Charles Bessey, Letters, 1891

Adelaide, S. A. June 3 -- 1891

Dear Professor:

Having received two letters from you, it is time for a reply. Letter writing is so much like work and I have been vegetating so long, that you need not expect very much of intent.

My intentions on arriving were to remain only a week or few days, but instead, a full month has been spent, and not -so very much done, either.

Adelaide is a very pretty place, about the size of Lincoln, lacking the Nebraska push and energy. Counting that, Lincoln is twice as large. It is the capital of this province, and is going back rather than ahead. Why this should be I do not know, for there is an immense amount of natural wealth waiting to be opened up. The farmers

are behind the western farmers in average ability. They have been putting their faith in one crop, wheat, for a good many years. When the land is exhausted they pull up stakes and emigrate to Victoria or New South Wales. The rainfall is not sure enough for them to trust to one crop only. It is a land of drouths and floods - some years ten inches of water, some years thirty - the drouth is now prevailing, No rain since Christmas. Fruit culture pays well. Almost any thing will grow I have seen oranges, lemons, olives, apples, pears, apricots, pomgranites, figs, and bananas growing and all but the bananas were doing well. The most profit is to be made from Grapes. There are a number of large vinyards in this part of the colony with plenty of land suitable for planting, to be had at very low rates, either freehold, or government lease. There are too many mining ventures being thrown upon this market, for the people to take much interest in the possibilities of agricultural development. Every body seems either anxious to buy winning shares, or to sell those with which they themselves have been "sold". Speculation is in the air. I went to the races twice and must say I never saw anything like it. The last day, it was estimated that $125000. changed hands through the totalizator and the book makers. I have met Mr. J. G. O. Tepper and made arrangements to exchange about a hundred Nebraska plants for S.A. ones. If I turn the australian ones over to you, I suppose you will help me make up a satisfactory lot to send him in return, for my duplicates are pretty well culled. I am getting lazy and have done no collecting, but have relapsed into old

GRAYSON'S COFFEE PALACE. NORTH TERRACE, ADELAIDE. time habits and become a disciple of Isaac Walton. I can sit on the end of a jetty six hours at a time and pull fish out of the briney deep at the rate of four a week, but lack the necessary energy to botanize. However, will promise to reforn. One very pleasant day was spent inspecting the S.A. College Farm at Gawler. Prof. Towni, a young Scotchman, is in charge. There are about thirty students. They have good buildings, 800 acres of land and are fairly stocked, but the land is poor and there is no water down 600 feet, so they trust to a dam for their supply. I leave today for Ballarat, Vic. Thence to Melbourne & Sydney. A letter may reach me at Sydney, General P. O., but in the case of a "tramp" like myself you must take long chances. Will write more soon Yours Truly Jared G. Smith

Melbourne, Victoria, June 9 -- 91

Dear Professor:

I wrote you rather a hasty letter just before leaving Adelaide, and am afraid there was not much in it. Like my trip, and the average college oration, it comprehended a thousand years of time and four pages of letter paper, with nothing particular about anything in general.

This part of the trip has been a very pleasant one, and will do much good, relieving one individual of many optimistic ideas about mankind in general, thus sparing the rest of the Earth's population the agony of listening to a fledgelings notions about the renovation of Society at large. If I am as fortunate, and Nebraska is so unfortunate as to see myself back again, there need be no fear of further incendiary writings concerning downtrodden labor tc. Writings there may be, but the color there of will no longer be crimson.

As I started to say before, this part of the trip has been a very pleasant one. The sea trip was not so muchly nice. There were varying seasons of remorse when the

passengers regretted, almost to a man, that they had ventured of the ocean. These periods of remorse were subsequent to "upheavals of the deep", or followed soon after our honest endeavour to enforcce temperance by emptying all the vinous and spirituous beverages - into ourselves. The equator was the strangest looking object seen on the voyage. It is invisible except to those who have never seen it before. The north side is smooth & level. When we crossed it there was a fall of about eighty feet followed on the south side by rapids and rough weather - and the remorse & headache previously referred to. I was at Adelaide just a month. Saw all the sights of the city, met a good many people & had a pleasant time generally. I introduced myself as a botanist to Mr. J. G. O. Tepper , curator of the S.A. Museum, who invited me to his house and showed me his herbarium, also offering to exchange S. A. plants for Nebraska ones which offer was of course accepted. I also called at the department of Agriculture spent one day at the "college farm" near Gawler, some thirty five miles from Adelaide, attended a meeting of the Royal Society by invitation of Mr. T. and also visited the Government Farm at Belair The latter body of land is intended as a park for the preservation and culture of native trees. The land is rolling & covered with the original "bush" principally Eucalyptus species. The rest of the time was spent in fishing at the sea shore, tramping in the hills, and playing the "gentleman of leisure." The Adelaide Botanical Gardens are very fine, arranged to suit the popular taste rather than as a scientific collection, yet very interesting. The characteristic feature of the S.A. flora is that every plant is thorny, prickly, thickly tomentose or strongly scented. The flowers are strikingly brilliant. Every thing seems to have developed self protective traits. There is a sameness about the "bush that is tiresome. it is a thickly wooded rolling prairie with gum trees of all shapes and sizes. Mile after mile it stretches away in every direction, no birds, no animals, no men, only the sheep and the rabbits. People tell me that fifty years ago the bush country was alive with animal life. Now the flies, mosquitos, snakes and magpies are the sole native occupants. All the rest have been "civilized" out of existence, some what on the old Roman plan of making a desert & calling it peace. Only in this case they have made a desert so as to be