CHAPTER I. 



PRELIMINARY PREPARATIONS. 



RINGBARKING, CLEARING, FENCING, CULTIVATION. 



THE SELECTOR'S OUTFIT. 



I am now presuming that the land has been selected, and the 

 settler and fanner of the future is about to leave Perth and take up 

 his holding to commence the preparations preliminary to ringbarking, 

 clearing, fencing, and cultivating. I am not presuming, however, 

 that the selector is a man of capital, and can afford to while away 

 his time in the city while all the rough work is being done, but 

 that he has only sufficient capital, aided by his own labor and the 

 strictest economy, to establish himself on the land. 



The new settler in Western Australia has one advantage in his 

 favor the absence of great variations of climate. With the 

 exception, perhaps, of the extreme south-west, where the rainfall is 

 very heavy and continuous for some months, one might live in the 

 open from year's end to year's end, satisfied, dry, and warm, 

 covered only by a blanket and a sheet of bark. There are still in 

 this and the eastern colonies many bark huts to be seen, still 

 inhabited and very cosy, that were put up in the early fifties. 

 Canvas now takes the place of bark as a temporary dwelling, and 

 the new settler will have to equip himself with a tent and fly if he 

 is going to settle on his block at once and commence to fulfil the 

 residence clause of the Land regulations. It is surprising how 

 comfortable tents can be made with a little trouble and ingenuity. 

 They are made in the following sizes, and can be purchased in 

 Perth for about the prices set opposite to each respective size : 

 8 feet X 5 feet, IDS. 6d., fly, 6s. ; 10 feet x 8 feet, 123. 6d., fly, 8s. ; 

 12 feet x 10 feet, i6s. 9d., fly, IDS. 3d. 



A fly, which may be described as a second and upper roof to 

 the tent, is essential. It keeps the rain out in the winter, and adds 

 greatly to the coolness of the tent in the summer. 



In pitching the tent there will be no difficulty experienced in 

 finding suitable saplings for uprights and ridge pole, etc. The 

 highest ground should be selected as a site and the shade of trees 

 will be welcome. 



