170 



no bore that has been put down has ever failed to tap. There is no 

 water difficulty in a dry season. Well water can be struck at a 

 depth of from 6 to 40 feet, but sometimes it is slightly brackish. 

 There are no facilities for irrigation, except from the artesian bores. 

 The Swan is not serviceable for summer watering, because at that 

 season its level is so low that the sea water enters its channel, and 

 impregnates the stream as far up its course as Guildford. We have 

 no timber that is of any commercial value. Along the river flooded 



?jms used to grow, and behind their fringe, red and white gum. 

 he cost of clearing land ready for the plough is from 2 to 10 

 per acre. 



" The fruits grown on the Swan are all the English fruits, with 

 the exception of plums and most of the berries, which do not thrive. 

 The Japanese plum does very well, and strawberries also in places. 

 The latter need a very rich soil ; they want irrigation ; left to the 

 rainfall, the district is too dry for them. The citrus tribes de- 

 cidedly do better on the hillsides than on the Hats, which are emin- 

 ently suited to the pear, and the apple, better than to the apricot or 

 the peach. The stiff black soil of the flats is liable to crack in the 

 summer and let the moisture escape, which militates against some 

 kinds of fruit. The sandy areas back from the river are, through 

 being more friable, better in this respect, but are hardly rich enough 

 to do justice to orchards. . There is no inferior sandy land on the 

 Wood bridge estate. Tropical fruits, such as mangoes, are net pro- 

 duced on the Swan. 



" The Swan district is capable of producing 25 bushels of 

 wheat to the acre ; I have grown 28 bushels per acre on small 

 fertilised fields. When manured, two tons of hay per acre is har- 

 vested on the river flats. The Government railway gives us 

 excellent facilities for transporting produce either to the Perth 

 market or to the Yilgarn goldflelds. The Midland railway is useful 

 for carrying stores, implements, and other goods to the farming 

 places along its route, but it is not much used for conveying crops 

 to market. 



" The rainfall of the Swan is about 26 inches per annum. 

 This quantity would do far more good if it were more evenly dis- 

 tributed. We get a very heavy fall during July, August, and Sep- 

 tember, and hardly enough before and after those dales. It would 

 be better it we could get the autumn rains in March or April 

 i 'lot in May, and sometimes in June. A few more thunder- 



storms in summer would also be very beneficial. So far this BeaSQD 

 i' v (;7 has been an excellent one, rain and sunshine alternating, 

 to enable the crops to t ^et very forward and promising. 



"The chief advantages of the district are proximity to the 

 capital, a ^ood climate, fairly sufficient rainfall, railway communica- 

 tion, and fertile soil. The be^t modern fanning implements are in 

 There is not much done in stock raising only in stock 

 fattening. It does not pay to breed stock so near market, the feed 



