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ANITUaIi statistics.
We have received from Mr. J. Bootliby,
Government Statist, the fifth annual report on ]
the agricultural and live stock statistics for the
year ended March 31st, 1S63 4. That portion
of the information which relates to cereal pro
duce has already heen referred to in these ]
columns at some length. But the report,
besides containing much that is new on this
point, gives a detailed account of the position <
of the colony in reference to the alienation of 1
public lands, cultivation, and general produce. !
Turning to the excellent abstract which Mr.
Boothby gives in his introductory Report, we I
learn that during the year ended the 31st of |
December, 1863, the area of country and subur
ban land alienated from the Crown amounted
to 159,792 acres, against 129,803 acres in the j
previous year, making a total of 2,668,613 acres !
sold up to the commencement of this year, or j
19 acreB for each individual of the population,
against 18*6 in 1863, and more than twice the
quantity per head in Victoria. The largest I
purchases of land were made in the Counties of
Gawler, Grey, Robe, Light, and Stanley. Of
the total area passed into the hands of private
individuals 1,710,327 acres, or two-thirds, is
returned as in the occupation of freeholders.
Following this highly satisfactory statement
we find that with regard to the UBe of the land
there are four acres in cultivation for each in
dividual of the population as compared with
3*65 acres in 1862-6. To show the relative |
value of these, figures it is Btated that in
Victoria and New South.Wales the ratio is hut |
four-fifths of an acre per head; so that the area ]
of our land undercultivation as compared with
our population is five times greater than in the
neighbouring colonies. The figures which relate j
to enclosed lands are summarized as follows:—
" The area of enclosed land on the 31st March, j
1864, is returned at 2,900,291 acres, against <
2,105,877 acres on 31st March, 1863—no less
than 794,414 acres having been enclosed during ]
the year. This is, of coarse, inclnsive of fencing
erected to secure large areas of sheep pasturage,
chiefly in the South-Eastern District, where j
1,400,000 acres . are enclosed—the greater !
portion--very.substantially—for this purpose;
it being found that sheep-farming is more pro
fitable where paddocks are used than when the I
flocks are shepherded in the,ordinary way on
open rnns. The stock in that district is as
follows a—Horses, 10,460, against 8,610 in
1862-3; cattle, 35,548, against 43,906; and
sheep, 1,065,473, against 905,742 the year pre
ceding. Altogether the enclosed pasture land
amounts .to 2,344,324 acres, or 732,958 acres
additional; an increase, pf 45 per cent, dnring
the season."...
The following facts which are exhibited hy
the returns are of special importance:—The
additional land in occupation last year formed
6 per cent, on the toted area previously alienated
from the Crown; whilst the increase in the
area under cultivation was _12J per cent, over
that of last year. The sale,of public lands
continued-to increase in a greater ratio than
that of the population, and cultivation increased
at doable the rate of the increase of land
purchases. Land trader tillage^ it is said,
"amounted to 555,96S acres, against 494,511
acres in.the previous season; an increase of
64,457 acres, or 12$ per cent. - This additional
acreage is mostly attributable to larger areas of
land being broken, up in fallow, new land being.
brought under the plough chiefly in'the Counties
of Gawler, Light, Stanley, and Gray."
With regard to the crops of 1863-4 we find
that 60 per cent, of the total land cultivated
. was under wheat, 335,758 acres being reaped,
against 320,160 acres in the previous season—
an -increase of 15,598 seres, or 5 per cent,
The principal wheat-growing counties, it is
pointed out, are Adelaide, Gawler, Light,
Stanley, Hindmarsh, Sturt, and Grey. Of
these seven counties five show an increased
acreage under wheat, and two a diminished
area, viz., Adelaide and Hindmarsh, the land
in which countieB has been long and succes
sively-cropped-with this cereal. In 1861-2
these two districts had 159,871 acres in wheat
—last season 147,431 acres, and the crop under
reriepr only 137,343 acres; - there was, there
fore, 14 per cent, less -wheat cultivated in
-those districts, than in 1861-2. In the three
Northern Counties, Gawler, Light, and Stan
ley, in which there is a large proportion of new 1
land, the increased cultivation, has been very I
great. -In 186L2,123,308 acres under wheat, j
in 1SG2-3,140,669 acres, and 164,407 acres in
.the past eeasou-T^in augmentation of one-third
during the period/ In the two remaining j
counties, Start and Grey, the increase was !
