How expressive, after reading descriptions like this, do those complaints of one of the inspired writers appear: "The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee, for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness." (Joel i. 17-20.) Most of the productions of the soil which are to be found in the mother country are raised likewise in the Australian settlements. The wheat-harvest commences in New South Wales in the middle of November, and is generally over by Christmas, so that to this festive season a fresh cause of rejoicing is added, and men are called upon to be thankful at once for the greatest temporal and spiritual blessings; the same time of year supplies them with the meat that perisheth, and reminds them of the coming down from heaven of Him who is the bread of life. But, besides the ordinary produce of our English fields, many productions of the soil are raised in Australia which will not grow in the northern climate of Britain. The fruits of Italy and Spain, the tobacco of Virginia, and the Indian corn of the southern states of America, are all produced in the Australian colonies. And one fruit may be particularly noticed, which is in England justly reckoned a delicacy, but which in New South Wales is so abundant, that the very swine are feasted upon it: _peaches_ are to be had in full perfection for full four months in the year, the later varieties regularly succeeding to those that are earlier. This fruit grows everywhere, it matters not whether the soil be rich or poor; and if a peach-stone is planted it will in three years afterwards bear an abundant crop of fruit. So plentifully do they grow, that they are commonly used to fatten hogs, for which purpose they answer very well, after having been laid in heaps, and allowed to ferment a little; cider also of a pleasant and wholesome quality is made from the same fruit.