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The account of land in cultivation, as it appeared at the last
muster taken by me, according to direction which I received from his
Honor 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 peas 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 peas 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 peas 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, salads, &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 favorable, 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 broccoli 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 labor 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 grazer 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.
The Present Picture Of New South Wales, 1811 |
