n just the right
place, but it is easily acquired. There are certain precautions to be
observed in burning-off, which the settler should make himself
acquainted with. Information on this point and in regard to any matters
of practical interest to the beginner will be furnished gladly and
without charge by experienced officers of the Department of Agriculture.

[Illustration: Clearing the Land.]

As soon as the land is burnt off the grass may be sown upon it. No
cultivation is usually given, the grass-seed being sown upon the ashes
remaining from the burnt scrub, which forms very effective manure.
Cocksfoot is the grass par excellence for this work, as it is very hardy
and nutritious, and not attacked by insect pests to the same extent as
others. Sometimes a mixture of cocksfoot, English rye-grass, and white
clover is used, or the two grasses alone are planted. Local information
is the best guide obtainable as to what it is best to plant. Dairying
thus becomes practicable in a year or two, and returns are received much
sooner than from any other branch of agriculture. It will, of course, be
necessary to clear a certain amount of the selection for cultivation, so
that crops may be grown, and it is often better and cheaper in the end
to devote the poorer and less heavily timbered parts of the holding to
this purpose, and buy manure. Some selectors clean up a part of the
ground of roots and logs, leaving all the big ringed timber standing,
and plough it up. It requires some skill to steer a plough under these
conditions, but very good crops can be grown in this way.

Butter Factories.

Properly equipped butter factories are situated at Launceston (2),
Deloraine, Burnie, Emu Bay, Wynyard, Stanley, Smithton, Wilmot,
Ringarooma, Derby, and Pyengana. In the south there are only two of any
magnitude, one in Hobart, and the other at Bream Creek. A well-equipped
factory has been established on King Island, in Bass Straits, a locality
that has been found very suitable for dairying.

Dairy Herds.

The dairy herds of the State until a few years ago were of a somewhat
nondescript type, very few farmers having realised the necessity of
improving the butter-yielding capacity of their stock. Recently,
however, great improvements have taken place, as the dairying industry
has advanced, until now many Tasmanian dairymen own herds of the highest
standard. The work of improving the milking strains of cattle is in the
hands of the