int belt of country extending from, say, about 75 miles north of Esperance right on to Norseman and beyond brought under settlement cultivation.

To conclude, we are now able to realise how fortunate it was, both for the funds of the Agricultural Bank and the public revenue, that the Trustees were able to maintain their decision, based on a careful survey of all the surrounding circumstances, that the Esperance mallee holdings were not a reasonable commercial risk for the Bank to become liable for. If only a pleasant climate and delightfully cool sea breezes would pay off liabilities, then the Esperance settlers would "owe no man anything."

A. R. RICHARDSON.

FRANK V. COOKE.

FROM THE CHIEF INSPECTOR, AGRICULTURAL BANK (Mr. A. G. HEWBY), TO THE MANAGING TRUSTEE, DATED 28th MARCH, 1916.

The result of my general inspection of the Esperance-Norseman mallee belt, made in company with Mr. White, is as follows:—

Total area of Mallee rolled . . 12,258 acres

Area of this cleared up and cultivated . . 7,687 acres

Area of above clearing still maintained . . 5,744 acres

No. of selectors who have had work done . . 57 acres

No. of holdings on which portion of the clearing has been maintained . . 41 acres

No. of settlers actually on their holdings . . 34 acres

Total area cropped, 1915 . . 3,537 acres

Total area cut for hay . . 1,333 acres

Total area stripped for wheat, 1915 . . 2,155 acres

Average hay crop, 1915 . . 9 cwt.

Average wheat yield . . 5.66 bush

Average hay crop, 1912-3-4-5 . . 6.85 cwt

Average wheat yield, 1912-3-4-5 . . 4.36 bush.

These figures make painful reading, and do not make one feel very hopeful as to the future welfare of this settlement. Of the 57 holdings on which improvements have been effected, 16 are apparently abandoned, and the improvements are now of little value, whilst of the 41 holdings on which part of the improvements are being maintained, there are only 34 on which the settler is residing, the other seven being worked to some extent by neighbours.

Of the total area which has been rolled, viz., 12,258 acres, only 5,744 are being maintained, and much of this is still in very bad order with suckers and mallee roots, and if neglected for any length of time would rapidly revert to its original state; indeed the fact which strikes one most forcibly on visiting these selections is that more work has been commenced than the selectors have been able to cope with.

The average returns as supplied by Mr. White, and checked in many cases by myself, speak for themselves, and I am exceedingly disappointed in the results, as the opinion I formed of this land six years ago, after a lengthy examination led me to expect something considerably better. The financial failure of the operations here was of course always a foregone conclusion, until the railway is built, as no matter what crops were grown it could not pay to cart everything to and from Esperance; unfortunately the average yields to date are so poor as to make one wonder how even the advent of the railway will enable the settlers to live.

The methods of cultivation have on the whole been no rougher here than in other new districts; most of the soil looks good enough, and it is difficult to discover the reason for such lo results. There has been very little fallow (nor is there ever much for the first few years in our newer settlements), the very solid objection to fallow here being that until the mallee roots are dead, the fallowing of the land, and leaving it till the following year to sow, encourages the suckers to such an extent that, when the time comes, it is not fit for a seed bud; unfortunately the crops have been so persistently poor that it has never been possible to obtain a decent stubble burn, and thus assist in killing the mallee. The answers to my inquiries seem to point to the fact that the returns from the small areas of fallow were not any better than from the unfallowed land, but owing to the above mentioned sucker trouble results from fallow in this condition may be misleading.

The majority of the settlers were inclined to blame the erratic nature of the rainfall for the poorness of the results, but if this is really the case during the period of four years, it is a very poor advertisement for the reliability of the district in that respect; however, an examination of the records month by month should definitely settle that question. Again, rust and septoria this year are stated to be also responsible in many cases, but the poorness of the stubble indicates very strongly that the harvest never promised to be reasonably good, apart from any question of disease in the plant. There is a possibility that the presence of a large number of mallee roots partially green might seriously affect the crop, yet there are patches where these are dead, and in some cases even removed by handgrubbing, and still the returns are unaccountably poor. Small areas of barley and oats appear to have given slightly better results generally than the wheat.

The absence of grass on the cleared land is very marked; even at the old condenser camps on the road, where hundreds of horses must years ago have been tied up and fed, there is practically no feed. The grass is certainly growing to a limited extent on burnt land in many places, but this has been a wonderful year for grass all over the State, and this part compares most unfavourably with other districts in this respect, to anyone with a general knowledge of the State.

The water supply is much better than I expected, the majority of the tanks holding well, and being filled with good water, but the poorness of the crops, and of the grass generally, point in my opinion strongly to there being something wrong with either the soil or the chemical treatment of it.

From a security point of view I can only look upon the proposition as the worst we have yet knowingly attempted; the large majority of the settlers have had more improvements commenced than they have been able to cope with, and are undoubtedly discouraged by the results of their labour up to date. They have worked hard, and lived hard, and deserve success, but I fail to see how the usual operations of the Agricultural Bank are going to help them at the present time; what they require is assistance to keep their cleared land in order, and to enable them to hang on until the railway is built, and until they can coax their land to yield better results.

£7,827 15s. has been advanced by the Agricultural Department on work which has considerably depreciated.

£429 5s. 10d. is owing to the Industries Assistance Board for assistance.

£1,747 9s. 1d. is owing to the Industries Assistance Board for rents advanced.

£2,023 9s 5d. is owing to the Lands Department.

£2,981 15s is also owing to the Agricultural Department for seed, super, and interest.

A. G. HEWBY,

Chief Inspector.