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which continues to devastate so large a part of this State. 

 Daring the later period the finding of artesian water in so many 

 wells is a new and disturbing factor, so far as comparisons with 

 the past are concerned. Without, however, going into figures 

 relating to rainfall, which are in themselves imperfect and un- 

 satisfactory, it will, I think, be generally admitted that the 

 existing drought is the worst which p;istoralists have so fur 

 experienced, as well aloag the coast as in the Western district?. 

 My own observation, after an experience extending over many 

 years, has led me to the conclusion that the Western districts 

 of New South Wales and the South-western part of Qneenshnid 

 suffer more severely from drought than the Central- Western 

 districts of this State, while portions of our coast country may 

 properly be described as dry belts, a term that can scarcely 

 apply to any part of the coast of New South Wales. 



How to remedy the evil eft'ects of drought — for this we 

 must suffer from in the future as we have done in the past — is 

 a difficult problem to solve. The finding of artesian water has 

 not so far helped in this direction ; nor is it likely to do so as 

 long as by continually raising rents pastoralists are tempted to 

 crowd too many stock on their holdings. This has up to the 

 present accentuated the distress and augmented the common 

 loss. Something may be done by storing fodder in good 

 seasons to help the stock through those that are dry ; but when 

 consideration is given to the enormous supplies that must be 

 kept on hand for this purpose and the risk of losing much of it 

 by fire, it is evident that this cannot be relied upon to cure the 

 evil. By irrigating as large an area as practicable on each of 

 the Western stations, relief may be to some extent secured ; 

 but even so, how far can the artesian supply, if it should per- 

 manently answer for irrigating purposes, be relied upon ? Our 

 late Government Geologist, Mr. Jack, has warned us that the 

 supply is by no means inexhaustible. May it not be possible, 

 by cultivating indigenous as well as imported grasses, to provide 

 a more reliable supply both of green and dry fodder for use in 

 droughty seasons ? The cultivation of Paspalnm dilatatum has 

 shown what may be done in the coastal districts. Are we to 

 regard it as an impossibility that suitable grasses and shrubs 

 may be successfully grown in the arid parts of the country ? 

 Here undoubtedly is an experiment worth trying ; but it must 

 be conducted by an expert, and, unfortunately, the authorities 

 have not yet discovered that we have such an one in our 



