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tent natural grasses. Where the land has been cultivated the in- 

 digenous grasses disappear, and their place is taken by dandelion 

 and other imported weeds, on which stock thrive. The trefoil, 

 commonly known as clover, is the best of these plants. The adjoin- 

 ing property is Mr. Padbury's, which has been extensively cleared. 

 For many years money has been freely laid out upon it, and a great 

 deal of hay has been grown upon it. An orchard has been planted. 

 Another estate, which is associated with the name of one of the 

 earliest colonists of the west, is the one on the boundary of Mr. 

 Padbury's, going south. This is the estate of the late Mr. William 

 Brockman, who bequeathed it to his daughter, Mrs. De Courcy 

 Lefroy, and it is now under the management of her son. The lands 

 are chiefly used for hay-growing and grazing. The property almost 

 entirely consists of rich flats, and a considerable area has been 

 cleared ; the uplands are also of good quality. Nearly opposite 

 them on the river are the broad acres, intersected by Lion's brook 

 and Ellen's brook, that belonged to his Honor Mr. Justice George 

 Leake. On the death of his honor, the place was purchased, 

 with the old Cruise's mill, that is so full of associations of the first 

 colonising experiences in Western Australia, by Mr. George Len- 

 nard, who is actively engaged in further reclaiming and cultivating 

 the ground. In this neighbourhood is Oakover (Mr. W. D. 

 Moore's), and the Protestant orphanage, the grounds of which 

 are one of the earliest grants of land which the Crown made 

 for public purposes. The institution, \vhich was long under the 

 admirable charge of the late Canon Brown, has some acres in an 

 advanced state of tillage. The orphanage, which has a subsidy 

 from the Treasury, observes the best systems in laying out and tend- 

 ing its vegetable and fruit gardens. Above the orphanage is the 

 vineyard of Mr. C. W. Ferguson, one of the largest and best 

 kept in the colony. Nearer Guildford, a large area of 

 excellent land, on the river frontage, represents the freeholds of Mr. 

 S. H. Viveash, and adjoining Woodbridge there is an estate that 

 belongs to Mr. North, brother-in-law to Lady Forrest. 



The Swan district is thus described by one who, as a large 

 cultivator and an old resident, speaks with authority upon the 

 subject: "The richest lands, that is those on the Hats, \vere in 

 their virgin state equal to any in the colony. No larger crops have 

 been produced anywhere than those which came, for example, from 

 the land of Colonel Irwin, which is now Henley park, in the 

 hands of the Hon. H. J. Saunders. The park was one of the 

 hay producing farms in the west, but it is not all of the 

 quality of the fringe of the river banks. There is a part of it sand, 

 which grows jarrah, a fact which is worth mentioning as one of the 

 characteristics of the district. The theory which some people hold 

 that the jarrah finds its habitat only on the ironstone, is not tenable. 

 It is true that jarrah prefers ironstone, and never grows so large 

 where this formation is not found ; but the tree grows more or less 



