Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), Thursday 7 June 1928, page 44


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THE TXsTQRáüLisT

GOLDFIELDS PASTORAL AREAS

Mt. Sir Samuel to Wiluna.

(By "BreIau"J

The final stage of thc journey from Kalgoorlie to Wiluna was perhaps even j more interesting than' the earlier stages I previously described, and the run from1 Mount Sir Samuel to Wiluna and on to Lake Violet, a distance of about 100 miles, ?disclosed some very fine country. Travel-ling northwards from Sir Samuel, wc were still in Yakabindie country, owned by Messrs. ll. H. Adamson and Co. We

were unfortunate' that Mr. Adamson was ; out on the run when we called, at the homestead, and so pushed on. Thc coun-try looks very dry, but the dry feed is plentiful, whilst the scrub and bush are in good heart. There are now 180^000 acres thoroughly unproved on Yakabindie and there should be about 7,000 sheep by shearing time. All the sheep and cattle seen were in good order, but I believe the older ewes are not doing so well.

An attractive belt of lake country brought a welcome change from the mixed timber. Here thc bush is in .excellent heart. The eountiy soon changed again

WOONDERLIN TOP STUD EWES :

Owned by Mr. E. T. Barrett-Lennard. of Beverley, these ewes are claimed by him to Illustrate'bone, constitu-

tion, size, deep bodies and bulky covering.

and wc passed through a belt of well . grassed wandari w hich opened then on

to a rough belt of auriferous countrv around Kathleen Valley. Here we saw the once famous Yellow Aster gold tame. Twenty-five years ago this was generally regarded as one of the richest mines in the fields and a surprisingly big quantity of gold was taken from it. It is no longer working and the water has taken control. The shaft, however, serves the purpose of a well, and an eugine aud pump draw the supplies for the adjoining paddocks and the Kathleen Valley home-

stead.

Away to the east is a good belt of country which is rapidly being developed and stocked with sheep. Firstly there is Yandal, owned by Messrs. Miller and Munroe and managed by thc latter. Yan-dal looks well, particularly the saltbush fiats. There arc now some 360,000 acres in the property and development work is still being done. . The lambing has been good aña the sheep are in good order. The standard of the flock is being raised steadily and a good clip is expected from the 4,1500 sheep which will probably go through the shed this year.

Mt. Grey To Yakabindie.

To the north lies Mt Grey, but this property as yet is confined solely to cattle

grazing. Further to the east is Banjewarn Station, thc property of Messrs. Warren Bros. Here is another holding being steadily improved for sheep. It is ex-pected that 1,000 sheep or thereabouts will be shorn this year, and then with the development of additional country this number should be increased considerably next year. To the north-east is a big stretch of country comprising some 700,000 acres, known as Bandya Station, and own-ed by Mr. W. C. Hill. Already quite a large area has been developed and water-ed for sheep, whilst additional country is being utilised for cattle. There are some 2,000 cattle at present on Bandya, whilst it is expected that about 3,000 sheep will be shorn this year. Last year Mr. Hill, who, by the way, is also interested in Men-theena Station in the Nullagine district, purchased a draft of rams at the Great Southern Sheepbreeders' Sale at Katan-ning, and these should do well with him.

Leaving Kathleen Valley, on the way to Wiluna, we passed through more wandari and mulga country to an attrac-tive basin of nice soil. This basin grows a lot if Wind grass with a light rain.

Passing through the last Yakabindie gate, we entered Mt. Keith which is owned by a syndicate in which Mr. IL E. Vail; who controls tie new Wiluna fields, is the principal figure. After pawing through some rough, breakaway country we entered an attractive belt of grass and timber, and then on to more wan-dari as far as the old homestead. Mt. Keith consist* of some 250,000 acres and should run a lot of sheep when tully developed.

A belt of auriferous country brought ns tó tho Mt. Keith boundary and wc entered Messrs. Dunne and Crampton's leases. This property consists of tome 200,050 acres. of nice country and is now being developed.

Away to the south-west lies Albion Downs station, owned by the Messrs. Howard. Sheep have already been introduced on to Albion Downs, and the numbers are being steadily increased as new country is open-

ed up.

