464 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [July 2, 1920. 



The standard of farming requii-ed in beet-growing is a high one, and much 

 hired labour is necessary. These are two considerations which should deter 

 the average farmer in our coastal districts from attempting the crop on a 

 large scale. As a rule in our State the more fertile the soil the more care- 

 less in their methods are those farming it, while owing to the pi-esent 

 uncertainty of the labour factor, the fanner naturally prefers crops showing 

 a smaller margin of profit with less risk in this respect. 



Difficulties such as the foregoing will, as farm practice in these districts 

 improves and labour conditions stabilise, gradually disappear. In the initial 

 stages in Victoria local ditiidence — in fact, prejudice — had to be overcome, 

 but the industry may now be said to be firmly estaljlished. 



Summary of the Facts. 

 The principal points Avhich struck me during my visit may be summarised 

 thus : — 



1. From 1,000 acres (of an average value of £4:0 per acre) this season 

 sugar is being produced worth £60,000 by the time it reaches the consumer. 



2. Of this sum growers (about fifty in number) receive £21,000, of which 

 £12,000 covers all costs of production. 



3. About 110 men employed in the field for about four months of the year 

 receive about £9,000 in wages during the time. 



4:. In the factory, 140 men,. employed for upwards of three months, receive 

 about £11,000 in wages. 



5. That is to say, by the cultivation of 1,000 acres more than £30,000 is 

 annually distributed in the district. The results are seen in the increased 

 prosperity of the locality since beet-growing has come into favour, 



6. Beet-growing may be profitably combined with the operations of a 

 mixed farm. The tops and leached pulp, particularly the former, are splendid 

 feed for stock, and the most successful farmers in the Mafi'ra district are 

 those who combine bccfc-growing with dairying. 



7. The thorough tillage given the beet crop results in a splendid con- 

 dition of the soil for the following cereal crop. For example, a 20-acre paddock 

 considered " crop sick " was put under beet for two seasons — the crops 

 averaged about 12 tons of beet. In the following year the paddock was 

 sown, partly with oats and partly with barley. The resulting crops averaged 

 per acre 3 tons of oaten hay and 60 bushels of barley. 



8. By the practice of feeding the tops and leached pulp on the farm the 

 soil fertility is maintained, since the sugar removed contains only carbon, 

 hydrogen, and oxygen — all of which are obtained by the plant from the air. 



9. Beet, above all, demands good soil foi' successful cultivation, but, as the 

 resu ts at MafTra with a low rainfall show, when once established in the 

 spring it withstands "dry spells " and quickly responds to rain or irrigation. 

 Once the crop is ready to lift (about March or April), the grower is not 

 rushed for time, but has a month in which to suit his convenience with the 

 operation. Wet weather or labour difficulties are, therefore, not so serious 

 at this time as with most other crops. 



