SAND DRIFT PROBLEM OF ARID NEW SOUTH WALES. 14] 
of vegetation. In seasons of good rainfall pasture grows 
in such abundance that it is practically impossible to 
overstock the country, but in times of drought rest alone 
can save the Western Districts from again becoming the 
** Heartless Desert’’ that Sturt described it to be in 1845. 
With the return of wet seasons it is believed that the 
sandy areas will once more be sufficiently clothed with 
vegetation to check the further spread of the drifting 
sands ; but in order to prevent the country from further 
deteriorating in this respect, it will be necessary to provide 
the western graziers with railways within easy reach and 
at low freights for the removal of stock in dry seasons. 
In addition to this, ample supplies of water should be 
conserved on all public highways and on all roads leading 
to and serving as feeders to such railway. If these be 
provided, it is believed that the stock owners will be able 
to regulate the quantity of stock their holdings are capable 
of carrying with safety, and in doing so a condition of 
affairs will gradually be brought about that will justify the 
individual as well as the State, in giving effect to the 
valuable proposals by Mr. Maiden, in fact it may so happen 
then that nature will assert itself to such an extent that 
no artificial assistance, other than the railways referred to, 
will be required to keep the drifting sands in check. 
Without railways to relieve the country of stock in times 
of drought, any attempt to cope with the Sand Problem of 
the West is regarded as almost hopeless, but with their 
assistance in the manner indicated, the question will be 
reduced from one of extreme difficulty to one of comparative 
simplicity. It is not contended that railways of this kind 
will from the commencement be direct revenue producing 
concerns, but there can be little doubt that the amount 
the State has lost through the depletion of the western 
flocks and herds, that might have been saved by railway 
