146 1 oil riial of Agriculture. [10 March, 1910- 



G. W atcring Stock. — The water supply was good, nearly all the farms 

 having troughs supplied with ball taps. At the same time, the open dams 

 would be better fenced off from the stock and water laid on by gravita- 

 tion which is possible in most cases. Stock during hot weather generally 

 stand in open dams, treading in the banks and contaminating the water. 

 This can be easily avoided with a little forethought. 



//. Dwelling and Outbuildings. — This section was exceptionally good. 

 Points were lost more from a lack of tidiness and maintenance than from 

 want of buildings. Mr. Urquhart has: an admirable system of having his 

 buildings, drays and waggons painted every three years, a plan which is 

 very rarelv carried out among the farming community of the State. 

 Some of the stables would have been the better for a few more windo'ws, as 

 they must be very dark during the winter months. 



/. Reserve of Fodder. — Mr. Kerr scored the maximum points in this 

 section, having an old stack of lucerne hay of 25 tons and another con- 

 taining about 15 tons. Mr. Burgess was unfortunate in being a new 

 settler. Having only been eighteen months on the Staughton Vale estate, 

 he had to buy all his feed ; but he has a good hay shed in course of 

 erection, and in future he will be able to make adequate provision. 



Silos were conspicuous by their absence. After the experience this 

 district had last year, it is surprising there are not any to be seen 

 on the farms, as a good deal of the surplus feed seen about the head- 

 lands and plantations could be put to profitable use if converted into 

 silage. 



/. Tree Planting. — A great many new plantations are to be seen on 

 the majority of the farms visited. Mr. Burgess has done wonders in 

 this respect with sugar gums. Should they all grow, he will have a 

 bountiful supply of shelter around his homestead and paddocks. Mr. 

 Robertson also has some corner plantations of pines and cypress evidently 

 doing well. 



K. Improvement in the Original Productiveness of the Soil. — Mr. 

 Burgess deserves great credit for the work he has done during the short 

 period he has been at Staughton Vale. He started with a raw block of 

 234 acres. Seeing the farm now with buildings, fencing, fallowing, 

 grulibing, tree planting and 150 acres of standing crop, it is hard to 

 realize that it has all been done within so short a period. It just shows 

 what the right class of man with a little capital behind him can do on a 

 closer settlement block. Mr. Kerr .scored well in this section for the 

 way he has graded and levelled some of his flats for lucerne under irriga- 

 tion. 



T was particularlv struck witli the poor quality of the feed in the 

 grazing paddocks. Thistles, Barley Grass, Wild Mustard, Spear Grass, 

 Crow's Foot, and Cape Weed seemed to comprise the bulk of the herbage. 

 Mr. Robertson was the only competitor who had a paddock of rye grass. 

 It seemed to be doing remarkabK- well, and proves that there is no excuse 

 for not having clean well-grassed paddocks. Farmers are too' apt to keep 

 to the same paddocks for cropping and grazing vear by year, instead of 

 going regularly around the farm with the plough, cultivating some new 

 ground each year, and putting the old grounil down in grass. By this 

 means they not only improve the fertility of the soil, but keep down the 

 useless weeds and rubbish that gradually creep into all the paddocks. 



The lucerne seen on many of the farms clearly shows what a \aluable 

 fodder it is. At Mrs. Scott's, in particular, there is a splendid 30 acre 

 paddock, which for a first season's growth is exceptionally clean. 



