594 



Journal of Agriculture. [lo Oct., 1908. 



of wheat. When it is remembered that the cost of the extra amount of 

 labour required for subsoiling is distributed over 4 or 6 years, and that 

 the producing power of the soil is improved thereby, it can be show^n to 

 be economical to practise subsoiling on portion of the land cropped 

 annually. Another important point is that subsoiled land appears to 

 be capable of producing an equivalent amount of wheat with a smaller 

 application of artificial manure. I do not desire to make alarmist state- 

 ments, but I am convinced that any serious departure from the present 

 system of combined sheep and grain farming, now almost generally adopted, 

 must inevitably lead to an increase in the amount of artificial manure 

 required and a corresponding increase in the cost of wheat production. 

 The beneficial effects of crop and stock residues on the northern soils 

 cannot be over estimated, because it is largely upon the capacity of these 

 soils to retain moisture that the success of wheat farming depends. 



Rotative Methods of Cropping. 



In addition to improved methods of handling the soil, a partial solu- 

 tion of the main problem may be found through the introduction of a 

 system of rotative cropping, modified to meet the special climatic condi- 

 tions of the north, and to fit in with the circumstances of the individual 

 farmer. Sheep and wheat farming have become so closely associated in 

 Victoria that it goes without saying that any rotation of crops in the north 

 must be designed to serve the purpose of sheep feeding. With that 

 object in view, crops of rape and peas both for feeding off and 

 ploughing in as a green manure have found a place in the experimental 

 fields. A crop of mixed oats and peas, which will be subsequently cut 

 for hay, occupies the land at the present moment, the same land last year 

 being under wheat. The benefit of such crops as rape and peas is three- 

 fold : besides providing feed for sheep, the soil's store of nitrogen is 

 replenished by the latter crop, while the tap roots of both crops named 

 are of great value in opening up the tenacious clay subsoils, and setting 

 free plant foods previously little drawn upon. The results of these ex- 

 periments will, I am sure, be \vatched with great interest; and when the 

 experimental term of seven years is ended there should be an accumula- 

 tion of useful facts at the service of the wheat grower. 



Improvement of Seed Wheat. 



Improved cultivation methods and mixed cropping have been fairly 

 universal during the past few years, and yet the statistics show that there 

 has been a regular decline in the yield of wheat since the good crop fol- 

 lowing the drought in 1902. It may satisfy some people to say that the 

 seasons have been getting worse since 1903, but I cannot convince myself 

 that such is the real cause; and, moreover, the rainfall records in northern 

 Victoria during the past 4 or 5 years, do not bear out that contention. 



The opportunity of seeing wheat farming in every district in the State 

 has inclined me to the belief that part, at least, of the reason of the low 

 average yield per acre can be traced to the seed itself. I may say that 

 I am a firm believer in the grading of all wheat for seed purposes and 

 use none other than graded seed on the Government Experimental Fields. 

 I attribute a large portion of the success which has attended these fields 

 to the prime sample of grain sown. There is, however, a limit even to 

 the usefulness of graded seed, and beneficial as it may be, it is of only 

 minor assistance if the seed itself does not belong to a prolific yielding 

 family. 



