II. 



THE WEST AUSTRALIAN SETTLER'S GUIDE 

 AND FARMER'S HANDBOOK. IX> 



INTRODUCTION. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



" I have a baylife as skilful as may be ; yet, remembering the old saying that the 

 best doung for the field is the master's foot, and the best provender for the horse, the 

 master's eye, I play the overseer myself." GERVASE MARKHAM, 1620. 



'HE numerous inquiries received almost daily by 

 the Bureau of Agriculture, by whose direction 

 the SETTLER'S GUIDE is issued, show that there 

 are a number of people who have either already 

 taken up land in the colcny, or intend doing so, 

 with the object of cultivating it, who have had 

 little or no previous experience in agriculture. The majority 

 of our more recent settlers are the " bone and sinew " of 

 the eastern provinces ; men well versed in colonial agricultural 

 practice. For these any elementary lessons conveyed in the 

 following pages will have little interest. They are intended for the 

 guidance of the new settler who has not had the same experience, 

 but whose welfare is nevertheless a matter of supreme importance, 



