10 Pec, 1918.] A Western District Farm. 709 



amount of farmyard manure is available, and by means of a Mitchell 

 spreader it is broadcasted on the grasslands. Phosphatic fertilizers and 

 lime are also used, and the result is very marked. Not only can more 

 stock be carried, but the old staggy tufts of stale grass disappear, and 

 thus the danger of fungi which cause paralysis is lessened. To the left 

 of the flat, seen beyond the marl bed marked X iii photograph No. 5, 

 the lint between the dressed and undressed parts of the paddock can 

 be distinguished half-a-mile away, though it is all good land. At one 

 time lime was brought from Cobden. Later on it was found that there 

 was a good, readily-available deposit on the spot. The analysis showed 

 68 per cent, carbonate of lime and 2| per cent, of magnesia. To the 

 right there is a high bank of the spur between the Muddy and 

 Grange Creeks. Limestone outcrops on this side, and forms great 

 cliffs, 80 feet high on the other side overhanging the Grange, and the 

 stone yields 93 per cent, carbonate of lime. For 1^ miles above 

 this point there are extensive deposits of limestone and marl, and also, 



5. — Muddy Creek Marl Beds. 



it is believed, a bed of phosphate in payable quantity. Except what 

 Mr. Simpson has used, no attempt whatever has been made to turn 

 this lime to good account, though all about the immediate neighbour- 

 hood the need of it is very pronounced. 



Down stream the cliffs do not extend, though plenty of limestone 

 crops out on the left bank, and the soil is mostly of a nice dark brown 

 colour. The right-hand bank is darker, and the rocks are of basalt. 

 Both banks look well at a distance, and the soil, on close inspection 

 is attractive in colour and texture. Grass is plentiful, but is of light, 

 harsh, native growths, and staggers, impaction and cripples in cattle, 

 and even deaths from paralysis are not uncommon. 



"Wheat will not ripen as it used to do, owing to the deficiency of 

 phosphate in the soil. A farmer complained that even the virgin 

 paddocks would not grow the crops that could be raised thirty or forty 

 years ago. He overlooked the fact that grass was a crop, and that 



