MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
251 
I perfectly concur in the views of the writer 
with regard to having stock shows held alternately 
in the different centres of population, but most 
certainly, never before heard that it. was intended 
to hold them in the City of Sydney. "Whenever 
these stock shows however are held in the interior, 
or away from the society’s head quarters, (which I 
presume will be its model farm) the city or town 
at which such show is to be held should find the 
funds for erecting the necessary sheds and pens, so 
that the funds of the society might be devoted to 
the prize list. The society in common with myself 
is much indebted to our friend, Mr. Robert Meston, 
for many practically instructive papers which he 
has furnished to the society; and 1 can assure 
him that my only object in explaining what ap¬ 
peared to me a mistake, was to prevent a statement 
going abroad, from one of our best men, calcu¬ 
lated to injure our society with the public, and 
most certainly not with the (as it would be in me) 
presumption of censuring him even in a mild form. 
NATIVE PLANTS, AND THE AGRICULTURAL 
HORTICULTURAL, AND PASTORAL 
RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA. 
No. 6. 
T. W. Shepherd. 
My last paper (No. o) concluded with some remarks 
on the mc.-ssity for the centralisation of agricultural 
populations, in order to develope and realise the highest 
state of agricultural prosperity of which a country is 
capable, and with a promise to* consider this part of'the 
subject a little further in my next. This promise, with 
much pleasure, I now proceed to fulfil. 
Agricultural prosperity, in. a national sense, I take 
to mean the ability of a country to supply itself directly 
with those cultivated productions of tho earth for which 
its natural circumstances adapt it, particularly with 
those necessaries of life which are indispensable, with¬ 
out the infliction of hardship or privation on any class 
or section of its people, either morally or physically, to 
this may be added the power of exchanging these pro¬ 
ducts with other countries with reciprocal advantage. 
That Australia is not now, or likely to bo for some 
time, permanently in this position I have already 
shown. It is true that her wool and gold at present 
enable her to procure all she wants, either of the neces¬ 
saries or tho luxuries of life; but it is also true, as 
we have already seen, that without the employment of 
artificial means the first (wool) has reached its maxi¬ 
mum, and the last (gold) at best is precarious, as the 
experience of ages teaehes mi. 
Amongst othur causes, mentioned in my last paper, 
as having a tendency to withdraw the attention and 
energy of tho colonists from agricultural pursuits was 
the system so long pursued of surveying and laying 
out the public lands for sale. With this cause must he 
associated the geneial policy of the country during the 
major part of its career. This policy was calculated 
to disperse rather than to concentrate population, and 
so far as the agricultural portion of tho community is 
concerned has really accomplished the former. The 
consequence is that we have no considerable district 
taking the lead in agricultural development. Of 
course my present remarks are intended to apply more 
particularly to New South Wales, because it is my 
intention presently to compare the present agricultural 
position of the other throe great Australian colonies 
with that of hers. Another consequence is that large 
numbers of people have been induced, if not compelled, 
by circumstances beyond their control to settle (live) in 
towns, who, if sufficient encouragement had been hold 
out to them* might have been happy and thriving far¬ 
mers now, instead of discontonted, unproductive,^ and, 
most probably, unhappy citizens. Other causes may 
have contributed to this dangerous result—no doubt 
they have; and chief among these I consider is our 
great and unexampled wealth; because the diffusion 
and dispersion of such wealth enables large numbers of 
people to live, subsist, vegetate, or exist, with very small 
exertion of their own. Rut, again, this same wealth is 
the result of the aforesaid policy, which, no doubt, was 
its chief end and airu, and the existence of which proves 
that it lias boon so far pre-eminently successful. The 
aim of the colonists, no doubt, was to take advantage of 
the apparently unlimited pastoral resources of tho 
colony, and really' the extraordinary’ speed with which 
these have been developed would very naturallv lead 
to the setting aside of other pursuits, consequently our 
policy"was directed chiefly by this view, and in carry¬ 
ing it out it became a loading principle to settle, as 
soon as may be, the whole of our vast territory. Town¬ 
ships were laid out and sold where none were required, 
and land was sold in all directions, often wlieie, pro¬ 
bably, it will not be made use of for agricultural pur- 
peses for generations to come. By this means the 
inhabitants became scattered, much capital unprofitable 
sunk, and energy wasted. It would have been well tor 
the country had this rare for wealth been tempered by 
a little caution and foresight. Had it been so I cannot 
see that it would have impeded to any perceptible extent 
tho development of the pastoral resources, while it 
would have rendered the present position of the coun¬ 
try a much safer one, both physically and morally, 
than it now is. 
Much more might be said by way of illustrating this 
view of tho subject, which would probably render the 
position I have taken plainer and more convincing; 
out this must he dispensed with, for our rules very 
properly exclude from our meetings any discussion (if 
the debatable^ political questions of the day’, and fur¬ 
ther illustration conld scarcely be made withont tread¬ 
ing upon the forbidden ground. That which has been 
already advanced with respect to the aims and conse¬ 
quences of the policy hitherto pursued by the countrv, 
has been done in no discontented mood or complaining 
spirit, and it appeared to me to be rendered necessary 
in order to remove an erroneous impression very gene¬ 
rally' entertained both in this country and out of it also, 
namely’, that our unsatisfactory agricultural position 
is chiefly the consequence of a barren soil and au unfa¬ 
vourable and arid climate; and that wo are now in 
that position in spite of great inducements afforded to 
agriculturists by’the legislature, while the truth in 
both cases is the very opposite of this. 
_ It has been said already that the four great Austra¬ 
lian colonies are, each and all of them, capable of 
I agricultural development to such an extent as to pre¬ 
clude altogether the necessity- for the importation of 
bread stuffs, at a 11 events, from foreign countries, I am 
convinced that this view is a correct one, and wish to bo 
understood as entertaining it without the most remote 
idea of having recourse to protection, or in other words 
to a policy which would make tho agriculturist pros¬ 
perous at the expense of his fellow-colonists engaged in 
other branches of industry. If Australia cannot pro¬ 
duce those commodities as cheaply as other countries 
can supply her with them, it would be -wiser to give up 
the idea of agriculture altogether, rather than to keep 
it up as a mere expensive amusement. Those Austra- ' 
liatLs who have proclaimed that their country is onlv 
fitted for the shepherd and the stockman (as leading 
ones have done), exhibit themselves and their countrv 
in a very humiliating aspect. 
But in spite of these authoritative (and, from tlicir 
authority, apparently conclusive, but to me apparently 
hypocritical, interested, and selfish) assertions 1 hope to 
show, from what I have already advanced and from 
what I have still to sav, and to show triumphantly, that 
Australia is destined not only to supply herself with 
those indispensable necessaries of life which all 
countries require, but also to assist in supplying with 
them the thickly and over peopled countries of the 
world, such for instance as China and India, in 
exchange for those productions for which their climates 
and circumstances move particularly adapt them, and 
