WHEAT c LI.il ki:. 2 15 



Farmers in the southern portions of our wheat belt have ah*eady learned 

 the value of the superphosphate, and its use there may lie said to be almost 

 universal. Little surprise need be entertained that this is so, for the advan- 

 tages are conspicuous. 



In the western portion of the State the use of superphosphate is not yet so 

 general as in southern parts, but experiment and demonstration plots have 

 done much in late yewrs to make the practice more general. The all- 

 important question is, does it pay, and to that the results of the Farmers' 

 Experiment Plots during the past few years in southern and western 

 districts furnish an answer that leaves no room for doubt. 



The need for phosphatic manure in the western and southern portions of 

 the State is more apparent than in the northern and north-western portions. 

 In fact, it appears from the results of continuous experiments, that the 

 further south the greater the need for phosphoric acid for wheat-growing. 

 This may be accounted for in two ways — firstly, soils in the northern and 

 north-western districts are naturally better supplied with phosphoric acid 

 than those in the southern wheat-growing area; and, secondly, the southern 

 districts have been cropped for wheat for many years past, whereas the 

 western and north-western districts have only been opened up for wheat- 

 growing during comparatively recent years. 



This being so, it is to be expected that the application of phosphatic 

 manures should meet with a more generous response in southern and western 

 than in north-western and northern soils. In this respect the results of 

 manurial trials bear out this contention. In the north-west it appears that 

 superphosphate is not so much needed as in the south, where the average 

 difference between manured and unmanured plots is not less than ." bushels 

 per acre. It is these extra 5 bushels per acre which mean to the wheat- 

 farmer the difference between success and failure. 



Quantity of Superphosphate per acre. 



Generally speaking, it may be said that 56 lb. per acre is about the correct 

 quantity of manure to use; on new land 40 lb. will be found to be sufficient. 

 and on land that has been cropped for a number of years the quantity can 

 with advantage be increased to TO or 75 lb. per acre. In dry districts the 

 applications of superphosphate should he light. At Nyngan Experiment 

 Farm 30 lb. has been found sufficient. 



Useful as superphosphate is. it must be borne in mind that in order to 

 obtain the maximum benefits from it. the employment of good cultivation 

 meth"d- is essential. Manuring and good cultivation go hand in hand — one 

 is useless without the other — and the farmer will find that it is better in 

 many cases to till the fertility into the soil than to buy it in bagfuls. In 

 other words, the plough, harrow, and cultivator play quit;- as important parts 

 in the fertility of the soil as artificial manure. 



Liming Wheat Land. 



Little has been done in New South Wales in the way of liming wheat 

 land, but a few isolated experiments have been conducted without anything 

 Tery definite being disclosed, except, perhaps, that farmers should conduct 

 experiments for themselve- if the condition of their land suggests a shortage 

 in the soil of this necessary substance. 



