TASMANIA.
The conditions of Tasmania are eminently favourable for dairy farming. Up till recent years the industry did not receive much attention, but now that a start has been made butter production is advancing rapidly.
The Land Required.
The foundation of the Dairying Industry is grass, and to get grass, good land and plenty of moisture is required. Therefore anyone proposing to go into this business should endeavour to secure the very best land obtainable. There is a large quantity available, especially in the north-western and north-eastern parts of the island. There is a great deal also in the southern districts. Information can always be obtained from the Lands Department and the district surveyors, and no difficulty should be experienced by the intending dairy farmer in finding land suitable for his purpose. The more open parts of the State, such as the midlands and the east coast, where there is natural grass, have largely passed into private hands, and later selectors have had to take up, clear, and lay down in pasture the more heavily-timbered portions. This, however, is not altogether the handicap it appears at first sight, as the returns from the very rich scrub lands are by far the highest. It is easy to judge of the quality of land by the indigenous timber upon it. Rich land, suitable for laying down in grass, is covered with a dense growth of sassafras, tree-fern, musk, and pear tree, with large blue or swamp gums, and an underbush of what are known as cathead ferns. Stringy-bark trees mean a poorer soil, and any land bearing them should be avoided if possible.
Any person of eighteen years of age and upwards may select an area not exceeding 200 acres of first-class land, provided he does not hold land on credit under any previous Act. He is required to pay a cash deposit of $0.04 an acre at the time of sale, an instalment of $0.06 an acre for each of the two following years, $0.24 an acre annually for the next four years, $0.36 an acre for the next four years, and $0.48 per acre for the next eight years. The survey fee is paid, one-fifth in cash and the balance by four equal annual payments, with interest added, unless the selector elects to pay it off at once, when interest is remitted. Every encouragement short of giving the fee simple of the land away for nothing is afforded the intending settler, and he can acquire a freehold on easier terms in Tasmania than anywhere else.
Ayrshire Herd, New South Wales.