8 June, 1908.] The Heath Land at Portland. 329 



meeting of the Victorian Branch of the Association, the following scheme 

 is submitted. It is practicable, capable of being taken in hand at once, and 

 lends itself to future extensions : — 



Outline of a Scheme for a Model Milk Supply for Children. 



(i) Arrange with one or more specially selected and approved suburban 

 dairy farms to supply the milk under proper supervision. To immediately 

 strain and cool it as far as practicable, and deliver it at one of the citv 

 railway stations or other depot within an hour of milking. 



(2) Arrange with the University Bacteriological Laboratory to chill 

 (pasteurizing if necessary) and bottle the milk. Returned bottles to be 

 cleansed and sterilized. 



(3) Arrange with the Children's Hospital and other institutions to dis- 

 tribute the milk, chiefly to out-patients. Milk to be paid for at current 

 rates, except under special circumstances. 



(4) Arrange for quick transit in insulated cases from railway station 

 to Laboratory, and from Laboratory to distributing centres by cab or motor 

 van. 



To start with, probably fifty gallons a day will be required. The sale 

 of the milk at 5d. per quart should pay for the purchase of the same at sav 

 IS. per gallon, after making full allowance for free distribution and waste. 

 The plant at present at the Laboratory would meet all requirements until 

 the consumption largely increased, and more distributing centres are in 

 operation. 



EXPERIMENTS ON THE HEATH LAND AT 

 PORTLAND. 



F. E. Lee, Agricultural Siiperintciidciit. 



It is a matter of surprise that, hitherto, so little attention has been 

 paid to the agricultural possibilities of the extensive areas of sandy land 

 which border our coast line. In the extreme South Western corner of 

 Victoria, in the neighbourhood of Portland, is to be found a large area of 

 this character, bearing a dense growth of what is known as " heath," 

 interspersed with small belts of timber. Although one of the very earliest 

 settlements, the residents of the town have up till quite recently depended 

 more upon maritime industries than upon agricultural pursuits. Remote 

 from Melbourne the district, although favor ablv known as a watering 

 place, attracted little or no attention as a field for agricultural develop- 

 ment until the disastrous drought in 1902. Stress of circumstances in 

 the northern districts, and the search for food for starving stock resulted 

 in the Portland district being invaded bv farmers from the Wimmera and 

 ^Lallee. The possibilities of the heath land were not long in becoming 

 recognised. Xew ideas and methods of handling the heath were intro- 

 duced, with the result that a number of properties changed hands, and 

 what had formerly been dense thickets of scrub soon became arable land. 

 The writer was invited by the member for the district, Mr. Hugh Camp- 

 l)ell, M.L.A.. to personally inspect the heath areas and report upon the 

 soil potentialities. 



