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the supply of their families. There are also several large graziers, 

 notably Mr. B. D. Clarkson, who raise sheep on a large scale. 

 Sheep thrive better than cattle. Dairying is neglected, and the 

 want of improved strains of milch cows is keenly felt. Nor are the 

 breeds of special merit. The cattle industry may be said to be a 

 languishing one, and the first step towards a better state of things 

 would have to be the importation of high class strains of short- 

 horns, Herefords or Devons from the eastern colonies. The poison 

 plants are a menace to any large expenditure on this enterprise. 

 The dingo has not been exterminated, but the bonus of los. per 

 scalp is paid upon about 100 heads of this pest of the sheep- 

 Tbreeder every year. The evil is not so great as to demand the 

 shepherding of flocks, as would be the case in some of the rough 

 l->ut well grassed country of the south-west. If there are no hurt- 

 ful shrubs and the wild dogs were all killed out, the district would 

 I).- regarded as a first-class one for stock ; as it is, it is spoken of 

 with some qualification in this respect. In a dry season water is 

 not as plentiful as could be wished, but there is never any approach 

 to disastrous drought. Well water can be struck at shallow depths. 

 There are facilities for irrigating garden or orchard plots along 

 Ihe course of the Avon, but land for this purpose would 

 have to bj purchased from private owners. The general 

 configuration of the country is undulating, while there are 

 some hills so steep as to b^ only adapted for grazing. 

 The timber consists of morrell, salmon, York, and white gums and 

 jam trees, which costs from 355. to ^ 5 per acre to clear, the jam 

 country which has been ringed for some years being indicated by the 

 lowest figure and the virgin green forest areas in the higher one. 

 Since horsefeed has been so greatly in demand very little save 

 wheaten hay has been grown in Toodyay. This kind of crop is not 

 only the most lucrative, but it demands less labor than wheat. The 

 district is visited by buyers' travellers, who secure all the produce that 

 growers are willing to part with. When the writer visited Newcastle 

 to obtain the information which is now being printed, farmers were 

 holding their hay, as the market had a strong upward tendency. 

 About Christmas time chaff had been selling at 6 and ^"7 per ton, 

 but short shipments from the other colonies, the result of a short 

 harvest and a dry season, were making their influence strongly felt, 

 and there was a disposition to keep the barns full until supplies 

 would realise ^"8 or ^"9 per ton, but this may be regarded as a 

 speculative quotation and due to special causes which would pro- 

 bably be of short duration. The facilities for the transport of the 

 crops to market are all that could be desired, especially as the railway 

 freights may be almost said to have been indulgently framed in 

 favor of the farmer. Most of the small quantity of wheat that is 

 reaped is kept for seed grain. Wheaten hay is preferred to oaten, 

 not only for its extra weight, but also because it is better adapted 

 to the climate, as it does not so quickly get overripe during harvesting 



