13 
weeks on the Darling Ranges, at Mundaring or Chidlow’s Well, at 
an altitude of about 1,000ft. above the valley of the Swan. 
If we proceed another 100 miles eastward, we notice that this 
period of maturation of fruit is entirely reversed under the influence 
of intervening causes. 
At Tammin and Kellerberrin, for instance, with an altitude of 
200ft. only less than at Mundaring or Chidlow’s Well, and some 
750ft. above the Swan, grapes and fruits come to maturity a week 
or two earlier than they do on the coast. There the retarding 
influence of altitude is counterbalanced by the more active light, 
the lesser degree of air humidity, and probably by the greater degree 
of heat absorbed by the soil. 
Due consideration to local climatic conditions should, therefore, 
influence fruit-growers in the selection of what to plant, with the 
idea of avoiding a glutted market. Thus the settlers at a greater 
altitude within the influence of the coastal climate should cater for 
the later market, whereas those located further inland in the 
brighter but drier regions will, with earlier varieties, have a good 
hold of the early market. But here, again, other points have to be 
considered, and good carrying capabilities must not entirely be over- 
looked when seeking for earliness in ripening. 
Aspect will also modify the climate to some extent. Many 
tender plants will thrive in sheltered spots which would succumb to 
exposure to the rigours of the climate only a short distance away. 
Low lying damp hollows subject to late ground frosts often prove 
fatal to potatoes or to those vines which break into leaf early in the 
season, although these would have been quite safe on a warmer slope 
only a stone's throw distant. Then again an eastern aspect, other 
things being equal, will generally hasten the ripening of fruit by 
several days. Clay bands or ridges of rocks running across a field 
will, by throwing up the water, often modify the climatic conditions 
either for good or evil within a row or two. 
Exposure to winds, the colour and the texture of the soil, or 
in other words, its power of absorbing and of retaining heat and 
moisture are all factors which to some extent modify a local climate. 
OUR SOILS. 
Great stress has been laid on the merits of the climate of the 
several districts of Western Australia capable of producing fruit, 
but, before pronouncing on the suitability of any given area, either 
for agricultural purposes, or more especially fruit growing—a branch 
of agriculture which is being more particularly discussed in these 
pages—the fact that the soil is in some measure suitable for the 
purpose one has in view, must be ascertained. 
In the pursuit of fruit-growing, soil must give precedence to 
climate in as much as the first can, by means of judicious manuring 
