The West Coast Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1910. ATTRACTIVE QUEENSLAND.

West Coast Times, 17 March 1910, Page 2

The West Coast Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1910. ATTRACTIVE QUEENSLAND.

(Queensland still continues to attract population, not only from the other States of the Commonwealth and the Old Country, but from New Zelaand as well. Number's of residents of the Dominion have disposed of their holdings and taken up land in Queensland while others, who have amassed suf fieient itt other walks of life itt New Zealand, have “ gone on tire land ” for the first time. Queensland has primarily a dry climate—too dry of coursehut then she has such a vast area oi land that landholders have found that there is not the same hardships and toil required to work the land as met with in a climate like New Zealand Ii was thought that the land boom had readied its- zenith in 1908, hut the total amount of land selected ir Queensland last year was 6,908,093 acres-; 2671 selections were taken up There wore 1633 agricultural farms, covering 541,291 acres; 162 agricultural homesteads, comprising 39,654 acres; 28 free homesteads, totalling 4480 acres; 131 unconditional ,selectjions, comprising 27,395 acres; 304 grazing farms, totalling 3,114,593 acres ; 116 grazing homesteads, covering 1,509,210 acres; and 495 prickly pear selections, totalling 663,081 acres Although! the total amount of lam selected was over 1,000,000 acres mor< than the previous year', the number o: selections was 415 less. The incroasr [ of area taken up was mainly in grazing .‘selections'; grazing farms totalled 654,940 acres more than in 1908. In many respects 1909 was a record year for' land selection in Queensland; hut it is the opinion of the Hon D. M. Denham, Minister for Lands, that 1910 will exceed 'it. Already this year' there has been thrown open for selection iir Queensland 367 portions of land, containing 889,161 acres; 12 portions in the Lochaher and Noosa districts for agricultural selection or perpetual lease; 37 in the Wetheron and ■■Stonehenge districts as agricultural groups; 10 on the Jimbour Estate under the Closer Settlement Act; 21 opened for agricultural selection elsewhere, and one free homestead of 160 acres—making altogether 36,255 acres for agricultural purposes. Also 156 portions as prickly pear infested selections, containing 22,013 acres in the Rungeworgorai district, are now available. Under the now Act there, will he 81 portions of this land offered for grazing homesteads, and after two j

mouths, if the laud is not taken np it may thou be selected under grazing farm conditions. Land- settlement is booming in the State. The splendid season makes life on the land attractive and full of possibilities of wealth and prosperity.