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CHAPTER XII.



ON AUSTRALIAN WINE, AND ITS PLACE IN THE AUSTRALIAN DAILY DIETARY.


"WITH TIME AND CARE AUSTRALIA OUGHT TO BE THE VINEYARD OF THE WORLD."--
GREATER BRITAIN.


Were I asked to name the one industry on which the prosperity of
Australia must sooner or later rest, I should unhesitatingly answer,
"On the cultivation of the vine." And this must be so; for while there
is every reason to know that it will be called for from abroad, it is
absolutely certain that it will be required in our own territories. The
chief purpose of this chapter, indeed, is to insist upon the value of
our own wines as the most healthful and the most wholesome drink for
Australian use. It is a strange anomaly this, that at the present
period of our existence a declaration of this kind should be necessary.
Yet it is only in keeping with the rest of our food habits, with their
perpetual challenge to our semi-tropical environment; and hence we are
confronted with the astounding fact that although we are practically
Southern Europe, yet we follow a mode of living suitable only for a
rigorous climate and a land of ice and snow.

Moreover, as I shall attempt to show, the Australian climate and soil
are beyond all question naturally intended for the cultivation of the
grape, so that there is no occasion to overcome the forces of nature;
on the contrary, they are unceasingly giving us the greatest
encouragement. Then, again, think what widespread prosperity the use of
our own wine would bring about. Apart from its beneficial influence on
the national health, it would cover the land with smiling vineyards,
and give to enormous numbers a healthy livelihood; it would
absorb thousands from the fever and fret of city wear and tear into the
more natural life of the country; and lastly, it would relieve the
abnormal congestion of our crowded centres, and do more to bring about
widely distributed employment than any other industry.

The history of the introduction of the grape to Australian soil
deserves more than bare reference to that event It will be remembered
that Captain Cook discovered this territory in 1770; in November 1791,
barely more than twenty years afterwards, the first vine was planted at
Parramatta, near Sydney. Nothing can demonstrate the suitability of the
climate and the soil for its cultivation more than this one fact,
namely, that at the very beginning of Australian settlement it was
plain enough that the land was meant for the grape; and there is an
interesting historical association, well worthy of note, attached to
this circumstance. By order of the Emperor Napoleon, the Great
Napoleon, a voyage of discovery to the Southern Hemisphere was
performed by a fully equipped expedition during the years 1801, 1802,
1803, and 1804. One of the naturalists, M.F. Peron, has given us an
excellent account of his New South Wales experience, and after
referring to the Parramatta vineyards as likely to be followed by the
most excellent results, he goes on to say:--"By one of those chances
which are inconceivable, Great Britain is the only one of the great
maritime powers which does not cultivate the vine either in her own
territories or her colonies, notwithstanding the consumption of wine on
board her fleets and throughout her vast regions is immense." This is
another illustration of the old adage that lookers-on see most of the
game, for this observant Frenchman has recorded an opinion the very
truth of which comes well home to us. His remarks, moreover, open up a
vista of what a great trade might be done with India in
connection with our wines; indeed, it is this interchange of products
which keeps the circulation going in the blood-vessels of commercial
life.

Yet, although the vine was thus early started in Australia, it
has since made but little progress, relatively speaking, in comparison
with the great industry of wool-growing, and it will be appropriate to
make this reference to the grape and the fleece conjointly, for the
same name--that of John Macarthur--is intimately associated with
both. In a small way sheep-breeding had been initiated soon after the
settlement of Australia. But it was John Macarthur, by his introduction
of the merino sheep in 1797, who gave the first impetus which led to
the subsequent creation of the Australian wool trade. It was John
Macarthur, too, who formed the first vineyard in Australia at Camden
Park in 1815; though, as I have already said, the growth of the vine
industry has not advanced with anything like the same rapidity as that
of wool; if it had, Australia would now occupy a position second to
none in the world.

It seems most fitting and opportune also to mention the fact that at
the very time I am writing there is a proposal in the SYDNEY MORNING
HERALD to do something to perpetuate our gratitude to John Macarthur.
It is not often that one man has the opportunity of establishing two
such great industries as wine-making and wool-growing. The benefits to
Australia which have followed from the latter are altogether beyond
calculation; for which alone the name of John Macarthur deserves to
hold a place in the memory of Australians for ever, and if the wine
industry had only been developed in like proportion, Australia's
prosperity would have marvellously increased. Knowing, therefore, what
John Macarthur has done for Australia, it is to be hoped that
before these lines see the light of day what is now proposed will be an
accomplished fact.

