MM 



pustoralist, and therefore competent to give a practical opinion, us 

 being equal to any fattening place he has seen in his travels. 

 Adjoining Yatheroo is the Ki an abbey estate, which ha-, be. MI pur- 

 chased by Mr. Roberts from the execntorsof the late Mr. Mcliitosh. 

 Kianabbey has the same characteristics as Yathcroo and l)an- 

 daraga, but it has not been made to the same extent as the Yatheroo 

 run. Yore is another notable grazing property. It belong to Mr. 

 Drnmmond, after having passed through the hands of Mi. I 'ad- 

 bury, who was the first to discover its true worth. Besides the 

 large estates there are a number of well-kept farms lo be seen. 

 These holdings comprise from 200 to 500 acres, a fair proportion of 

 which is under cereal cultivation. Taking now a survey of the 

 Midland district along the course of the railway line, in lieu of the 

 road, soon after Gingin is left behind, low hills of iionsione, gravel, 

 and growing jarrah and banksia are sighted. The hills extend as far 

 as the Moore river. The Mogumber railway station is on the banks 

 of the river. Crossing the river, 18 miles further on, Mr. Padbury's 

 flourishing homestead, Koojan, is reached. A large sum has been 

 spent in converting the property from rough bush land to one of a 

 very desirable character, viewed either from the standpoint of the 

 stock raiser or the yeoman. A salmon gum forest has been 

 annihilated, in order to make room for rich pasture grounds and corn- 

 fields. A similar area along the railway and a branch of the Moore 

 river is being rapidly taken up by farmers, and therefore the ease 

 with which salmon gum may be cleared ready for the plough cannot 

 be too widely known by settlers. 



The facility with which some forest lands may be cleared is 

 graphically described by a correspondent of the Western Mail in 

 discussing the proposed Italian colony, which was a scheme of 

 Signor Vanzetti's. The extract states : " There are several salmon 

 gum forests of from three to five thousand acres area, separated by 

 sand plain and thicket. Some of the sand plain will grow vines 

 luxuriantly, while much of the tamma thicket is suited for both 

 cereal and orchard purposes. The salmon gum country would be 

 of value in about three years after settlement. It would need to be 

 first ring-barked, then, when the trees were thoroughly dead, a box 

 of matches would render the land fit for the plough. The inflam- 

 mable nature of the dead salmon gum forests is incredible. The 

 trees will burn from the uttermost twig at the top of the tree to 

 the deepest root in the soil. Holes large enough to bury a horse 

 in are created by the action of the fire following the routs down in 

 search of more wood. The explanation of this peculiar fact is 

 possibly found in the statement that all these trees are hollow, so 

 that a vent is left for the flame to travel by. It is absolutely 

 astounding what a single lucifer will do. The whole dead tree 

 when once ignited will burn for days, and a burned forest looks 

 like a miniature volcano field, with smoke pouring from holes which 

 were formerly the butts of trees. Such a mode of clearing is 



