448 xiyricaUui'ul Gazette of N.S.W. [June '2, 1908. 



Wheat-growing in New South Wales. 



[Continued lioiii jKige .'^GG. ] 



C. L. SUT'I'OX. 

 Low la Expeiiuiciit Farm. 



From Farm to INIarket. 



SoMio faiiiiors draw tlicir dwn wheat I'loiii tlie farm to tlie nearest mill 

 (ir railway station, hut the majority have their produce carted in hv 

 regular teams, who do this work at reasonable rates, wliich range \\\> to 

 Is. per bag for a distance of 20 miles. 



No difficulty is expei'ienccd in selling the grain afti'i' it is bagg;'d. 

 <lrain merchants and millers are anxious for it, and compete to secure 

 it at |)i'i('es which are governed h.v those i-ulinii' in Mark Lane. Lunilim. 

 The local value is from Is. Id. to Is. .'id. below that ruling in London. 

 On the London market Australian wheat is generally worth Gd. per bushel 

 more than British wheat. 



The farm horses are usually fed on wheaten hay cut into chal'l' and 

 mixed with cracked or ]nnclied wheat. A certain percentage of the wheat 

 harvested is cracked or pinclied, ami during the operation of winnowing 

 is separated from the marketable grain ; this is retained l)y the farmer 

 for horse and poultry feed. 



The wheaten hay is made by cutting the croj) just after flowering, with 

 the reaper and binder. The sheaves are tlu'n stooked in the paddock 

 for ten or fourteen days, until dry enough to l)e carteil in and stacked. 

 The climate renders hay-making e.xct'edingly easy, and tends to ])roduce 

 a bright-coloured nutritious hay. The average yield is from 20 to 22 cwt. 

 of cured hay per acre. The reaper and binder is draw)i by three horses, 

 and rerpiires one driver, who on ;in average cuts 10 to 12 ai'res \wy day. 

 In light crops it requires one man to stook after the machine: in t-rops 

 3'ielding from l\ to 2 tons per acre two men aic ic(|uii'e(!. Vei'y few 

 farmers cut their own hay into chaff; this is done by contractors, who 

 have a travelling plant, comprising u steam-engine, chaff-cutter and 

 bagger, and who go from place to place and cut up the hay into chaff' 

 and bag it, charging 9s. per ton. 



Assigning market prices to the material used, the cost of feeding farm 

 liorses amounts to about IGd. \)vv dav. 



The Day's Work. 



In the jiloughing season, work conuneiices at 7.-50 a.m. and continues 

 until about 5. '50 p.m., with a I)reak of about two hours in the middle 

 of the day for dinner. At harvesting or stripping time, work generally 