The next most notable occurrence in the history of Australian
viticulture is undoubtedly the action of James Busby who in 1828, says
Mr. T.A. Coghlan in his WEALTH AND PROGRESS OF NEW SOUTH WALES,
returned from Europe "with a large collection of cuttings from the most
celebrated vineyards of France, Spain, the Rhine valley, and other
parts of the continent of Europe, and started, on his estate at
Kirkton, in the Hunter River district, a vineyard which has been the
nursery of the principal vineyards of the Colony." This was a more
important event than would be imagined from a bare recital of the fact,
for Busby has conferred upon Australian vines a high quality for all
time to come in this way. His collection of cuttings from the best of
the vineyards in Europe consisted of the choicest varieties or
"cepages," and this has been a matter for congratulation ever since.
Fuller reference, however, will be made to this important subject a
little farther on. what is certainly interesting also is that Busby was
so impressed with the future of the Australian wine industry that in
1830 he published his MANUAL OF PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR PLANTING AND
CULTIVATING VINEYARDS, AND FOR MAKING WINE, IN NEW SOUTH WALES; and, as
I have just said, the high qualities of our wines are due to him alone,
so that the name of James Busby must always be gratefully remembered by
all Australians.

It makes one think that these sturdy pioneers of former times had a
greater belief in Australia and her possibilities, and more energy and
foresight, than are apparently possessed nowadays. But while I am on
the subject of the literature of Australian viticulture I must not
forget to mention an excellent little pamphlet by James King in 1807,
entitled, AUSTRALIA MAY BE AN EXTENSIVE WINE-GROWING COUNTRY.
Indeed, James King was another of those far-seeing men who were
convinced that there was a great future for the Australian wine
industry; moreover, he did a good deal in the way of developing it by
cultivating the grape and by making wine.

Now, there are certain figures connected with vine-growing and the
consumption of wine which possess a great value in relation to
Australian viticulture, inasmuch as they enable us to see more clearly
its relative progress, and, what is more, they indicate its future
possibilities. It is only by methods of this kind that we are enabled
to form an accurate estimate of the condition of any industry. And
besides this, too, they act as a--stimulus to increased exertion. But
it will be still more interesting and instructive to make a comparison
between the little which has been done in wine production and the
almost incredible proportions of our wool industry. And when it is
remembered that there was nothing to prevent the wine trade from
attaining a magnitude very like to that of wool, it will be seen what
magnificent opportunities have thus far been practically thrown away.

At present the whole of Australia annually produces only a little more
than three million gallons of wine, while the yearly yield of France is
795; of Italy, 798; of Spain, 608; of Hungary, 180; and of Portugal,
132 million gallons. And another thing is that the whole of the five
colonies of Australia and Tasmania have altogether no more than 48,099
acres under vine cultivation. The total amount of wine made in the six
foregoing colonies for the year ending March 31st, 1892, was only
3,604,262 gallons. The city of Paris itself requires nearly 300,000
gallons of wine daily, so that this single city would consume in 12
DAYS all the wine which the whole of Australia takes 12 MONTHS to make.
So far back as 1875 the production was 1,814,400,602 gallons.
And lastly, there is just one more fact worth remembering which is that
the approximate value of the 1890 vintage to France was nearly
40,000,000 l. sterling.

Let us see, on the other hand, the gigantic strides on the part of
wool. In 1805 the amount of wool exported from Spain was 6,895,525
lbs., and from Australia NIL. In 1811, however, Australia exported the
modest quantity of 167 lbs. In 1861 the exportation from Spain had
fallen to 1,268,617 lbs., while from Australia it had increased to
68,428,000 lbs. In 1891 New South Wales alone produced 357,096,954
lbs., representing a value of 11,036,018 l. And lastly, the wool
exportation of Australia and Tasmania (not reckoning New Zealand) for
the same year reached the enormous figures of 593,830,153 lbs., with a
value of 20,569,093 l.

The disproportion between the attention which has been given to
viticulture and that which has been bestowed upon wool-growing is well
brought out in the following table:--

TABLE showing the value of the total amount of WINE produced in the
FIVE COLONIES OF AUSTRALIA (including both that for local use and that
for export) for the year ending March 31st, 1892; and the value of WOOL
(only that exported, and therefore irrespective of that locally
required) for the FIVE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES and TASMANIA alone, and not
including that exported from NEW ZEALAND, for the year 1891:--


Pounds (value).

Total value of Australian wine (local use as well as export)
produced for the year ending March 31st, 1892, only about..........800,000

Value of wool exported from Australia and Tasmania alone in 1891
(and therefore irrespective of the additional value of that
locally required), not less than................................20,569,093


From the foregoing, therefore, it will be apparent that the
whole subject of Australian viticulture is one of tremendous
importance; and I am strongly of opinion that practical results will
only be brought about by awakening in the mind of the Australian public
an active interest in everything connected with this, though yet
undeveloped, great wine industry. With that object in view, therefore,
it will be my endeavour to bring forward those main points of
viticulture which it is most desirable should be widely known. But such
an attempt, to be successful, must largely depend upon the arrangement
which is adopted, for it is impossible to do more than take up the
principal matters concerned with the space which is at my disposal. The
scheme which has been devised will, it is hoped, help to a clear
understanding of the subject.