Rejjort of till Bacteriologist, &c., in Dairying. 885 



available for irrig-ation constrains the farmer to irrigate smaller areas, 

 and consequently more intense culture is apparent. Summer fodder 

 crops are largely grown. Near Gunbower one of the most up-to-date 

 systems of silage is found, the silos being filled in November with the 

 first cut of the lucerne, the odds and ends about the i)addocks and 

 part of the wheat crops. Barley and rye are also grown as winter 

 fodder crops. In April the silos are filled with the maize and amber 

 cane grown under irrigation. The factories at Boort, Pyramid Hill 

 and other places are getting well through the difficulties occasioned 

 by the drought. The amount of amber cane grown round Boort was 

 an indication oi the capabilities of the north in an average year. 

 Further west occasional farms are found round Dunolly, St. Arnaud 

 and Stawell, and the present prospects of the Warracknabeal factory 

 are good. Much of the supply comes from Beulah, Hopetoun and 

 other parts of the Mallee. Here and there in the Horsham and Nhill 

 districts a farmer has managed to continue dairying all throuo-h the 

 drought, and I hope before long to see the silo permanently secure 

 the position for the dairy cow all through the Mallee. The marvellous 

 growth of mangels, rape, barley and rye through the winter months, 

 even when the rainfall is below the average, bears testimony to the 

 quality of the soil. The continuous sunshine elaborates a larger 

 percentage of nutrients in the herbage and pastures, and at the 

 present moment, when live stock in Gippsland and the Western 

 District are below the average, the cattle in the Mallee are rollinsr 

 fat. 



Crossing to the southern slope of the divide, we find a very 

 progressive and satisfactory condition in the Western District. Land 

 values and rents are rapidly increasing, and the problem is how to 

 milk more cows off the same are;). Cultivation is therefore coming 

 more to the front, and the silo is now to be found round Colac, 

 Terang and Port Fairy. Root crops are fairly common, and last 

 summer there was an unusually large amount of maize grown. 

 Around Koroit most farmers grow oats, barley, roots, peas and 

 potatoes, and a large part of this produce is fed to the cow and pig. 

 I have made efforts to draw the attention of the hay growers in the 

 Smeaton and Lancefield districts to the advantages of this method, 

 but it will probably take another year or two of low prices to induce 

 them to change their methods. In the dry districts near Melton 

 more than one example is found of the extent to which water can be 

 collected and stored on the average farm when the rainfall is over 

 20 inches. Large dams aggregating from 10 to 20 thousand cubic 

 yards are gradually constructed, and it is found that one with 1,000 

 cubic yards of water is amply sufiicient for an acre of summer crops. 

 Similar large dams are used by the orchardists near Ringwood. 

 These pioneer efforts, as well as the private irrigation schemes in the 

 Bacchus Marsh Valley, are worthy of the most careful study. They 

 show what can be done in nearly all parts of the State (except the 

 northern plains) by individual effort, and if generally adopted would 

 simply I'evolutionise farming throughout Victoria. 



