'45 



vegetables. The general yield where wheat is grown is from 15 to 

 iS bushels ; it has been as low as 10 bushels ; their hay harvest is 

 from one and a-halt" to two tons. The facilities provided for trans- 

 port of produce to market are the railways to Albany and Coolgardie. 

 The fruits locally grown are apples, peaches, apricots, pears, 

 nectarines, quinces and grapes. The fruit yield is moderately 

 successful at Broomehill and Kojonup ; probably the crop would 

 be better if the orchards had the benefit of more skilful cultivation. 

 The fruit of the Mount Barker and Frankland river districts is of 

 superior quality. The Crown land open for selection within 

 a radius of 20 miles of a railway station may be tabu- 

 lated as follows : Broomehill, 40,000 acres ; Tambellup siding, 

 10,000 acres ; Tenterden, 10,000 acres ; Mount Barker, 10,000 acres ; 

 Albany, 10,000 acres ; Denmark and Torbay, 20,000 acres. Settle- 

 ment has not been progressing, but it has lately received an impe- 

 tus. So far the co-operation of the Land bank has not been availed 

 of. The rainfall at Broomehill is 18 inches per annum ; at Kojonup, 

 20 inches per annum. The rainfall increases as you go south to 

 Albany. For the last few years dry seasons have been experienced 

 around Broomehill, Kojonup and Pallinup. Last year was a dry 

 one in the southern districts of Mount Barker and Albany, where 

 there are generally good seasons. The average size of selections 

 on Crown lands is about 100 acres. The residents of the districts 

 under notice are chiefly of Scotch and Irish nationality. The chief 

 advantages of Albany and Mount Barker are their liberal and tem- 

 perate climate. Denmark and Torbay are to be recommended for 

 their rainfall, rich soils and excellent climate. Broomehill and 

 Kojonup boast most of their healthy climate, being clean for stock, 

 for the excellent land selected, and for the fertile and valuable areas 

 that are still open for selection. The class of implements in general 

 use are reapers and binders, strippers, single, double and treble fur- 

 row ploughs, and scarifiers. There are ample opportunities for a 

 larger scope of work. In stock-raising nothing special is being 

 done, every farmer merely depending upon the stock of his own 

 rearing. Dairying is being neglected. It always has been in the 

 Broomehill, Kojonup and Pallinup districts. Not much dairying 

 either has been done around Mount Barker or Albany. Vegetables 

 are grown to a considerable extent around Albany, . Grasmere, 

 King river, and on the Porongorup hills. Potatoes and other root- 

 crops do well there, and also at Mount Barker, Denmark and Tor- 

 bay. There is Government land, suitable for vegetables and root- 

 crops, to be found within the radius of the railway, which has been 

 referred to in answering a previous question. There are eligible 

 large estates open for subdivisional sale, if not available for occupa- 

 tion under improvement leases. The unimproved areas of the late 

 T. W. Powell's estate around Broomehill, and his improved Palli- 

 nup estate, are open for sale ; but I do not know whether they are 

 available for occupation under the improvement system. Mr. J. F. 



