Chapter III. Present State of the Colony.
Agriculture, &c.
The account of land in cultivation, as it appeared at the last muster taken by me, according to direction which I received from his Honour Lieutenant-Governor Foveaux, and making a part of the several tracts granted by the crown to settlers, &c. as described in the survey, stood as follows:--
Belonging to the Crown--100 acres in wheat.
Belonging to Officers--326½ acres of wheat, 178 acres of maize, 22½ acres of barley, 13 acres of oats, 13/4 acres of pease and beans, 191/4 acres of potatoes, 65 acres of orchard, and 6 acres of flax and hemp.
Belonging to Settlers--6460½ acres of wheat, 32111/4 acres of maize, 512 acres of barley, 79½ acres of oats, 983/4 acres of pease and beans, 2813/4 acres of potatoes, 13 acres of turnips, 4811/4 acres of garden and orchard, and 28½ acres of flax, hemp, and hops.
Total.--6887 acres of wheat, 33891/4 acres of maize, 534½ acres of barley, 92½ acres of oats, 100½ acres of pease and beans, 301 acres of potatoes, 13 acres of turnips, 5461/4 acres of orchard and garden, 34½ acres of flax, hemp, and hops.
The following is the general course of cultivation adopted, and justified by experience:--
January.--The ground intended for wheat and barley to be sown in, ought to be now broken up; carrots should also be sown, and potatoes planted in this month are most productive for the winter consumption.
February.--A general crop of turnips for sheep, &c. should be sown this month, the land having been previously manured, cleared, ploughed, &c. This is also the proper month for putting Cape barley in the ground, for green food for horses, cattle, &c.
March.--Strawberries should be planted this month, and onions for immediate use should be sown. All forest land should be now sown with wheat; and turnips, for a general crop, in the proportion of one pound of seed to an acre of land.
April.--From the middle of this month, until the end of May, is the best season for sowing wheat in the districts of Richmond Hill, Phillip, Nelson, and Evan, as it is not so subject to the caterpillar, smut, rust, and blight. Oats may also be sown now for a general crop. Asparagus haulm should also be cut and carried off the ground, and the beds dunged.
May.--Pease and beans for a field crop should be sown in this month; but, in gardens, at pleasure, as you may be supplied with them, as well as most other vegetable productions, sallads, &c. nearly at all times of the year.
June.--This is the best season for transplanting all kinds of fruit-trees, except evergreens; layers may also be now made, and cuttings planted from hardy trees. Spring barley should be sown this month upon all rich land, three bushels to an acre.
July.--Potatoes which were planted in January are now fit for digging. Stocks to bud and plant upon should now be transplanted; cabbage and carrots may be sown; and strawberries should be cleaned, and have their spring dressing.
August.--Potatoes must now be planted for general summer use; the ground prepared for clover at this season is best. Cucumbers and melons of all kinds should now be sown, and evergreens transplanted. Vines ought to be cut and trimmed early in this month. Ground may this month also be ploughed for the reception of maize, and turnip land prepared for grass.
September.--This is the best season for grafting fruit-trees, and the ground should be entirely prepared for planting with maize. Grass-seed or clover should be sown in the beginning of this month, if the weather is favourable, and there is a prospect of rains.
October.--All fruit-trees now in bearing should be examined, and where the fruit is set too thick, it must be reduced to a moderate quantity. The farmer should plant as much of his maize this month as possible, and clean ground for potatoes.
November.--In this month the harvest becomes general throughout the colony, and no wheat ought to be stacked upon the ground, as the moisture which arises from the earth ascends through the stack, and tends much, in this warm climate, to increase the weevils, which prove very destructive to the wheat. Evergreens may now be propagated by layers, and cabbage, lettuce, and turnips sown.
December.--The stubble-ground is frequently planted with maize in this month, so that it produces a crop of wheat and another of maize in the same year; but the policy of thus forcing the ground is much questioned by many experienced agriculturists, and is supposed to have led to the ruin of some of these avaricious farmers. Cauliflower and brocoli seeds may now be sown.
