TO June, iqij.' 



\V//cat and its CiiltivaUoii. 



?>2>^ 



Experimental P'ield. The results are highly interesting, and indicate what 

 is likely to take place in districts with a similar rainfall (17 inches). 



Table I. — Showing average returns from Seven Plots continuously under 

 Wheat (1905-7) compared with averages of plots under Wheat after 

 Bare fallow. (Roseworthy College, S.A.). 



1. 1904— 



{a) Average of seven plots (fallowed 1903) 

 (h) Wheat after hire f-.Uow . . 



2. 1905— 



(«) (' v.itinuously cropped plots 

 [b) Wheat after b.re fpllow 



3. 1906— 



(a) Continuously cropped plot ^ 

 (h) Wheat after" hve frJlow 



Rainfall. 



inches 

 1()-71 



19' 



lo-O.- 



Grain 

 per acre. 



bu'^h. lbs. 



•28 30 



9 1.5 



20 3 



3 53 



Ml 8 



Total Produce 

 per acre. 



tons cwts. lbs. 

 2 17 54 

 2 1 i 68 



12 



21 

 33 



* Professor Perkins, in commenting en these plots, .says — " We see here 

 clearly demonstrated the futility of attempting to grow wheat continuously 

 under local conditions. The grain crop fell from over 29 bu.shels per 

 acre to a little over 9 bushels in the second year, and to not quite 4 bushels 

 in the third year. In the second year the yield of plots continuously 

 under wheat was about 1 1 bushels below the a\-erage of the plots that had 

 been treated as bare fallow the 'preceding season ; and in the third year 

 about 12 bushels below. We shall not be blam.ed for having thrown up 

 the experiment." 



n. — \\'heat after Bare Fallow. 



Bare fallowing is the most popular method of preparation for wheat 

 in alL but the most humid portions of the State. According to the Year 

 Book of Victoria, 1910-11, the ratio of bare fallow to the area under 

 wheat in 1900 was 13.88 : 50, i.e, i acre of bare fallow to every 

 4^ acres of wheat. Ten years later the ratio had risen to 24.32 : 43.38. 

 i.e., more than i acre of bare fallow for every 2 acres of wheat. 



The fact that the area under bare fallow in this State annually exceeds 

 1,000,000 acres is a silent testimony to the effectiveness of this mode of 

 cultivation under the conditions prevailing in the wheat areas. Still the 

 fact that there is such a large area of wheat in the drier portions of 

 Victoria still sown on stubble land seems to indicate that the importance 

 of fallowing in a dry climate is not vet fully appreciated. 



Advantages of Bare Fallowing. 



I. Bare Fallowing conserves the Soil Moisture. — The great advantage 

 of liare fallowing in a dry climate is that it enables the cultivator t:) make 

 the utmost use of a limited rainfall. In the drier districts the rainfall 

 during the growing period is not sufficient -to ensure high yields but, by a 

 good system of bare fallowing, a considerable proportion of the rainfall 

 from the previous year is conserved and carried over to augment the supply 

 which falls during the period of growth of the crop. 



Just how much moisture may thus be conserved under a given rainfall 

 depends on the nature of the soil and the effidencv of cultivation. The 



* Fourth Report on the Permanent Exp. Field. Roseworthy College, Bulletin Xo. C5. Dept. of 

 Agric, South Australia. 



