belong. Vines will grow well wherever they are planted, and the wine which they produce, though as yet neither cheap nor particularly good, is far more agreeable and wholesome than most of the liquid that is sold in the colony under the name of port or sherry. There is, therefore, no doubt that the quality of the colonial wines will improve at the same pace as the experience and education of the vine-growers.
It was usual to see raisins laid to dry upon the roofs of the houses, or upon tables set out of doors, for the multitude of birds prevented the adoption of the better plan of leaving the fruit to dry upon the trees, after first twisting the stalk of each bunch so as to hinder the passing of the sap. It seems reasonable to suppose that, at some future day, both currants and raisins will be exported from Western Australia, but before that comes to pass, their price in the colony must have diminished considerably. The price of raisins in the Barladong stores was a shilling the pound, and currants were only twopence cheaper. Oranges and lemons came to great perfection in the swampy and fine alluvial soils around Perth and Guildford, but no amount of cultivation could induce them to bear fruit on our side of the Darling Range, and at Barladong the price of oranges, when in season, was threepence each, a mortifying contrast, for the buyer, to their English value.
The same frosts which prevented the ripening of oranges with us, were destructive to any early crops of the potato. The early spring potatoes were always nipped, and the hot weather returned too soon to leave time for the growth of a second crop. Whilst our
