WHEAT IMPBOVEMENT IN AUSTRALIA. 



19 



F. WHEATS TO BE GROWN UNDER IRRIGATION. 



In experiments carried out by the Department the following wheats have 

 given the best results when grown under irrigation for hay and green fodder : 



1. Zealand. 



2. Marshall's No. 3. 



3. Florence (late sowing). 



It will be noticed that of the twenty-four separate varieties recommended, 

 no less than eighteen are Farrer wheats, and a nineteenth, Yandilla King, 

 has a Farrer wheat, Yandilla, as one of its parents. 



Another way in which the New South Wales Department encourages the 

 study of wheat-improvement and incidentally the improvement of other 

 crops, is by means of Farmers' Experiment Plots. These were introduced 

 some years ago by Mr. G. Valder (Under Secretary and Director of Agri- 

 culture). As far as wheat is concerned, these include variety trials and 

 manure experiments carried out by the farmers themselves under the super- 

 vision of an officer of the Department. The scheme has worked admirably 

 in encouraging farmers to take an interest in improved methods of culti- 

 vation and in selecting the most suitable varieties of crops, and particularly 

 in bringing them into close touch with the Department. These plots are 

 now under the direction of Mr. Hugh Ross, Chief Inspector of Agriculture. 



No better proof could be afforded of the value of these plots as object- 

 lessons to farmers, and as factors in encouraging improved methods of 

 cultivation, than a comparison of the average bushel yields of these experi- 

 ment plots devoted to wheat with those of farmers working their land under 

 ordinary conditions. 



The following table shows the average annual yield per acre for the State 

 (New South Wales) for the past five years, together with the yields obtained 

 from the farmers' experiment plots: 



It is to be noted that the usual size of these plots is 10 acres, only a few 

 being below this area, and others running up to 25 acres, and that the 

 increased yields are due to improved farming, such as selection of suitable 

 seed, proper manuring, and particularly fallowing, with subsequent culti- 

 vation to conserve moisture. 



The Agricultural Bureau system which has been introduced recently, 

 and which originated in South Australia (see page 26), must also be 

 mentioned as one of the means by which the farmer is encouraged by the 

 Department to improve his working conditions, and one which assists inci- 

 dentally in wheat improvement. Some of the branches of the Bureau have 

 instituted what are known as " Seed-wheat growing competitions, 7 ' which also 

 originated in South Australia. These competitions extend over a number 



