18 THE FARMERS' HANDBOOK. 



White ants are not troublesome in this district if split posts are used. 

 Round posts with hollow centres or small hollows are readily attacked. The 

 holes through which the wires of fences pass through the posts, are frequently 

 attacked, and the excrement deposited by the white ant, when damp, tends 

 to rust the wires. 



Post and rail fences are not used, and cattle-proof fences are not common. 

 The cost for a three-wire cattle-fence would be about =£32 per mile. Sheep- 

 proof fence (six- wire) costs about £50 to £70, and rabbit proof fencing, 

 42-inch netting with three wires in netting and one barbed wire, from £120 

 to £160 per mile, the cost varying according to distance of cartage, and the 

 facility of obtaining suitable timber. Very little wire-netting fencing is 

 be>ng done. 



Well-sinking, including timbering, varies in cost from 20s. to 30s. per foot 

 according to the depth. The cost of excavating for tanks runs from Is. 3d. to 

 Is. 9d. per cubic yard. Excavating for drains costs from £30 to £60 a mile 

 if ploughs and del vers are used. 



The roads in the Moree and Walgett districts, and generally in the flat 

 country, are fairly hard and good when dry, but bad in wet weather, and 

 -sometimes impassable. In the eastern part the roads are better, and 

 in the ridges often hard and stony. The main roads in the hilly country are 

 metalled. 



There is very little land available for settlement in this district except of 

 inferior quality. The extension of the railway would encourage the increase 

 ■of cultivation, as there are extensive areas of rich country in all parts of the 

 district suitable for cereals ; and wheat, corn, oats, and lucerne, all give good 

 results when cultivated. 



There is a great deal of land infested by the prickly-pear. 



The price of land in the Warialda district is from £2 to £3 per acre on a 

 freehold basis for conditional purchase. Land for settlement lease is from 

 10s. to 35s. per acre, carrying rentals of from l^d. to 5d. an acre. 



For agricultural land in the Bingara district £4 and upwards per acre is 

 paid on a freehold basis, and for mixed lands £2 10s. to £3 10s. The aver- 

 age carrying capacity of the country is 1 sheep to 2 aci'es in the Moree 

 district, and 1 sheep to 2| acres in the Walgett district. 



In the Narrabri district the neighbourhood of Narrabri itself is the most 

 suitable for the man with limited capital, both because of the proximity to 

 market and because water can generally be obtained in shallow wells. 



In the western part of the disti'ict water is conserved in tanks or obtained 

 from artesian bores. There is little surface water except along the Namoi, 

 the frontage of which is alienated. The black soil should grow good wheat. 

 The herbage makes excellent silage. 



Orange Land Board District. 



Includes Orange, Bathurst, Wellington, Lithgow, Molong, Cumnock, Millthorpe, 

 Blayney, Carcoar, Canowindra, Cowra, Koorawatha, Eugowra, Manildra, Cudal, 

 Mudgee, Gulgong, Dunedoo, Merrygoen, Coolah, Cassilis, Rylstone, Hillend, 

 YVallerawang, Portland, Candos, Burraga, Trunkey, Tuena, Rockley. 



The district is well watered by tin 1 Maequarie River and its tributaries, 

 and is fairly well served with railways. The main western line passes 

 through the centre of the district, and the Blayney-Harden line through the 

 south-western portion, while the Molong-Forbes line connects the western 

 part with the main line. A line from Molong to Dubbo is in course of 

 construction and will soon be completed as far as Cumnock, a distance of 



