56 



ratio of two acres to one of the superior blocks. In other words it 

 is the exception to find from 200 to 500 acres of uniform quality. 

 The rule is that in taking up, say, 500 acres, the larger portion of it 

 will be good grazing 'country, with enough forest country that is 

 growing salmon and morrell gums on a rich deep chocolate or blue 

 soil to give the grower as much or more ground than he can work, 

 and a substantial income. 



The dairying industry may be said to be unknown at York, 

 although it is one that the tariff encourages by imposing a duty of 

 twopence per pound on imported butter. The modern dairy, with 

 its system of artificial feeding of cows, and the making of butter 

 with refrigerating and other appliances, would be the only one that 

 would be possible for the greater part of the year, but while hay 

 sells for "] per ton no one thinks of making ensilage or growing 

 lucerne for the purpose of getting cream. The marvellous progress 

 of the dairying industry in the other colonies has served to retard it 

 in Western Australia, which, for the greater part, is content to use 

 the factory brands of butter sent from the eastern colonies. Around 

 York the presence of the poison plants, the long dry summer, and 

 the strong demand for chaff, all check the establishment of dairies, 

 and the facts are mentioned herein order that this book may be a 

 SETTLER'S GUIDE in the fullest sense of the word. Another draw- 

 back is that owing to the precautions which the Government has 

 deemed to be necessary to prevent the introduction into the herds 

 of the colony of the destructive Queensland tick, a quarantine 

 embargo of a month's duration has been placed on imported dairy 

 stock. This practically amounts to prohibition, except in the case 

 of pure bred stud animals, and without large drafts of dairy cows 

 from the east, dairying will not be able to make a fair commence- 

 ment in the west. * 



Leaving dairying on a large scale out of the question as one 

 of the prospects of the York district, it can be said that it excels as 

 a place for the fruitgrower. It has thousands of acres that are 

 better suited for the production of nearly all kinds of fruits than for 

 the growth of cereals or hay. Take the slopes of the Avon for 

 example, where all the conditions of deep rich land, drainage, aspect 

 and climate, combine to bring apples, apricots, peaches, oranges, 

 and lemons to perfection. Then in the ironstone gravel country, 

 where the jarrah grows, west qf the Avon, the vine flourishes, and 

 the grapes make " high-class wine ; clean to the taste, rich in color, 

 and of pleasant boquet." The loose formation of these areas, 

 mixed as the gravel is with loam, not only allows surplus water to 

 freely percolate through the soil, but also permits the roots of the 

 vines to go deep for nourishment. The appearance of the land, 

 and the heavy cost of clearing, are not prepossessing, but it has 

 been found that the vineyards planted in such situations amply 

 repay the money and the attention bestowed upon them. So far 

 very little of the land that offers: such advantages has been planted 



