136 Journal of Agriculture. [8 March, 1907^ 



The details of the ways by which these objects can best be attained vary- 

 in everv district. It is the skilful use of his opportunities that makes the 

 successful farmer. But a number of points are so important that they each 

 require a few woTds. 



1. Irrigation. — The population of Australia is at present too scanty 

 to allow us to do anything more than play at irrigation, because successful 

 irrigation means small holdings and compariati\ely intense culture. All 

 irrigated land should carry the equivalent of one cow to the acre, and to 

 superintend this amount of production — whatever mav be the form it may 

 take — means the utilization of a far greater amount of labour than is at 

 present available in Australia. The area capable of irrigation is so vast 

 that it must always be one of the chief factors in the agricultural develop- 

 ment of Australia. It is estimated that the Murray and its tributaries alone 

 will supply water for 8 million acres of land. In addition, it may be said 

 that in the regions where the rainfall is above 30 inches suiiicient water 

 now runs uselessly into the sea from each square mile to irrigate another 

 40 acres. The success which has already been achieved in different parts 

 of Victoria by using this water to form a small private irrigation scheme 

 indicates the immense possibilities in this direction. The most practical way 

 to promote closer settlement is by establishing irrigation colonies for dairv 

 farming. Forty acres of land under lucerne and maize on the banks of 

 the ^lurray would thus easily keep a family in affluence. 



2. hnprovcment in- Dry Farming Methods. — The best wav to carry out 

 the fallowing, and the right amount of superphosphate to use, are points 

 about which we are obtaining more information from year to year. At the 

 same time, the question of the most suitable variety of wheat and the 

 giowth of green fodder crops for sheep is engaging the attention of all 

 progressive men. Australian wheat is grown with a lower average rainfall^ 

 and at a lower cost per bushel, than that of any other country of the 

 world. At the same time, more importance needs to be attached to the 

 growth of deep-rooted and leguminous plants, and to the rotation of crops. 

 It is here that sheep worked in with the wheat is a financial success- 

 Lucerne, rape, peas, clovers, oats, and barley are tv])es of the crops that 

 wherever possible should be grown along with wheat. They are not to be 

 sold in the .market, but to be fed to sheep and cattle, and the prolit will 

 come from the formation of humus, and the consequent steady increase in 

 the fertility of the land. Lucerne starids unrivalled as a summer crop^ 

 the others are l>rought tO' maturity by the winter rains alone. Then, again, 

 the sheep conduce to clean farming, grazing off the early wheat, and pre- 

 vent the wild oats from seeding. In every wav the crops keep the sheep 

 and the sheep keep the crops. The extension of lucerne and rape into the 

 drier areas, and the introduction of allied plants that can be grown with 

 even less rainfall, are two of our most pressing prol)lems. 



3. Conservation of Fodder. — In all parts of Australia certain months 

 are marked by the luxuriance of the herbage, of which the live stock are 

 unable to consume more than a small fraction. The monsoon rains cause a 

 growth that appears almost incredible in the warmer parts of the continent 

 while the spring growth is often of the same character in the southern 

 States. Here, again, we want labour to make it practicable, but, givers' 

 labour as efficient as that which raises our wheat crop, and the possibilities 

 in the direction of hav and silage are immense. The surplus of a good 

 season might then be carried forward to meet a time of drought. 



