Evening star., 1901-04-27


put In cold storage on the great steam
ers, not to be taken OFT until they reach
London. The steamers are especially ht-
ted up for the purpose. and it has been
found that they can successfully carry the
apples this distance. The apple crop now
amounts to half million bushels a year,
and 1t brings in several hundred thousand
dollars annually. In tie neighborhood of
two hundred thousand cases were shipped
last year, a great part of them coming
from the southern section of the island.
1t would surprise our people to see how
closely the Tasmanians plant apple trees.
The average orchard is set out ten feet
apart, instead of twenty feet or forty feet
as with us, and it is said that much as
600 bushels are sometimes gathered from
single acre, and that from trees thirty
years old. The trees begin to bear in their
third or fourth year and keep on bearing
for many years.
Tasmania ships green fruit to Australia
and New Zealand. 1t raises quantities of
pears, plums, cherries, and within the past
few years has been exporting about $780,
900 worth of jam annually. This latitude
civ es the Strawberries, raspberries, grapes
and other small fruits an excellent flavor
and the Tasmanian jams go as far north as
the Philippines.
Farming Along the Southern Ocean.
These people are excellent farmers, Near
ly every crop yields more than elsewhere.
The wheat fields cover only about eighty
five thousand acres, and the average pro-
duction is tWenty-nine bushels per acre. A
large amount of barley is grown, and sew
eral million bushels of oats, the latter aver
aging thirty-eight bushels per acre.
| find that some Of our farming ma
chinery is sold here, but the trade might
be pushed at a profit. The farms are
of such nautre that some implements
cannot be used, still there are many farm
engines, moving machines and reapers and
mowers combined. There are some patent
binders, a couple of hundred threshing ma
chimes and many force pumps. ! doubt,
however, whether as good freight rates
could be secured as are given to the En-
glish exporters on account of the close con-
nection between here and London.
Sheep at Thousand Dollars Apiece.
There are many sheep here which are
worth a thousand dollars apiece. They are
taken to Australia and sold there for breed
ing purposes, full-bred rams bringing some
times as much as $1,000 each. The greatest
care is taken i'll the breeding Of sheep. The
holdings are smaller than in Australia or
New Zealand, where single men have focks
of hundreds of thousands, and the Tasma
nian sheep breeders can therefore take bet
ter care of their stock Tasmania is an ex-
cellent turnip country, and in this part of
the world good turnip country is a good
sheep country. There are fields about Ho-
bart which have produced as much as six
teen tons of turnips to the acre, and in
northeastern Tasmania twenty-five tons per
acre have been grown. AT present in the
ne1ghborhOod of 5000 acres are SOWn every
year in turnipS, yielding more than $4,000
tons. The bulk of this stuff goes to the
sheep, which speedily grind it up into NUT
ton and wool.
The Worlds Biggest Tin Mine.
There is a great mining boom now on in
Tasmania. Up until 1872 the minerals
but in that year tin mines were opened
Mount Bischoff, In the northwest
ern part of the island. and these have
proved to be the largest tin mines of the
world. They paid their first dividend In
regularly, having distributed in dividends
more than SS,oOO,O0O. The total exports of
minerals now amount to S5,0OO,OO0 annu-
ally, and there are about 6000 men at work
in the mines. Not only tin but also gold,
silver. copper, iron and coal are taken out,
as well as small amounts of other metals.
one of the most wonderful mines is the
Mount Lyell gold mine, which was discov-
cred in 1881. This was thought to be of
iron mixed with gold. 1t was first worked
as gold mine, but was afterward found
to contain copper, gold and silver and the
ore was reduced after modern processes of
smelling copper. The results were so great
that the company was reorganized with a
capital Of about 81, 800 900 a railroad was
built from the mines to the smelling works
and within a short time the company had
five smelters treating 1000 tons of ore a
month. This company paid it's first divi-
dend in 1897 and by The middle of the year
following it had distributed to it's stock
holders more than million dollars 1t now
pays out about $4,000 a month in salaries
and is making money right along out of
copper, silver and gold.
The KIOndilSe of Tasmania,
There is government ,ripip, b,,r.o,,
here at Hobart, from which learn the fol-
lowing concerning this new mining region
of western Tasmania, which may be called
the klondike of the country. So far much
of the minerals have come from the north
east a great deal Of tin and gold having
been taken from the right ear Of this
heart-shaped island. In the west but little
mining was done in early days and the de-
velopment there has been comparatively
recent. Within the past decade towns have
been springing up almost fast as in our
mineral regions of the west, and new town.
ships are being applied for every few
weeks. Several railroads have been built.
and deposits Of gold tin and copper have
been found.
No Chance for Americana
I have made some inquiries about lands,
both mineral and agricultural and as a re-
suit believe that there is little chance here
loi 2hHici i'dIlS tltHel III farming.
Nearly every bit of good land has been
taken up. There are many men who own
large tracts and some who are very rich
farmers. The government sells the public
lands in blocks of from fifteen to 800 acres
at SO per acre in cash, for little more
on installments l have looked over the
real estate sales and it seems to me that
farms and city property bring almost as
much ana in many cases more than in the
United States.
Living is, if anything, cheaper in Tas
mania than with us, but wages are lower
Farm hands get from $3.50 to $50 ner.
week with board Shepherds are paid about
$500 a year, and common Iaborers receive
about 81 or $50 a day. AS to clerks and
bookkeepers, they are poorly paid, and
there are few such places open. Domestic
servants are in demand and their wages
are about the same with us, the lady
help being q feature of Tasmania as of
New Zealand.
One of the troubles about clearing the
government lands is the dense growth of
timber which must be cut down before
they can be used. The climate here ia
rather moist and the undergrowth is thick
er than in most parts of our country
Much of the timber is the eucalyptus hnt
there are also beeches, dogwoods oaks and
other hard woods. There are millions Of
acres of virgin forests containing excellent
timber Some of this is now being out
md oh nit.,,., a