se deep furrows had their origin at a period when a
different state of things prevailed, when the farmer strove to grow as
much wheat as possible, and devoted every acre that he dared break up to
the plough. Many of these fields were ill adapted for the growth of
corn, the soil unsuitable and liable to be partially flooded;
consequently as soon as the market was opened, and the price of wheat
declined, so that rapid fortunes could no longer be made by it, the
fields were allowed to return to their natural condition. No trouble was
taken to relevel the land, and the furrows remain silent witnesses to
the past. They are useful as drains it is true; but, being so broad,
the water only passes off slowly and encourages the rough grass and
"bull-polls" to spring up, which are as uneatable by cattle as the
Australian spinifex.

The waggon-track is not altogether creditable to the farmer, who would,
one would have thought, have had a good road up to his house at all
events. It is very wide, and in damp weather every one who drives along
it goes further and further out into the grass to find a firm spot, till
as much space is rendered barren as by one of the great hedges, now so
abominated. The expense of laying down stone is considerable in some
localities where the geological formation does not afford quarries; yet
even then there is a plan, simple in itself, but rarely resorted to, by
which a great saving in outlay may be effected. Any one who will look at
a cart-track will see that there are three parallel marks left by the
passage of the cart upon the ground. The two outside ruts are caused by
the wheels, and between these is a third beaten in by the hoofs of the
horse. The plan consists in placing stone, broken up small, not across
the whole width of the track, but in these three ruts only; for it is in
these ruts alone that the wear takes place, and, if the ground were
firm there, no necessity would exist to go farther into the field. To be
thoroughly successful, a trench, say six or eight inches wide, and about
as deep, should be cut in the place of each rut, and these trenches
macadamised. Grass grows freely in the narrow green strips between the
ruts, and the track has something of the appearance of a railroad. It is
astonishing how long these metals, as it were, will last, when once well
put down; and the track has a neat, effective look. The foot-passenger
is as much benefited as the tenant of the field. In wet weathe