MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
187 
position, although not to such an extent. Let it be 
granted, then, that the present consumption of Australia 
in this article is about equal to the present supply, it fol¬ 
lows that as the population grows so must the quantity of 
meat required increase. But we have already stocked 
nearly all our available country, therefore this country 
must be made more productive, or the supply must eeasb 
to increase in quantity, and of course the increased re¬ 
quirements of the people be met from some other quarter. 
Although we have taken it for granted that the present 
demand is met by a corresponding supply, so far as the 
congregated Australia are concerned, and 1 am prepared 
from this position to prove that, unless means be taken 
and successfully carried out without delay, to increase 
the productiveness of our uative feeding grounds, we are 
on the eve of artificial feeding, or more .likely and more 
ruinous, if not more disgraceful, on the eve of importa¬ 
tion ; 'yet I ain clearly of opinion that we have already 
passed that point where the ordinary supply is equal to 
the demand. I am led to this disagreeable conclusion, in 
spite of a strong desire to arrive at a different one. from 
the following considerations : — First. The position, with 
regard to this question, of Victoria, Tasmania, and I may 
also add, South Australia, all of which colonies are pur¬ 
chasers of, beef and mutton from their elder sister. New 
South Wales. Second. The whole, or nearly so, of the 
available country being already fully stocked, and pro¬ 
ducing its maximum under present circumstances. And 
last, but not least, the fact that owing to the absence of 
long droughts, such as colonists of twenty or thirty years 
standing cannot fail to have witnessed, when, even in 
those days of limited numbers, we have been nearly run 
ashore on starvation point, and all but made total wreck 
in famine straits. Through the absence of these, I may 
say for fifteen years past, at least to anything like the ex¬ 
perience of the previous fifty years, large tracts of country 
have been stocked with cattle and sheep, which in former 
years were totally unsuited for such purposes, owing to 
want of water, or grass, or both. Such seasons as were 
common twenty or thirty years ago are very likely, nay 
certain, so far as human reasoning can foretell, to visit us 
again, in which event thousands upon thousands of square 
miles of couutry will have to be abandoned, and millions 
of cattle and sheep must perish. God forbid that wc 
should see it, but we most certainly shall if we neglect to 
take the necessary steps to mitigate, at least, the effects 
of such awful visitations. Should we be visited with two 
years drought unprepared as we have been in former times 
perhaps nearly half the cattle in the colonies would be 
lost, and such a stroke would at once, and for year s after, 
render us dependent upon other countries for a large por¬ 
tion of our animal food. 
To set on foot some scheme by which such disastrous 
consequences may be {if only partially) prevented, ought 
to be the earnest endeavour of every colonist who has the 
welfare of his country at heart, and whose opportunities 
and abilities may permit- More especially should the 
Legislature consider the subject, and endeavour to learn 
the means (and carry them into effect) of rendering our 
pastures (the main stay of the country) moro productive 
and more permanent than, unfortunately, they aTe now. 
It would be easy for the Government to establish a 
small experimental garden at the head quarters of every 
Commissioner of Crown lands, such garden to be devoted 
entirely to the cultivation of grasses and fodder plants 
One man, who should be a practical gardener, would be 
sufficient for this purpose, under the direction of the Com¬ 
missioner, which last should also, if possible, be a man of 
enlightened views, and anxious for the progression of his 
district. The duty of this gardener would be to cultivate 
as many species of grasses and other fodder plants as pos¬ 
sible, to collect the seeds of all the grasses and herbs indi¬ 
genous to his district, in order to be forwarded to other 
experimental gardens in the various districts of the 
country, or to a central and more extensive experimental 
farm, (such as this society contemplates establishing under 
its own management) from which these seeds could be dis¬ 
seminated throughout the whole of Australia, and to pre¬ 
pare accurate annual reports of the results of his experi¬ 
ments, which should be published for the information of 
the public generally. Such matter as these reports would 
necessarily contain would be of Incalculable advantage in 
gliding and directing the settlers in their endeayours to 
improve their runs. And the Magazine which this Society 
contemplates publishing almost immediately would be a 
very suitable vehicle for the dissemination of the informa¬ 
tion thus acquired, especially if such magazine be devoted 
entirely to the diffusion of a scientific and practical know¬ 
ledge of rural affairs generally, as I hope and trust it will 
be. An acre of ground, and the wages of one man in each 
pastoral district, expended for this purpose would be an 
utterly contemptible outlay compared with the immense 
gain which would accrue, in the increased value of the 
public lands, besides enormous indirect gains sure to be 
realized from the increased productiveness of the country. 
Surely some common sense member of our legislature 
could be found who would be willing to advocate some 
such policy, and I feel sure that no action on the part of 
any patriot could be more praiseworthy, or more likely to 
benefit his country, and thereby, hand down his name to 
posterity as a philanthropist worthy of all honour. 
To assist such an arrangement as the above, local so¬ 
cieties, where the population is dense enongh for the pur¬ 
pose. might be established profitably, and thereby science 
be brought to bear more directly, even at the very doors 
of those most deeply interested. These local societies 
would be immensely advantageous in many ways, besides 
leading the people generally to assist any arrangement 
made by the Government. Every one connected with 
them would feel It his duty to do his best for the advance¬ 
ment of the end in view; whilst without them exchange 
of ideas would be almost out of the quojtion, and without 
such an arrangement we should undoubtedly lose much 
information that otherwise we should have gained. 
There is no doubt that science, even in a questiou of 
this kind, can be brought to bear most advantageously, 
and I cannot help making a quotation from that valuable 
vehicle of information for the people, “The Household 
Words.” In an article on Cookery the writer expresses 
himself thus—U One of the largest promises of science is, 
that the sum of human happiness will be increased, igno¬ 
rance destroyed, and, with ignorance, prejudice and super¬ 
stition, and that great truth taught to all, that this world 
and all it contains were meant for our service; and that 
where nature by her own laws has defined the original 
unfitness, science may so modify those limits as to render 
wholesome that which by natural wildness was hurtful, 
and nutritious that which by natural poverty was un¬ 
nourishing." 
I would apply these sentiments in their full force to the 
field for improvement which we are now considering, and 
let us hope that some practical steps will be taken to test 
their truth. 
As I have now intruded upon your timp as far as I 
think desirable, I would, in conclusion, beg to remark 
that I have purposely avoided any direct allusion to the 
various species of grasses and herbs which it would he de¬ 
sirable to test by experiment, because many of them are 
indigenous, and I think it more desirable to speak of them 
when I come to that part of my subject which will treat of 
“native plants.” 
NAMING OR NUMBERING PLANTS. 
’ By P- L. C. Shepherd. 
It is highly desirable in furnishing gardens with col¬ 
lections of plants that an instrument of designation 
should accompany each plant, unless common or easily 
known varieties, not only to enable the proprietor to 
distinguish the various plants, but also as a means of 
keeping a collection perfect. And yet, I am not aware 
of one garden in the colony where any system is 
thoroughly carried out. 
A considerable variety of written or printed tallies, 
labels, and number-sticks is used in gardening; of these 
the written tally is most commonly used in our 
gardens: the simplest kind is a slip of pine board, 
smoothed with a sharp garden knife and pointed; a 
little white lead is then rubbed in with the finger, and 
