i66 



grounds. He had the satisfaction of getting 170,000 gallons per 

 day at a depth of only 170 feet. The supply is used all through the 

 summer, and in the rainy season it is shut down by means of a tap 

 and plugs. The third bore was put down by Mr. H. E. B. Gull, 

 close to the Guildford station ; the fourth by Mr. James Morrison, 

 to a depth of 690 feet, on the bank of the Helena river, which flows 

 into the Swan at Guildford ; and the fifth by Mr. H. Hamersley, 

 who had to go the deepest of all, namely, 760 feet. The bores were all 

 started with a diameter of 10 inches at the surface. The water from 

 Mr. Gull's has already been used for irrigating his fruit trees and 

 vines, but so far arrangements have not been perfected for con- 

 serving the supply during winter ; it now runs to waste when it is 

 not wanted in the vineyard and orchard. The bores on Mr. 

 Hamersley's and Mr. Morrison's properties are expected to be 

 applied to fruit growing during the summer of 1897. The artesian 

 water is impregnated with iron, but it is not unpleasant to the taste, 

 and so far as observation has shown during the comparatively short 

 time it has been used for irrigation purposes, its chemical com- 

 position is not disadvantageous to the vineyards and orchards. The 

 Government are assisting the municipality of Guildford to put down 

 an artesian bore for the service of the inhabitants of that town. 



In reviewing the questions tabulated by the Secretary to the 

 Bureau of Agriculture for the collating of information of value for 

 the purposes of the GUIDE, Mr. Charles Harper, M.L.A., President 

 of the Bureau, courteously furnished the following notes in the course 

 of an interview accorded to the reporter : " The roads throughout 

 the Swan district have been cut up by the hay teams, and are not 

 as a rule in good order.. The main road through Guildford is of 

 course an exception to this criticism, as it is attended to by the town 

 council of the municipality. The country highways running, as they 

 do over a soil that is not good for the carriage of traffic, are much in 

 need of forming. The only forming that has been done is along the 

 sandy patches, which would have been impassable had they not 

 been metalled. The loam or clay tracks having been left to a state 

 of nature, arc in a bad way, the Government grants being inadequate 

 to enable the roads board to keep them in order. It is difficult to 

 get road-making material in the neighbourhood of the Swan, which 

 accentuates the trouble. A bridge is wanted bet\\een the upper 

 Swan and what is called Barker's bridge. As to how much capital 

 a man should have in taking up land, I am convinced that the same 

 should be not less than /.'i per acre, if he is going in for general 

 fanning. The ca^e would be different if he were about to lay out 

 an orchard, f< >r when he had planted his trees he could, while 

 waiting for the fruit, work for wages or on piece-woik jobs to pay 

 expenses. But if he is to make a si: fanning he must keep 



on clearing ; he cannot leave that work to earn iimney, without 

 neglecting his own place. If he has need to work fur wages, he is 

 better off the land than on it, for he will not get a fair chance to 



