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D. E. HutchisonTHE EARTH AROUND USBetween Wodjil and Tor, Barbara York Main,The Jacaranda and Landfall Presses, Brisbaneand Perth, 1967, $4.80.It is a pity that Paul Rigby, whose satire isoften sharply accurate, should have saddledconservationists in this State with the imageof a fuddy-duddy in ancient frock-coat andbattered top hat wielding the banner, " 'andsoff our 'eritage'". Fortunately, however, thelocal press has given sober and considerablesupport to the demand for a sensible conservationpolicy. Dr Main's book should do muchto dispel the former image and will contributesubstantially to the latter campaign. It is easyfor Western Australians to feel that this is notan urgent matter. Indeed it is not yet quite aspressing as in other places. A speaker on theA.B.C. programme "Insight" recently statedthat by the year 2000 the United States willbe 50 million acres short of recreational area—an estimate which was unrealistic because itincluded practically unusable waste-lands. Wemay feel that we are a long way from thisimpasse yet, but if account is taken of themuch larger areas of Australia which are aridand may never be of use either as pastoral orrecreational areas, perhaps the matter is becomingmore urgent.Dr Main's book is probably unique in theliterature of Australian natural history andbelongs to a class of literature which includesthe splendid books by Rachel Carson about thesea. In some ways it is unfair to use RachelCarson's books for comparison, for she had,in addition to scientific information, a richstore of maritime myth and legend to drawupon. It can be said at once that for thisreason, and partly because Dr Main's literarygifts are not of as high an order. BetweenWodjil and Tor may not appeal to so many.I hope, however, that its many merits willcause it to be read widely.WESTERLY, No. 1, MARCH, 1 968The book also marks the establishment ofa new publisher. Landfall Press, in Perth. Thisfirst venture it shares with Jacaranda Press ofBrisbane, which in recent years has had one ofthe most imaginative publishing policies of anyAustralian press. Considered physically, as apiece of book production, this is a handsomevolume, with a striking jacket on which is alarge coloured photograph of the sandplainpear, one of our attractive species which isthreatened by the spread of agriculture. Theprice is reasonable, considering the wealth ofillustration. The wide margins include, on almostevery page, Dr Main's own sketches.Even the most amateurish of these sketchesconveys the appearance of the trees and thelandscape remarkably faithfully. Taken as awhole they add great charm to the book, makingit a very personal record of a scientificand aesthetic appreciation of the ecology ofthe countryside most familiar to Western Australians.Dr Main has admitted to a 'personalexaltation', but realistically pleads not for totalpreservation, but for a conservation policywhich will allow the wilderness and settledlands to exist in harmony.She has given us a detailed survey of a smallarea of bushland through a full cycle of theseasons. I do not think that any Australianwriter, certainly not a scientist, has attemptedto do this before. We need more of theseregional studies. I hope that there are otherscientists who can write so affectionately aboutother types of Australian bushland, with acomparable intimacy of knowledge. The 'wodjil'of the title is a native word for the acaciadominatedthickets of the wheatbelt and 'tor'refers to one of the fascinating granite 'islands'.I have not, hitherto, heard them referred toas 'tors'.It is fortunate that those massive 'islands'of granite are scattered fairly liberally in ourwheatbelt. They have been barriers to total61