lo Mar., 1911-] Northern Grain Experimental Fields. 143 



should be also taken into consideration. The time has arrived 

 ■^vhen more attention will ha\e to be devoted to the milling 

 qualities of the wheats grown in Victoria, and I have urged the 

 -necessity of securing a milling plant for the purpose of testing all wheats 

 grown on the experimental plots. Approximately, 50 bushels of wheat 

 are required to make 1 ton of flour representing 68 per cent, flour, 7.5 per 

 ■cent, pollard, 21.2 per cent, bran, and 3.3 per cent, waste. 



It is a great disadvantage to wheat farmers that there are 

 no facilities for determining the milling qualities of the different 

 varieties of wheat. This is to be remedied to a certain extent 

 by the installation of a milling plant at the Dookie Agricul- 

 tural College under the expert superintendence of the Principal, 

 Mr. Hugh Pye. The advantages of knowing the milling properties of 

 •the various varieties may readily be understood if one considers an every- 

 day case of two adjoining wheat-farmers, one growing Federation and the 

 •other Dart's Imperial. With 200 lbs. of flour obtained from Federation 

 wheat it is estimated that 293 lbs. of bread are produced, whilst in the 

 case of Dart's Imperial 285 lbs. only are produced from the same quantity 

 of flour. Under the conditions which at present govern the sale of 

 Avheat, the second man generally receives the same price per bushel as 

 the first man, instead of about 3d. per bushel less — if wheat were 

 paid for on a gluten content basis. To illustrate the position more clearly, 

 suppose both the wheats under review yielded the same number of bushels 

 per acre (say 30 bu.shels). This would mean an additional profit of 7s. 6d. 

 per acre to the farmer growing Federation; but besides there is the 

 'increased yield to be considered; for instance, during the season 1908-9 

 in 26 wheat-fields throughout the State, Federation gave an average yield of 

 18.3 bushels per acre as again.st 14.9 bushels for Dart's Imperial. Add 

 this yield to the profit already stated above and it gives to the farmer 

 jj^rowing Federation wheat an increase of over 19s. per acre (reckoning 

 wheat at 3s. 6d. per bushel), a very important consideration to the large 

 ■wheat-grower with thousands of acres under cultivation. 



At present, the wheat industry is run on the same unsatisfactory basis 

 .that existed throughout Victoria in regard to the dairying industry before 

 ■ the introduction of the Babcock tester some years ago. The dairyman's 

 •■object was to breed a class of dairy cow yielding large quantities 



• of milk irrespective of its quality. To-day, the wheat-grower's object 



• is to grow a variety of wheat which will return him the greatest number 

 of bushels irrespective of its gluten value. A great deal of the trouble 

 lies in the fact that most of our wheat is exported whole instead of being 



.converted into flour locally and then exjjorted. Under the present system, 

 also, the by-products, such as bran, 21.2 per cent, of the whole, and 

 I)ollard 7.5 per cent., are sold in other countries competing against us in 

 -the dairying industry, such as Denmark, where they can be purchased at 

 •cheaper rates than in Victoria. These countries are thereby assisted to 

 comjiete against Victorian producers and at the same time our soil fer- 

 tility is impoverished. If the wheat were ground into flour In Victoria 

 i,the whole of the wheat-liran, which contains a large percentage of phos- 

 phates, could be profitably fed to our dairy herds at a reduced cost. This 

 would assist to maintain the .soil fertility and at the same time be a great 

 boon to all cias.sfs of dairymen and stock-breeilers. Cheap pollard by 

 .this means would al.so mean a large increase in the raising and fattening 

 •of pigs. It has bfcn estimated that the t't-rtiti/iiig value of bran and 



