1 Junz, 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 425 
My next trip was to Atherton, which is reached by train vid Kuranda and 
Mareeba. The trip to Kuranda has already been described. After leaving that 
beauty spot, the landscape in a few miles alters for the worse. The country 
passed through is particularly uninteresting, the soil is poor, and the grass and 
timber not particularly good. As far as Myola, however, and for some distance 
beyond it, the country is rather pretty, and the line runs parallel with the 
Upper Barron River, which presents some fine reaches. 
Mareeba is a pretty little town, the main street being built only on one 
side, the other being an open level space. ‘There is a rather pretentious two- 
storied hotel not far from the railway station (the Federal). This is also 
the booking-office for Cobb’s coach to Atherton. Making only-half-an-hour’s 
stay at this place, I took the coach for Atherton, distant about 26 miles. 
The road, apparently level, rises gently as far as what is known as the “Jump 
Up,” a short, steep pinch, after which it is level for miles. Here, again, 
the surrounding country is flat and uninteresting, the soil volcanic, and 
strewn with basalt boulders. The timber is very poor, consisting of small 
gum, ironbark, and Moreton Bay ash. The railway line has been surveyed 
and cleared almost to Atherton, but for some reason, stated to be a difficulty in 
connection with the purchase of private property, through which the line must 
pass, the working gangs have been dismissed, and the undergrowth is springing 
up rapidly on the earlier cleared sections, which will necessitate a second 
clearing when work is again started. There is no water apparent on this route 
until Rocky Creek is reached. Near this spot was a railway survey camp in 
charge of Mr. Stringer. His assistant, Mr. Guinneth, was about shifting camp 
to Atherton. 
, The appearance of the country now undergoes a great change for the 
better. Level for many miles, it is lightly timbered and well grassed. There 
were no signs of a protracted drought, the grass being as green as during a wet 
season, and all the cattle I saw hereabout were fat and healthy-looking, although 
the ticks have been very bad in the district. 
That the soil is well adapted for agriculture and fruit-growing is proved by 
the splendid crops of corn obtained on the few selections along the road-side. 
At one place especially the corn was from 10 to 12 feet high, and cobbing well. 
Mangoes, oranges, lemons, and other fruit-trees were growing vigorously. 
The soil should be very suitable for cotton and wheat-growing. There are 
thousands of acres of this land which requires little clearing to enable the 
plough to be used in cultivation. Water is obtainable in several never-failing 
creeks, and I was told that plenty may be got in shallow wells. On my asking 
why more of this land was not taken up for agricultural purposes, the repl 
was that selectors preferred taking the scrub lands, one reason being that they 
contain quantities of marketable timber, which pays for the cost of clearing. 
‘As there are still thousands of acres of these scrubs available, it is unlikely 
_ that the rich forest land will find selectors. Yet here is an ideal place on which 
to settle large numbers of immigrants. With good soil, wood, water, and 
a railway at their very doors, a good market for produce at Cairns, Chillagoe, 
Herberton, and other places, with a good average rainfall, what more could 
young able-bodied working farmers desire? I feel sure that if Messrs. Muller 
and O’Donoghue, the delegates from the distressed South Australian farmers, 
were to visit this portion of Queensland, they would be satisfied that the forest 
and scrub lands around Atherton cannot be equalled throughout Australasia, 
-. and would come to the conclusion that their search for a suitable location need 
go no further. 
Leaving the forest we enter upon a broad, cleared road through the scrub. 
Beholding the latter for the first time, one fails to realise the vastness of the 
vegetation, a sort of sense of awe is the first feeling predominating. The 
tremendous height of the trees, their great girth and symmetry, their vast 
numbers, together with the dense and varied undergrowth, combine to astonish 
and delight the visitor. All along the road lay red and white beech, cedar, and 
