Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/384

 358 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY Mr. J. Miller, M.P.. MR. MILLER is one of the most practical and experienced representatives of the farming community in the House of Assembly. The knowledge that he has acquired in actual participation in such pursuits and in careful observation during somewhat extensive trips through the country has frequeutly proved serviceable to the Province, and particularly to members of Parliament when important measures of land legislation have demanded their consideration. Mr. Miller is not one of those farmers who are content to keep in one unenter- prising groove, nor is he hopelessly conservative in his opinions on questions of land cultivation. He believes that one can be constantly learning to discriminate and judge from the lessons which years of experience have taught him. An Australian native, Mr. Miller was born at Hindmarsh — then a very small suburb of Adelaide — on July 12, 1840, his pirents having been among the earliest arrivals in South Australia. The days of his youth were important days in the history of the Province. He witnessed the birth of most of the industries which the Province even now possesses. There was a romantic atmosphere in a childhood and youth spent in the half-tamed country in the presence of blacks, and with the necessarily nomadic characteristics of the white settlers. Efforts were being made to push the outposts of settlement farther into the bush, and the remarkable and adventurous characters which such pursuits attracted abounded in the Province. It is certain that his youthful experiences had a large influence on Mr. Miller's character, and tended to impart to it a sturdy, sensible side. In 1855 he took up his residence at .Strathalbyn, one of the first outposts of settlement, and he remained there until 186 1. wiien he removed to Athelstone. During these years he had been associated with agricultural pursuits. Hammer £-" Co., I'hoto