35 ° I HF TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [Novemuer 2, 1891. 
and 8ide8 is in Imnd. Tho permanent building for a 
canning factory about to start will cost ,£‘2,500. In 
August 1887 there was but one old Hnuattcr’s house 
and a few huts, also 15 tents occupied by iiitemling 
settlers. There avo now over .500 houses and .-$,150 
inhabitants. Tho Hliiro Council, constituted in Janu- 
ary 1890, gives the reteablo proj^erty at £10,000. 'Ihe 
customs revenue last year (goods ijnported in hoiul) 
was £3, .512. Sliipping entered and ctoared (river 
steamers and Oats) for hist year was IIH vossels of 
13,192 tons, cujploying 798 men. There are a post and 
telegraph office, custonis house, state school (cost 
£3, (MX) and onlargonieuts shortly to be made), bank, 
saving, banks, six general stores, inunberfl of special 
stores iVH saddlers, milliners, ttc., a cotfoe palace (cost 
i!4,000,) a foundry, workshops, and steam printing 
press. One paper, tho Miliinra got up in 
excellent style is published thcro. There is no pnhlic- 
house in the settlement, and tlie law is framed, both 
here and at Rcrmiark, to prevent the retail sale of 
liquor. The effect of tliis is extraordinary, and fur- 
nishes an object lesson which will have wido effect 
in time. The fiinii has sold all the town lots, all the 
villa sites, and about 20, (MMJ acres of fruit land: most 
of it is sold on a system of instalments spread over ten 
years and involving heavy interest charges. Tlie 
areas actually planted by the middle of June wore — 
588 acres oranges, ‘225 lemons, HfiHi apricots, :$0 peach, 
55 oiivo, 75 lig, 15 prune, 7.50 raisin vines, 68 wine 
grapes, 76J zantc currants, 78 various and nurseries, 
total 2,350 acres. Planting has l»een in full swing 
over since and will go on to middle of September. At 
least .3, (MX) acres Jiiusfc be put in this season, and tho 
Company has ordered li million cuttings from a single 
firjn in Adelaide alone. Heveral tons of raisins were 
turned out this year. Tho characteristics of Honmark 
are the same as those of M ildura except that the place is 
newer and tho land is not so high above tho. river, tho 
irrigation will therefore cost loss and blocks near tlio 
river are still available for purchase. Of tlio parts 
that I saw there was a larger proportion of tho very 
best land in Uenmark than at M ildura: and taking 
it all in all I agree with tho more recent arrivals from 
England, who are mostly selecting land at Roninark. 
Compare the life of a young man started in one of 
these, with the man who has mado an average start 
in any profession. Compare tho cost of starting a 
young man herewith the cost of bringing him up for 
0110 of tho professions; and compaio the average re- 
sults of tho two starts in life 1 Ido not expect all this 
to have much weight on my single report and advise 
further reference to the following papers : — 
1. — The Australian Irrigation Colonies: a pamphlot 
containing reprints from official reports of the Victo- 
rian Water Supply Dopartmont, and from Australian 
newspaper reports. 
2. — Tho July numher of tho Adelaide Oanlfn and 
Field containing tho South Australian Ajj^ricultural 
huroaii’a report on their recent visit to Mildura and 
Ronmark. The meniher.s of this Bureau are all prac- 
tical men, engaged in growing fruit, wine-making, 
fanning, chcoRcmaking, <Vc., or business in connection 
therewith. 
3. — Specimen numher, .luly 1891, of the Mildura 
CiJtivator^ printed and puhlisfied at Mildura. 
4. — Moinoraiidnm of terms and conditions of sale 
of the Reiunark irrigation lands, issued by the Chaffey 
Irrigation Colonioa Co., Btd. 
I commend these to tlio most careful attention of 
Anglo-Indians who are looking out for the same sort 
of opening that I have been. They contain full infor- 
mation. If several of us were to take contiguous blocks 
we could Have tlie division fences, or about £1 1 on 
every 10 acres. By working together those who are 
nrcsont lit any time can look after tho intoresta uf 
the absent, and, aatho custom of busmosa is, tho com- 
bined interosta reproHOnting a largo area will gut 
more consideration than tho separate units would and 
can always obtain sundry convenient ooncossions 
With this view I wont very carefully over the laud 
around Rcnmark, and selected a piece of rich, open, 
sandy-loam of a strong red colour within three miles 
of tho township, and about two furlongs from tho 
main avenue, which will be tho first to have a 
tram liuc QU it. Tho ftoil iu every respect bcttJr 
suited for irrigation than almost any I have seen 
during over twenty years' experience on Indian canals. 
