8 
crops, because of its geographical position, are produced from four 
to eight days nearer the consumer’s table. 
Another advantage of no mean importance is that the popula- 
tion of Western Australia—very small until the discovery of gold— 
has since been increasing steadily and rapidly, as the mineral and 
agricultural resources of the country are being developed. Such 
indeed are the demands of the local market that a ready sale, at a 
profitable price, is obtained for all fruit of good quality; and, whilst 
preparing for extensive fruit export, the grower is enabled to dis- 
pose locally at highly remunerative prices of small pareels of fruit 
he may gather from his young trees. 
WEST AUSTRALIAN FRUIT LAND. 
From Cambridge Gulf, in the tropical North, to the Great 
Australian Bight, in the temperate Southern regions, Western Aus- 
tralia unfolds a coast line of over 1,200 miles capable of growing, 
according to latitude or elevation, some sort of fruit or other. 
Under the regulating influence of the monsoons, the rainy sea- 
son follows the dry one with almost clockwork precision; and thus, 
within the coastal zone, the grower knows what to expect, nor is 
he confronted either by a sweeping deluge or a prolonged drought 
from one season to the other. 
Farther inland great waterless tracts of fertile land occur, 
which, with the spread of settlement, disclose favoured spots with- 
out number where artificial irrigation is rendered possible, and 
where fruit-growing offers great possibilities. 
In this handbook no reference will be made to that part of 
Western Australia extending from the Kimberley districts on the 
North to the latitude of the Murchison River 28deg. S. 
Few settlers, hitherto, in that vast stretch of country, until re- 
cently given almost entirely over to pastoralists, have paid system- 
atic attention to horticulture. The cause is easy.to discover. Few, 
if any one, of those who in the past have lived at the Nor’-West and 
the North of this State have had any idea of permanently settling 
down. Whilst there their whole attention has been engaged in more 
or less nomadic occupations; the small cultivated patch has proved 
sufficient to supply the requirements of the homestead, and no in- 
ducement had until now offered to plant largely, owing to the lack 
of frequent and quick means of communication with the markets of 
the South. Sufficient is, however, known to state that at several 
places where facilities offer for irrigation, or where the soil is 
naturally moist, the cultivation of tropical plants and fruit trees 
has been attended with such success as points to great possibilities 
in that direction. 
One of the most successful undertakings of that nature is that 
of the Trappists’ Mission at Beagle Bay, about 21deg. lat. S., where 
some 10 aeres have been planted, chiefly with bananas, mangoes, 
