180 

i. Report of the Western Lands Commission, &c. 
The report of the Western Lands Commission* is a cyclopaedia of information in 
regard to the condition of the far westefn portion of this State. A note on sandstorms 
is given at page 8 with references to the evidence of witnesses on the subject. Two 
remarkable photographs are reproduced, one showing denudation, 3 feet of soil 
having been removed from the roots of a tree by the attrition of sand set in motion by 
wind, and the other showing the sand piled up against a station homestead. 
Let me invite your attention to a paper by Mr. C. A. Benbow, entitled " Interior 
Land Changes."! Mr. Benbow also delivered a lecture upon " Drifting sands of the 
west of New South Wales," on the 30th April, 1903. He did not publish on that occa- 
sion, but he' presented many facts well worthy of attention by citizens of this State. 
Drifting sands have overwhelmed many a fair city, a fact with which every 
student of history and geography is familiar. By attending only to present requirements 
people have, by means of their flocks and herds, denuded the vegetation which naturally 
more or less fixes the soil, and to obtain fuel and timber they have cut down the shrubs 
and trees, either recklessly or without replacing them by younger growth ; they have 
not guarded against forest or prairie fires, or when these have taken place, have not 
taken adequate steps to repair the damage. The devastations of war have added to 
the general destruction. By degrees, perhaps during a period extending over centuries, 
the carefully adjusted " balance of nature " has been so disturbed that desert sands 
have encroached on agricultural lands and have overwhelmed villages and even large 
cities, the cumulative results of neglect being of such magnitude that the resources of 
the inhabitants have at length been insufficient to cope with them. All these catas- 
trophes are gradual, and if they be studied, and the principles they can teach us be 
properly understood, then the first step with the view of combating them will have been 
gained. 
In my paper, " Forests in their relation to Rainfall," J I have produced conclusive 
evidence to show that uncontrolled destruction of trees may be attended with most 
disastrous consequences to any country ; and in my paper, " Mitigation of Floods by 
Forestry Operations, " I have endeavoured also to arrive at the first principles which result 
in mighty consequences. 
As regards the sad state of our Western lands, which has inflicted untold misery 
on domestic animals and on lion-hearted humanity, am I not justified when I say that 
inquiries into the subject are usually too much taken up with a sad catalogue of priva- 
tions and catastrophes, and that too little attention is given to directing the rays of 
* 
* \\Vtcrn Division of New South Wales, Royal Commission to inquire into the condition of the Crown Tenants, 
Parts I and II, 1901. Printed by order of the Legislative Assembly. 
t Agric. Gazelle. N.8.W., October, 1901. 
J See Part LV, p. 95 of the present work. 
See Part LVI, p. 130 of the present work. 
