"I visited seven farms within short distances of Victoria. The crops
were oats, barley, wheat, pease, potatoes, turnips, garden herbs and
vegetables, fruits, and flowers; no clover, the natural grass supplying
sufficient food for the cattle and sheep. The crops were all healthy,
but not heavy. The wheat was not thick on the ground, nor had it a
large head. It was such a crop as would be an average only in a rich,
well-cultivated district of England or Scotland; far lighter than you
would see in the rich counties of England and in the Carse of Gowrie. I
was informed that the ground was very badly prepared by Indian labour--
merely scratched over the surface. I believe that with efficient labour
and skilful treatment, the crops could be nearly doubled. The oats and
barley were very good crops, and the potatoes looked quite healthy, and
I doubt not will turn out the best crop of all. The peas were decidedly
an abundant crop. Vegetables thrive well, and all the ordinary fruits,
apples, currants, etcetera, are excessively abundant, some of the
currant-bushes breaking down with the weight of their fruit. Flowers of
the ordinary sorts do well, but delicate plants don't thrive, owing to
the coldness of the nights.

"Sheep thrive admirably. I saw some very fine pure Southdowns. The
rams were selling at 100 dollars each (20 pounds) to California sheep
farmers. Other breeds--hybrids of Southdowns, merinos, and other
stock--were also in good condition, and fair in size. Black cattle do
well also. The breed is a mixture of English and American, which makes
very good beef. The horses are little Indian breeds, and some crosses
with American stock, all very clean limbed, sound, active, hardy, and
full of endurance and high spirit, until they get into livery-stables.

"During my stay, the climate was charming; the weather perfection--warm
during the day, but free of glare, and not oppressive; cool in the
evenings, with generally a gentle sea breeze. The long days--the
protracted daylight eking out the day to nine o'clock at night--the
lingering sunset, and the ample `gloaming,' all so different from what I
had been accustomed to in more southern latitudes, again reminded me of
Scotland in the summer season.

"So far as I wandered--about ten miles round Victoria--the landscape is
totted with extensive croppings of rock, which interfere with the
labours of the husbandman. Few corn-fields are without a lot of
boulder