28 THE farmers' handbook. 



Fencing timber is still plentiful, hut becoming limited around agricultural 

 centres. 



For posts, red gum, yellow box, red box, and stringybark, are the best 

 timbers. 



Wbite ants are very bad, but no precautions appear to be taken against them. 



Cattle and sheep-proof fences (six-wire), with 9-foot panels, cost £75 per 

 mile ; rabbit-proof fencing up to £160. 



Well-sinking costs 15s. per foot timbered; tanks Is. per cubic yard; 

 drains 3s. 6d. to 5s. per chain. 



The transport is generally good. It is a good district for mixed farming, 

 orchards, wine, grapes, and poultry; all do well. It is very healthy for stock, 

 and the market facilities are good. 



Tiimbanimba Land District. — Half of this district is mountainous, the 

 other half hilly, with good rich river flats on the Murray. The soil varies 

 from very poor to rich, with patches of alluvial and a fair extent volcanic. 

 The climate is good. There is usually snow on the mountains in winter. 



The mean annual temperature varies from 72 degrees in summer to 46 

 degrees in winter. Rainfall about 35 inches. Taking the mean average of" 

 the whole district it is probably higher. Roughly it would range from 30 

 inches to 50 inches. 



Dairying is in its infancy, but making good progress. The chief occupation: 

 is sheep and cattle grazing, but the area is suitable for fruit, apples, roots,, 

 cereals, pigs, and mixed farming. 



The chief timbers are messmate, stringybark and gum, with mountain ash,, 

 mountain gum, and eurabbie on the hills. The timber is suitable for building 

 and fencing. The flats carry fattening grasses. Those on the hills are 

 inferior. 



Cost of clearing for grazing, 10s. to 22s. -6d. per acre ; cost of clearing green 

 timber for cultivation varies considerably, being from £2 to £20 per acre. The 

 timber takes 6 to 10 years to kill by ringing. The suckering is veiy strong,, 

 often producing a dense scrub of suckers and seedlings. The ringing has, 

 therefore, to be done so that the timber is killed slowly, and then the existing, 

 suckei's and seedlings destroyed every year. 



Timber for fencing is good. For posts stringybark is mostly used away 

 from the Murray, and red gum on the Murray. 



The cost of cattle fencing (six-wire and one barbed) is about £70 per mile 

 (without clearing the line) ; of sheep-proof (six-wire, No. 8) about £60. 

 Rabbit fencing with 42-inch netting costs about £130 per mile. 



Well-sinking costs 20s. per foot with timber. Tank excavation about 

 Is. per cubic yard. 



The country is hilly and mountainous, and the transport consequently hard, 

 though the roads are for the most part fairly good. The railway from Wagga 

 to Tumbaruinba has now been completed. 



The district is well suited for mixed farming, and for intense culture. 

 Deciduous fruits and English grasses do well. It is a favourite health l'esort.. 



Tumut District. — The Tumut River Valley is exceptionally fertile andi 

 picturesque, and compares favourably with some of the best land in the State. 

 Maize and tobacco-growing and dairying are its most thriving industries. 



