19 Jan., 1916.] Farmers' Field Day, Rutherglen. 23 



requirements of various farm crops — that is, the amount of water 

 required to produce one ton of hay or one bushel of wheat — was being 

 tested in a series of pot tests, as well as the methods by which the soil 

 moisture could be conserved and economized. 



Mr. Richardson further explained that from the records alreadj^ 

 taken, one inch of rain, if it could be all utilized by the crop and none lost 

 ill evaporation from the soil, would produce 2.5 bushels of wheat, 3.6 

 bushels of barley, 1.8 bushel of oats, and 2.6 bushels of peas. It would 

 be seen from these figures the immense improvement possible in 

 Victorian agriculture. The great part of the wheat area of Victoria has 

 a rainfall of 10 inches in the growing period of wheat. By careful 

 fallowing we find, by actual field tests, that in normal seasons an extra 

 3 or 4 inches of rain can be conserved from the preceding year. This 

 brings the average effective rainfall up to 13-14 inches. Under the best 

 conditions of farming, however, about one-third of the soil moisture is 

 lost in evaporation during the growing period; consequently, this leaves 

 9 inches of water to be actually used by the crop. This is sufficient for 

 an average yield of 22|^ bushels of wheat per acre. The average yield 

 of Victoria is less than half this, however, from which it may be inferred 

 that much improvement can be made in our average farm practice before 

 we approach the limit of our soil resources. Although the tests were 

 only commenced this year, it is already evident that the application of 

 soluble phosphates, especially in moderately heavy dressings, makes the 

 plant more economical in its use of Avater, and this probably explains 

 why such a small dressing of super, as 56 lbs. has such an extraordinary 

 effect in raising our wheat yield. The superphosphate most probably 

 has the effect of increasing the concentration of the soil solution to sucli 

 an extent that the plant does not need to take in such large quantities 

 of soil water to get the necessary phosphate for building up its tissue. 



Pot Culture Experiments. 



In a ncAvly-erected pot culture house at the main buildings 150 pots 

 were devoted to the determination of the water requirements of all our 

 farm croj)s, weeds, and native grasses, and how far the water supply 

 of the soil can be economized by the use of varying types of fertilizers 

 and the methods of cultivation. 



Permanent Rotation Plots. 



These plots conveyed their lessons very clearly, even to the lay mind. 

 One outstanding feature was the superiority of wheat croi)s grown in 

 rotation, with forages fed off, over wheat growi after cereals, or even 

 bare fallow. This should be a source of satisfaction to farmers in this 

 district, in that it enables the non-i)roductive fallow to be disjiensed Avith, 

 and at tlie same time improving the yields of their regular crojis. Tlie 

 practice on the farm was to sow down crops like lye and vetclies, rape, 

 peas, and barley, feed them down closely well into the spring, after 

 which the land is Avorked up as a fallow for sowing Avheat the following 

 \\ inter. 



FoRACK Crops. 



These crops not only assisted in im])roving the fertility of the soil, 

 but also shoAved a considerable ])rofit due to their grazing value. 



