10 March, 1917.] Teachers' Farm School. 131 



The arrangements for accommodating the teachers were simple, yet 

 effective — one of tlie large grain sheds being converted into four dormi- 

 tories, with improvised lavatory and shower-baths adjacent. The cater- 

 ing left little to be desired, and that the teachers bore the cost of this 

 themselves is ample evidence of their earnestness to profit by the course 

 of instruction. 



SYNOPSIS OF THE LECTURES. 

 Agriculture. 



1. Soil Problems and Cultivation Methods. 



The lectures on this subject embraced the more important facts con- 

 cerning the physics, chemistry, and biology of the soil and their prac- 

 tical application. Such things as pore space, water-holding ca])acity, 

 conservation of soil moisture, plant food and its absorption and elabora- 

 tion by the plant, analyses of soils and their signficance, and the factors 

 affecting soil fertility. 



The above were all referred to Victorian conditions and the exact 

 purposes of our cropping .practices, such as bare fallowing, green manur- 

 ing, crop rotation, top dressing pastures and the application of ferti- 

 lizers and amendments were explained. 



2. Wheat and its Cultivation. 

 The lecturer dealt with such problems as the world's wheat industry, 

 its future, the relation of production in Australia to the world's out- 

 put, marketing of wheat, prices, the wheat belt of Australia, methods 

 of cultivation, preiparation of the seed bed, varieties to sow, seeding, 

 manuring, pickling, haymaking, harvesting, cost of production, and the 

 essential factors for success in wheat growing. 



3. Forage Crops. 

 The range of forages available to farmers, fodders for milking and 

 fattening ; maize, millets, sorghums, cereals, legumes, and roots were 

 also discussed; the rotation and succession of forages, methods of culti- 

 vation, residual effects on soils, and the conservation of forages. 



4. Irrigation Methods. 

 The lecturer outlined the irrigation practices of India, Egypt, 

 United States, and the East, and the chief irrigation systems of the 

 world. With the aid of the lantern, the extent of irrigated agri- 

 culture and its relationship to general agriculture were illustrated. 

 Turning to Australia, the water resources of the State, the irrigation 

 settlements, and the special conditions appertaining to them were dis- 

 cussed. The relation of soil to water, the duty of water, preparation 

 of land for irrigation, grading methods, drainage, with special reference 

 to Mildura, Renmark, Rochester, Bacchus Marsh, and Werribee, as 

 well as Yanco, in New South Wales, received attention. 



5. Cereal Breeding. 

 A particularly fine lecture, in which the principles underlying the 

 breeding and selection of cereals were dealt with. The following were 

 discussed, and a demonstration on cross-breeding was given: — Differ- 

 ences between animal and plant breeding, continuous and discontinuous 



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