theory, as he can only call to mind four or five really bad peabush seasons in a period of thirty years. The seeds which fall to the ground in great quantities form the sustenance for flocks of pigeons and other birds, but much seed must also fall down the cracks of the earth and bide their time for a chance of springing into life. The flowers of this plant grow in lilac and yellow on the same stalk. Cattle are fond of it when young, and mustering stock in a peabush year has many extra difficulties on account of the prolific growth of this intermittent annual. It will sometimes grow to a height of fifteen feet, and in swampy places is so dense that it is difficult to keep even a few horses in sight when driving through it; after it dries and the seeds fall to the ground, the stalks break off, and the sweep of the water over the plains during the succeeding year gathers these dry stems against the trees in enormous masses like small haystacks, and there they remain until a bushfire reduces them to ashes. The masses of peabush carried down creeks and watercourses at certain seasons will yet prove a source of danger to railway and road bridges when such structures come to be built on the western plains comprising the watersheds of rivers flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Though peabush grows strongly on flooded ground, it can be found of a sturdy growth on ridges or high plains or downs during a favourable year, especially where water lodges between ridges. It is an ancient and historical plant, for the flowers that composed the wreath found on an Egyptian mummy of ancient date, when softened and opened with warm water, were found to be identical with the flowers of the peabush of the Flinders River and western plains of North Queensland. The native pastures have not been improved by the introduction of stock; the evils of overstocking and the want of bushfires to keep down the under-growth, have in some districts deteriorated or exterminated some of the best of the fodder grasses. The best of all indigenous grasses is known as Mitchell grass, a perennial of strong growth, and capable of resisting the driest weather; there are many varieties of this grass, which is found only on the plains and downs of the interior. It possesses the faculty of shooting green from the old stalks at the joints, and taking up moisture, renewing its youth again. The Mitchell grass grows in isolated strong bunches, and its presence is a sure sign of a fattening country. The following are the best known varieties:-- "Astrebla pectinata," common Mitchell grass, growing in erect tussocks of two or three feet high. "A. triticoides," wheat-eared Mitchell grass; this plant is taller and coarser than the last, attaining a height of four or five feet. "A curvifolia," or curly Mitchell grass; plant forming erect tufts one or two feet high, the leaves narrow and much curved. "A. elymoides," weeping Mitchell grass; plant decumbent, the stems several feet long.