Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/210

 such accidents, which are fortunately of very rare occurrence in New South Wales, I do not think, therefore, that I should be assuming too great a quantity in taking four hundred gallons of wine as the average for an- acre of vines planted in that colony, on an appropriate site and suitable soil. The expenses attendant on the cultivation of the grape and production of wine, are, as I have before stated, £5. 5s for St. Emilien, and £4. 10s. for Grève, for each English acre. Near Xeres, in Spain, the expense is about £12. for the acre. In large vineyards, in France, two men are required to cultivate every ten acres of vines. Assuming that in New South Wales, three men are requisite to do the same amount of labour as three Frenchmen, and that the wages of these men are £20. a year for two of them, and £36. a year for the third, (who, we will suppose, has some previously acquired knowledge of the culture of the vine), and that their rations cost £8. each, the expense of cultivating ten acres of vines in that colony would be £100., or £10. for every acre. The wages of extra hands during the vintage, cost of casks, &c. may be taken at £6. the acre, making the total annual expense, attending the production of colonial wine, £16. an acre, according to my estimate.

I will now endeavour to ascertain what would be the probable amount of capital required to establish