HARVEST SEASON. 313 



The golden harvest also increases the busi- 

 ness of the settler, usually occurring at the 

 same time with the wool season, and the fields 

 of grain around the scattered habitations ren- 

 der the scenery extremely rich. The prospect 

 of the harvest this season was favourable both 

 for its abundance and quality, although in some 

 crops smut prevailed, the most were entirely 

 free from it. It is a curious circumstance that 

 self-sown wheat never smuts ; that early sown is 

 said to have little or none, and the wheat never 

 smuts but when in blossom. I saw at one farm 

 an ear of wheat from one of the fields, one side of 

 which bore fine, healthy, and full grains, whilst 

 the opposite side was entirely destroyed by smut. 

 Wheat appears to suff'er most. At one of the sta- 

 tions in the Tumat country the wheat suffered from 

 smut, whilst barley and rye were perfectly free 

 from it ; and finer crops of the latter grain had 

 never been seen. There are, I understand, many 

 kinds of wheat that never suffer from smut in the 

 colony ; why are they not then sown in pre- 

 ference ? The plan of trying different kinds of 

 wheat and othei- grain, from various parts of the 

 world, is worthy of attention, and would no 

 doubt eventually confer much benefit, and 

 add to the resources of the colony. There 

 is a grain which the settlers have lately 

 commenced to cultivate, called the "skin- 



