IMPRESSIONS OF AUSTRALIA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6438, 7 January 1889, Page 4

IMPRESSIONS OF AUSTRALIA.

INTERVIEW WITH MR JOHN INGRAM, OF OXFORD. (By our Agricultural Reporter.) Meeting Mr John Ingram, of Oxford, who has recently retnrned from a visit to Australia, I entered into conversation with ! him about what he had seen. My first ! question was as to what were his impressions of Australia ? Melbourne's progress. He replied : I was quite astonished at the great progress Melbourne had made since my last visit, eight years ago. The ; city appeared to have doubled in size; I and buildings which appeared large then j were dwarfed by those now being I erected. To a New Zealander the crowds ; of people in the streets, as well as the ; number of vehicles, are somewhat astonish- | ing. The principal streets appear like a i moving mass. It is really worth while to visit the railway Btations in the morning; on the arrival of trains from the suburbs, and mark the vast number of passengers that come into Melbourne daily; how quickly the great crowds disappear, and yet how smoothly everything seems to work. Eight or nine of the suburban towns with which I was familiar as quite small affairs eight years ago, have grown into towns now as large as Christchurch. They all have large and costly municipal buildings and town halls, and with the exception of South Melbourne, have all a clean and tidy appearance. I , found that in all of the Victorian towns I visited the BTEEBTS WERE PLANTED WITH TREE 3 on either side, giving a very pleasant appearance to the thoroughfare, and affording a moßt welcome shelter in the heat. THB EXHIBITIOK. Did you visit the Exhibition at all ? ' Yes ; I spent several days in it. The" exhibits, to a stranger who had but a few days to spare, were quite appalling in number. In the machinery classes the exhibits were far moreattractive than those at the exhibition eight years ago. A great deal of the machinery was at work. One machine struck me as likely to interest New Zealanders when they see it — a machine for making gas from tallow. Machines were Bhown for evaporating the moisture from fruit and vegetables. When the evaporating process is complete the fruit or the vegetablo matter is left hard and crisp, and can be kept so for months. When placed again in water the fruit, or whatever has been operated upon, regains its natural colour and flavour, so that by this means fruit for pies, etc., and fresh vegetables for the table, can be had all the year round. THE WOLSEY BHEARER. Did you note anything particularly interesting to the farmer among the machinery ? Yes ; I saw the Wolsey sheep-shearing machine at work. It left the sheep very bare, worked very evenly and smoothly, and did not leave any cuts on the sheep's flesh ; but I saw a few little scratches on some of the shorn sheep. The MODEL DAIRY. was also at work, and attracted great attention. Mr Wilson, the Superintendent, kindly showed me the whole of the operations of butter-making. The butter made at the Model is sold at the stand at Is 6d per lb, and the quality was really excellent. Cheese is also made, but I had no opportunity of seeing the process. NEW ZEALAND COURT. • How about our Court ? The New Zealand Court was wonderfully well arranged, and I was surprised at the number and quality of the exhibits, considering what has been written in the papers about the Court. The mineral exhibits are certainly not extensive, and hardly give the visitor a true idea of our mineral wealth ; but on the whole I think the Court is a good show, and that Sir James Hector deserves every credit for the attractive way in which everything is displayed. THE DROUGHT. The country appeared to be very much dried up, and nowhere, within a very considerable distance of Melbourne, did I see a green blade of grass, unless where the land had been watered. The crops I saw were very forward, and harvest operations were, in some places, in full swing, but in every case the crop was poor — many that came under my eye would not be reaped at all in New Zealand. Of hay I saw very little. Around Ballarat everything looked inucli better than what I saw elsewhere in Victoria. The pastures still retained their green tinge, and the cropß looked fairly well, but I only saw one paddock fit for cutting into hay. I was informed that if vain did not come soon there would only be half a crop. Thef? is a considerable extent of good arable land near Ballarat, which sells at from ,£3O to JBSO per acre. This land, I was told, averages thirty bushels of wheat and oats to the acre. A large proportion of the wheat grown in that district is cut much on the green side and while the bloom is on it, and made into hay, dried, stacked in the same manner as we do our hay, cut into trusses, and sent to the Sydney market. It there bring 3 about ten shillings per ton more than oaten sheaf chaff. VICTORIAN FARMERS AND FARMING. Some of the Victorian farmers expressed to me their wonder as to how the farmers in New Zealand could grow produce at the prices obtained last year and live — 2s 6d a bushel for oats appears to them a ruinous price. I found the Victorian farmers had to pay a much higher price for some of their implements than we do here — a double-furrow plough, for instance, costs from .£22 to J823, and a reaper and binder abouti>6s. Severalof the Victorian farmers appeared dissatisfied with their lot, and two gentlemen expressed a desire to go over and have a look at New Zealand with a view to taking up farms. One of them told me he would have been over this year, had it not been for the accounts he had heard of the earthquakes. I was astonished to find from a number of Victorians a settled conviction in their minds that we are continually having earthquakes, and that we are likely to be blown up at any moment. What about the value of farm land in Victoria ? Well, recent sales have been made of arable land, outside a radius of ten miles from Melbourne, at from M 0 to JB7O per acre, according to the improvements. One farm was sold while I was there at .£32,000, containing 480 acres, situate about Bixteen miles from Melbourne. Do you think Victoria and the other Australian Colonies are likely to be a good market for our produce this year. Judging from what I have seen, and from what some of my fellow-travellers have told me, who have been over the other Australian Colonies, there will be a very strong demand for our produce in Australia, especially for oats. I should think that farmers here will be able to obtain 3s for oats and 4s for wheat at country stations, and it will take more than one harvest to fill up the gap made by the terrible drought in Australia. The weather during my visit was very hot, and the day I was in Ballarat the thermometer registered 15Odeg in the sun, and 105deg in the shade. NEW ZEALAND YET. Did what you saw dissatisfy you at all with your own Colony ? Far from it. I came back perfectly satisfied with New Zealand, and fully convinced that we had a prosperous time before us in the near future. I overheard a remark by a young lady in the train on my way home from Dunedin. Three ladies in the carriage were discussing the merits of our Colony and its Government. One of the trio, evidently an American, when aßked her opinion, put it very tritely — "You have a fine show, but it is badly run." lam rather of her mind, and the leading articles in the daily . Press I think fully support the opinion.