92 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  27,  1899. 
gardening,  but  all,  or  the  greater  part,  leave  the  land.  Village  after 
village  is  depopulated.  Those  who  have  no  particular  bent  take  the 
mining  districts  ;  few  become  soldiers  or  sailors — the  work  is  too 
badly  paid. 
The  great  grievance,  too,  is  that  those  men  who  remain  in  the 
villages  are  inferior  workpeople.  Not  only  do  they  put  less  of  them¬ 
selves  into  their  work,  but  they  are  so  content  with  mediocrity — 
anything  to  tide  the  time  over  to  bring  round  Saturday  night. 
This  great  exodus  cuts  two  ways.  The  towns  are  getting  over¬ 
filled  ;  they  teem  with  population  :  their  people  are  content  to  crowd 
together  to  the  utmost  that  the  law  will  allow  ;  they  are  lowering  the 
vitality  of  the  nation;  they  are  weakening  the  physical  forces — the 
race  will,  and  is,  degenerating. 
People  cannot  live  in  close  thoroughfares  without  detriment  to 
health.  Think  cf  the  poor  puny  babies,  whose  birthright  ought  to  be, 
and  was,  fresh  air.  Compare  the  sturdy  little  rascal  playing  out  in 
the  village  street  or  on  the  green  with  his  pale  attenuated  brother  of 
the  alley.  Think  of  the  work  in  close  shops  and  factories,  and  then 
think  of  the  work  under  God’s  fair  open  sky.  Think  of  what  this 
means  for  future  generations. 
Then  back  again  to  village  life.  How  is  work  going  to  be  accom¬ 
plished  without  hands  ?  True,  machinery  can  do  a  great  deal,  but 
we  need  guiding  hands  for  the  maehiuery.  There  is  no  machine  yet 
to  tend  cattle;  there  is  no  machine  to  till  and  sow  and  reap  without 
the  aid  of  man  ;  and  the  farmer’s  difficulties  are  getting  most  serious. 
In  E.  Anglia  the  question  is  a  burning  one  ;  in  the  northern  counties 
we  are  at  our  wits’  end  ;  we  pay  more  than  we  can  afford  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  our  profits  (save  the  mark  !),  and  yet  wTe  cannot  get  adequate 
labour.  Our  cottages  are  improved  ;  vre  have  lessened  the  hours;  we 
have  minimised  work ;  we  have  provided  allotments ;  we  have  done 
our  best,  and  yet  our  men  leave  us  without  apparent  regret. 
Is  it  the  monotony  of  the  country  life  ?  Is  it  the  lack  of  excite¬ 
ment  ?  What  do  they  want  ?  There  is  a  craving  which  is  fast 
becoming  a  disease — a  disease  which  is  affecting  all  classes  alike — 
and  the  craving  is  for  amusement  in  every  form  and  shape.  “All 
work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy.”  But  all  the  play  that 
Jack  gets  now  makes  him  a  dissatisfied,  fretful  boy.  The  peasants 
of  rural  England  have  been  the  source  of  her  glory.  The  peasant 
race  is  dying  out,  and  we  can  do  nothing  to  prevent  it.  Some  few 
of  the  wisest  and  most  far  seeiDg  may  be  kept  at  home  by  the 
allurements  of  small  holdings,  but  the  work  is  too  arduous  and  the 
remuneration  too  uncertain  to  attract  the  multitude. 
There  may  be  a  reaction  some  time — we  shall  not  live  to  see  it. 
The  pleasures  (?)  and  advantages  of  town  life  may  be  too  dearly 
bought.  The  nation  is  rather  like  a  spoilt  child,  that  must  be  allowed 
to  have  its  own  will ;  presently  it  will  awake  to  the  fact  that  it  has 
made  a  great  mistake,  that  it  has  clutched  the  shadow  and  lost  the 
substance — got  their  pleasure,  lost  their  stamina. 
