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GUIDE to enlarge upon its advantages. The produce of the Irwin 

 is sent to the Murchison goldfields, or shipped from Dongara (the 

 port at the mouth of the lower Irwin) to Perth. On the upper 

 Irwin the Midland company had large grants of country, many of 

 which have been acquired by some of the promoters of the company. 

 Walkaway, the terminus of the Midland line, is another agricultural 

 centre. The Greenough river runs westerly into the Indian ocean, 

 a little to the north of Walkaway. The Greenough flats were thirty 

 years ago rapidly settled. They have had a somewhat chequered 

 history. Until rust made its appearance in the crops, the farmers 

 made liberal profits out of wheat growing. Then a disastrous flood 

 accentuated their difficulties. The flood waters came from the 

 interior and washed away crops, fences, and stock. There are what 

 are known as front and back flats, divided by ironstone and limestone. 

 The fertile area consists of about forty square miles. It is still largely 

 cultivated. On the flats the land has all been alienated from the 

 Crown. White gums, York gums, and wattles were the chief woods 

 which the first settlers had to clear. Their holdings average about 

 300 acres per man. The chief drawback of the district is the 

 uncertainty and insufficiency of the rainfall. The soil is of two 

 kinds, it is of a heavy loam, almost of a clayey character on the front 

 flats ; behind the lime and ironstone the ground is of a lighter 

 quality. Water can be obtained from springs, but it has a strong 

 taste of lime and magnesia. Fruit grows well if the trees are 

 sheltered from the violent south-west winds that prevail during 

 summer. The back country in the hills is occupied by graziers ; 

 sheep are their principal stock ; they rely on breeding, not on the 

 fattening of stores. Nearer to Geraldton cattle thrive when drought 

 does not make feed scarce. Mr. John Morrell, whose place is between 

 Walkaway and Geraldton, makes a good deal of butter during the 

 cool season. There is an eager market in Geraldton for fresh butter. 

 For the greater part of the year new milk is not to be had there. 

 Unless the making of ensilage is resorted to, the district is too far 

 north for dairying, except during the three winter months of the 

 year. For the same reason the farmers get better returns from their 

 crops when the seed is sown in dry furrows to await the first rains in 

 autumn. The wheat is ground at a roller flour mill at central 

 Greenough. Among the chief fodder plants of this part of the 

 colony is the wild oat, which is encouraged to grow on the pasture 

 grounds. The sheep farmers in the hills sow the seeds of the wild 

 oat. The plant is cut, threshed, and the seed bagged until the winter 

 rains are falling, when the sowing is roughly done on burnt ground 

 or other likely seed bed places ; the ground is not ploughed to 

 receive the wild oats. 



Geraldton is connected by rail with Northampton. There are 

 three agricultural areas adjacent to the Geraldton-Northampton 

 railway. These are officially described as follows: " The Appertarra 

 area was thrown open for selection in April, 1894, and comprises 



