248 THE farmers' handbook. 



depasturing of live stock on the farm, viz. : (1) the growth of fodder crops like 

 <>ats or barley, and (2) the leaving of the paddocks "out" at intervals. 

 The value of these crops as soil renovators and for fodder purposes is 

 already well known to farmers, and on every f*rui of 600 acres we should 

 find annually at least 40 to 50 acres under one of them. Farmers have long 

 since proved, too, the excellent feeding value of the natural herbage, especially 

 of the trefoils, that springs up on large areas of our cultivated lands when 

 " left out." Such herbage deserves to be esteemed almost as much for its 

 fertilising properties when ploughed under with the excrement of the 

 animals that have been depastured on it, as for its value as feed. 



In the way of ordinary crops, the resources of a farmer who desires to 

 change the crop on an area that is beginning to go off are greater than might 

 be supposed. More oats could certainly be grown with profit in this State, 

 and the same may be said of barley, and, though it must be admitted that 

 neither of those crops quite fulfil what constitutes a rotation (inasmuch 

 as they are " white " or grain crops), they might well be made to serve th-> 

 purpose of the farmer eve<y few years. Both have been subjected to a good 

 deal of improvement by crossbreeding and selection in thedast few years, 

 and are commercially more comparable with wheat than they once were. 



It should he taken for granted that where root crops can be grown to 

 advantage they should be resorted to occasionally, and their value should 

 not be overlooked. There remains one. other crop that might be mentioned 

 — lucerne. It certainly cannot be grown on an extensive scale in most 

 wheat districts ; but its value on any farm, either for the accumulation of a 

 reserve of high-class fodder, or for the purposes of grazing, and its effect on 

 the fertility of the soil, are so great that it should have a place on every farm. 



What has been said with regard to rotation should be regarded by larmers 

 as suggestive of their resources in the way of change. Certain it is that 

 continuous wheat-growing is disastrous in the long run, and it is for the 

 careful agriculturist to realise that the demands made upon his soil by wheat 

 are to a great extent minimised by fallowing. What other rotation is 

 suitable to his district on the lines indicated in the foregoing, he alone can 

 decide 



Wild Oats. 



Wild oats are certainly very common in our wheat areas, but their 

 suppression is largely a matter of cultivation and is not by any means so 

 difficult as would appear. Weeds we shall probably always have in our 

 tields, as long as our fine wheat lands retain their fertility, and the wild 

 oat will probably always find its place ; but a consideration of its character- 

 istics will show the proper methods of keeping it within bounds and utilising 

 the undoubtedly good forage which it provides when it cannot lie entirely 

 suppressed. The principle is to induce the oat seeds to germinate, and 

 . then destroy the plants before they seed. 



But having resolved upon the necessary steps to be taken in the campaign 

 against the pest, we find that their practical application is not such a simple 

 matter. It means work, and in cases where the pest is bail it may mean 

 the sacrifice of at least one crop on land under continuous cultivation. 

 When we recollect, however, that the lost crop would have been a dirty one, 

 that the ground is greatly improved by the spell, and that perhaps a valuable 

 supply of winter feed is obtained for stock, we cannot consider the price of 

 redemption too high. Moreover, the steps recommended by the Departmental 

 officers will be found less costly, and spread over a shorter period, than the 

 efforts which many have put forth in their vigorous attacks upon the intruder 



