462 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Aug., 1912. 



The values of farming lanfl in the wheat areas have an important bearing 

 on the methods of cultivation followed. Throughout the wheat areas, land 

 values have considerably appreciated during the past decade, and this 

 appreciation has been largely due to the increased producti\e power of the 

 soil, brought about by improvements in cultivation, crop rotation, and in 

 the adoption of artificial manures. It may be contended that the present 

 prices represent high-water mark, and that values are not likely to ascend 

 beyond the present limits. This belief, however, would imply that we 

 have reached such a high stage of de\'elopment in wheat growing that 

 further improvements are impossible. It implies that the system of 

 agriculture practised at the present time, which, by the way, is quite 

 normal in a country occupied by a mere handful of people, nfust be a 

 permanent characteristic of a country with an ever expanding population. 

 High though the land \alues may l)e, it is certain that they must ulti- 

 mately continue to rise with the pressure of population, and those who 

 find themselves unable to make satisfactory interest on the enhanced 

 capital values will gradually make way for those who can. 



Let us .now consider the rotations practised under existing economic 

 conditions, and endea\-our to see whether we may reasonably expect im- 

 pro\"ed rotations in the future. A very widely practised rotation in the 

 wheat areas is that of wheat, pasture, barefallow. This practice 

 enables but one crop in three years to be taken off a gi\'en piece of land. 

 One-third of the farm area is devoted to pasture for sheep and lambs, 

 whilst the remainder, for a portion of the year, is under barefallow. 

 Obviously, such a rotation could only be practised in a district where 

 land values are relatively low, and where individual holdings are con- 

 .^iderable. Since but one crop is taken oft" in three years, and the crop 

 is fallowed by a vear of pasture, the system is not exhausting, and with 

 careful working one would expect a succession of heavy crops for many 

 years. The preparatory year of careful barefallow guarantees the suc- 

 cess of the wheat crop, Init whether, under ordinary conditions, the year 

 of pasture will accumulate sufficient organic matter to coA'er losses through 

 fallowing has not been determined. Of course, only a portion of the 

 organic and mineral constituents of the pasture is returned in the animal 

 droppings, and imder ordinary conditions the lambs and the wool are 

 sold off the farm. The important point about this rotation is that it 

 requires a minimum of hibour, and is wel) adapted for a district in 

 which holdings are large, and land is relatively cheap, and the rainfall 

 .scanty. 



It must be noted, however, that with the increasing land values the time 

 must come when, in the more favoured wheat districts, the returns will be 

 insufficient under this system of rotation, to cover expenses, and leave a 

 profitable margin of interest. While land is, say, ^3 to jQio an acre, 

 one 15-bushel crop in three years may yield a fair rate of interest over 

 and aboA-e expenses, but the contrary might be the case if the monetary 

 value of the land doubles. 



A modification of this rotation is largely practised in the Wimmera, 

 and consists of Wheat: Oats (for i)asture) : Pasture: Barefallow. The 

 wheat is sown on well-prepared barefallow, and after the wheat is 

 harvested, oats are disced in the autumn on the stubbles, and utilized for 

 pasture. After oats, the })addock is depastured for sheep and lambs, and the 

 rotation brought to a close by a season of barefallow. Under this scheme of 

 rotation there can be little doubt that the organic content of the soil may 

 be maintained, as two vears of pasture are given for every year of crop. 

 As will be shown later. !iowe\er, the nitrogen content of the soil is not 



