The rapid spread of the prickly pear in some parts of the State has been a peremptory call for the occupation of the threatened country on any terms. Provision has accordingly been made for prickly pear selections under conditions of eradicating the pest, the value of the land being assessed at rates ranging from a sum paid by the Government to the settler in addition to a free gift of the land, to a sum perhaps as high as L1 per acre to be paid by the settler to the Crown, such payments being in annual instalments of one-fifth or one-tenth, and commencing ten or five years respectively after the commencement of the lease, the period of exemption from payment having to be devoted to the task of eradication. Until 1901 the competitive principle was general in the selection of Crown lands, but in that year provision was made by a special Act to allot land non-competitively to bodies of settlers coming from abroad, who naturally desired to be assured of obtaining land in proximity to each other before pulling up their stakes and migrating to a new sphere of activity. Successive amendments have been made in this law, and, while in its inception it had application only to agricultural homestead selection, it has since been extended to all forms of selection tenure. The great drought, which ended in 1902, has stamped its mark indelibly upon the land legislation of the State. The earliest cry for relief came from the far West, where the remaining tenancies under the Pastoral Leases Act of 1869 chiefly lay. Large tracts of country had become forfeited, and the Crown tenants, unable to hold on to the remnants of their runs at the rents chargeable under their leases, applied for relief. To meet their case, the Pastoral Leases Act of 1900 was passed, which required the reoccupation of the abandoned country at nominal rents, and reduced the rents of the retained country to an extent that secured the reoccupation of 13,000 square miles. In the following year the Pastoral Holdings New Leases Act promised the relief of extended leases to the holders of pastoral country in the rest of the State, where the Act of 1884 operated; but the drought still continuing, a further appeal was made to Parliament, and in the Pastoral Leases Act of 1902 opportunity was given to lessees to secure extensions of leases up to forty-two years according to situation, subject to reappraisement of rent and to certain rights of resumption reserved to the Crown. The chief desideratum of the lessees was extended tenures to enable them to finance on more favourable terms and recover from their immense drought losses. In consideration of this concession and the surrender of resumption rights which it involved, the State had to look for increased rentals. The reassessments of the rentals under the new leases, however, have not compensated the State for the large concessions made to its tenants.