^94 
JOURNAL  OF  BORTlaULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
January  27,  189S. 
TRADE  CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 
H.  Deyerill,  Banbury. — Seeds  and  Plants  for  1898. 
Vilmorin,  Andrieux,  &  Co.,  Quai  de  la  Megisserie,  Paris. —  Vegetable, 
Fruit,  and  Flower  Seeds. 
OUR  YOUXG  SISTER. 
Exglaxd,  as  a  motber  country,  owns  many  daughters — in  fact, 
it  is  perfectly  true  that  the  sun  never  sets  on  her  dominions. 
Some  of  these  daughters  have  lost  their  first  youth,  one  daughter 
lost  to  us  for  ever  through  our  own  foolish  management;  forgetful 
of  the  fact  that  the  part  of  X.  America  now  styled  the  United  States 
had  got  out  of  leading  strings,  we  tried  to  impose  upon  her  burdens 
and  restrictions  she  would  not  bear — she  rebelled,  and  we  lost  one 
of  the  fairest  jewels  of  our  crown.  We  learned  a  lesson  then,  never 
to  be  forgotten,  and  we  have  since  tried  to  remember  that  children 
grow  up,  and  must  be  allowed  a  little  exercise  of  their  own  judg¬ 
ment.  A  harsh,  unjust  parent  compels  disobedience;  then  follows 
rupture,  and  the  loss  to  bath  sides  is  great. 
Among  a  small  community  there  is  often  expressed  an  opinion 
that  England’s  large  family  cripple  her.  Xever  was  there  so 
narrow-minded  a  mistake.  An  infant  colony  at  first  cannot  walk 
alone,  but  let  that  colony  be  well  nourished  it  soon  outgrows  child¬ 
hood,  and  becomes  at  once  both  a  strength  and  a  glory.  Her  markets 
provide  an  outlet  for  our  manufactured  goods,  and  our  markets  are 
only  too  ready  to  receive  her  raw  material.  Then  again,  too,  ours  is  a 
teeming  population,  and  the  difficulty  of  finding  employment  lor  that 
lx)pulation  grows. 
There  are  so  many  young  ardent  fellows  who  (even  if  they  could 
get  it)  would  fiud  the  office  stools  in  the  close  City  most  irksome — 
who  pine  for  the  freedom  of  an  outdoor  life,  and  who  gladly  embrace 
such  a  life  in  a  far-off  country  where  the  mother  tongue  still  sounds 
in  their  ears.  The  agricultural  colonies  of  Australia  have  always  had 
a  charm  for  ns,  partly  from  the  fact,  perhaps,  that  South  Australia 
owed  its  colonisation  to  a  near  relative  of  our  own,  who  developed  its 
agricultural  resources  to  an  immense  extent,  and  to  the  great  benefit 
of  himself  and  his  family.  We  are  referring  now  to  S.  Australia,  but 
would  turn  our  attention  to  X.S.  Wales,  an  adjacent  territory. 
Have  our  readers  any  idea  of  the  size  of  this  the  oldest  Australian 
colony  ?  We  fancy  not.  Xow  for  some  idea  of  its  size.  The  British 
Isles  contain  120,849  square  miles ;  X.S.  Wales  contains  310,700,  or 
very  nearly  three  times  as  much.  Of  course,  the  jjopulation  is  very, 
very  much  less— 1,182,500  as  against  37,879,285. 
The  first  farm  was  started  at  Paramatta  in  1789  ;  but  the  farming 
most  in  vogue  in  X.S.  Wales  is  stock  breeding.  The  country  was 
eminently  favourable  to  this  branch  of  industry,  probably  because 
stock  are  more  easily  transported  to  places  of  sale  and  consumption 
than  any  other  commodity.  The  wool  trade  has  always  been  a  great 
standfast  of  these  colonists  ;  indeed,  we  should  almost  suppose  that 
the  wool  industry  has  reached  its  zenith.  Fifty-seven  million  sheep 
make  a  very  respectable  flock,  and  the  annual  value  of  their  wool  is 
something  like  9  millions  sterlincf. 
It  may  interest  some  reatlers  to  know  how  very  quickly  wool 
degenerates  in  Australia — we  mean  the  quality — and  it  is  of  the 
utmost  necessity  that  fresh  blood  be  constantly  imported  from  our 
best  English  flocks.  We  have  seen  specimens  of  Australian  native 
wool,  then  the  wool  after  one  cross,  and  so  on  till  the  fleece  became  a 
staple  of  great  beauty  and  weight.  Some  of  these  fleeces  have  been 
exhibited  both  in  Paris  and  at  our  Colonial  and  other  exhibitions. 
e  find  all  these  sheep  have  rather  tended  to  diminish  the  cattle- 
raising  ;  but  as  it  is,  we  find  there  are  about  2^  million  head  of  horned 
stock.  Here,  again,  we  find  the  necessity  there  is  of  fresh  blood  from 
home,  and  expensive  as  importation  may  be  it  pays.  Herefords  and 
Shorthorns  do  well  in  this  country,  Avhich  has  really  a  climate  not 
unlike  our  own.  We  remember  long  ago  hearing  much  about  the 
cost  of  freight,  and  how,  in  the  case  of  cows,  this  cost  was  reduced  to 
a  minimum  by  sending  over  cows  in  calf,  which  were  able  to  supply 
the  ship’s  company  with  a  fair  supply  of  fresh  milk  en  route. 