There isa small ridge just suited for building on above 
tlie irrigated land. Tho land is lightly timbered t\'ith 
Murray pinoBand other easily uprooted sornb: it will 
not coat much to clear. The pine is not attacked by 
termites or borers, and is theroforo valuable for fencing 
and house Imilding. 
iMossrs. Chaffey aro alive to the probable advantage 
of getting a number of retired Aiiglo-Imlians with 
fairly good means to settle on the land, and have 
courteouslv marked out a block of 20 acres of tliis 
land wliich they will reserve for applicants through 
me for one year, up to the end of .Tuly 1892, hut 
on tho condition that the purchasers of this reserved 
land bny/er read// tnoneii. Adioining this is the land of 
Ijord Deranioro; in, t think, slightly inferior soil. 
The map of it will reach me a few aaysJience. There 
is no fear of losing by tlie purchase of this land, it 
will rise in value day by day vvitli tho in-ogress of tho 
settlement, just as aimilarly situated land at Mildure 
has already done. I wish I had the money to buy 
and plant tlie whole of it. The man who puts iu a 
vineyard or orangery at a cost of £15 to £6‘2 per aero, 
and then does not care to keep it, can easily sell out at 
a conBidorahlo advance whenever bo w'ishes, for set- 
tlors — moil with money and meaning to buy, are arriv- 
ing in numbers, six and eight a day sometimes, and 
money is circulating rapidly. Amero money profit is 
a certainty, hut the splendid open for pcrmaiieut settle- 
ment is what 1 am looking to. I will boglad to hear 
from any persons willing to join with mo on this reserved 
20() acres. ^IMioso who wish for independent iiiquirioa 
can write to the Chaffey Irrigation Company, Limited, 
King William Street, Adelaide, for all particulars. 
The colonies can bo seen in ten days from Adolaido, 
or a very interesting tour can ho mapped out to take 
in Adelaide, the river Miirniy by stoamor from Morgan 
to Blildnra, doing Uenmark rn nmfe, then up the Dar- 
ling by Hteainerto take Merrindi, and across by coach to 
tho great silver mines and rising town of Broken Hill, 
and thou hack to Adelaide liy railway; about £30 will 
cover the whole trip, witli a largo margin for extras. 
‘2, Alexander Terrace Gloneig, S. Australia. 
— rio/iccr. 
^ 
MUBAS. 
Tliis handsomo group includes several species and 
varieties of valuo for conservatory decoration wliero 
space is amplo. and during tho summer some of them 
arc also useful for out-door tropical effects, for 
which their bold leaves make them particularly de- 
sirable. When planted outside, however, tho Bananas 
should have a somewhat sheltored position, for 
when exposed to tho full force of the wind tho leaves 
are often split and torn. Those plants aro gross 
foodors and enjoy rich soil, and respond to liberal 
treatment genorallv. Another point in thoir favour 
is, that they avo but little subject to insect pests, 
unless surrounded by infoctod x}lautH of other species. 
The true Banana, Mimi Mpientninf is rather too 
large a plant to be inchulod in a small collection, 
but tho variegated form of this species, M. i«iineufum, 
rilfnfa^ is an extremely handsome one, and is not 
quite so rampant iu growth as tho typo. This variety 
is perhaps the most striking member of tho genus, 
the leaves .being oblong iu form and the ground 
color bright groeu. on w'hich are imviiy stripes and 
blotches of white. Thefruitisof little valuo, but when 
planted out in a warm houbo, and at tho same time 
aiicoiiragod in growth by a moist atmosphere and 
plentiful watering at tho root, it makes a very effective 
specimen. The propagation of this form is accom- 
plished by means of suckers, which, in common 
with most of tho mouibbrs of this genus, it produces 
in moderate number. 
The_ Chinese Banana, Af. Carendinhii, is quite 
dwarf in habit, and has been frequently fruited under 
glass, for when full-grown it seldom reaches more 
than eight foot in height, and has often been fruited 
when about six foot. Its leaves aro from throe 
