76 ‘QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Jan., 1898. 
AGRICULTURAL BANK. 
Tue Agricultural Bank is an institution that has been established by the 
Government of Western Australia, and our own Government might do worse 
than follow the example of the young colony in this respect. The. object of 
this institution is to render temporary assistance to bond fide cultivators of the 
soil. By Act of the Legislature the bank is authorised to lend money, on the 
security of the land, for the sole purpose of carrying out necessary works of 
improvement, such as clearing, ploughing, fencing, draining, building, &c., 
which are approved as calculated to increase the value of the land. Yor these 
urposes the settler can obtain an advance of from £50 to £800, equal to one- - 
half of the value of the improvements to be effected. The interest charged is 
5 per cent. per annum, and repayment of the principal can be arranged on the 
easiest terms, not commencing until five years have elapsed, and then only at 
the rate of one-fiftieth of the amount every six months. It may be imagined 
that struggling settlers are not slow to avail themselves of this convenient 
means for carrying out the work of bringing their land into productive 
condition.— Tweed Herald. ; 
PHYLLOXERA-RESISTING VINES. 
THERE is a vigorous demand in Victoria for the phylloxera-resisting grape- 
vines imported by the Government for distribution; and it is already evident 
that the 50,000 cuttings available will not be nearly enough to supply require- 
ments. One vigneron alone has applied for the whole number, and experts 
estimate that the Government will have to import at least 600,000 cuttings, 
and possibly 1,000,000, to satisfy present and prospective applications. This 
activity shows the importance which southern vignerons attach to the wine 
industry.— Exchange. 
FOREST CONSERVANCY IN VICTORIA. 
Vicrorta is at last bestirring itself in the matter of the proper conservation 
of its forests. A. report of the Forest Commission has been. prepared for 
submission to the Ministerfor Lands. In it attention is drawn to the destrue- 
tion of valuable timber which has been going on in Victoria unchecked for 
many years, and to the absolute necessity of the Forest Department being 
given larger scope, so that extensive tracts which have been denuded of 
marketable timber may be restored. The commission recommends that the 
area of State forests should be largely increased, and, to secure the better 
preservation of young timber in reserves, more foresters should be employed, 
so that there may be a stricter supervision exercised over the cutting of trees. 
Unless this is done it is feared that the supplies of timber for mining purposes 
will soon run short, resulting in increased cost of mining operations owing to 
timber having to be brought from lorg distances.—Sydney Stock and Station 
Journal. : } 
VALUE OF IRRIGATION. 
Ix his report to the Chief Engineer of the Victorian Water Supply Depart- 
ment, Mr. Thomas Murray, engineer to the department, says in reference to 
the irrigation of lands in the Northern districts of the colony :— 
‘The irrigated crops ranged from 3 fect 6 inches to 5 feet in height, 
and the yield of wheat from them was estimated at from 20 to 82 bushels 
er acre, the barley from 30 to 50 bushels, and the oats from 80 to 60 
Baanels The unirrigated crops of wheat were estimated to produce from 4 to 
10 bushels per acre, but the majority of them would ayerage about 4 or 5 
bushels. The area of the trust embraced 15,090 acres. This season thirty- 
seven farmers irrigated 4,135 acres of cereals. Some of the holdings were 
watered twice, and other three times.’ This season the gross value of the 
cereal crops in the district of the trust was estimated at upwards of £20,000. 
Had there been no irrigation, the total value would not probably have 
