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VICTORIA. 



Vol. XVII. Part 4. 10th April, 1919 



GOROKE CROP AND FALLOW COMPETITION. IIMS. 



Report by the Judge, Mr. H. A. Mullett, B. Ag.Sc, 

 Science Field Officer. 



General Impressions. 



The Goroke di.sti'ict is decidedly out of the ordiuaiy as regards soil 

 types and rainfall, and in its agriculture may be said to be still iu the 

 pioneering stage. 



The efforts of the Society to promote interest in and. investigation 

 into local agricultural problems, such as wheat-growing, are, therefore, 

 worthy of the whoh'-hearted support, not only of the farmers of the 

 district, but also of those interested in the large tracts of similar country- 

 in the west of Victoria. 



To achieve the best results, it is necessary for the investigations to bo 

 continued from year to year, and for the competitors to look further 

 ahead than the prize ; the mere pot-hunting spirit cannot be too strongly 

 deprecated. 



The success of the competition depends largely on the interest and 

 co-operation of the competitors. Just to that degree in whicli they 

 preserve an open mind, keep accurate records of the various farming 

 oi^erations, and enter the com])etition, not so much to win a prize as to 

 test a particular style of farming, so will they derive benefit. 



The scattered nature of the exhibits, the variable soil types, and the 

 failure of some of the com]ietitors who exhibited fallow last year to show 

 the crop grown on that fallow, are points which have limited the value 

 of comparisons of methods and results. The number of cases of a 

 particular sort Avas thus too limited to enable accurate generalizations 

 to be made. 



The difficulties which beset this class of work in a district such as 

 Goroke, and the leasons Avhy actual experimental tests must be made the 



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