THe JOURNAL 



OF 



^lie department of Mgricufture 



or 



VICTORIA 



Vol. XVI. Part 12. lOth December, 1918. 



A WESTERN DISTRICT FARM. 



By E. W. Murphy, Dairy Supervisor. 



The valley, with its lively stream flowing westward, seemed a delight- 

 ful place to the explorer Mitchell and his party when they first came 

 to it, near where the town of Hamilton now stands. Reminiscent of 

 homeland scenes, the stream was called the Grange Burn. 



After an inten^al of eighty years, the place has no doubt a different 

 appearance, yet still there are charming landscapes, but in the main 

 the quality of the pasture has sadly deteriorated, and complaints are 

 often made of stock being unthrifty. 



As the old adage says, " A bad workman quarrels with his tools," 

 and so the stockman blames the pasture. A good stockman will study 

 the soils of his pasture lands and prevent or correct faults, instead of 

 wasting time in useless complaining. It is not true that any fool can 

 farm. Farming must be studied and practised in order to insure 

 success. That success includes the leaving of the soil as good, if not 

 better, than it was found. If otherwise, the holder is only an exploiter. 

 Withholding necessary fertilizer is a very shortsighted policy for the 

 grazier. If land decreases in agricultural value it is a sign that the 

 method of working it is at fault. Very often a comparatively small 

 outlay will reproduce the pristine vigour and quality of growth. Wide 

 areas of these western plains were always weak in phosphate, and 

 liberal applications of phosphatic fertilizer are required to induce a 

 growth superior to their original verdure. 



In every district an example is set by farmers who get better 

 returns from their land than do their neighbours. I have heard some 

 attribute this to luck, but it is due to good management. The majority 

 of those who are barely making a living on the land are too ready to 

 believe that their want of success is due to some unknown fault with 

 the soil, or an unfortunate spell of weather. This certainly involves 

 less energy of body or mind than is required to study out the real 

 causes, and improve the management. 



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