A HOLIDAY TRIP.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13697, 12 September 1908, Page 6

A HOLIDAY TRIP.

THREE MONTHS IN AUSTRALIA. Mr Alex. Bcott', the well known auctioneer of the N.M. and A. Company who returned on Thursday from a three month's holiday trip in Australia, yesterday gave a "Herald" reporter some of his impressions of portions of the Commonwealth he visited. He was away about three months—a little over a month in Victoria, six weeks in New South Wales, and three weeks in Queensland. His occupation giving him a bent that ■way, Mr Scott paid a good deal of attention to the price* of land in Australia, and these, be found, varied widely. In Canterburv £3O or £4O an acre would be considered very high prices for land for cultivation, yet in Victoria land with soils well suited for growing onion* and potatoes has been sold at £4O, £SO and even np to £BO and £9O un aciv, and not merely in small parcels. In the dairying districts of New South Wales, land" that can be relied on to grow good crops of lucerne fetch as high as £4O an acre- Prom the high price* of potatosndonion and lucerne lands there >s every gradation down to shilling per acre, soil, rainfall, communications, be ing of course, the chief determitiiiiK - The soils differ in their nature from those of Canterbury, except perhaps the sdty river flats. A deal of the country is deep black soil, other parti, chocol.u., utbers red Broadly peaking there d.** e t seem to be much difference in their fertility in a good season. but in a drought the black >iil buff rs :iuM, it become."' drier, harder and cracks more i than the otb«rs. Farmers—grain growers jitvfer the red soil*, a* they hold tlr«- • *-l» *oil moisture better. Gu* fact which struck him as pevulisr wu that land on the north >ide of the Murny w.ii valued at 20s to 40k an acr- Im.-; than ou the Victoria side, though of the *amr quality. He could only conclude ilut there mir<t be some difference in tin? land laws or the M-utautut condition* i.» a*-count f»r ; it. Talkii.g »>f graiii growing. Mr Scott | that though AunralU gr.»»1 an enormous quantity of wh-.u. it is done for the mo»t part in :< very Oip »h.-i fashion. Some New Soitrh \\ il* - l.inr.ei* j (Old him that til-y r«-> 1 on -<1 th*- wliul«» i <ixt ot putting in aril h.irvtttin>j uleit at 1?« j*r a.rv Tiic h.irvcv.inj; would be done with tsupper :md ■ leawr: ric«ept on tlir higher i-iisid' ry vvh--J«- l-here n ni«>re mo»%ture. «-ta.V;i..: i- n->' reported to or ii«-<M'.uy hi \ntf.r.v now a d-»y* halt r.uu-jrc i wrii»bi j**r acre *-f »n:»nur»* i «>tt »• »■—! 1 ii - « niolj j.ract •# rtJr !»« J>r ! ii.r ihr-e crop* ol W ii«i sii'l th'-n !>" 'lt-- .'t.iw-r. icr..v» .i k nvj!i Tiiif »« • i-h-» \uifritiin fanner fin over in- V«-w 7,' r - li* h";*- ii" n-*<i - < vv ■ down hi* land .itser * 1 f"p v i The v»m: a luxuriant .*r.mrt}i of h-r bag,, mmet Up with th- ynu,,; ijr. •»*-«»•.- • trefoil*, .rowfort. nard<"> k *" ri : tii.'fUi ind other plwtr- • ?»d 'h.tur- *rr t'V.n re •*!"tabli«hed. Then tht* firmer a< (frsi/ier anoiher advant.v-. ii; that lifr.bs c»n t;e faStAjiea oa ?bt

