THe JOUHNAIs 



OP 



T^fie department of Mgncufture 



OF 



VICTORIA. 



OtkLW VI 



MJTANJ 



UAKUS 



Vol. XV. Part 1. lOth January, 1917. 



WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. 



FIELD DAY AT LONQERENONQ AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 

 Magnificent Field Crops. 



{Abridged from the "Horsham Times.") 



There was a good gathering at the Longerenong Agricultural College 

 on Saturday, 25th November, when tlie annual field day was held. A 

 severe thunder storm, accompanied by heavy rain, passed over Horsham 

 on Friday night, and the roads were consequently very heavy in condi- 

 tion. Despite the threatening weather and the almost impassable roads, 

 upwards of sixty farmers and visitors assembled at the entrance to the 

 field plots, where they were welcomed by Mr. A. C Drevermann, prin- 

 cipal of the college. The vice-president of the Horsham Agricultural 

 Society introduced Mr. A. E. V. Richardson, M.A., B.Sc, Agricultural 

 Superintendent of the Department of Agriculture, who took the gather- 

 ing in hand, and conducted them over the field plots. 



Mr. Richardson, in an introductory address, congratulated the farmers 

 on the bright prospect for the approaching harvest. The Wimmera had 

 probably never looked as well as it did at the present time. They had 

 had seasons in which the rainfall was as heavy and as well distributed as 

 the present year, but the crcps would probably yield a higher average 

 than ever before. That was due to the progressively improved methods 

 of cultivation characteristic of the Wimmera. The farmers were alive 

 to the necessity of putting their best work into the cultivation of their 

 wheat crops. The raw materials of the farmers' business were rising 

 rapidly in price. Implements, bags, twine, oils, duplicates, and labour 

 had increased considerably in price during the past three years. The 

 farmer could only meet these increased charges by making his holding 

 more efficient. That he could do, not by growing more acres of wheat, 

 but by growing bigger crops of wheat per acre. The cost of working a 

 16311.— 1 



