heavier meal should certainly be towards the evening
after the sun-heat of the day is over, at which time it is more enjoyed
and better digested.
Having thus far referred to our totally inadequate supply of fish food, of
vegetables, and of salad plants and herbs, there is still the great
Australian wine industry to consider. At present only in its swaddling
clothes, it is destined before very long to enter upon its vigorous life.
There was an eminent French naturalist, M.F. Peron, sent out to
Australia by the Emperor Napoleon during the years 1801 to 1804
inclusive. A shrewd observer, he saw even at that early period of
Australian history that there were unequalled possibilities for her wine.
In the course of his interesting narrations he remarks:--"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 its
own territories or its colonies; notwithstanding, the consumption of
wine on board its fleets and throughout its vast regions is immense."
In the whole of Australia the annual production of wine is only a little
over three million gallons; but in France, as well as in Italy, it is nearly
800 million gallons. These two countries together, therefore, every year
produce about 1,596 million gallons more wine than Australia. These
stupendous figures reveal very plainly what an enormous expansion
awaits our wine industry.
The colossal growth of the wool trade is in striking contrast to the puny
dimensions of the wine industry. In 1805 the exportation of wool from
Australia was "nil." In 1811 it reached to the modest amount of 167 lbs.,
while Spain exported 6,895,525 lbs. In 1861 the exportation of wool
from Australia increased to 68,428,000 lbs., whilst from Spain it fell to
1,268,617 lbs. And lastly, in 1891 the amount of wool exported from
Australia reached the majestic figures of 593,830,153 lbs., representing
a value of 20,569,093 pounds. If New Zealand be included, the total
export attains to 710,392,909 lbs., having a value of 24,698,779 pounds.
It must be borne in mind that these figures represent only the wool
actually exported, and do not include that kept back for Australian
requirements. As I have pointed out in the beginning of the chapter on
Australian wine, if the latter industry had increased in similar
proportion, Australia's prosperity would be second to none in the world.
There are some other striking figures which are well worth referring to.
The city of Paris alone requires nearly 300,000 gallons of wine daily.
Now, the total yearly wine production of the whole of Australia is but a
little over three million gallons. It will follow from the preceding, then,
that the single city of Paris itself would consume in 12 days all the wine
which the whole of Australia takes 12 MONTHS to make.
The future prosperity of Australia, at least to a very great extent, is
wrapped up in her wine industry; for its development means much
more than a large export trade to other countries. It means, in fact, the
use of Australian wine as a national and every-day wholesome
beverage; it means the covering of the land with smiling vineyards; it
means employment and a healthy calling literally to thousands upon
thousands; and, lastly, it means settlement upon the land, and a more
diffused distribution of the population throughout Australia.
It must be remembered that the nervous system is far more susceptible
to the effects of alcohol in a warm than in a cooler climate. It is said
that in Southern Europe there are very few water drinkers, but that, on
the other hand, there are very few who indulge in strong drink. The
system does not feel to want the strong alcohol, so to speak. A weaker
wine in a warm climate produces the same feeling of exhilaration that
one of greater alcoholic strength does in colder countries. We shall not
go far wrong in Australia if we stick to our own natural wines. As it
will be found in the chapter on Australian wine, the every-day wine for
Australian use is a wine of low alcoholic strength; a wine of which a
tumblerful may be taken with benefit; a wine, indeed, which is
beneficial, cheering, hygienic, restorative, and wholesome.
By reason of his semi-tropical climate the Australian is bathed in an
atmosphere of sunshine. This has a distinct effect upon the blood, for
the action of sunlight upon this fluid is to redden it--a fact which has
for ages been dwelt upon by the poets. But for a scientific explanation
of this effect of sunlight in reddening the blood we must turn to the
spectrum analysis. The visible solar spectrum as shown through a prism
by the ordinary sunbeam is made up of
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