Identifier: countriesofworld04brow (find matches)
Title: The countries of the world : being a popular description of the various continents, islands, rivers, seas, and peoples of the globe
Year: 1876 (1870s)
Authors: Brown, Robert, 1842-1895
Subjects:
Publisher: London New York : Cassell, Petter, Galpin & co.
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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succession out ofthe land as possible, without putting anything in it, and when his land will no longergrow wheat, to encourage it to grow thistles for the benefit of his neighbour. This, atleast, is the charge brought against Tasmanian farmers by so lenient a critic of Tasmanianshortcomings as Sir Charles Du Cane, who declares that he has seen, on what ought to bethe finest corn-gruwing land in the colony, thistle-down literally lying inches deep iu thefields, and rising piled up like a snow-drift against the fences on either side of the road.Under these circumstances, it is not wonderful to hear that agriculture does not pay. Itwould, indeed, be rather remarkable if it did—especially with wheat at 4s. a bushel, insteadof £4, as it was in the days of the early settlers, and those farmei-s friends the old hands.Sheep are, however, lucrative, and are likely in time to be still more profitable. Yetthe pastoral interests are comparatively small. There are only about two million sheep
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A SCENE IX THE TASMAXIAX BUSH (KANGAROOS, EMU, AND TIGER WOLVES). 1;J1 TIIE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD. in the coliinv, whereas a single Victoria firm has the credit of shearing annually amillion, pastured over something like three millions of acres of freehold, or on land rentedfrom the Government. Cattle and horses also do well, but the great minor agriculturalor horticultural interest of Tasmania is fruit-growing. The climate of Tasmania isadrairablv suited to this. English fruits grow even better than in England. Tasmaniancherries are as fine as those of Kent, and infinitely more plentiful, and strawberries,raspberries, gooseberries, apricots, plums, walnuts, and currants are in such profusionthat they are hardly valued, except in wholesale tjuantities. ^Mulberries are also grownin profusion, and are so good that the Hobart Town people are inclined to think thatthe man who has eaten of their mulberries has nothing more to do gastronomically in theantipodean world. The apples and pears

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