SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 105, 9 March 1844, Page 3

SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

[From the Launceston Advertiser.']

We subjoin a few particulars of the doings of our neighbours which we were unable to insert in our last : —

" Our export of wool for the past year was 3,034 bales, or 854,815 lbs., which, at 9d, per pound is equal to £32,055. " Our export of wheat, flour, &c, from the Ist of January to the Ist of December, 1-843, has brought £11,510, but this is only part of our surplus produce. " Our catch of oil for the present year is estimated at £8,7-38, and our whalebone at £2,560, or both taken together at £11,298. " Of our export of bark, gum, and dairy produce, and a variety of lesser articles, we have no exact returns, but it may safely be set down at £9,000 to £10,000 more, making the whole exports of the year upwards of £60,000, or little less than the total imports consumed in the colony, namely, £77,194 12s. 6d. " The land under cultivation in the province on the 30th of September, 1843, was 28,690 acres, of which 23,000 were wheat, 3,300 barley, 790 oats, 290 maize, 460 potatoes, and 840 garden grounds. " The number of proprietors engaged in the work of cultivation during 1843 had increased from 873 to 1,300, as compared with 1842, and the increase in the quantity of wheat was 9,000 acreß, and of barley 600 acres.

" Upon the most moderate calculation, the number of sheep in the colony at the present time is 350,000, horned cattle 25,000, horses 2,000, and sundry small stock 10,000, being a great increase upon former years, in addition to our daily consumption. " Manufactures of one kind or other are springing up rapidly in this colony; our ale, beer, soap, candles, starch, leather, snuff, crockery ware, machines, &c, being now the fruits»of our own industry.

" Lead and copper mines have been opened, and some tons of the ore forwarded to London, but the want of capital prevents them from being worked at present, although the |>re of these mines has been pronounced by competent judges in England of first-rate quality.

" A severe monetary pressure has been felt in South Australia, as in all the other Australian colonies, during the whole of 1843; but, commercially speaking, things were never in a sounder or more healthy condition in South Australia than at present."

Wool. — Extract of a letter from London :— " We call your attention to the sale of 168 bales of wool from Port Phillip, by the Tuscan, marked TL. conjoined in diamond, which deserves to be mentioned as an instance of proper care and attention having been paid to his business by the owner of that mark. This wool was clean, of a fine colour, and free from dust and dirt, and the result was a gratifying reward for the pains bestowed, the sheep's wool having fetched from Is. sd. to Is. 7*d.; one lot (three bales) Is. Bd.; and the lambs', of which there were 32 bales, brought from Is. lid. to 2s. id. ; the average of the sale, including locks, black wool, &c, is Is. 7d. per lb. ; whilst the average generally of other marks from the same quarter can scarcely be taken at more than Is. lid. ; in the sales just concluded. We subjoin the prices of the lambs' wool, as an encouragement to others to do the like — 111 1 at Is. Hid., 9 at 25., and 12 at 2s. id."— Sydney Herald.

Cholera Morbus. — We regret to observe by our late journals that this frightful epidemic has broken out in British India, and is raging virulently in the three Presidencies. Nearly the whole of the right wing of the 63d Regiment, stationed at Madras, has been carried off.— Port Phillip Gazette.

South Australia. — We understand that Mr. H. Phillips intends to ship by the Corsair and the Francis Spaight, to London, about 8,000 bußhels of wheat, and Mr. Stocks will also ship to England. It is calculated that, at present prices here, wheat of excellent quality can be delivered in England at 50s. per quarter. We trust our friends in Britain will induce Government to take off the duty as they have already done in the case of Canada. The duty would be five shillings per quarter, at the price of fifty shillings, and is a very great bar to the trade. We are convinced that Lord Stanley would accede to this reasonable request so soon as made, and we trust that it may be done before the Corsair arrives. The opposition in the case of Canada arose from the danger of smuggling from the United States, which cannot arise here. It is of very great importance to the colonists to send off a portion of their corn at first, at any price, so that a remunerating amount may be realized for the remainder. On this principle we would recommend the farmers to assist the merchants in their laudable enterprise. — South Australian.

Value of Stock. — From the prices realized by Mr. Levy at the Fyansford and South Geelong Monthly Sales, it would appear that a considerable improvement in the value of fat cattle and milch cows has taken place. The prices fetched were, fat cattle £3 18s. per' head, milch cows £4 4s. each. — Geelong Advertiser.

Cheap Mutton. — The "sheep melting" mania with our neighbours, the Port Philh'pians, has had the effect of reducing the value of legs of mutton so much, that they are now advertised to be sold by the dozen at 75., or 7d. for a leg of mutton I This fact mußt disarrange the calculations of profits from the boiling process. It was estimated by the projectors of this scheme, that the two legs, being cured, would realize 3d. per lb., and nett about 35. ; sd. is now nearer the truth. — Launceston Advertiser.