214 .\(;KR'LLTL'kAL KDLa'ATlON IX AUSTKAi.IA. 



tallied, we were told, because the State had only one mycologist,. 

 and he is stationed at Adelaide. At the time of our visit experi- 

 ments for the extirpation of this pest were being tried with 

 sulphur, Bordeaux-mixture, etc. 



The wheat-lands receive superphosphate at the rate of 80 lb. 

 per acre, i.e., i:)nly sufficient for the immediate season. These 

 lands are in part surrounded by eucalyptus, and the stunting 

 effects of the trees on the wheat-fields was strikingly manifest 

 wherever they grew in close proximity to the cereals. Millets, 

 it is said, do not thrive on the farm lands. 



Considerable interest was manifested by the visiting party 

 in the newly-erected shed containing appliances for grading 

 wheat, the whole series being driven by a small petrol engine. 

 These appliances include a hand thrasher for small quantitie;^ 

 of grain, capable of taking about one-third of a sheaf. 



The rotation frequently adopted in the district is said to be : 

 (I) Self-sown grass herbage, (2) bare fallow — the land being 

 kept broken by cultivators — and (3) wheat. This system, how- 

 ever, is regarded, not without evident reason, as not getting 

 enough out of the land. 



The Roseworthy rainfall averages seventeen inches, and the 

 lands are irrigated from the Barossa, sixteen miles away, the 

 whole district being reticulated with water-leadings. The only 

 method of irrigation used all over the farm is that of revolving 

 s])rinklers. Flood irrigation is impracticable on account of the 

 expense, which would render it unprofitable. The cost of water 

 is sixj^ence ])er 1,000 gallons, exclusive of water-rates. The 

 sprinkling system, however, is found to yield good returns. .\s 

 an instance of this we were informed that a herd of 2-^ cow.s 

 was entirely maintained on four acres of Egyptian clover from 

 July to October, both months inclusive, the clover being cut 

 five times per annum, with constant irrigation, except during 

 the wet winters, when irrigation is used only to start the crops. 

 Brack efflorescences occur on the farm, chiefly in the form of 

 magnesium chloride, until irrigation drives the salts down. 



Nitrogen manuring (Chili saltpetre, etc.) is stated to have 

 failed in yielding sufficient crop-increase to make such manuring 

 profitable. It was not on the occasion of my visit to Rose- 

 worthy that I heard this statement for the first time in South 

 Australia. On the contrary, it was frequently reiterated in my 

 hearing, both before and after that visit, not only in that State, 

 but also in other parts of the Australian continent ; indeed, the 

 South Australian Government's " Handbook of South .Australia,'* 

 issued in 1908, states (page 270) tiiat — 



In a<ldition to the absence vi excessive rains. South Au.stnifian 

 farmers have a great advantage over their European competitors in that 

 the addition of nitrogenous mamires is unnecessary for cereal growing. 

 The soil is sclf-nitrogcmitiiig.* The nitrogen-producing bacteria tlirive 

 wonderfully in the warmer and drier conditions of this State. 



* Italics in the original. 



