92 Australian Life 



Perhaps the most bitter reflection of the drought- 

 stricken station owner arose from the knowledge 

 that, while his stock was starving, there were 

 large areas further east where a plentiful supply 

 of grass was actually wasting. No means existed 

 for transporting his stock to this supply of food, 

 for they could not travel through the barren 

 country that lay between. In the opinion of the 

 president of the Queensland Pastoralists' Union, 

 the most practical suggestion for fighting drought 

 in the future is one for the construction of light 

 railway lines into the western and northern pas- 

 toral districts, thus enabling stock to be removed 

 from the drought-stricken areas. 



The recovery of the Australian back country 

 from a long succession of dry seasons, such as 

 those which culminated in the disastrous year of 

 1902, is necessarily slow. The rains that break 

 the drought cause the grass to spring up bravely, 

 it is true, but it is a delicate growth and does not 

 withstand the hot sun for long. The fodder- 

 plants, eaten down to the very roots in the lean 

 years, have not had time to recover themselves, 

 and would probably never do so were it not for 

 the diminution of the stock upon the land. The 

 havoc of the drought is not so easily repaired. A 

 Bulletin writer, in a few vivid words, describes the 

 bush in its first stage of recovery: 



"A new world, seemingly a world of green, 

 good to look upon, though it was of forced, un- 

 stable growth, with no vitality. The poor bush 



