Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/150



The present depressed state of New South Wales—Its causes—Sheep—Their depreciated value—Sheep-boiling—Price of Australian Tallow in London—The practice of Sheep-boiling defended—Sheep, still a profitable investment when purchased at a price determined by the intrinsic worth of their Skins and Tallow—Calculations to show the income that might be then derived from Sheep—No Foreign Countries, or other British Colonies, able at present to produce Wool and Tallow cheaper than Australia—Price of Australian Wool not regulated by the cost of production, but by the state of the Home Market—Life of the Australian Settlers not necessarily deprived of all the conveniences and comforts of civilization—Horned Cattle—Australian Beef considered of inferior quality in London—Intrinsic value of Cattle when slaughtered for their Hides, Tallow, &c.—Calculations showing the income derivable from Cattle when they are purchased at a price determined by the value of their Hides, Tallow, &c. only—Agriculture, a very uncertain occupation in Australia—Excellent quality of the Australian Wheat; its capability of supporting long voyages without deterioration, and the high price obtained for it in the London market—Maize of New South Wales superior to that of the United States—Prices to which Wheat and Maize must fall in Sydney to allow of their being exported to England—Grain might perhaps be advantageously grown, in some few favoured localities, at these low prices, by persons purchasing improved farms at their present low value—Calculations on this subject—Districts exempt from droughts—Causes of this exemption—Vineyards—Good quality of the Wines hitherto made in New South Wales—Varieties of Grape successfully cultivated—