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formed when it is staled that some of it has realised 13 per acre 

 for the planting of oranges, lemons and vines, which it produces to 

 perfection in the practically inexhaustible dark red soil which forms 

 the slopes of this garden of nature. It is nearly surrounded by the 

 Avon river, and grows grasses all through the summer most 

 luxuriantly. Here the pasture ground is distinguished by being 

 free from scrub, and if it were not fed down the silver grass could 

 be mown at midsummer like a crop of hay. The average size of 

 the holdings is about eight acres, and owing to the exceptional 

 fertility of the spot an excellent living can be made off them from 

 around Newcastle, if a location is wisely chosen ; fruit-growing is 

 regarded as the most profitable of all rural occupations. About one- 

 third of what was the tovvnsite has been selected, and in a few 

 years, when the young orchards and vineyards laid out there have 

 come to maturity, the place will be one of the features of the New- 

 castle district which a visitor will be anxious to see. The land 

 also yields heavy crops of all kinds of vegetables, with the excep- 

 tion of potatoes, which suffer from the occurrence of frosts from 

 April to September. It was what is now a vegetable garden that 

 was sold for the top price of ^13 per acre, and it was greatly 

 coveted because it is moist even in the hottest part of the year. 

 The supply of vegetables to the goldfields, where high prices are 

 realised, is an industry that is as yet only in its infancy. The 

 smallest block under cultivation on the townsite is one of six acres. 

 There are nearly 300 acres of the land still available. Small pad- 

 docks for the keeping of a cow, in order that they may add fresh 

 butter and milk to the comforts of the household, have been set 

 apart by some of the settlers. As a contrast to the occupation of 

 comparatively large areas for mixed farming, the close settlement and 

 scientific cultivation of the fruit-growers of Newcastle are very in- 

 structive, as showing the very wide range Western Australia offers 

 to the immigrant of every class, of skill, training, means and equip- 

 ment, from an adaptation of the blocker system to grazing and 

 farming on the largest scale. 



The concessions granted to the Midland railway company, 

 when the colony was not in the prosperous circumstances it enjoys 

 to-day, have been very inimical to the progress of Newcastle. In 

 consideration of the line being made by the company from Guild- 

 ford, nine miles from Perth, to Walkaway, near Geraldton, a 

 distance of 280 miles, it received a grant of 3,360,000 acres of land 

 (6,000 acres per mile), which were cut out in alternate blocks to a 

 distance of 40 miles on each side of the railway. The grants 

 embraced all the Crown land within the 40 miles radius, and their 

 existence has been deplored by every well-wisher who desires to 

 hasten the day when the colony will grow her own wheat supply. 

 It was the intention of the company to dispose of its lands, but 

 several causes have militated against the realisation of this design, 

 except to a limited degree. It became necessary to seek the 



