\\ 1 1 DAT CULTURE. 2155 



stubble land are included areas thai failed in L919 and that, being sown again 

 in 1920, had the advantage of a sorl of accidental fallow. Only in one year 



L916) did the fallow show to disadvantage, and then the growth waa 30 

 heavy that when 13 inches of rain fell in the four months, September to 

 December, the crop lodged and only portion could be harvested, whereas on 

 the unfallowed land the crop was lighter and could all be saved. It was an 

 experience shared by a good many farmers thai year. 



Can it be wondered that the Departmenl should quote such a case with 

 approval? The separate record of the returns from fallow and non-fallow on 

 a private farm i- perhaps unique, and combined with the presenl prosperous 

 condition of the farm itself it affords most practical an 1 valuable evidence 

 of the soundness of the methods which for years all officers have urged upon 

 the fanners of this State, and which we mus1 continue to insist upon as 

 ssential to ultimate siu'ces>. 



Having said so much by way of commending fallowing to farmers, we 

 may turn to the discussion of some of the practical issues that arise in 

 connection with it. 



. When to Commence Fallowing. 



As the essence of fallowing is the storage in the soil of moisture precipi- 

 tated before the seed is sown, so that it may supplement that which falls 

 during the growth of the plant, the time of the year at which the plough 

 should be put in must be governed largely by the incidence of the rainfall. 



In southern portions of the wheat belt the greater part of the year's rain 

 falls in the winter, and operations must be directed at carrying the rainfall 

 of one winter through the following summer in order that it may be available 

 in the soil in the autumn. 



In the western districts the summer rainfall is greater than in the 

 southern districts, and therefore fallowing might be done a little later; 

 but though the average summer rainfall is higher, it cannot he relied upon 

 in any particular year, and the safe practice for the farmer in that portion 

 of the State, therefore, is to commence fallowing as soon as possible after 

 sowing. The farmer who follows that practice will almost always he able 

 to complete the full area he has planned to fallow, while the farmer who 

 delays commencement of operations frequently finds that the setting in of 

 dry conditions in the spring renders it impossible for him to fallow a con- 

 siderable portion of his area. 



A modification of fallowing is allowable in northern districts where 

 the rainfall is much more definitely a summer one, and where ploughing 

 immediately after harvest will usually conserve much of the rain 

 that falls in January, February, and March, and that otherwise evaporates 

 I efore seeding time arrives. Farmers in the north-west can therefore 

 meet their conditions by ploughing half the following year's wheat 

 area in the spring, and the other half immediately after harvest. This 

 system would enable a man with, say, 300 acres of wheat land to sow 200 

 acres every year, half of which would receive a full fallow as preparation, 

 and the other half a short, or summer fallow. 



Ploughing should take place when the soil is neither too wet nor too dry — 

 a condition that generally obtains in the winter months, sufficient moisture 

 being then usually present to make :iie ^..i] crumbly, so that it will not turn 

 over in heavy dry clods. If the soil is too wet ploughing will destroy its 

 physical condition, and it will dry out in hard lumps, from which it will 

 be very difficult to get it back into good free condition. 



