South Wales, at least, of indiscriminate selection before survey), and have been too disunited, to make them attractive-enough material for the blandishments of the professional demagogue; but the inevitable Nemesis which follows a disregard of Nature's laws is now forcing the question of agriculture to the front. Farmers' unions, too, have been established of late years; and the farmer is now becoming an object of more interest to certain classes, who see in him a convenient peg on which to hang a pet nostrum, or a handy hack on which to ride some cherished hobby.
For myself personally, I can claim to have been a persistent and consistent advocate of the importance of our agricultural interests ever since I cast in my lot for good in this the land of my adoption. By writings, by lectures, by experiments, by distributing seeds and plants, by every influence I could command, I have never lost an opportunity of trying to rouse public attention to the vital importance of this much-neglected branch of our national industries. I have been a humble co-worker with some of the brightest and noblest spirits in the colonies; but the most brilliant individual efforts are, after all, apt to get lost in the immensity of conflicting interests which agitate young and expanding communities such as these. The time has come when a Department of Agriculture should form part of our administrative machinery. A Minister of Agriculture is a necessity for New South Wales no less than for New Zealand. If Victoria, South Australia, India,