mot material. The wheat harvest produced I
4,691,919 bushels, against 3,841,824 bushels in |
the preceding season, showing an increase of
850,095 bushels, or 22 per cent. The average
yield per acre, as our readers are aware, was 14
bushels, or ino bushels in excess of the previous
crop. The progress which has been made in
wheat cultivation during the past six years is
clearly shown by the following figures :—
Acres
Acres
Produce,
Average
Season.
culti
under
Wheat.
per acre.
vated.
IV heat.
Bushels.
B. lbs.
1S3S-9 ...
. 264,462
1SS.703
2,109,544
11 11
1N39-60 ...
. 36U8S4
218,216
2,103.411
9 3S
1860-61...
. 428, SL6
273.672
3,576,593
13 4
1801-2 ..
. 4-id,667
3LU.636
3,410.756
10 59
1S62-3 ..
. 494,511
320,160
3,S4i;S24
12 0
1863-4 ...
. 555,963
335,75S
4,631,919
14 0
Vi c itwra iuui uve-BiAius ui u*e » cicav cruy
last year was reaped by machines, hand-reaning
being almost excluded from the harvest fields
of many districts. With regard to other
crops, the report contains much useful infor
mation, none of which lias previously
been published. The hay harvest was re
markably good, the whole province averaging
27 cwt. to the acre, agaiuBt 21 cwt. ; the total
yield off" 75,590 acres, or only 1.S43 acres more
than in the previous season, was 102,293 tons ;
an increase cf 13,308 tons. An addition of
3,132 acres appears in the breadth of land
sown with barley, making a total of 13.930
acies. Off this area, 251,001 bushels were
reaped—au increase of 57,659 bushels on the
previous crop. The average yield of the two
seasons was identical—18 bushels 8 lbs. to the
acre. It is noticeable that the increase in the
area sown with barley occurs in the two
counties in which a decreased acreage of
wheat appears.' With regard to oats we learn
that there were 3,923 acres reaped, against
2,310 acres in the previous season; the yield
was 74.9G4 bushels against 44,018, the average
being the same—-19 bushels 2 lbs. to the acre
in both seasons. One-half nearly of the oat
crop was sown in bounty Grey, where the
average yield is over 21 bushels per acre. Tor
green forage, the following crops were laid
downOf wheat, oats, and barley, 861 acres ;
maize, 37 acres ; Borghum, 60 acres; lueern,
1,150 acres; permanent grasses, 282 acres;
altogether, 2,390 acres—a decrease of463 acres
on the preceding year. Other crops covered
407 acres, against 229 acres in 1S63. In
potato crops there was a great felling off It
is said—"Following upon the failure of the
potato crop in 1862-3, when only 2,275 acres
were grown, the increase in planting was but
small—193 acres—making 2,463 aeres, from
which were obtained 6,717 tons, or an average
of 55 cwt. to the acre. In 1862-3, the crop
amounted to 3,972 tone, the aereablg produce
being only 35 cwt. Fallowing was more
resorted to last year than hi 1S62 3, there
being an increase of one-third to the land thus
dealt with.
