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a hard worker, have any amount of pluck, and be very economical. 

 Fowls are commonly kept by our farmers, hut not nearly so largely 

 as they ought to be. Bees are neglected. -The districts are not 

 adapted for close settlement, ?>., for ten or 2O-acre men. No data 

 has been kept to show the times at which the earliest and latest 

 frosts occur. Frosts are, however, not prevalent and destructive. 

 There are private lands available that would grow excellent crops 

 of potatoes and other root crops ; but the terms upon which the 

 blocks could be obtained would be a matter for private treaty. No 

 terms of sale are advertised, or are public property. None of 

 the paddocks referred to are far from the railway. There is 

 very little " potato land " belonging to the Crown ; nearly all 

 the best of it has been taken up. On suitable spots, potatoes and 

 other root crops do well in the districts. Vegetables are not grown 

 to any extent not nearly as largely as they could be. Dairying is 

 being neglected ; there is very little of this form of industry in the 

 Midland division. It cannot be said there is an opportunity for a 

 larger scope of work. The breeds of horses, cattle and sheep are 

 being improved. The chief advantages of our territory are that it 

 is good agricultural and pastoral country. The average size of 

 selections of Crown lands is 100 acres. The general character of 

 the seasons is dryness, which prejudicially affects the returns. For 

 14 years, prior to 1896, the average rainfall was 18*55 inches. The 

 Land bank has not been applied to by local borrowers, as far as is 

 known here. Settlement has been progressing. The fruits grown 

 are oranges, apples, peaches, grapes and ligs, and these mature with 

 very great success, the only drawback being the high winds that are 

 experienced during a portion of the year. The facilities for the 

 transport of crops to market are fairly good, now that railway 

 carriage is accessible from the Greenough, Northampton, Irwin and 

 Mullewa stations. The crops usually grown are hay and grain. It 

 costs about ^3 per acre to clear land ready for the plough. The 

 kinds of timber are York gum, flooded gum, white gum, morrell, 

 gimlet, and raspberry jam. The forests are rather sparse. No 

 spot can be named where there are facilities for irrigation. In the 

 vicinity of Geraldton water can be struck inside 100 feet, and at a 

 much shallower depth on the Murchison. In a dry season there is 

 a great scarcity of water, as the storage capacity is now r here 

 large. In general, however, the country is fairly \vatered. On 

 the whole, this division of the colony can be said to be 

 a good one for stock. There are poison plants in our neighbour- 

 hood, chiefly of the York road and box varieties, distributed in 

 patches throughout, and amounting in the aggregate to very many 

 thousands of acres. The district is not much troubled by native 

 pests, such as dingoes, boodie rats, opossums, eaglehawks, etc. 

 Dingoes and eaglehawks have been largely destroyed in the last few 

 years. Of the other pests mentioned there are none. A great many 

 of the local cultivators are also sheep farmers. The orchard and 