The prices paid for planting, clearing ground, &c. is as follows, according to the regulations specified in the general orders:--For felling forest timber, 10s. per acre; for burning off ditto, 25s. per acre; for breaking up new ground, 24s. per acre; for breaking up stubble or corn land, 13s. 4d. per acre; for chipping in wheat, 6s. 8d. per acre; for reaping ditto, 8s. per acre; for threshing ditto, 7d. per bushel; for planting maize, 6s. 8d. per acre; for hilling ditto, 6s. 8d. per acre; and for pulling and husking ditto, 5d. per bushel.--The hours of public labour are from sunrise to eight o'clock, and (Sundays excepted) from nine to three. On Saturdays, on account of the stores being open for the issue of provisions, the hours are from sunrise to nine o'clock.
Yearly wages for servants, with board, 10l.; weekly ditto, with provisions, 6s.; daily wages, with board, 1s.; and daily wages, without board, 2s. 6d.
The following is an accurate account of Live Stock, taken at the same time as the preceding statement of land in cultivation:--
Belonging to the Crown--28 male horses, 19 female ditto; 21 bulls, 1791 cows; 1800 oxen; 395 male sheep, and 604 female ditto.
Belonging to Officers--81 male horses, 146 female ditto; 38 bulls, 1111 cows; 696 oxen; 2638 male sheep, 5298 female ditto; 40 male goats, 73 female ditto; 486 male pigs, and 537 female ditto.
Belonging to Settlers--258 male horses, 329 female ditto; 40 bulls, 1906 cows; 1172 oxen; 7449 male sheep, 15,327 female ditto; 799 male goats, 1670 female ditto; 7693 male pigs, and 7435 female ditto.
Belonging to Persons not holding Land--44 male horses, 35 female ditto; 19 bulls, 307 cows; 103 oxen; 325 male sheep, 1222 female ditto; 97 male goats, 296 female ditto; 1641 male pigs, and 1576 female ditto.
Total of Stock--411 male horses, 529 female ditto; 118 bulls, 5115 cows; 3771 oxen; 10807 male sheep, 22,451 female ditto; 936 male goats, 2039 female ditto; 9820 male pigs, and 9548 female ditto.
The common lands to the various districts, which were located in perpetuity in 1804, are now felt very serviceable, and were just granted at a period that prevented any of the settlers from being thoroughly enclosed, so that every grazier has now an opportunity of feeding his stock thereon, without confining himself to the quantity of land he chooses to cultivate on his own farm.
From the above statements it will most certainly appear, that the colony is in a very flourishing state, and, no doubt, will soon become independent of the mother country, if those methods are pursued which are best calculated to promote this end. No one step has latterly been taken to facilitate this desirable object more than the measures adopted by Colonel Johnstone and Lieutenant-Governor Foveaux, who distributed the breeding cattle amongst the industrious and deserving settlers; a step which has produced benefits of a two-fold nature--laying the foundation for the more rapid increase of stock, and affording a stimulus to meritorious exertion. In the districts about Hawkesbury, the grain yields abundantly; but at the other settlements it is less productive: The reason of this distinction must be chiefly obvious to the reader of the preceding sketch, in the liability of the soil at the former settlement to frequent inundations, which serve every purpose of manure, and uniformly keep the ground in a mellow state. It has been erroneously stated, that the average produce of the land in New South Wales is sixty bushels of wheat per acre; but I can take upon myself to say, that twenty-five bushels an acre will be found the full extent of the average produce. When a comparison is made between the present state of the country and its former condition, the improvements will appear considerable in agriculture, and almost incredible in every other respect. The season for the gathering in of the wheat has been gradually accelerated, ever since the commencement of the colony; and the harvest of the last year previous to my departure from the settlement, commenced nearly a month sooner than it did at the first: The fruit seemed also later.