Wheat and its Cultivation. 325 



After-treatment of Wheat. — " Boiling the crop after it has 

 grown some 6-8 inches is frequently practised. With hay or ensilage 

 crops this is often ])eneficial, as it helps to make a level surface for 

 the binder, thus facilitating the harvesting of the crop. Moreover, 

 on light, open land, the consolidation of the soil effected by rolling is 

 very beneficial to the growi*ig crop. On heavy lands which tend to 

 set hard, and which are likely to run together with the winter rains, 

 the roller should be disjdaced by the harrows." 



" Harrowing is always beneficial to a young wheat crop, provided 

 it be not already too thin. Certainly, a percentage of the young 

 plants is dragged out in the operation, but it is well in this connection 

 to remember the healthy proverb : ' The man who harrows should 

 never look behind.' This disadvantage is more than compensated for 

 by the increased vigour of the remaining plants, and by the great 

 stiuauius given to stooling; nor must it be forgotten that the harrows 

 assist in subjugating the weeds, and in the drier portions of the State 

 assist in conserving the limited supplies of soil moisture by retarding 

 capillary activity and lessening evaporation. In harrowing the crop, 

 the work should be done at right angles to the drills." 



"Feeding down the Crop. — It has already been remarked that, 

 in favourable seasons, the early sown crops are likely to come away 

 very rapidly and make heady, vigorous, rank growth in May and 

 June. Such heady growth is exposed to two dangers: (1) lodging in 

 wet weather; (2) blighting wither from late spring frosts, or by a 

 premature burst of hot weather in spring. 



'* vSuch growth may be arrested by feeding down with sheep. 

 This is a decided advantage on light land, or on land which has, for 

 various reasons, not been consolidated sufficiently, through adequate 

 tillage operations ; but on heavy land it may be a positive dis- 

 advantage to feed down a crop with sheep. One point must not be 

 overlooked in this connection, and that is the time such operations 

 may with safety be performed. Late feeding down is generally 

 decidedly detrimental, and can only be performed with any prospect 

 of success when the spring rains are frequent and copious." 



Metliods of Cultivatio7i. — " The nature of the Australian climate 

 is such as to render thorough tillage a prime factor in successful 

 wheat cropping. . . . More, however, is required than this. No 

 system of cultivation can be permanently effective and adequate, 

 unless it makes provision for the maintenance of the fertility of the 

 soil. . . . The fact that there are wheat lands in this young State 

 which practical farmers and the Press frequently describe as ' worn 

 out,' shows that this aspect is frequently ignored. Methods which 

 lead to the conservation of moisture, but not to the conservation of 

 soil fertility, may be temporarily effective and profitable, but ulti- 

 mately they must be disastrous both to the farmer and to the 

 community. 



' ' AVheat may be grown under three different systems of cropping : 

 (1) continuous cropping* with wheat; (2) wheat after bare fallow; (3) 

 wheat in rotation with other crops." 



Continuous Cropping. — " Continuous cropping with wheat is 

 very general in countries where methods of cultivation are extensive 

 rather than intensive. In the early stages of a new country, lands 

 are cheap, and even free; capital and human labour comparatively 



