66 



while crops that were put in early in March gave an abundant 

 harvest. Mooranoppin had 13.98 inches, and Southern Cross 

 9.00. 



"A careful study of the above records (writes the special 

 correspondent of the West Australian, after a tour through the new 

 eastern wheat-growing agricultural areas lying between Northam 

 and Southern Cross), seems to warrant the following deductions : 

 (i) That the most vital point in successful cultivation is early sowing. 

 If summer ploughing is impossible, there only remains for the 

 farmer to fallow during the spring, and sow not later than March 

 and April the former for preference. (2) That a light rainfall, 

 evenly distributed, is much more favourable to wheat growing than 

 a heavier rainfall unevenly distributed. (3) That in dry seasons 

 the rainfall out east perceptibly diminishes every ten miles. During 

 such seasons success is possible only by early sowing say in Feb- 

 ruary good seed and careful cultivation. (4) That, according to 

 the Australasian record of successful wheat growing at Waitchie, the 

 foregoing rainfall statistics show that out as far as 100 miles east of the 

 Avon Valley, wheat cultivation should be successful even in our 

 worst years. (5) That from 1887 to 1896, the rainfall statistics show 

 the climate of the Avon valley and district to be admirably adapted 

 for wheat cultivation. During none of the years within this period 

 has the rainfall been so small as to cause a failure of the crops, except 

 where late so ving was practised. (6) That in many years the 

 ground during July, August and September, becomes flooded, and 

 growing crops destroyed on the low-lying flats. For this reason a 

 system of surface drainage is necessary. (7) That the rainfall regis- 

 tered in spots close to prominent hills' is above the average for the 

 locality. Thus the rainfall for York is above the average for the 

 district ; and similarity Mooranoppin, which is located close under 

 a high rock, is higher than Kellerberrin, situated more in the open. 

 (8) That early sowing is only possible where a fanner has his own 

 teams the system of ploughing and seeding by contract invariably 

 means late sowing and frequent failure." 



The meteorological reports go to show that the limit of safe 

 cultivation is 100 miles east of the Avon valley, a point that is 

 marked by the Merredin peak, a vast granite rock which the 

 railway department utilise as a catchment area. A clam has been 

 constructed at the base of the peak to catch all the rain that tails 

 upon the rock. The country near the peak varies from sandy 

 stretches to the stiff red ground of strips of forest. The simile of a 

 traveller is that the forest is interspersed with sand plains in the 

 shape of the lingers of a hand. Where the country is so unequal 

 the selector should endeavor to name his own boundaries. It is 

 estimated that there are 25,000 acres of eligible forest land 

 between Mcrricleii and Mine's Hill and adjacent to the Yilgarn 

 railway. The Bainding agricultural area intersects this forest. The 

 area runs to within two miles of Hine's Hill railway station, and it 



