476 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



55, along with 56, the holder's wife (or husband) may still acquire an 

 additional 1,000 acres under non-residence conditions. The larger 

 area is often useful in the case of a family working several teams. 



Costs of Clearing. — On the large farms of the wheat belt the natural 

 timber and scrub is lighter, and the cost of clearing bush lands there 

 for the plough usually ranges from $3.65 to $6.08 per acre. The cost 

 is credited to improvements. In the wetter mixed-farming districts of 

 the southwest the clearing is much heavier, and may cost from $24.33 

 to $121.67 per acre. It is so heavy that — except for orchard purposes — 

 it will often render the undertaking unprofitable to the pioneer. More- 

 over, the land commonly also requires drainage. 



Conditional Purchase of Land for Orchards, Vineyards or Gardens. 

 — Small blocks of 5 to 50 acres can be acquired at from $5 per acre, 

 payable by installments within three years. The sale is made under 

 certain conditions of fencing and partial planting of the area within 

 four years. 



Conditional Purclmse of Grazing Lands. — Areas of 300 to 5,000 

 acres of such lands may be acquired at prices ranging from 91 cents 

 up to $2.43 per acre, payable in forty half-yearly installments, and 

 subject to certain conditions of residence during the first five years by 

 the selector, his agent or servant. Improvement valued at one-fifth 

 of the purchase money must be made every two years of the first ten 

 years. Half the cost of fencing is credited as improvements. If the 

 land carries poison plants, the price may now be reduced to 61 cents, 

 this provision being also retrospective for lands selected after 1905. 



In estimating the area held by a selector of 2,500 acres of grazing 

 land is reckoned equal to 1,000 acres of cultivable land, and, therefore, 

 a person holding 1,000 acres of the latter may select a further 2,500 

 acres of grazing land, or, if he hold 2,000 acres of cultivable land under 

 residence and under non-residence conditions, his wife may select 

 25,000 acres of grazing land. 



Apart from conditional purchase of land, large areas of grazing 

 land may be leased under the Acts at an annual rental. The rent is 

 almost nominal, and in different divisions of the State ranges from 73 

 cents up to $4.87 per 1,000 acres. The minimum area is usually 20.000 

 acres, and sometimes 50,000 acres, according to location. The Act 

 generally prescribes that pastoral leases shall be stocked at the rate of 

 ten sheep or one head of large stock for every 1,000 acres within two 

 years from their commencement, failing which they are liable to for- 



