244 THE FARMERS HANDBOOK. 



Allowing an average yield of 12 bushels per acre for non-fallowed land 

 (an estimate really in excess of the actual) the gross proceeds at 5s. per 

 bushel would be £3 per acre. If the cost of production, with rent, averages 

 £2 5s. lOd. per acre, as shown above, the actual profit is 14s. 2d. per acre. 



On the other hand, if the land be fallowed, the cost will work out thus: — 



Cost per acre of Wheat-growing on Fallowed Land; estimated yield, 2»0 



bushels. 



Ploughing. once 

 Harrowing three times .. 

 Disc-cultivating once 

 Spring-tooth cultivating once 



Drilling 



Seed, 45 lb. at 7s. 6d. per bushel 

 Superphosphate, * cwt. at 7s. . 

 Pickling seed 

 Harvesting with header . . 

 Kent, two years at Ss. per acre . 

 Bags, seven at lOd. each . . 

 Cartage, at 4d. per bushel 



£3 7 9 



The return in this case, on the average of the Farmers' Experiment Plots, 

 would be 20 bushels, which, at 5s. per bushel, represents £5, showing a 

 profit at the rate of £1 12s. 3d. per acre over the two years, or at the rate 

 of 16s. Id. per acre per annum, compared with the 14s: 2d. per acre per 

 annum derived from the non-fallow crop. 



The advantage attaching to fallowing as a farm method is obvious. 



In addition, in the non-fallow case there is always a possibility of almost 

 total failure to be reckoned with, while in the case of the fallowed crop there 

 is always a reasonable certainty of success. 



It is evident that, apart from any other advantages gained by fallowing, 

 such as the maintenance of fertility, the checking of wild oats, &c, a rigid 

 system of fallowing should commend itself on a simple commercial basis to 

 every wheat-farmer in the southern or western portion of the State. 



Manuring the Wheat Crop. 



Like all other plants, wheat requires the presence in the soil of a number 

 of elements which it assimilates as plant-food, and without any one of which 

 the crop must be a failure in a greater or less degree. Most of these 

 elements are present in the soil in sufficient quantities, but the supply of 

 the three most essential — phosphoric acid, nitrogen, and potash — ie often too 

 small for the plant's needs; more often still one or all is present in abun- 

 dance, but not in a form in which the plant can make use of it. Hence it 

 is that in many countries in which wheat is extensively grown it is necessary 

 to use fertilisers that will supply all three. 



Fortunately, in Australia, the supply of nitrogen and potash in the soil 

 appears to be equal to requirements, and it is only necessary to add phos- 

 phoric acid, which, luckily for the farmer, is the cheapest of the three. The 

 addition is made in the form of superphosphate, because it dissolves readily 

 in the soil moisture, and the phosphoric acid becomes available for the plant 

 in a very short space of time. 



