Pastoral and Agricultural Industries.—The continent is essentially a pastoral one, and the products of the flocks and herds constitute the chief element in the wealth of Australia. Practically the whole of the territory between the 145° meridian and the Great Dividing Range, as well as extensive tracts in the south and west, are a natural sheep pasture with climatic conditions and indigenous vegetation pre-eminently adapted for the growth of wool of the highest quality. Numerically the flocks of Australia represent one-sixth of the world’s sheep, and in just over half a century (1851-1905) the exports of Australian wool alone reached the value of £650,000,000. During the same period, owing to the efforts of pastoralists to improve their flocks, there was a gradual increase in the weight of wool produced per sheep from 3¼ ℔ to an average of over 7 ℔ The cattle and horse-breeding industries are of minor importance as compared with wool-growing, but nevertheless represent a great source of wealth, with vast possibilities of expansion in the over-sea trade. The perfection of refrigeration in over-sea carriage, which has done so much to extend the markets for Australian beef and mutton, has also furthered the expansion of dairying, there being an annual output of over 160 million ℔ of butter, valued at £6,000,000; of this about 64 million ℔, valued at £2,500,000, is exported annually to British markets.
Next to the pastoral industry, agriculture is the principal source of Australian wealth. At the close of 1905 the area devoted to tillage was 9,365,000 acres, the area utilized for the production of breadstuffs being 6,270,000 acres or over two-thirds of the whole extent of cultivation. At first wheat was cultivated solely in the coastal country, but experience has shown that the staple cereal can be most successfully grown over almost any portion of the arable lands within the 20 to 40 in. rainfall areas. The value of Australian wheat and flour exported in 1905 was £5,500,000.
Other important crops grown are—maize, 324,000 acres; oats, 493,000 acres; other grains, 160,000 acres; hay, 1,367,000 acres; potatoes, 119,000 acres; sugar-cane, 141,000 acres; vines, 65,000 acres; and other crops, 422,000 acres. The chief wheat lands are in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales; the yield averages about 9 bushels to the acre; this low average is due to the endeavour of settlers on new lands to cultivate larger areas than their resources can effectively deal with; the introduction of scientific farming should almost double the yield. Maize and sugar-cane are grown in New South Wales and Queensland. The vine is cultivated in all the states, but chiefly in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Australia produces abundant quantities and nearly all varieties of fruits; but the kinds exported are chiefly oranges, pineapples, bananas and apples. Tobacco thrives well in New South Wales and Victoria, but kinds suitable for exportation are not largely grown. Compared with the principal countries of the world, Australia does not take a high position in regard to the gross value of the produce of its tillage, the standard of cultivation being for the most part low and without regard to maximum returns, but in value per inhabitant it compares fairly well; indeed, some of the states show averages which surpass those of many of the leading agricultural countries. For 1905 the total value of agricultural produce estimated at the place of production was £18,750,000 sterling, or about £4 : 13 : 4 per inhabitant.
Timber Industry.—Although the timbers of commercial value are confined practically to the eastern and a portion of the western coastal belt and a few inland tracts of Australia, they constitute an important national asset. The early settlement of heavily timbered country was characterized by wanton destruction of vast quantities of magnificent timber; but this waste is a thing of the past, and under the pressure of a demand for sound timber both for local use and for exportation, the various governments are doing much to conserve the state forests. In Western Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland there are many hundreds of well-equipped saw-mills affording employment to about 5000 men. The export of timber is in ordinary years valued at a million sterling and the total production at £2,250,000.
Fisheries.—Excellent fish of many varieties abound in the Australian seas and in many of the rivers. In several of the states, fish have been introduced successfully from other countries. Trout may now be taken in many of the mountain streams. At one time whaling was an important industry on the coasts of New South Wales and Tasmania, and afterwards on the Western Australian coasts. The industry gravitated to New Zealand, and finally died out, chiefly through the wasteful practice of killing the calves to secure the capture of the mothers. Of late years whaling has again attracted attention, and a small number of vessels prosecute the industry during the season. The only source of maritime wealth that is now being sufficiently exploited to be regarded as an industry is the gathering of pearl-oysters from the beds off the northern and north-western coasts of the continent. In Queensland waters there are about 300 vessels, and on the Western Australian coast about 450 licensed craft engaged in the industry, the annual value of pearl-shell and pearls raised being nearly half a million sterling. Owing to the depletion of some of the more accessible banks, and to difficulties in connexion with the employment of coloured crews, many of the vessels have now gone farther afield. As the pearl-oyster is remarkably prolific, it is considered by experts that within a few years of their abandonment by fishing fleets the denuded banks will become as abundantly stocked as ever.
