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QllEEKSLAND'S drought.
: v Picture of - Southern Downs.
- Fierce ;Heat;"Haze and Desolation:
- - The years .1925 and 1920 will, he marked
' in black oil the calenders of most Quccns-
Jand fanners, and' pm-loruhsts. for the par-
tial drought- of the 'former venr. lias boon
.- followed by the most severe season, during
the past twenty years (writes 11 contributor
from Warwick. Giioeiislnnd).
In a. normal year the elevated plains of
the table land .top are at this season of
the year a pleasing sccncof verdant pas
ture landq, intermingled until crops of
wheat, maize: or barley; or the blue green
of lucerne.. Tins :) e!ir. there are vistas of
Sesolatc dun color, sometimes half obscured
by- the veils of bent, haze which have
ushered in nn abnormal and early summer
.The broken, lines of ranges .usuallv n de
light to. thcicdlor Jover have been hidden
for- weeks 111 tins same steel grey heat haze
T he plains seem to have no '.bounds, but to
i.-ule otF into, this film.v, veil. There is, too
.the physical discomfort of a temperature
of 199 to 198 degrees Fulir. during the
ioreiioon, and maybe till seven in, the even
ing. Then, the drop begins,- and during
the night there comes n frost, which fin-
nahes off all tlio vcgetntion left by the
drought nnd heat. '
Gni dens and lawns have, disappeared,
owing to lie'-ssary restrictions in the use
of tlie hose. "With too exception of tho
silk) oak, n Inch is more gorgeous thun
usual, the trees droop,, their young shoots
uithei oil, and they have the miserable
nppenrnnee of deciduous trees in winter. '
Jlie Conilamine. wlueh 111 good years
1111U .light tlnuugli the Southern Downs,
its Winding way marked bv liver ash and
willow, is now. 11 succession of green slime
shallows, with here and- there a green and
stagnant pool, - nnd the willows look
shrunken and dwarfed.
Along the hanks of watercourses ivork-
, men pj the axe, gathering the tcndcrcsl
snoots tor fodder lor the starving slock
which is emaciated and weary looking
They cat without eagerness nt. their uhuc-
eustqmcd fodder. Some turn nivav from
its bitterness lo uozzlo out the half-baked
M-i.ss toots Flinch ho close to tho surtacc
Dairy c.ows, on which so mauv of the
Downs- fanners depend, have to be fed on
-hay at an almost prohibitive price- The
silo habit has not boon acquired here In-
the farmer to any great extent, else the
ravages ot this cruel year might lie les
sened.
Another curious sight presents itself 011
t lie sheep farms, .-where a motor ear or
cait laden with maize is driven round and
lound 111 c-uclc-s, over widening, and as -it
goes maize is dribbled in great rings- for
the sheep,. winch need no invitation to cat'
Ao sooner (lops the car appear than, with
. q-. bleating- of pleasurable expectation, the
whole (lock is 111 pursuit-
.Along Deuehnr's Creek and other 'tribu
taries ot the Londammo are the same beds
oi slime, and the se.ant pools, growiii"
Minllowcr each.- hour -under .the 'burning
. sun. In the shrubs and trees birds are
congregated, and, even the shyest' have
, become almost -tamo -
w«teU the sky, there is
the little cloud no bigger than a man's
hand, hut. nlas | it vanishes into the en
gulfing linzc,, and our hopes seem to follow
iiilo that ghost!) region which lias iiRurncd
i the horizon.
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