The cultivation of the vine last year
continued to increase, 1,002 additional acres
being given in the returns of the various dis
tricts, which make a .total of 5,179 acres now
laid down as vineyards. The report states
that "the plants in'bearingnumber 3;84S,05§,
or 918260 additional;, those not in bearing
number 3,316,484, or an increase of 395;543 y
considerably more than one-hale the v ines
planted are productive. An increase of more
than ose-fourth also appears in the-quantity of
wine made, the vintage having giTen 606,365
gallons, against 472,797 gallons the pre
vious season, or 133,568 gallons addi
tional. These figures refer to the vin
tage of 1863, not to that just closed, as it is
impossible at the date of compilation of these
statistics to ascertain, with any degree of
correctness, the quantity of marketable wine
produeed from the- vintage of the current
season. An attempt was made on this occa
sion to ascertain the result of the present
vintage, but the information afforded has been
so generally based oa conjecture, and necessarily
so, that it is net considered desirable to
publish the particulars. The quantity of grapes
sold or otherwise disposed of—except in wine
making—was 31,359 cwt», against 26,551 of
the previous season." The area of orchards
and gardens is fe486 aeres.
Mr. Boothby, in the course of his remarks
on the agricultural returns of the year, says it
is a matter for regret that "subsidiary crops
are not more generally cultivated, a9 ^ the
farmers rely too. much on one cereal. This is
a long-standing complaint, and it is urged
with much force in the neighbouring colonies
as well as amongst ourselves. The XewTiaii
of June 4th save:—A variety of produce is the
insurance of the farmer. It is not necessary
for him to experimentalize j but he may feirly j
be asked, for hiB own sake and that of others,
to spread his chances over as wide & field as
possible. At a late meeting in Sydney, where
the subject was very elaborately discussed.
Mr. Moore submitted the following list of
plants that might be cultivated with success
nNew South Wales, and probably would do
equally well in Victoria—arrowroot, tobacco,
mustard, flax, hemp, opium, almonds, carraway,
madder, liquorice, rhubarb, buokwheat, chicory,
olive, Polish wheat, mummy wheat, carthamus,
and mulberry. How, we do not expect our farm
ing friends "in this present year, 1864, to try
all many, or perhaps any of the above. The
time for them, or most of them, is yet to come.
Flax, hemp, 3nd tobacco are safe to try m
small quantities, beginning, say, with half an
acre, and so with most of the others ; but it
is not likely for a year or two that they will be
largely tested. Tbose articles, however, which
every child knows of, and which lie directly at
lib door, the former surely may be expected to
attend to more than he does. _ It is more than
ever necessary to urge this point at the present
moment, because it is to be feared that the
high prices which have been ruling in the flour
market will cause the former to neglect still
further all other-crops than those of wheat.
The live stock returns for the year 1863-4
"show that the number of horses in the colony
has increased from 56,251 to 59,008. Of
horned cattle there is a decrease of 32,176, or
from 258,342 head to 226,166 bead. " The
principal foiling off is on the Northern runs
and in the South-Eastern Dhtrict, their place
being supplied by large increases in the number
of sheep. On the runs referred to—those
situated north of Wilpena, there is an increase
of over 50,000 sheep, and in the South- ;
Eastern Dbrict of 160,000. The total increase
in the province of sheep and lambs during the
year, was 460.642, or 13J per cent., against au
increase of 392,644, or 125: per cent., the year
before. At the close of the year, 3,891,642
sheep and lambs were depastured, as com
pared with 3,431,000 at its commence
ment." As large a number as 165,267
sheep was exported overland to the
neighbouring colonics during 1863, 130,000
passing into New South Wales, and 35,267 into
Victoria. The number exported during the
first quarter of the current year, up to which
the stock returns are made, was 102,415, and
the arrivals were 43,386, leaving an excess of
exports of 59,029 sheep. Thfo large export iB
attributed to the circumstance that the South
Australian flocks are free from scab and there
fore preferred for stocking new country.
The foregoing statements contain the chief
results of the returns as given by Mr. Boothby,
but the tables of figures which accompany the
report contain some valuable details which we
shall take another opportunity of using.
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