87 



making its appearance. The band of darker higher green to which 

 Mr. Parker pointed was almost as vivid as a mark of blood upon a 

 pallid lace. The whole field had the health of a well-nourished 

 crop, but the plants on the "red streak" stood above the rest of the 

 wheat as though they had been sown three weeks earlier than those 

 on the remainder of the rest of the ground. " That," said Mr. 

 Parker, " is a wonderfully prolific belt of country which runs for 

 miles as far as Northam. It always grows twice or three times as 

 much as any other place on the farm. Last season we could not 

 get the reaper and binder through it, yet it has received just the 

 same treatment as the rest of the ground, and the whole of the crop 

 was sown on the same day." The " streak " has been found like 

 a line of reef in various properties, and it is Mr. Parker's 

 belief that it could be traced without a break, if anyone took 

 the trouble to follow it out of the cultivated lands, through the 

 f >rest, a great deal of which still remains in a state of nature, not- 

 withstanding that it is of such great fertility. Last year the Messrs. 

 Parker were the largest producers of hay in the eastern districts, a 

 result which they ascribe to the possession of cleared forest lands, 

 thorough cultivation, and the fact " that they have a large slice of 

 the potential ' red streak ' right through their properties. 

 The light soil is the jam country. This class of timber is never 

 found on the best land. The jam tree soil yields Irom 15 cwt. to a 

 ton of hay, and about eight bushels to the acre. Jam is usually 

 found intermixed with morrell gums. There are a few red gums at 

 Toodyay, but they are so rare that they are hardly to be taken into 

 account as a guide to the good, strong loam in which they grow. 

 Wattle and stinkwort is found in fertile hollows that would grow 

 first-class fruit. As in the territory beyond Northam, white gum 

 country in Toodyay is to be avoided by the farmer. An excellent rule 

 for the stranger to follow is that the darker the ground the larger 

 the crop that will be taken off it. 



If any capitalist should desire to establish orange and lemon 

 orchards of an ideal kind, he can do so by the aid of irrigation on the 

 banks of the Swan river at Nardie pool, and at Deepdale, a few 

 miles from Newcastle ; but he will nave to buy the slopes of the 

 river at these points from private owners. A great country for fruit 

 of every kind. Western Australia can rival Spain in raising the cit- 

 rous tribe for size, thinness of rind, and luscious quality. The oranges 

 grown at Cheriton, near Gingin, are a marvel to visitors who have 

 seen the bests fruits the globe can produce, and the younger trees 

 planted at Newcastle bid fair to equal them when they reach their 

 prime. 



