bushel, (at which rate it could be, according to Mr. Hutt, advantageously exported to England), and maize at 1s. 9d. he would still realize thirteen per cent. according to my calculation.
I do not, however, wish it to be supposed, from the preceding observations, that wheat might be produced, in New South Wales generally, at prices so low as this. In districts subject to drought the crops would often be injured in consequence, and if land carriage had to be resorted to in order to convey farm produce to Sydney, it would evidently be impossible to grow wheat at such a low price. In fact, as I have said before, to produce grain profitably at such low prices, the land must be of the best quality, situated in a district unvisited by drought, and in the vicinity of navigable waters, and purchased for one fourth of the money originally expended on it.
At present, however, the colonists of New South Wales are so far from entertaining the idea of exporting wheat, that those who are engaged exclusively in agriculture are very urgent in their endeavours to obtain an Act imposing duties on wheat imported into the colony. The advocates of the present free trade in wheat oppose this, by arguing that Australia is not adapted for the production of wheat, on account of the extreme aridity of its soil; and that it would be contrary to all true principles of political economy to encourage, by protective duties, the production of corn in a country so unsuitable for its growth when such cheap wheat can be obtained from Chili.
