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paddocks, and the laying out of vineyards and orchards which are 

 among the most celebrated in the colony. They have manifested 

 the utmost confidence in the Wagin Lake and Katanning districts, 

 and their properties are calculated to inspire the same feeling of 

 reliance in those who come to spy out the land. Messrs. F. H. and 

 C. A. Piesse have altogether 6000 acres of land, for most of which 

 they gave high prices to the company. They cut out their blocks 

 close to the railway stations, abutting on the boundaries of the town- 

 sites. In some cases they could admittedly have got superior 

 country at a little distance from the line, but they preferred to save 

 cartage expenses, and to spend those savings on manures. Of the 

 6000 acres, 1500 are cleared and under crop in alternate years, 

 about 800 acres being thus harvested each season. The estates 

 include 114 acres under vines and orchards, namely, 80 acres at 

 Katanning, 29 acres at Wagin Lake, and 4 acres at the Arthur 

 river settlement. A drive round the outskirts of Wagin Lake with 

 Mr. C. A. Piesse furnishes a very instructive insight into the 

 resources of the district. His homestead is built on a hill com- 

 manding a picturesque prospect of hill and dale, and a park- 

 like expanse of jam and manna trees. The house, a very 

 spacious one, is built of handsome grey granite, which is found on 

 the crest of one of the local ranges. From the house slope the 

 cornfields, vineyards, and orchards of the enterprising proprietor. 

 He points to trees that are thriving on land which would be too 

 poor to yield more than one or two crops of cereals, but w T hich is 

 capital for fruit production. The apples, apricots, peaches, 

 plums, and cherries are, Mr. Piesse says, as large as those which are 

 produced on the best chocolate soil of the Hon. F. H. Piesse at 

 Katanning ; but the flavour is not quite so full or pleasant as that of 

 the fruits of the richer loam, which is always the most profitable when 

 placed under cereals. The great variety of the soils of the district 

 is, Mr. Piesse says, very advantageous, although this natural feature 

 of the south used to be decried. He remembers the time when 

 superficial observers were prone to say that the York gum and 

 manna country should be cultivated, and all the other soils left for 

 pasturage purposes ; but the lessons of experience have vindicated 

 the reputation of other kinds of land that was looked doubtfully 

 upon. All that is necessary is to select the right kind of crop for 

 each variety of ground, and every class except the poorest gravel 

 will yield a profitable return. In the opinion of Mr. Piesse, it is 

 beneficial to have such a diversity of natural conditions which con- 

 duce to the enlargement of the number of products which the dis- 

 trict has to send to market. In other words, if all the land was of 

 the richest chocolate or deep loams, there would be a reluctance to 

 plant anything except wheat, or oats, whereas, since it has been 

 found that fruit can be very profitably raised where the cereal 

 harvest would, sooner or later, be scanty, every encouragement is 

 given to extend the orchard acreage. 