More  money  in  the  pocket  is  very  pleasant,  but  as  a  woman  was 
telling  us  the  other  day,  the  hand  is  never  out  of  the  pocket  in  the 
town.  The  shopkeepers  strive  to  create  artificial  wants;  things  are 
tempting,  and  so  cheap.  Entertainments  (also  cheap)  allure  on  every 
side — Id.  here,  2d.  there,  the  thing  is  done,  money  circulates.  The 
man  is  individually  no  better,  but  rather  worse,  as  he  has  acquired  the 
habit  of  indiscriminate  spending.  Example  forces  him  into  much,  his 
own  inclination  into  more.  The  children  learn  the  same  habits,  and 
no  wonder,  when  they  see  their  parents  deny  themselves  nothing.  If 
the  pleasures  and  recreations  were  of  an  improving  sort  we  should  say 
less  ;  but,  putting  that  aside,  men  appear  to  forget  that  it  was  not  for 
pleasure  they  were  sent  into  the  world.  Work  must  come  first ; 
pleasure  is  a  handmaid,  not  a  mistress. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
The  heavy  storms  of  last  week  did  serious  damage  to  the  best  crons  ; 
one  farmer  has  60  acres  of  Wheat  as  flat  as  if  it  had  been  rolled,  and  all 
the  most  promising  crops  are  terribly  knocked  about.  Fortunately  there 
has  been  little  hail,  and  the  rain  has  benefited  tho  Barleys,  which  this 
year  are  almost  invariably  light.  There  has  been  only  slight  ram  since  we 
wrote  last,  and  the  hay  harvest  is  now  completed.  The  results  both  as 
to  quantity  and  quality  are  about  an  average,  but  perhaps  the  quantity 
mav  be  slightly  below  normal. 
'  Potatoes  have  done  well.  Second  earlies  are  now  ready  for  lifting, 
and  are  a  good  size,  better  than  last  year,  and  of  good  quality.  Prices 
are  not  good,  and  have  a  tendency  to  fall.  The  later,  or  we  may  call 
them  the  raaincrop  varieties,  have  just  had  the  rain  they  wanted,  and 
must  now  do  well.  Heavy  July  rains  do  Potatoes  more  good  than  in 
any  other  month.  We  hear  a  good  deal  of  spraying,  and  no  doubt  on 
heavy  and  low-lyiDg  lands  it  may  be  a  wise  precaution  to  spray,  but  we 
fancy  that  on  dry  soils,  as  we  have  observed  before,  it  is  wiser  to  grow 
only  hardy  and  robust  kinds,  and  leave  them  to  make  the  best  of  natural 
conditions. 
Some  farmers  are  taking  the  kmbs  from  the  ewes,  and  it  will  soon  he 
time  that  all  did  so.  The  best  plan  is  to  leave  the  lambs  in  their  old 
pasture,  and  take  the  e  wes  right  away  to  as  poor  a  pasture  as  can  bo 
tound.  It  is  also  advisable  to  keep  rhem  up  at  night  for  a  couple  of 
nights  in  a  foldyard  if  a  po<  r  pasture  is  not  available.  A  full  belly  and 
wet  lair  have  a  tendency  to  cause  downfall  in  the  udder — a  very  fatal 
disease  amongst  sheep. 
The  ewes  must  bo  most  carefully  watched,  and  the  milk  drawn  from 
them  if  necessary.  On  the  slightest  symptom  of  hardness  in  the  udder 
give  3  ozs.  of  Epsom  salts,  and  half  ounce  of  ground  ginger  in  a  little 
gruel,  with  4  ozs.  of  treacle.  The  next  remedy  is  the  knife. 
AUSTRALIAN  AGRICULTURE. 
Although  the  pastoral  industry  has  longr'predominated  in  New  South 
Wales,  the  increased  attention  given  to  agriculture  during  the  last  few 
years  has  causeel  a  somewhat  rapid  extension  of  the  mixed  farming 
system,  which  appears  to  afford  the  best  means  of  enabling  settlers  to 
successfully  withstand  the  depressing  influence  of  unfavourable  seasons. 
The  surface  contour  of  the  colony  lias  been  compared  with  portions  of  an 
unturned  plate,  the  ridge  represmting  the  dividing  range  forming  the 
table  lands,  with,  outside,  the  coas  al  zone,  and  inside,  the  western 
districts  or  interior.  Consequent  upon  the  remarkably  varied  climates 
found  in  the  colony,  the  products  of  cold,  temperate,  and  sub  tropical 
countries  can  be  grown  within  its  limits. 
The  coastal  climate  embraces  an  area  of  3S,200  square  miles,  with  an 
average  annual  rainfall  of  44-98  inches,  varying  from  64  inches  on  the 
coatt  to  3148  at  the  foot  of  the  dividing  range.  The  northern  portion  is 
subtropical,  the  chief  crops  being  Maize  and  Sugar  Cane.  FromMacieay 
River  to  the  south,  with  a  cooler  cl  mate,  the  chief  summer  crops  are 
Maize,  oaten  hay,  Potatoes,  Lucerne,  Pumpkins,  Melons,  Grapes,  and 
other  fruits;  winter  crops,  Wheat,  oaten  hay,  and  Potatoes,  whilst 
dairying  is  largely  followed. 
