurseries of 
vinos, primes, zanto currants, apricots, olives, A'c., 
already established. The wuhs of their combined 
products will give ihcsotllors an enormous advantage 
in marketing, in froiglits and cost of handling : the 
finishing and packing under skilled supoiwision with 
tlic best appliances will give thorn the first place in 
every iiiarKet they outer. • • • • 
Thus it is tlnvt the purchaser buys not only rich 
land and all its irrigation plant, but ho buys with 
it good roatis and every advantage in prcxiaring and 
marketing liis jjroduct. lie reaps the rewards of a 
XUoneor and does not suffer the solitude, the hard- 
ships, tlic painful burden of purely individual labour 
which besot tno ordinary pioneer. Ho may earn 
money elsewhere wdiilc ‘his orchard or vineyard is 
growing. On the other hand, the promoters con- 
centrate all llie work in a comiiarativcly small area, 
and can docvcrytliing very economically, and xirobaldy 
spend under t‘l I an acre on the land : the remainder 
of tlie value is given by their organisation, their care- 
ful planning and unremitting w’ork. Tiio Messrs. 
Chaney are singularly capable men, lus engineers, as 
financiers, as organisers they are hard to boat ; tiie 
Californian irngation colonies founded by thorn at 
Ettiwanda and Ontario have been conspicuously sue- 
cossful, even in that country of irrigation colonies, and 
if tliey do make CO an acre by it tlioy not only tliurough- 
ly earn the money, but also hell) (others to make a 
great deal more than that. And mark this; their 
initial expenses are eiiormoiis : for instance they 
havo already expended (piitu t'10(),()(X) on irrigation 
plant alone at Mildura, and tlieao cannot be I’ecoupcd 
if much of the land remains unsold : they ///»'•</, there- 
fore, ma-ke it pay the purchaser, and it is to their 
interest to add every material and social attraction in 
order to (piickon tlio Bti’cani of settlers, for the faster 
they conic in the sooner is the return of money spent : 
they are therefore ruined if thero schemes are not 
founded on sound linos, and have put their own 
fortunes to tlie stake. I am as absolutely sure of the 
soundness as they arc themselves. 
Oranges and lemons give about the highest ulti- 
mate profits, but cost most to put in and take five 
years to good hearing, as against four years for vine- 
yards and most other fruits. * • » » 
Oranges will cost i'UO more to plant, and retjuirc 
another year’s outlay before good returns come in; 
ID acres of oranges and lemons in hearing may thus he 
estimated to cost X040. Eer this outlay you can 
reckon on a minimum net return of £150 per annum 
from grapes, and certainly £200 per annum from 
oranges and lemons, even if you use hired labour for 
the whole of tho work, which no man should do. A 
man who took over the orchard into his own lianV 
after tho first year could save most of tho expenditure 
afterwards, and get a higher return by selling cuttings^ 
growing a little lucerne, &c. Thus a father who 
hvys out £1,000 on 20 acres for his son puls tho young 
man into an assured £.400 a year, with light out-door 
work in a pleasant climate, amid the most favourable 
social surroundings. A man who lays out £2,000 on 
40 aci'cs for his docUiiing years, and spends £1,000 in 
a house, has a valuable estate bringing in well over 
£1)00 a year to leave his children, has interesting out- 
door work, and a most social life. If ho has 
Viighters they will not stay with hini long, hut need 
not go far, as the country will bo thickly settled with 
thriving young men wlio seek for wives, as young men 
will do. 
The social life is a peculiarity of these settlements; 
nearly all the men have money, some liavo a good 
deal, an extraordinary high proportion are men of 
birth and education. At Mildura Lord Ranfurly has 
put in about 200 acres for himself and sons, and 
there are several retired Melbourne merchants and 
numljers of young college men settled down already. 
Komnark is nehindhand in extent, but Lord Doramoro 
has taken up a large piece, and several retired military 
men are at work already too. A steady stroain of 
settlors, well-to-do and mostly gentlemen, has set in 
from England. There is rabliit and duck shooting to 
any extent; the great cost of fencing is due to tho 
number of rabbits about, as they have to he kept out 
by strips of inch galvanised iron wire netting. 
Imero is fishing in the Murray (a noble river hero, 
over l,0(K> feet wide) mostly bait I fear. I saw several 
groat IMurray cod pulled out, H to 12 lb., and excellent 
eating. I saw a lot of smaller fi.sh rising in a hock 
water one golden evening, and there maybe a lot to 
bo done with fiy and spoon. 
It is to be noted tliat a great nuinbor of successful 
and enterprising colonial fruit and wine growers have 
started places for themselves or their sons. Taken 
all in all I have seen notliing like it, nor heard of 
anything equal to it, either for one's own old ago or 
for a man’s sons and daughters. There is one kind of 
man who must not come hero, that is the man who 
caniiul get on without first-mto domestic servants: 
such things are not to ho had ; the poojile are too 
rich, any decent looking girlwitlihonsovvitcilyijnalitios 
will marry about as soon at she likes, and marry into 
a, comfortable house of her own. A man's gi'eat stand- 
hv must ho his wife and daughters (till marnageahlo) 
if lu' lias no w'omenfolk he make an arrangement (or 
nuuries) for his moals, and wants no servant in the 
house. Domestic life is simple and rural. For young 
men there is constant foot ball, cricket, bicycling and 
all manner of out-door annisemcnts ; for all there arc 
libraiies, reading rooms and plenty of society. Every 
man is busy all day, and busy with a pleasant sense of 
hoing nnconnnonJy well paid for it. Tho ciUTent 
wages in ordinaiy work are M. to per day. 
Fiuutr-'t I'f'iiardiutj Mihhim.—The agreement with the 
Victorian Government was signed on 2lHt October 
ISSfi, and Messrs. Cliaffey liegan real work on tho 
place in August lH87, having by then got ontmachinory 
and put up temporary sheds ‘of sorts. Up to end of 
Juno IStll tho company bad altogether expended 
£108,000 on pennanent improvements, and their 
average pay bIiooIs are £7,000 per month for wages 
alone. One of their pnnijiing engines is a triple- 
expansion four-cylinderod engine of 1,000 indicated 
horse power, directly driving four centrifugal pumps 
of 0 feet diameters, with 20-inch inlet and outlet nipes, 
and from which four such ( tfier pumps are to be arivon 
by bolts wlicn roijuired, the whole plant lining capable 
of throwing 12(MKK) to 1 10,000 gallons per minute when 
required, Tlierearo four traction engines for scarify, 
ing, three for grubbing up trees. Tlio Agricultural 
College foundations are laid, and the building will 
cost ,£:i,(K)0. Tho Mochanics’ Institute under erection 
will cost £:4,000. 'riioro are 400 miles of channels 
made, l;iO miles are from 8 to 25 foot wide and the 
remainder small distributaries. Cementing the beds^ 
