Annual report of the Department of Agriculture for the year ending 30th May, 1889.

I have the honour to submit for your consideration the Annual Report upon the working of this Department, and in so doing to express my regret that, owing to the severe drought from which the colony has - suffered for so long, and from which it. is only just emerging, the results are below are what I anticipated.
DROUGHT.-it is generally admitted that no such drought as that we have passed through has ever before been experienced in this colony, so wide and far-reaching has it been in the disastrous results which have arisen from it ; the agricultural, pastoral, and commercial industries having all suffered. Numerous instances of the effects of the drought have come under the notice of this Department in some cases, farmers who have purposed bringing a larger area under cultivation have been prevented by the hard and baked condition of the land from breaking up the soil, in others, the land has been ploughed and prepared, the seed has been sown but failed to germinate, and again the seed has germinated, the blade showing itself above the ground only to perish. Pastoralists have suffered immense losses in sheep and cattle, while commercial life, which to a great extent depends upon both agriculturists and pastoralists for its existence, has been paralyzed. The drought has not, however, passed away without, I believe, teaching a valuable lesson to those who live directly from the soil. The rainfall throughout the colony is quite sufficient for all our requirements, if proper steps towards conservation were taken. In anything like a favourable season, plant life is so vigorous that large supplies of fodder could be secured in the form of hay and ensilage, and many, who never before thought of saving hay, have made up their minds to be more provident in future, and. since the breaking up of the drought a number of farmers are making ensilage, some by the stack system, others by the old silo process. In addition it has been proved that there are large underground supplies of water, which only require to be tapped to provide that element so essential to all conditions of life, pure water. In many places dams and tanks are being constructed and. boring and well - sinking are being carried on.