MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
185 
men of Blancifordia Grandiftora, which he 
informed the meeting grew to the height 
of five feet, and that he had obtained the 
same from the Wollombi mountains. 
PAPER POR NEXT MONTH. 
Mr. P. L. C. Shepherd, on remarkable 
plants. 
The next monthly meeting will be held 
on Tuesday, March 2nd. 
NATIVE PLANTS, 
AND THE PASTORAL, AGRICULTURAL, AND HOR¬ 
TICULTURAL RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA. 
No. 3 .—By T. IV. Shepherd. 
In all ages, and without exception, civilized 
nations have resorted to artificial means, or culti¬ 
vation, in order to increase their supply of food or 
clothing, by rendering their lands more fruitful 
and productive than nature’s hand had left them; 
and history everywhere teaches us that the advance 
of civilization, and refinement of intellect, has 
been accompanied, invariably, by a corresponding 
progress in the pursuit of agricultural or horticul¬ 
tural development. In like manner we are taught 
that a decline in the one will most surely be at¬ 
tended by decline in tile other. .England affords, 
perhaps, the inost striking modern instance of the 
former. In her fields and in her meadows, in her 
forests, and even in her moors and fens, the art of 
husbandry has attained to a degree of perfection 
infinitely in advance of any other country on the 
face of our globe; and as she excels all nations in 
this particular respect, so also she excels them in 
all that constitutes true greatness in a nation. 
And it will be found that the same position holds 
good respecting all other countries. 
Many instances of declining civilization, accom¬ 
panied by declining agricultural prosperity, might 
be adduced. Amongst others, the wonderfully fer¬ 
tile islands at the eastern end of the Mediterranean 
sea are striking examples. Rhodes, one of these 
islands (celebrated in history for the politeness and 
learning of its people, who were also distinguished 
for the cultivation of the arts and sciences, for. 
great riches, and extensive commerce), although 
only about 120 miles iu circumference, and con¬ 
taining a population of between 300,000 and 
400,000. yet was able to export large quantities of 
grain, and other products of the soil. It has been 
said of Rhodes, *• that its soil is so rich and fertile, 
that it produces every delicacy which man can wish 
to enjoy ; and the air is the most pure and serene 
that he can breathe.” Indeed, such is the beauty 
of the country, and delightfulness of the climate, 
as to give occasion to the poets to feign that Apollo 
rained golden showers upon it. and blessed ii with 
his most salubrious beams." 
“ The glorious ruler of the morning, Lo, 
But looks on flowers, and straight they grow; 
And when his beams their light unfold, 
Ripens the dullest earth, and warms it into 
gold." 
Little more than 300 years ago, this beautiful 
island was conquered by the Turks; from that time 
the arts and sciences ceased to be cultivated, civi¬ 
lization vanished, and with it all its agricultural 
greatness; and although formerly able to export 
its products largely, besides supplying the wants of 
little less than half a million of inhabitants, vet at 
the present time it scarcely furnishes food sufficient 
for the sustenance of a population reduced to less 
than 50,000. Thus we see, perhaps, the most fer¬ 
tile island in the world now peopled by a starving 
and degraded race, chiefly because all those arts 
and pursuits which tend to ennoble the mind, and 
render man happy and prosperous; and amongst 
which the cultivation of the soil holds a conspicu¬ 
ous and important place, have been neglected. ' 
While almost all countries resort I o some species 
of cultivation, in order to procure food for man, 
yet we find that the cultivation of plants for the 
sustenance of domestic animals, particularly of 
horses, sheep, and cattle, has always been confined 
to nations distinguished by the advancement of the 
practice of agriculture, and the other arts attend¬ 
ant upon civilization. Although, in early ages, 
flocks and herds were considered as indicating 
power and greatness amongst the most eminent 
nations of antiquity, such as the Jews, Egyptians, 
and Greeks, yet it is not certain, that any plants 
were cultivated for the exclusive purpose of feeding 
these; such probably was the case, hut no proof 
pro or con can now he found. 
It is certain, however, that the Romans largely 
practised this branch of industry in the first century 
of the Christian era, and we find that they there 
cultivated many of the plants still in use, such as 
clover, lucerne, vetches, &c. According to an 
agricultural writer of that age, the cultivation of 
the soil was deemed the most honorable of pursuits, 
excepting only that of tile soldier. He says:— 
“ The earth delighted to he ploughed with a shear, 
adorned with laurels, and by a ploughman who had 
been honored with a triumph.” . 
On the decline of the Roman empire, and 
during the barbarous ages, it is probable that the 
artificial feeding of domestic herbiverous animals 
was only practised to a very limited extent, if not 
totally suppressed; but in the 16th and 17th 
century it was revived first in Holland, and after¬ 
wards in England, where it has ever since continued 
to advance and flourish. 
I have been led into these remarks in order to 
show that if Australia is to become great or remain 
civilized, the cultivation of the soil cannot be 
neglected. Unless some means be found to vastly 
improve our natural pastures, those engaged in 
pastoral pursuits must, from being so thinly 
scattered, become in a generation or two little 
superior to savages. Railways will never he con¬ 
structed through a country so poor that it requires 
many acres to produce a hale of wool, or a square 
mile a cask of tallow. But poor as our pastures 
are, they must rapidly become poorer, unless some¬ 
thing be done to improve them. And the sooner 
that something is begun, the better for all parties. 
It is w;ell known that some of our most esteemed 
pasture grasses have already disappeared from the 
runs of the cider districts, and it is more than 
probable that many others as valuable, although 
less noticed, because less conspicuous, have also 
disappeared from the same cause, which is the 
continual eating oil' to which they are subjected by 
cattle and sheep. This eating, off destroys the only 
means oi production which the plants possess, 
namely, the perfecting and the distribution of seeds; 
and it is a natural consequence that the better the 
quality of the grass is, the sooner will it disappear, 
because the best are selected first and eaten down 
