May 2, 1908.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S. W. 359 



tlie ground is used for grazing. The cost of clearing ground on which 

 tlie timber is dead is only about a ({uarter or a third tliat of clearing- 

 land witli trees growing on it. 



Cost of Clearing. 



There are various methods of ringbarking in vogue, but in a general 

 way it may be described as tlie removal of a small strip of bark or sap- 

 wood from around the trunk of the tree, so as to prevent the How of sap 

 from nourishing it and making fresh growtli. After the trees are ring- 

 barked, they generally throw out young shoots — " suckers " — below the 

 ring from which the bark lias lieen removed. The removal of these neces- 

 sitates another operation, known as " suckering " ; usually tliis has to 

 be done twice, and sometimes three times Ijefore the trees are dead. The 

 deeper the trees are ringhnrkcd. I.e.. the thicker the strij) removed, the 

 sooner the tree will die ; Init tlie greater the ten<lency to produce suckers. 

 Ringl^arking costs from !(d. to Is. .'5d. per acre; tlie hrst suckering, 6d., 

 and the second suckering, Id. When the trees are dead, which is two to 

 three years from the date of ringbarking, they are grubbed or burnt out, 

 all roots within 12 to IS inches of the surface being removed. The cost of 

 doing this ranges from 10s. to Lis. per acre, so that in the wheat districts 

 the cost of getting timbered country ready for the plough is about 17s. 

 Id. per acre, made up as follows: — Ringbarking, !)d. to Is. .'hi. ; suckering 

 twice, lOd. ; grubbing, 10s. to 15s. The cost of clearing land in the 

 green state ranges from £2 to £2 10s. per acre. 



In some districts it is the practice to cut oft' the dead trees level with the 

 surface of the ground, the roots below the surface being allowed to remain. 

 This is known as '" Yankee " grubbing, and is from .js. to 10s. per acre 

 cheaper than the ordinary method. It requires special "" Stump jump " 

 implements to cultivate land so cleared : but seeing that these are avail- 

 able on the market, there is something to be said for this cheaper method 

 of clearing, as the yields obtained from land so cleared are not very much 

 less than from land more thoroughly dealt with, and to a man with limited 

 capital, the reduced initial outlay for clearing (either in hard cash or 

 laljoiir) is a consideration. The more careful farmers do not advocate 

 this method. 



Ploughing, Sowing, and Harvesting. 



With regard to the cultivation of wheat, the general custom is to plough 

 the ground as early as possible after the autumn rains fall in March and 

 April, and then to plant the seed as rapidly as the ground can be pre- 

 pared, until the end of June, when th.e planting season is considered over. 

 A change is, however, now taking place, for it is generally recognised 

 that better and more certain results are obtained when the seed is sown 

 on land which has been fallowed and worked during the sunnner, so that 

 the best farmers now^ make it a practice to plough at least part of their 

 land in the early spring, allow the ground to lie fallow during the summer, 

 and then plant at the usual time without reploughing, though in some 

 cases where the ground is weedy it is reploughed. 



