unable to report a better yield in any one year of more than 21½ cwt. of hay per acre. This, no doubt, is largely due to the fact that the farmers have not been practising the fallow system and using fertilisers, and they go on to say that the average quality of land of the whole district is distinctly lower than the Grass Patch farm, the record yield being 21½ cwt., covering 14 years. Water.—The inspectors have no doubt that the water difficulty will be a very serious matter for farmers, and give as their reason for this statement that the land is very porous, the salt water level appears to be rather close to the surface, and the fact that from Lake View to 16 miles north of Esperance, although the traffic is very small, the travelling public and the settlers are dependent on condensers for their supply, which certainly confirms their opinion that fresh water will not be obtained by sinking, and there are no gullies or watercourses over the whole of this large mallee belt ; and what to me is more discouraging is that in occasional depressions, locally designated lagoons or fresh water swamps, none appear to have had any water in them for the past 10 or 12 years. From a railway point of view, also, the water problem appears to be more serious, as the very best is always required for locomotive boilers. The conflicting accounts of the Esperance Harbour as a safe port for the shipment of wheat for export in large vessels also has made me feel that caution is needed before one adds his name to a recommendation which may land this State in an expenditure that is not yet justified—for, to my mind, the land should be proved as to its wheat producing power and the water supply settled beyond doubt, as, without the latter it would be quite impossible to profitably work this mallee area. This brings me then to what I think should be done, and at once, because if it can be proved that the land will yield profitable wheat crops and water can be procured at moderate cost, a railway line 60 or 70 miles towards Norseman and spur lines east and west when require to provide facilities for economic working will be justified, as in this particular locality; we would then settle one of the largest tracts of virgin country that I know of, easily accessible by railway, still in the hands of the Crown. Therefore, instead of recommending a construction of a railway from any distance from the coast, I would urge the Government to have demonstrated at the earliest possible moment the true possibilities of this great area, both as to its wheat production under proper conditions of farming and also as to its water supply,. It would perhaps be possible to arrange with the owner of the Grass Patch farm. (Mr. Thompson) to crop this season at least 100 acres, which should be fertilised, and also farm 100 acres at the Salmon Gum cleared land, and during the winter have rolled and cleared by arrangement with owners a sufficiently large area on the average alienated blocks, such areas to be cropped next season ; also I think that No. 3 belt, which is first class forest land, should be tested, as this belt extends almost to Norseman, and is much superior in quality to the mallee lands. Bores could also be put down in various places to discover if fresh water is procurable. This work would cover a period of two years, which to my mind would be sufficient to satisfy the Government as to whether it is possible to settle this large belt of country profitably, and so justify the construction of a railway and the improvements to the Harbour at Esperance.

W. PATERSON Chairman, Railway Advisory Board. 17th March, 1911.

REPORT OF MESSRS. A. G. HEWBY AND G. M. MAY.

To the Chairman of the Railway Advisory Board, Perth.

Sir,—Attached please find litho. showing the country we have inspected in the Esperance-Norseman-Ravensthorpe district, in accordance with your telegraphic instructions of 12th September, 1910. Dealing first with the land between Esperance and Norseman. For convenience of identification we have divided the country through which the surveyed railway line passes into three belts, viz., No.1 from Esperance to about the 30-mile peg, No. 2 from the 30 to 75-mile pegs, and No. 3 from the 75-mile northwards, and, generally speaking the class of country you saw along the main tracks is a very fair sample of the land for some distance on either side, though, on the whole, the land to the west of the line is of a higher average quality than that to the east. The whole of the district under review is suffering this year from a shortage of rain, and the very few crops we saw were exceedingly short and light, and we experienced considerable difficulty in securing enough water to complete our inspection ; in fact we could not make a thorough examination of the land towards Ravensthorpe on this account.

No. 1 Belt.—The rainfall varies from 25 inches at Esperance to 18 inches at the 30-mile. After leaving the coast hills, which are good grazing, extending from about two to four miles inland, the country is on the whole poor sand plain, with occasional swamps towards the south, and patches of fair light soil which might repay development, but the proportion of this to the whole is so small as to be insignificant, and apart from the grazing land along the coast and the few fresh water swamps, the block is in no way suitable for closer settlement, and may be entirely neglected as an inducement towards railway construction.

Timber.—Low scrub, stunted banksia and chitic, and small patches of stunted paperbark and yates. Gullies all salt, and scattered salt flats, but fresh water obtainable on most of the southern half.

No. 2 (Mallee Belt).—This we have located approximately as shown. We did not go eastward of the Frazer Range Road, and the mallee may extend a considerable distance in this direction, but from the Frazer Range Road westward it comprises, approximately, an area of 45 miles north and south by 65 miles east and west, or nearly 3,000 square miles, of which 1,350 square miles would be served by the present surveyed railway line from Esperance to Norseman, taking 15 miles on either side as the limit at which payable wheat farming could be carried on. Of this mallee land within reach of the line, probably about two-thirds, or 576,000 acres, is sufficiently good for wheat growing, the balance being barren salt flats and poor sandy soil. There is no sharply defined boundary between this mallee belt and the sand plain, and the southern portion of the belt is much lighter land than that further north. The land generally is of fair average quality, though we do not consider it equals the bulk of the Crown lands subdivided for selection within the last three years, its chief recommendation being the quantity available in one locality and its reputed suitable rainfall. The soil is very variable, constantly changing from good to light loam, often rather sandy on the surface, the subsoil generally being of a clayey nature with limestone nodules intermixed, and under a proper system of farming should give fair average yields when the rainfall is satisfactory, but as clearing will probably be effected by rolling, the general growing of hay will not be possible until after two or three croppings, owing to the suckering which takes place, and wheat will have to be the mainstay of beginners. There is no natural feed whatever in this mallee until after clearing, as the scrub and undergrowth are too dense to allow grass to grow. It is locally stated that after a bush fire in any of this country good grass comes until the mallee grows again, and no doubt this does in some seasons occur here as in other parts, but none with any grass. Mr. Thompson's farm, the Grass Patch, is at present the only improved property in this district on which farming on the mallee land has been carried on to any extent. This place was started some 14 years ago (coming into Mr. Thompson's hands comparatively recently), and was more or less successful financially, whilst chaff could be sold locally at from £7 to £9 per ton. We were unable to ascertain its average yield, but its record crop is said to have been 540 tons of hay from 500 acres, or slightly over one ton per acre ; so its average is probably considerably lower, this no doubt being largely due to the want of fallow and manure. Twenty-two cwt. per acre would certainly not be thought much for a record crop in any of our recognised farming districts. A much more thorough examination of the surrounding country than has ever been made before has completely established the fact in our minds