WINE, WHEAT, AND TOBACCO.

West Coast Times, Issue 604, 31 August 1867, Page 4

WINE, WHEAT, AND TOBACCO.

(bOKDEE POST, AUGUST 14.) The farniors this year have learnt a lesson they are not likely to forget in a hurry. They now see the absurdity of putting all their eggs into one basket. Till lately, wheat crops were all the go ; but now the farmers have to feed horses, pigs, and fowls with that cereal ; and after they have done that, they have to try and sell the balance of their crop at 3s per bushel. When we have a railway to the coast, we may grow as much wheat as we like, but until that desirable consummation arrives, the farmer will have to study the capabilities of supply and demand of the district itself. Or in other words, if he chooses to produce things thst will not be consumed in his own immediate neighborhood, he must select such articles as will pay iheir ow?i carriage to a distant market. Wine, as we have shown already, will pay its own carriage ; but it requires the outlay of large capital. The wine must arrive at a ofertain age before it is fit for transport. It must 'be sent in large quantities before it can estabb'sh a regular market. The vineyard must be a source of expense for three or four years before it produces any return at all. The onlyreason the farmers grow wheat year after year, and impoverish their land by so doing, is that wheat has always produced a ready and profitable return. This year it has not done so. Now, therefore, the farmer raust cast about for other kinds of crops. Not that he ought to give up wheat-growing — quite the reverse. In a season like the last, when wheat becomes a drug, many farmers resolve to fallow their land rather than sow more. The remaining farmers sow the same breadth as usual, or, if possible, more — and these usually find that the laziness of their neighbors has the effect of restoring the balance between demand and supply, and ensuring to the persevering farmer a satisfactory price for his grain. Our advice to free selectors and others is to grow grain ; also to grow vines in such moderate quantity as not to involve too great outlay. But above all let them grow tobacco. Tobacco just now is one of the most promising crops we can procure. It was in full swing at Albury before the customs were put on, but when a duty of Is per lb was put on a product worth only ten-pence, of course the tobacco grounds went out of cultivation. There are few farms in the neighborhood that cannot boast of a little bit of black alluvial soil on the borders of some creek or other. This is the spot for tobacco. With proper management a yield of two tons to the acre will be secured, and there are plenty of buyers in Melbourne for the raw leaf at Lll2 per ton. A crop that produces L 224 to the acre, will admit of little labor being spent upon it. The farmers know veiy well that nothing is to be done without trouble, and if they looked atj the matter in its proper light they would see that two or three acres of tobacco would not only pay the expenses of the farm, but would also turn in> a good profit even if everything else failed. We must confess that directly the customs were taken off we expected to see tobacco cultivation resumed on a large scale at Albury, and we are surprised to find so litttle attention paid to it under the circumstances. The market is sure, the price is permanent, the soil and climate are suitable and what more does the farmer want? Tobacco will pay for its cartage all the world over, and if the Melbourne market were ovcrsupplied (which is very unlikely) it would command a sale elsewhere. The market value of a pound weight of wheat is a little over one halfpenny. The market value of a pound of tobacco is tenpence on the spot, or one shilling in Melbourne. It is a good crop of wheat that produces 24001 bto the acre ; it is a bad crop of tobacco that does not produce more than 24001 b per acre. Of course there is more expense in the culture of tobacco as compared with wheat, but a margin of 20 to 1 will allow for a pood deal. Now is the season for sowing tobacco seed — farmers are taking advantage of it.