no need for growing roots or rape. Of the fattening qualities'of the natuial feed an instance was quoted b\- Mr Scott on an estate of 9000 acres on the Liverpool plains, in the western district of - Xew .South Wales, from which. 10,000 - fat- sheep are turned off. annually," and all jbe .cultivation on the estate was a kitchen garden and 30 or 40 acres 'of lucerne. Farming and sheep raising in Australia are both much simpler matters than in Xevv Zealand, but there are exceptions to rhe rough and ready practices - which prove that the land will repay more.' diligent cultivation, and return a. good .deal more than the average of throe to four bags per acre. The extreme of simplicity in wlieat-grow-ing was .probably se%n by Mr Scott, in the case of a man who scattered the seed over grass land and was merely discharrowing the surface after sowing. The fanner, however, • had to offer the exi-icse for the method; he was behindhand and had to get the wheat sown in a hurryA great deal of attention is being paid to the development of dairying, in Victoria and Xew South Wales, and the industry is aided to a valuable extent by the growth of lucerne. Lucerite is a very profitnble crop, where jt cau' be grown under favourable conditions, the -chief of which' is that permanent ground water shall be within reach of its long, roots, That of "course, is for the mo.'t part to be found, naturally, in the alluvial flats of the river valleys; iiut the growth of lucerne is being successfully carried on in other situations, especially on some of the. large estates; with the aid of irrigation. I'aspalurn, a. grass of , luxuriant growth is also being grown and treated in the same.way. Lucerne is not fed off, but Is cut' for hay, three, fogr, or five times a year; fair "cuts average a ton and a half per acre, and the plant will last for many years. This year, there has been a very good demand for lucerne hay, at £6 lCs to £7 10s ton, from drought stricken districts further inland.

Mention of "droughts led .Mr Scott to remark that "an erroneous impressicn has been created in New Zealand by the usa of the worddrought" to describe a lack of 'drinking water for stock, as w*rll aii a dry season that burns up the Vegetation. It has been found that the dryings up of streams - and dams is by no means tho fa«it act. - In Queensland and northern Jfew South Waits great underground stores of water have been tapped by artttdan borte, and over- large areas of east, era New .South Walts water- can be got from pumping weils of moderate depths, say 40 to lOCft. * A few examples set by enterprising individuals have been and are being /followed, until *in some districts windmills pumping water lory, sicck are quite, numerous in a. landscape. Mr Scott : visited one land owner who complained that he was short of water last summer. There was plenty to be hail for .1 he pump; ing, but he had pub down only fohr well?* for a property of 35,000 acres. The remedy for absence of natural surface, supplies is therefore easy of application over vast areas of the country. The real drought 3reiis, the regions of deficient rainfall, lie away inland. The, coastal dia.ricts are . bounded on the west by ranges of moumlains, not. very high, but high enough to act as conden»?rs of atmospheric moisture, and The rainfall beneficially affects jJbe low., ground's on both s'des 'of : the, ranges' and' Is. heavy enough for anything on. the lulls themselves. The rains are Vw some extent moonsoonal; and beginning in Queensland' are poured down progressively southwards. ■ . .

The real drought in the. routh western districts has lasted a. "year, .and has been really serions. Immense numbers ul stock have- been railed away to districts where feed could ,b<:- 'got for them, arid '■he railtvays were quite unable to meet -he demand for trucks for -the purpose. One man told Mr Scott (hat he had ha<f to wait sis we-ks for tru<ku after order;ng them, and thert? were bitter complaints abou-t the shortage of rolling sock.

