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lost through impaction of sand in the intestines, the result of 

 burrowing down into the roots of the couch. There are four 

 varieties of poison which grow in the Midland district, namely, the 

 sand plain variety, whose habitat is the Victoria plains, box, York 

 road and white gum poison. But, nevertheless, if the stock are 

 kept in paddocks which are free of poison, the Midland is a good 

 graxing country. What is known as the ' Yatheroo oat ' is one of 

 the Ivs: pasture plants we have ; it is hner in the texture of the 

 stalk than the ordinary wild oat. There is also plenty of Dutch 

 clover and trefoil and Cape weed, and numbers of other useful and 

 fattening varieties of herbage. I have planted rye-grass ; it is 

 growing fairly well. I sent to Melbourne for the seed. As a whole 

 the c< 'imtry is better for winter, and worse for summer feed than be- 

 fore so much clearing was clone. The reason is that the coarser 

 growths which used to stand the heat have been supplanted by the 

 more succulent herbage, such as trefoil and dandelion, which come 

 on in the spring, and dying out about Christmas time leaves the 

 pasture very short for the remainder of the dry months. The 

 shrubs once killed by burning do not grow again, while the grass 

 seed falling every year renews the life of that vegetation. Of course 

 we take care to burn only after seeding time. We can keep far more 

 stock in the winter than we could forty years ago. Owing to 

 extensive clearing operations, from 200 to 500 acres of arable land 

 can be found in one piece, although so much is never cultivated ; 

 nor would it be so suitable for cereals around Yatheroo as the land 

 at the Victoria plains. We keep on breaking up fresh land, because 

 land that has been cultivated is better f^r stock and carries more 

 stock than any other. The proper management of stock is an 

 important factor in securing success on the land. It is not every 

 one who goes on the land who is fit for a settler's life, and the 

 blame of individual unfitness is often thrown upon the land. The 

 parts of the Midland district I know most about are well watered, 

 if the water is only taken care of instead of being allowed to run to 

 waste-. It is easy to conserve water ; there is good holding ground 

 for dams and drainage from the rises into them. The cost of an 

 artificial water supply, which is necessary, is not heavy. Wells are 

 usually Mink for i per foot ; tanks and dams are excavated fora 

 shilling per cubic yard. There has never been any serious want* of 

 water in a dry season ; if there had been, we should only have had 

 to blame ourselves. In sinking a well, if we do not get water at a 

 shallow depth, we try another place. The well water is, if any- 

 thing, too tie-h ; a little more salt would be preferable. There are 

 facilities for irrigation on the banks of the (iiugiu creek, as the 

 orangeries and orchards of Messrs. Edgar Wedge and Co. and 

 Mr. Henry Kroekman most successfully attest. The general 

 cliana ter of the soil and configuration ot the district is land of a 

 deep (lark and rich chocolate ; limestone patches, or a lighter and 

 les> fertile loam of a light color and sandy textuie ; low ridges and 



