516 president's address — section G2. 



South Australia, according to the latest statistics, 90 per cent, of 

 the area under wheat is estimated to be manured. Western 

 Australia comes next with 79 per cent., while Victoria has only 

 62 per cent, of the land under crop receiving manures. In the 

 other States these figures are even lower, and this after their use 

 for nearly a quarter of a century. 



To this must be added the gradual adoption of a more rational 

 system of soil treatment. The practice of fallowing has become 

 more general, especially in those districts where the rotation is 

 confined to production of cereals, followed by grazing. The 

 expansion of this practice is bound to come about as farmers are 

 realising the marked advantage to be derived from it. 

 Then again, with the introduction of labour-saving machinery 

 and implements, great advances have been made while stock- 

 raising has been associated with cereal production with marked 

 success, the result being the estabhshment of a thriving export 

 trade in lambs. So in plant breeding, and in the treatment of 

 diseases of stock, modern science has been playing an important 

 part in the development of our Australian production ; and I 

 simply quote these as examples of the work with which the 

 scientist has been associated during the last quarter of a century. 



Naturally just here the attitude of the farmer towards scientific 

 teaching calls for passing reference, as his attitude in this respect 

 has an important bearing on the development of the industry. 

 The farmer all the world over is conservative in his methods. 

 This is even more the case in older countries, where his tradition 

 has in this particular instance hindered him. In Australia the 

 early farmer was not only conservative, he was not trained and 

 educated as he is now. Moreover, as above mentioned, he was 

 handling virgin soil — large areas of it — and the returns were for 

 long satisfactory, considering the labour expended on it, and he 

 could, when one part of his holding became worked out, go on to 

 another. Hence his indifference to science, and even the expe- 

 riences of other countries. As a rule, too, it must be admitted 

 that many of those who were working in his interests had no 

 practical knowledge of agriculture, and this was a distinct dis- 

 advantage in dealing with a man of this type, as they had very 

 little to commend them to him or to bring them down to his level. 

 It was too often a case of too much land and too little farming ; 

 but by tact and persistence teachers, experts and experimenters 

 have carried their work right on to his farm and have demon- 

 strated to him the fact that Science must go hand in hand with 

 practice. Hence, within the last ten years the attitude of the 

 farmer has materially changed. He has developed into what 

 might be termed " the plastic condition," in which he is more easily 

 affected by the reasonable teachings of modern science. He 

 respects the appUcation of science to his business and appreciates 

 the work of the experimenter and the expert. 



The farmer of to-day is in addition a better business man, 

 and from this point of view he sees how much to his advantage 