The lute winter has been the severest on record in Australia. Mr Scott experienced 14 degrees of frosts, and fific-eii hard frosLs on successive nighls surprised the people of the district in which he then was. The severity of the winter in Victoria and south-west. New South Wak-s has had a very bad effect on the season's lambing; Some practical men have calculated - that there will not be more than 30 j»er cent., and buyero of fat lambs for export anticipate a very poor season. Returning to the land question, Mr Scott explained that the news "published some little time ago thut he, his brother and Mr Macfarlane, of Claremoat, had purchased an estate in New South Wales, referred to a speculative purchase of an estate called Tarriaro, of 20,000 acres freehold and 15,000 acres leasehold, *itu ated on the Liverpool plains,- 500 mik»3 from Sydney, six or seven miles from Xarribri, the nearest town, and four miles from the Tar ra nan railway station. The late owner had subdivided the freehold into farms and intended to put them up to auction, but accepted Messrs Scott and offer: for the whole, and they will carry out ,the late owner's original intention, which was, to sell one half at an early date, and the other half a few months later. Mr Scott gives a very good account of tha eetato, its soil, climate, and water wipply, yet they do not antii-jpace getting more than £8 an acre for the best farms, or more than £3 an acre for purely grazing country. The property has long frontage to on« of the tributaries of the Namoi, which ri.see in a range of hills (something like th<> nunteix' Hills) up to the fruit of which the l«-a«ehold land eiU-nds. The river irf a r.lnw •tr>-am, bnt [M-n-niii.ii. clear, deep in places, and with a t.hingle bottom, thanks to proximity to its par eiit hills. The b-4:it« h.w l>-en iarrying 35,000 sheep. 7»00 cattl-, and a number of horses. Mr Scott, expects no diftkuliy in making a satisfactory distribution of the farina. a< the demand for land i« very settlement ar«- stork subjects of corrvs pondemy in the columns of th» "Sydney Morning Herald." and tha novernmej«f are actively carrying out a policy or resuming <"-t.v»-s and cnttint; th«-m up. In a m-ent i«sue of the "SM.H." Mr Sc<»rt saw a notice that five e>itat.-s of about. f>o,ooo were to he r«v:urn«*d. Tie also «aw a l«*rt«T the writer of which said that he *or <hei had lieeu an apj.li cant fitr an alhrfment in «ich of six tates and had not vet itren <uccesbful; an<l another jtattin-nt was that for one section thei>- wrrt !•'»'> applicant*. Sutdi a demand for land in a country of mirh va> t :<rr.if-, may -f»ni an j'it-t si^ht; hut thii vettiemcnt pcdicy was only adopltxl by tlie Govern The prr>c.<iure appears to Im mo <ie]le«l on fhn of New Zealand, *o far as the recuuiption goes, hut in Ihe dis jmsal of the lind when rnhdividisl, Xt-vr Wali!» has the *yKffrn 'i i.n «leferr«-d th,. frr<li.iid l>-ini; in yiiar-. l;_v .in ;»n tiUdl payment of <lO ptr c-m. Oii<* of

'he N 1" onil intim:* r.-iiilcim". nn-1 sin-i" ase ini]>ro\' ni-u' • (ifidit-i-in-. v.iri ihU- :i! th. <)•> <rr l:'>n of rh«- I.ajifi i lm<l« ■vrli-rh ar* n-.t t.ikeu tip may K r !• t {rem yc.tr to y.rir i.nlv. iriiii .1 [>r.»vi -j..» ;lr<: Uie i.f 'b- i.r u.v j.f.rtiori roar hj» t--rtn;ii .it :,i.v imi* i.r <.n

uii'lr f«.r th*- Uis-i ut:il» r ti.!* j.iiri h:v c 1 <-t:«i>: Mr >...!( «.iv* i<»u!; 1! tj>«> rrt; i.f

!h>- f. Ul.i I iltnl {■<»..J.| -nKi-Iltf iini r til i!F'>r-l .\i,\ !•> j)rlp the i»» .r't.Vr sn cvrry w.iv. T.v !'. is 1 --s »y I><-t>ir!ni'i.f. j, rt , j, v gT.-uiiiii? jv'nnj t i. kv{j» 1! >ii, .!<• f jnyotic w W tM- i!r» ; »p 4 jr, if. <*•' "Mith u v if*.r t . «-ctl,n»' will df« thi* Tor>, {.. prohaM* « 1* pnv.vr .i «rnt"'Hi, a . \i -. < * t Mii-farUne icSwxl to bo! 3. Ahopthcr Mr Scott *»v- tnit Ls ?n

joyed his holiday immensely—and he looks it. The Australians he -came, into contact with, he found most hospitable and obliging • people. It was - a pleasure to be among them. He met a good many New yiealanders over there,, including three Christchurch men of means, and all were "looking for ■promising investments. He was fortunate enough to be in Svdhey in "Fleet.Week." The American both left, and took away a good impression, and left many anecdotes of quaint doings and sayings as memorials of their visit.