AGRICULTURE. 



109 



inclics apart cacli way^ tlie former method jirct'erahlo. Aftor-eult iva- 

 tion is constant ; as sliowin.o- tlio benefit of frequent sliallow eultiv:iti(.n 

 in our dry climate (a ])lan tliat should be extensively followed), at the 

 Hawkesbury Agricultural College : — 



Maize not cultivated j'ieldcd ... 3.">-22 busliuls per acre. 



)> once ,, ,, ... 38-50 ,, ,, 



,, twice ,, ,, ... 41-37 ,, ,, 



,, three times cultivated yielded 60-41 „ ,, 



>■> four „ „ ,, 61-42 „ „ 



The plant should be left undamaged whilst growing (no tasselling, 

 topping, or suckering). A rainfall of 30 to 35 inches per annum is 

 needful, but irrigation gives good results. Harvesting and husking 

 are done by hand. The stalks are not burned, but are cut up Ijy a 

 roller fitted with steel blades and plouglied in to rot, returning much 

 valuable plant-food to the soil. Pests are numerous both in growing 

 crop and store, weevil, army-worm, and smut being the worst. Cost 

 of production, exclusive of rent and interest on capital, approximately 

 £4 2s. per acre ; average return, £5 2s. 6d. 



Oats. — This cereal is much neglected. Area (1895) for grain, hay, 

 and green fodder, 180,481 acres ; average yield of grain for ten years, 

 20"9 bushels per acre. Chiefly grown for hay ; it should be much more 

 largely grown for grain, as it is the best of all grains for horse-feed. 



Barlei/. — Area, 1894-5, 13,336 acres ; yield, 17"2 bu.shels per acre. 

 A sample of malting- barley, grown in the Riverina district and for- 

 warded to England to test its value for malting purposes, was pro- 

 nounced by Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, Buxton, & Co. " Of first-class 

 quality and equal to the best Chilian." 150 acres are being grown at 

 the Wagga Wagga Government Farm, in order to further test the 

 English market. 



Bye. — 1895, only 1,359 acres sown, yielding 15"2 bushels per acre. 



Millets. — 1,585 acres of various kinds grown in 1895 for grain and 

 green food; grain return, ri"2 bushels per acre. Sorghum is almost 

 entirely grown as green food for cattle, but experience shows that 

 maize is much better, whilst young or stunted sorghum acts dele- 

 teriously upon stock. 



Root Crops. 



Development of the Sugar-heet industry bids fair to put an end to 

 thie necessity for importing sugar (31,245 tons imported in 1891). 

 Roots grown at Hawkesbury College Farm yielded uj) to 15"(31 per 

 cent, sugar, whilst others grown on the northern tableland we7it as 

 high as 24-75. Land is ploughed deep or subsoiled ; seed, soaked in 

 rain-water and urine, to hasten germination, sowni 10 to 20 lb. ])er acre 

 1 inch deep if ground be moist, a little deeper if dry. To obtain roots 

 from Ir^ to 2h lb. in weight (the richest in sugar) careful thinning and 

 after-cultivation are necessary. Care must bo taken in manuring, as 

 freshly-dunged soils tend to decrease quality of the root as a sugar 

 producer. Roots should be stored, at a temperature of alxnit 50^ 

 Fahr., if inconvenient to extract juice at once. Plant (sufficient to 

 cope with the produce of a fairly large district) can, however, be laid 

 down for washing roots, pulping, extracting juice, and evaporating 

 to a condition carriageable in bags, for £150. Approximate cost of 



