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AUSTRALIA

the head of each particular state. The area of Australia is 2,946,691 square miles, or 1,885,882,240 acres; of this area the states have sold or otherwise parted with nearly 107,000,000 acres, and have under lease 779,000,000 acres. The bulk of the best land has been sold, the area neither leased nor sold, which amounts to about 1,000,000,000 acres, being chiefly in West and South Australia, and for the most part outside the region of regular rainfall. Defence.—Practically there is no standing army in Australia, as the total number of paid soldiers is only 1571. This small permanent force is supported by a partiallypaid force of 14,066, and an unpaid or strictly volunteer force of 6063 men. There are in each state, besides the land forces, small corps of naval volunteers capable of being employed as light artillery land forces or upon the local war vessels. Although the regular military force of the states is very small, Australasia (including New Zealand) was able to despatch 8300 troops for service in South Africa, and of these 6310 belonged to Australia proper. The naval defence of Australia is entrusted to the Imperial Navy, and Sydney, the headquarters of the fleet, ranks as a first-class station. Fisheries.—The only deep-sea fisheries now carried on to any extent in Australia are the pearl fisheries in Queensland and West Australia. At one time whaling Avas 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 diving for pearl shell is actively carried on in Torres Strait, and has become an important industry, giving employment to nearly 2000 men, and the take in 1899 was 1200 tons of shell, valued at £130,105. Besides shell some beche-de-mer and tortoiseshell is obtained. The pearl shell industry of West Australia is chiefly carried on along the north-west coast and in Shark Bay, but the production now shows a large falling-off owing to the exhaustion of the inshore banks. The value of pearls and pearl shell raised in 1899 amounted to £96,000, the banks at Shark Bay yielding only £3824, compared with £16,043 in 1890. Timber Industry.—The timber industry is prosecuted on a large scale in West Australia and New South Wales, especially in the first-named state, where very extensive forests of splendid hardwoods exist. In 1899 the value of timber exported was—from West Australia £553,198, and New South Wales £102,218, the combined exports of the other three states only reaching £17,000. These figures do not indicate the whole value of the industry, especially in New South Wales, where a larger quantity is consumed locally than is exported. Grazing and Agriculture.—The continent is essentially a pastoral one, and in 1899 depastured 72,625,000 sheep, 9,678,000 cattle, 1,639,000 horses, besides large numbers of swine ; the figures show a great falling-off from previous years, for in 1891 there were 104,800,000 sheep and 10,860,000 cattle depastured. The butter industry is making great progress, and there were, in 1899, 1,102,000 head of dairy cattle, and the butter made was little short of 100,680,000 lb. Next to the pastoral industry agriculture is the principal source of Australian wealth. In 1900 the area devoted to tillage was 8,441,000 acres, namely, wheat 5,550,000 acres; maize, 336,000 acres; oats, 325,000 acres; other grains, 121,000 acres; hay, 1,454,000 acres ; potatoes, 112,000 acres ; sugar-cane, 133,000 acres ; vines, 61,000 acres; and other crops, 349,000 acres. The

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chief wheat lands are in Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales; the yield averages about 9 bushels to the acre, and is lowest in South Australia. 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, 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 1900 the total value of agricultural produce estimated at the place of production was £17,000,000 sterling, or about £4, 16s. 7d. per inhabitant. Mineral Production.—Australia is one of the great gold producers of the world, and its yield in 1899 was about £14,334,000 sterling, and the total value of its mineral production was approximately £19,663,000. 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 1899, gold to the value of£368,160,000 sterling had been obtained in Australia. Victoria, in a period of forty-eight years, contributed about £254,000,000 to this total, and is still a large producer, its annual yield being about 736,000 oz., 29,000 men being engaged in the search for the precious metal. Queensland’s annual output is 705,000 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 1899 was about 496,000 oz., valued at £1,752,000. Until recently West 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 miles east of Perth. This was the first of the many rich discoveries in the same district which have made West Australia the chief gold-producer of the Australian group. At the present time there are eighteen goldfields in the state, and it is estimated that over 20,000 miners are actively engaged in the search for gold. In 1899 the production amounted to 1,644,000 oz., as compared with 30,310 oz. in 1891. Of all the Australian states South Australia has produced the smallest quantity of gold, the total output from the commencement of mining operations being valued at little more than £2,213,000 sterling. The following table gives the value of gold raised from the commencement of mining to the close of the year 1899: Value Produced State. . £47,546,000 New South Wales . 254,157,000 Victoria 47,338,000 Queensland 2,213,000 South Australia. 16,906,000 West Australia. The production of gold, which had been declining steadily for many years, reached the lowest point in 1886. Since then there has been a marked revival. The production of gold in each state in 1899 is given below :—