" Passing again through Messrs. Dunne and Crampton's run we saw mostly sott wandari on both sides as.far as Lake Way. This station,' consisting of about 400,000 acres, is -owned by a paatoral syndicate in-cluding Messrs. Williams Bros*. of Nor-tham, and Mr. H. G. Lnkin, who man-ages the property. . Mrs. Lukin has been very progressive SÍM» talking np the man-agement of Lnke Way. A big area of country has been opened up, including some Eplcndid salt -bUBh flats mixed with spinifex, wtudari, mnjga and «rass. Th© improvements are all very^orough. Tho gates and fences give a good impression

which remained throughout the trip. Though still very dry, Lake Way is in good heart and the «tock look well. The sheep .ire a big framed strong constitutioned type, and without doubt a great deal of this is due to the succors obtained from the use of big profitable Burgurec blood

rams.

Abercrombie Well.

Passing through a good mixture of well ¡ watered spinifex and wandari country, we

came to Abercrombie Well. This water-ing place affords an excellent example of the wonderful supply of water which exists through the North-East goldfields country. Abercormbic Well, with a depth of under 20ft" is making 2O,O00gal. of water daily, Turning due north now we passed for six miles through some hard, stony country and then ran out on to the lake country to the south of Wibma through the Lake i Way boundary, leaving that station on tho

right.

To the east hes Wytree, quite a good pro-perty owned by Mr.-Morphett. It is a pity that more use is not being made of this holding, which at present is unim-proved, except for a few cattle wells, which water a small herd. Back on the track again we were now in Lake Violet country.

Here ia an immense stretch of land, 1,000,000 acres in all, owned by a New South Wales syndicate in which Mr. Samuel McCaughey, the well-known studmaster of Coree, near Jerilderie (N.S.W.), is the principal figure. The management is in thc hands of Mr. R. McMillan, who' is also one of the partners in the com-pany. Passing on, we entered an attrac-tive belt of limestone coùntry from which wc ran out on to West Creek, a well-known

watercourse which sends a big volume ot

water into thc Wiluna Lakes in thc wet season. A little, way past thc creek we encountered more auriferous .country, and then three miles out from thc Wiluna township we left,r on the right, the big Violet Minc, which has brought the name of Wiluna so much into prominence lately. Here it is that big things are ex-pected, and the survey is nearly through for the railway extension from Meeka-tharra; and when this is completed, there will probably be a big and flourishing mining centre. -

Lake Violet Station.. -

Lake Violet Station surrounds the Wi-luna township and the Violet Mine. This property affords an excellent example of the rapid development work done by pas-toralists of which so much has been heard. Taken up in January, li)26, a progressive policy was immediately commenced, train loads of fencing material, buildings, and water outfits were ovcrlanded from the railhead, and over 100 men were employed in their erection. As a result, by shearing time this year there will be 500,000 acres fully improved, subdivided into over 50 paddocks ranging from 5,000 to~ 10,000 acres in extent. Each paddocks will be well watered, and over 70 wells have been so placed as to supply from three to five waters in each paddock.

A magnificent modern homestead and quarters are surrounded by gardens, lawns, and hedges, which will present an attrac-tive picture in another year. A service-

able set of sheep yards, shearing shed, and ! shearers' quarters have been erected. To

establish the flock, a property was pur-1 chased in New South Wales, and 9,000 of

thc breeding ewes were ovcrlanded. This j year about 20,000 sheep will be shorn, and j acres in extent. Each paddock will be increased to between 40,000 and 50,000.

"It is almost incredible that so much could, be done in the short space of two and a half years, but there it is: and almost similar examples can be had in Tarmoola, Edjudina, and Sturt Meadows.

Without doubt there is a wonderful fu-ture ahead of thc goldfields areas, and it is to bc hoped that the pastoralists who have been so progressive will at least be favoured by helpful seasons.

The British Wool Federation has been informally discussing the question of coun-try selling in Australia, and according -to thc Yorkshire Post's Bradford cor-respondent most buyers will be accommo-dated if the growers Bend their wool to the auctions, as the arrangement made for its subsequent shipment saves buyera much time-and trouble. It is, however, re-cognised that country selling trill con-tinue so long as there are growers in want of money and dealers arc willing to pay satisfactory prices on thc woolgrower's doorstep and at the same time take all the trouble of transport and shipment.