Mineral Production.—Australia is one of the great gold producers of the world, and its yield in 1905 was about £16,000,000 sterling, or one-fourth of the gold output of the world; and the total value of its mineral production was Gold. approximately £25,000,000. Gold is found throughout Australia, and the present prosperity of the states is largely due to the discoveries of this metal, the development of other industries being, in a country of varied resources, a natural sequence to the acquisition of mineral treasure. From the date of its first discovery, up to the close of 1905, gold to the value of £460,000,000 sterling has been obtained in Australia. Victoria, in a period of fifty-four years, contributed about £273,000,000 to this total, and is still a large producer, its annual yield being about 800,000 oz., 29,000 men being engaged in the search for the precious metal. Queensland’s annual output is between 750,000 and 800,000 oz.; the number of men engaged in gold-mining is 10,000. In New South Wales the greatest production was in 1852, soon after the first discovery of the precious metal, when the output was valued at £2,660,946; the production in 1905 was about 270,000 oz., valued at £1,150,000. For many years Western Australia was considered to be destitute of mineral deposits of any value, but it is now known that a rich belt of mineral country extends from north to south. The first important discovery was made in 1882, when gold was found in the Kimberley district; but it was not until a few years later that this rich and extensive area was developed. In 1887 gold was found in Yilgarn, about 200 m. east of Perth. This was the first of the many rich discoveries in the same district which have made Western Australia the chief gold-producer of the Australian group. In 1907 there were eighteen goldfields in the state, and it was estimated that over 30,000 miners were actively engaged in the search for gold. In 1905 the production amounted to 1,983,000 oz., valued at £8,300,000. Tasmania is a gold producer to the extent of about 70,000 or 80,000 oz. a year, valued at £300,000; South Australia produces about 30,000 oz.
Gold is obtained chiefly from quartz reefs, but there are still some important alluvial deposits being worked. The greatest development of quartz reefing is found in Victoria, some of the mines being of great depth. There are eight mines in the Bendigo district over 3000 ft. deep, and fourteen over 2500 ft. deep. In the Victoria mine a depth of 3750 ft. has been reached, and in Lazarus mine 3424 ft. In the Ballarat district a depth of 2520 ft. has been reached in the South Star mine. In Queensland there is one mine 3156 ft. deep, and several others exceed 2000 ft. in depth. A considerable number of men are engaged in the various states on alluvial fields, in hydraulic sluicing, and dredging is now adopted for the winning of gold in river deposits. So far this form of winning is chiefly carried on in New South Wales, where there are about fifty gold-dredging plants in successful operation. Over 70,000 men are employed in the gold-mining industry, more than two-thirds of them being engaged in quartz mining.
Silver has been discovered in all the states, either alone or in the form of sulphides, antimonial and arsenical ores, chloride, bromide, iodide and chloro-bromide of silver, and argentiferous lead ores, the largest deposits of the metal being found Silver. in the last-mentioned form. The leading silver mines are in New South Wales, the returns from the other states being comparatively insignificant. The fields of New South Wales have proved to be of immense value, the yield of silver and lead during 1905 being £2,500,000, and the total output to the end of the year named over £40,000,000. The Broken Hill field, which was discovered in 1883, extends over 2500 sq. m. of country, and has developed into one of the principal mining centres of the world. It is situated beyond the river Darling, and close to the boundary between New South Wales and South Australia. The lodes occur in Silurian metamorphic micaceous schists, intruded by granite, porphyry and diorite, and traversed by numerous quartz reefs, some of which are gold-bearing. The Broken Hill lode is the largest yet discovered. It varies in width from 10 ft. to 200 ft., and may be traced for several miles. Although indications of silver abound in all the other states, no fields of great importance have yet been discovered. Up to the end of 1904 Australia had produced silver to the value of £45,000,000. At Broken Hill mines about 11,000 miners are employed.