The  arable  land  of  X.S.  Wales  is  1,325,964  acres,  and  the  produce 
is  about  £2  11s.  3d.  per  acre.  Xow  we  think  this  is  ridiculously 
small.  Surely  there  is  need  of  reformation  here,  or  of  new  and 
approved  methods.  Poor  worn  out  old  England  can  do  better  than 
this,  and  here  in  X.S.  Wales  we  have  virgin  soil.  Wheat  occupies 
647,483  acres,  and  the  crops  must  be  very  light,  as  the  value  of  the 
Wheat  harvested  is  only  £2  5s.  per  acre.  Much  of  it  is  grown  for  hay> 
a  thing  we  never  heard  of  before,  and  in  this  form  the  value  per  acre 
is  about  £3  10s.  Poor  as  is  this  yield,  it  is  equal  to  that  of  United 
States  of  America  and  Eussia. 
When  a  country  has  still  some  thousands  of  acres  suitable  for 
Wheat  growing,  and  has  to  import  2,000,000  bushels  for  home 
consumption,  there  is  need  of  reform  somewhere.  Maize,  too,  might 
be  grown  with  success.  As  green  food  it  is  most  valiiable  for  cattle. 
And  there  are,  too,  cooler  regions  suitable  for  Oat  cultivation.  In  the 
eastern  districts  we  find  what  we  should  call  here  good  butter  grass, 
and  the  people  have  already  established  over  400  creameries;  26,000 
hands  are  employed,  and  the  output  is  about  30,000,000  lbs.  ^Alr. 
Williams,  from  whose  able  paper  we  take  these  facts  and  figures,  thinks 
the  X.S.  Wales  farmer  does  not  understand  the  proper  ^vinter  manage¬ 
ment  of  dairy  cows.  Possibly  cake  is  bad  to  come  at,  and  dear  into 
the  bargain,  and  there  may  not  be  a  good  Mangold  pie  at  command. 
He  also  finds  more  moisture  in  the  butter  than  is  desirable  (whether 
water  or  buttermilk  he  does  not  observe).  This  might  be  easily 
remedied  by  the  importation  of  a  few  of  our  young  dairymaids  armed 
with  the  latest  butter  workers  from  iMuseum  Street,  London. 
We  generally  associate  milk  and  bacon,  but  the  bacon  must  be  of 
first-rate  quality,  and  possibly  co-operation  must  be  tried  to  bring  any 
scheme  of  bacon  rearing  and  curing  to  perfection. 
Forestry  hardly  comes  under  the  head  of  agriculture  proper,  and 
yet  just  a  word  may  I»e  said  here  as  to  the  excellence  and  variety  of 
timber  grown  in  this  colony.  Mahogany  is  one  of  the  native  growths, 
and  there  are  many  others  of  great  commercial  value.  Australia  has 
a  great  future  before  her,  and  her  value  as  a  food  producer  for  the 
world  is  immense.  As  science  advances  we  shall  receive  of  her  super¬ 
abundance,  beef  and  mutton  in  more  desirable  forms  than  the  tinned 
consignments  of  to-day,  and  her  butter  and  cheese  carefully'  manipulated 
may  oust  the  Danish  and  American  products  out  of  the  market. 
We  should  fancy  one  great  difficulty  in  Australia  is  the  labour 
question  and  the  distance  from  ports  of  embarkation ;  these  are  two 
evils  that  may  be  remedied. 
>  TfORK  OX  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Mildness  is  still  the  chief  characteristic  of  the  present  winter  season. 
If  the  evening  is  frosty  the  morning  is  mild,  and  we  are  coming  to  the 
conclusion  that  there  is  little  fear  of  severe  frost  this  time.  They  must 
be  keeping  all  the  cold  at  Klondyke. 
We  are  thankful  to  say  we  can  do  without  it,  but  our  strong  land 
neighbours  will  hardly  say  the  same,  for  without  frost  their  spring  com 
sowing  must  be  an  expensive  process,  and  far  less  satisfactory  in  finish. 
Though  mild,  the  weather  lately  has  been  dry,  and  we  are  only 
waiting  for  a  dry  windy  day  to  attempt  Wheat  rolling.  Boiling  Wheat  in 
J anuary  seems  out  of  season,  but  j  andsome  is  as  handsome  does  ;  and 
if  the  roller  will  work  properly,  the  Wheat  will  no  doubt  be  better  for  a 
little  consolidation  about  the  roots. 
There  is  another  thing ;  our  light  land  is  very  subject  to  a  weed 
called  by  various  names,  but  most  generally  known  as  the  common 
Poppy.  This  weed  is  never  so  easy  to  destroy  as  when  it  is  very  small, 
and  we  have  already  observed  it  amongst  the  Wheat  in  considerable 
numbers.  It  is  now  in  its  first  leaf,  and  if  it  is  to  be  effectually  dealt 
with,  the  Wheat  must  be  harrowed  within  three  weeks  ;  but  there  is  a 
sine  qua  non — the  Wheat  must  be  rolled  first,  or  the  harrows  will  pull  it 
up  in  large  quantities. 
A  good  thing  for  sand  land  Wheat,  and  very  injurious  to  the  Poppies, 
is  common  salt ;  but  to  deal  with  the  weeds  most  effectually,  the  salt 
should  be  applied  a  week  or  two  before  the  harrowing.  If  5  cwt.  of  salt 
per  acre  be  well  and  evenly  sown,  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight  a  thin  emst 
of  caked  soil  will  be  formed  on  the  surface.  If  the  land  be  harrowed 
whilst  in  this  condition  almost  every  Poppy  will  be  killed,  its  tender 
rootlets  being  snapped  by  the  disturbance  of  the  caked  surface.  The 
effect  is  practically  the  same  as  that  of  severe  frost  on  a  water-logged 
surface. 
Wheats  are  looking  fairly,  but  not  so  well  as  last  year,  and  they  are 
not  so  clear  of  twitch,  for  was  not  1894  a  rather  wet  season  .’ 
•  “  Windsor  Magazine  ”  for  January. 
