8 Journal of Af/ricultiire, Victoria. [10 Jan., 1917. 



WYUNA STATE FARM. 



Experimental Work. 

 NEW VARIETIES OF WHEAT. 



IMPEOVEMENT OF STOCK. 



[Ahridrji'-d from the. Ki/abraiii "Free Press.") 



A very interesting and profitable day may be spent inspecting the 

 numerous experimental plots at the Wyuna State i'arm. The bulk of 

 the 1916 plots front the Shepparton-Echuca main road. The attention 

 of the traveller along this highway cannot fail to be arrested by tbt 

 unusual sight of a series of sixty plots, the treatment of which is indicated 

 by large whit© labels suspended from the fences. At this time of the 

 year tlie wheats are approaching maturity, and the colour and charac- 

 teristics of each variety make themselves apparent. The effect is most 

 pleasing, plots of red, bronze, and white chaffed wheats, bearded and 

 bald, erect and drooping, tall and dwarf tyjjes succeeding one another 

 in apparently endless array. 



Apart, however, from the aesthetic side of the picture, it is obvious 

 even to the layman that the practical value of such trials must be con- 

 siderable, for here are gathered together for trial under Goulburn Valley 

 conditions the best yielding varieties of wheat grown in the State, and 

 some of the new crossbred wheats prcduced by the Department at the 

 various State farms. 



In addition to these variety trials, there are numerous Permanent 

 Fertilizer tests. Rate of Seeding, and Time of Sowing, and Seed Selection 

 tests, all of which are designed to throw light on practical problems affect- 

 ing the everyday practice of the farmer. No wonder that each Sunday 

 groups of interested farmers from the surrounding districts may be seen 

 threading their way through the plots, observing the behaviour of the 

 numerous varieties, and watching the results of the cultural and fertilizer 

 tests. Such a sight may be witnessed on any Sunday as harvest ap- 

 proaches. 



Steady improvement has been effected in the live stock on the farm 

 during the past three years, each annual inspection clearly revealing the 

 progress made. Special attention has been paid to the development of 

 the poultry, and upwards of 2,000 birds are now comfortably housed in 

 up-to-date buildings. 



The financial aspect of the farm is also thoroughly satisfactory, 

 although we do not consider that any experimental farm should be ex- 

 pected to pay its way. The many-sided activities and the amount of ex- 

 perimental work carried out preclude any experimental farm being con- 

 ducted at a profit, In the cereal field alone, for example, over sixty 

 separate plots have been sown with the drill. Each plot requires different 

 treatment and different seed. The drill must be scrupulously cleaned 

 after sowing each plot. Each of the sixty plots must be separately har- 

 vested and weighed. In the bulk fields ten different kinds of seed wheat 



