234 



THE FARMERS HANDBOOK. 



The accompanying table, prepared from Mr. Watson's own records, shows 

 the cropping on'the farm year by year, the rainfall, and the returns from 

 the fallow and non-fallow areas: — 



Area cropped at " Woodbine," 1903 to 1920, showing wheat sown on 

 fallow and stubble separately. 



* 50 acres destroyed owing- to excessive rains, 

 t 4n acres failed owing to drought. 

 X SO acres failid owing to drought. 



In compiling these figures the areas that failed have been included in the 

 averages. In favourable seasons the hay was chiefly cut from the boundaries 

 of crops, but in dry years it was taken off the fallow. Oats were mostly 

 grown on stubble. 



It will be interesting to present another comparison: — 



Average yield per acre on/a/low ... ... ... 17 bushels 51 lb. 



stubble. 11 ,, 44 ,. 



Increase of fallow land over stubble ... ... 52'1 per cent. 



The consistent excess of the "fallow" yield over the "stubble" yield is 

 most interesting. The year 1906, for instance, must have been a most 

 instructive one to the farmer himself. The 70 acres of fallow averaged 22 

 bushels, while the 180 acres on stubble land only gave 12 bushels. Again, 

 in the bad years of 1914 and 1919, the fallow land amply paid the cost of 

 production with 8£ bushels and 10 bushels respectively, whereas the stubble 

 land only gave 2 bushels and 3 bushels respectively. In 1919 practically 

 every non-fallow crop in the district failed. Even in a wet season like 1920, 

 when the stubble land had a rainfall of li inches during the growth of the 

 crop, the fallow land still yielded over 70 per cent. more, although in the 



