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It is worth while adducing another feature of the management 

 of the large estates of Toodyay to show the spirit of independence 

 that is abroad in the colony, and the determination of every man 

 who gets his living off the land to be his own landlord. There are 

 in the possession of private owners of large means, who have been 

 .able to clear very large paddocks, some extensive- areas of arable 

 lands of the most superior character. One- of the best of these 

 estates has been offered to a tenantry on the share principle, that is 

 to say, the landlord is willing to take a portion of the crop in pay- 

 ment of rent ; but during the present season (1897) none of the pad- 

 docks have been let, and stock have been 1u -ned into these corn 

 lands, which have gone back to pasture, while almost every acre 

 belonging to the Crown that will produce wheat is being sought out 

 and applied for. It should be added that pasture land is marvel- 

 lously improved by cultivation. Not only do the indigenous grasses, 

 the best of which are of the silver r.nd kangaroo varieties, spring 

 thickly upon it, but the dandelion, or Cape weed plant, so thickly 

 .covers the ground that is a great assistance to the stock-owner in 

 fattening his sheep in spring and early summer. The Cape weed 

 was introduced to the colony some years ago by a vessel which car- 

 ried hay from the Cape of Good Hope to Esperance Bay, and since 

 that time the plant has been steadily making its appearance all over 

 the settled districts of Western Australia, and is generally welcomed. 

 It is true that the so-called dandelion, when it is in flower, imparts 

 to butter made from the milk of cows despastured upon it, a slightly 

 bitter taste, and injures the keeping qualities of the butter ; but, on 

 the other hand, it outstrips in rapidity of growth almost any other 

 land of herbage as soon as the rains of autumn fall. 

 Cape weed is making great encroachments among the pastures of 

 Toodyay, and as very few milch cows are kept there, it is encouraged. 

 'The silver grass, which may be ranked with dandelion for the 

 shortness of its life each season, and for its fattening properties, is 

 the almost universal feed for stock up to December, when, having 

 .shed its seed, it wilts away, and the thin parched shoots are 

 scattered by the wind or so sodden by a thunderstorm as to be 

 .almost annihilated. But while it is green it is an invaluable fodder 

 plant, not alone because it is succulent and nourishing, but also on 

 .account of its being found everywhere, although the best land 

 produces it in the greatest abundance. Just before it seeds it is 

 .almost equal to hay in sustaining working horses and in giving to 

 them a bright satin coat. The kangaroo grass, which is also a 

 ^reat mainstay, resembles English rye, and while it remains green 

 is a luxury for the animals turned out where it is found. Its peculiar 

 sweetness attracts to it the marsupial tribe in preference to any 

 other, and it is well known that the kangaroo is a veritable epicure 

 in his choice of diet. Wherever there is a patch of this grass or a 

 sward of tender shoots of coarser kinds coming through burnt 

 ground, or a wheat paddock that is unprotected, kangaroos will be 



