182 WOOL 



They have carried their outposts far, far out. 

 But blade of my sword for a sign ! 



I am the Master, the dread King Drought, 

 And the great West Land is mine ! 



To remedy this state of things and provide water for the 

 flocks is the crying need of the country, and in irrigation 

 lies the hope of the future. At present not only is water being 

 obtained from underground by means of artesian wells, but 

 vast schemes also are in operation for storing the surface 

 water. 



One district which is well supplied with water from artesian 

 wells is the lower basin of the Gwydir, a stream which rises 

 in the New England Range. Many of these wells yield 

 a million gallons a day, and convert what would otherwise 

 be a series of ponds into rivers brimful of running water. 



Of surface irrigation works, the most important is at Bur- 

 rinjuck, three miles below the junction of the Murrumbidgee 

 and Goodradijbee. Here an enormous dam has been con- 

 structed of solid masonry, capable of holding back water 

 to a depth of 200 feet. Thirty- three million three hundred 

 and eighty- one cubic feet of water will be contained in the 

 reservoir, which, in addition to fertilizing large areas of arable 

 land, will supply water to the thirsty flocks of one million 

 acres of pastoral land. 



Queensland. The area of Queensland is 688,000 square 

 miles, and the treeless plains of the western interior, the sheep 

 country, occupy about half this area. The conditions are 

 similar to those of New South Wales, except that of course 

 the temperature is higher. Here, too, are nutritive grasses, 

 and the drought-resist ing salt-bush, with its pale green leaves 

 and its curious salty taste. Of the 360 different kinds of 

 grasses, which grow in Australia, 270 are said to be natives of 

 Queensland. And here, too, in these Queensland plains is the 

 same lack of water and the same problems with regard to 

 irrigation awaiting solution. 



Artesian wells can be sunk over three-fifths of Queensland, 



