262 " THE FAKMKBS HAKDBUOU. 



ensures deep rooting, and therefore greater drought resistance, is based on 

 a misconception. The roots of a grain sown 2 inches deep will penetrate just 

 as far into the soil as those of one sown 4 inches deep. The principal 

 advantage of sowing fairly deep is to make sure that the grain is well 

 covered and thus protected from the attacks of birds. Any greater depth 

 than 3 inches can only be justified if the soil is in such a condition as will 

 ensure immediate germination and enable the young plants to get above the 

 surface before the top soil has had time to set hard. Certainly to put seed 

 more than 3 inches below the surface is, in most instances, to court failure. 



If the conditions are favourable, from 2 to 2^ inches is deep enough. In 

 the case of a late sowing — towards the end of June — when a quick germina- 

 tion is desired, it will be found that 1% inches is ample, provided the drill is 

 in good working order and the soil in such a condition that most of the 

 grain? will be uniformly covered. 



The condition of the soil, indeed, is perhaps the most important reason 

 for farmers sowing too deep — the soil is lumpy and not in a good state of 

 tilth, and in order to cover the seed in places the drill has to be set to a 

 considerable depth. On a well-cultivated and well-prepared paddock the drill 

 can be set to sow ever so much shallower than on a rough, ill-prepared one. 

 With a well-prepared seed-bed the seed can be placed just where the farmer 

 desires. 



COST AS A FACTOR IN WHEAT PRODUCTION. 



The question of the cost of producing a crop of wheat has always been of 

 supreme importance to the wheat grower, but perhaps never in the history 

 of New South Wales has it been of greater interest than now. Discussion 

 has been frequent and prolonged, the result being the disclosure of greater 

 diversity of opinion than about almost any subject touching farm practice. 

 Individual variations in methods of farm management and work are so 

 great that, while hundreds of farmers can agree about the quantity of seed 

 or manure that should be used per acre, or about the preparation of the land, 

 few can agree as to the actual cost of production. The estimates presented 

 in this article have been prepared from figures furnished by the managers 

 of various experiment farms in the State, and by the inspectors stationed in 

 the wheat belt, who in their turn obtained much valuable information from 

 the leading growers in their respective districts. Even in figures so care- 

 fully collected as these, some variations have been disclosed, but they are 

 not sufficiently large to seriously affect the issue, and it is possible to pre- 

 sent the estimates in this article as approximating the average costs for the 

 wheat belt of the State. 



Wheat for Grain. 



Estimates of the cost of producing wheat for grain (fallow and non-fallow 

 compared) appeared on page 242, but it may be convenient to repeat the 

 figures for fallowed land here. These estimates, be it further remarked, are 

 in respect of operations in the commonly recognised wheat belt of this State. 

 Production on the tablelands, especially in New England, is another matter, 

 and is specially dealt with on page 272. 



The item '" rent " will vary with the value of the land, but for convenience 

 the capital value is assumed to be £fi per aero, but as the wheat will be grown 

 on the best portion of the farm, the rental is charged at Ss. per acre. It 

 should not be understood, however, that the farmer can make nothing out 

 of the land while it is under stubble or after it has been ploughed for the 

 fallow. As pointed out a few pages further on, profitable pickings are avail- 