The  climate  of  the  table-lands  covers  an  area  of  84,900  square  miles, 
with  an  average  annual  rainfall  of  30-84  inches,  varying  between  35  inches 
on  the  east  to  25  inches  on  the  west.  The  northern  table-land,  New 
England,  grows  Sugar  Beet  and  all  kinds  of  English  crops.  To  the  south 
Wheat  is  the  chief  crop,  whilst  dairying  is  extensively  carried  on. 
The  area  of  the  western  or  interior  districts  is  187,600  square  miles, 
with  a  rainfall  varying  between  21-6  inches  at  the  foot  of  the  range  and 
9  inches  west  of  the  Darling,  and  characterised  by  dryness,  long  hot 
summers,  cool  winters,  irregular  rainfall,  and  want  of  uniformity  in  the 
seasons.  Near  the  range  Wheat  is  largely  grow-D,  especially  in  the 
Riverina ;  Lucerne  does  well,  exceDtionally  so  under  irrigation.  The 
region  is  eminently  suited  for  drying  fruit,  of  which  many  kinds  grow 
luxuriantly  ;  the  cost  of  transport  is.  however,  an  obstacle  to  production 
for  other  than  local  requirements.  Most  of  the  available  land  requires 
clearing.  This  costs  from  15s.  per  acre  in  sparsely  timbered  country,  up 
to  £30  in  the  dense  forests  of  the  northern  districts.  Various  labour- 
saving  appliances  have  been  introduced  for  pulling  down  trees  and 
extracting  stumps.  The  system  of  partially  clearing  land  is  sometimes, 
follow-ed  ;  scrub  and  small  trees  are  cut  out,  large  trees  being  ringbarked. 
This  accelerates  the  ultimate  clearing,  for  when  the  trees  become  dry  they 
are  easily  burned.  Meantime  the  ground  is  cropped. 
Metayage  (lessee  paying  a  share  of  the  produce  to  lessor,  in  lieu  of  ar 
money  rent)  is  carried  out  here  and  there,  in  some  cases  with  advantage- 
Direct  ownership  by  the  cultivator  is,  however,  of  the  greatest  benefit  to 
him.  Fences  of  various  types  are  used  in  subdividing  the  land  ;  those- 
most  commonly  erected  being  post  top-rail  and  six  wires  (costing  up  to 
£80  a  mile),  post  and  three  or  four  rails,  post  and  five  or  six  wires  (costing 
a9  low  as  £18  per  mile  where  droppers  are  used  for  keeping  wires  aparr, 
the  posts  being  further  apart  than  usual)  ;  sometimes  logs  are  laid  dogleg- 
fashion.  Where  timber  is  plentiful  fences  can  be  erected  very  cheaply. 
Barbed  wire  is  very  largely  used,  and  is  invaluable  for  keeping  in  anima's 
having  a  tendency  to  stray.  Wheat  is  becoming  a  leading  crop  in  tiie 
western  and  tableland  districts,  where  Maize,  Barley,  Oats,  and  other 
cereals  are  plentifully  grow-n.  Roots  and  leguminous  crops  are  abundant,- 
also  fodder  plants  of  every  description. 
Many  useful  plants  remain,  however,  neglected,  especially  fibre  plants, 
oil  producers,  perfume  plants,  tanning  materials,  dyes,  starch  plants, 
insecticides  (Pyrethrum  and  Hellebore  are  both  largely  used  in  the 
colony),  and  Willows,  which  could  be  planted  along  watercourses,  and  are 
found  useful  in  a  variety  of  ways.  In  fact,  the  agricultural  resources  of 
the  colony  remain  very  imperfectly  developed,  a  result,  in  some  measure, 
of  the  marvellous  fascination  exercised  by  the  goldmining  and  kindred 
industries. — J.  PLUMMER,  Sydney,  N.S.W. 
The  Ailments  of  our  Canine  Friends.— The  immense  amount' 
of  interest  that  is  taken  by  all  sections  of  the  community  in  the  several 
breeds  of  dogs  is  ample  justification  for  the  publication  by  Messrs. 
Spratt’s  Patent,  Ltd.,  of  a  brochure  entitled  “  Dog  Disiases  and  How  to 
Cure  Them.”  Emanating  from  such  a  source  as  it  does,  there  can  be  no 
need  for  us  to  extol  the  soundness  of  the  advice  given  in  the  pages  of 
the  booklet.  Messrs.  Spratt’s  have  made  a  study  of  dogs  in  both  sicknes  & 
and  health,  and  it  may  be  accepted  that  they  are  familiar  with  the  best 
modes  of  treating  animals  under  any  circumstances.  There  is,  too,  a 
chapter  on  cats.  Messrs.  Spratts,  Ltd.,  Henry  Street,  Bermondsey,  will, 
forward  a  copy  free  of  charge  to  any  reader  of  the  Journal  of,  Horticulture „ 