Copper is known to exist in all the states, and has been mined extensively in South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. The low quotations which ruled for a number of years had a depressing effect upon the industry, and Copper. many mines once profitably worked were temporarily closed, but in 1906 there was a general revival. The discovery of copper had a marked effect on the fortunes of South Australia at a time when the young colony was surrounded by difficulties. The first important mine, the Kapunda, was opened up in 1842. It is estimated that at one time 2000 tons were produced annually, but the mine was closed in 1879. In 1845 the celebrated Burra Burra mine was discovered. This mine proved to be very rich, and paid £800,000 in dividends to the original owners. For a number of years, however, the mine has been suffered to remain untouched, as the deposits originally worked were found to be depicted. For many years the average output was from 10,000 to 13,000 tons of ore, yielding from 22 to 23% of copper. For the period of thirty years during which the mine was worked the production of ore amounted to 234,648 tons, equal to 51,622 tons of copper, valued at £4,749,924. The Wallaroo and Moonta mines, discovered in 1860 and 1861, proved to be even more valuable than the Burra Burra, the Moonta mines employing at one time upwards of 1600 hands. The dividends paid by these mines amounted to about £1,750,000 sterling. The satisfactory price obtained during recent years has enabled renewed attention to be paid to copper mining in South Australia, and the production of the metal in 1905 was valued at £470,324. The principal deposits of copper in New South Wales are found in the central part of the state between the Macquarie, Darling and Bogan rivers. Deposits have also been found in the New England and southern districts, as well as at Broken Hill, showing that the mineral is widely distributed throughout the state. The more important mines are those of Cobar, where the Great Cobar mine produces annually nearly 4000 tons of refined copper. In northern Queensland copper is found throughout the Cloncurry district, in the upper basin of the Star river, and the Herberton district. The returns from the copper fields in the state are at present a little over half a million sterling per annum, and would be still greater if it were not for the lack of suitable fuel for smelting purposes, which renders the economical treatment of the ore difficult; the development of the mines is also retarded by the want of easy and cheaper communication with the coast. In Western Australia copper deposits have been worked for some years. Very rich lodes of the metal have been found in the Northampton, Murchison and Champion Bay districts, and also in the country to the south of these districts on the Irwin river. Tasmania is now the largest copper-producing state of the Commonwealth; in 1905 the output was over £672,010 and in earlier years even larger. The chief mines belong to the Mount Lyell Mining & Railway Co., and are situated on the west side of the island with an outlet by rail to Strahan on the west coast. The total value of copper produced in Australia up to the end of 1905 was £42,500,000 sterling, £24,500,000 having been obtained in South Australia, £7,500,000 in New South Wales, £6,400,000 in Tasmania and over £3,500,000 in Queensland.
Tin was known to exist in Australia from the first years of colonization. The wealth of Queensland and the Northern Territory in this mineral, according to the reports of Dr Jack, late Government geologist of the former state, and the late Tin. Rev. J.E. Tenison-Woods, appears to be very great. The most important tin-mines in Queensland are in the Herberton district, south-west of Cairns; at Cooktown, on the Annan and Bloomfield rivers; and at Stanthorpe, on the border of New South Wales. Herberton and Stanthorpe have produced more than three-fourths of the total production of the state. Towards the close of the 19th century the production greatly decreased in consequence of the low price of the metal, but in 1899 a stimulus was given to the industry, and since then the production has increased very considerably, the output for 1905 being valued at £989,627. In New South Wales lode tin occurs principally in the granite and stream tin under the basaltic country in the extreme north of the state, at Tenterfield, Emmaville, Tingha, and in other districts of New England. The metal has also been discovered in the Barrier ranges, and many other places. The value of the output in 1905 was £226,110. The yield of tin in Victoria is very small, and until lately no fields of importance have been discovered; but towards the latter end of 1899 extensive deposits were reported to exist in the Gippsland district—at Omeo and Tarwin. In South Australia tin-mining is unimportant. In Western Australia the production from the tin-fields at Greenbushes and elsewhere was valued at £87,000. Tasmania during the last few years has attained the foremost position in the production of tin, the annual output now being about £363,000. The total value of tin produced in Australia is nearly a million sterling per annum, and the total production to the end of 1905 was £22,500,000, of which Tasmania produced about 40%, New South Wales one-third, Queensland a little more than a fourth.