266 - THE farmers' handbook. 



In the Old World great value is attached to farmyard manure, the basis 

 of which is straw. ]t is not yet possible, in this country of high labour costs, 

 to adopt reaping and threshing and the production of farmyard manure for 

 the maintenance of soil fertility. The grazing of sheep on the straw and the 

 ploughing under of the residues, however', is a very fair substitute, and has 

 the advantage, which appeals to all of us, of being applicable at no outlay 

 for labour. 



A very undesirable feature of farming in our wheat districts is its one- 

 crop nature. Such a system tends to deplete the fertility of the land, and to 

 encourage weeds and diseases. Some of these — namely, wild oats among 

 the weeds, and take-all among the diseases — levy very heavy toll upon our 

 crops, and the only practicable method of dealing with them is by rotation. 

 In practically all the wheat districts, wheat is the only saleable crop which 

 can be raised; but oats, barley, Sudan grass, and others can be grown as 

 fodder crops and can be turned to account by means of sheep. By the use, 

 therefore, of sheep, we can apply one of the great principles of good farming — 

 rotation of crops. 



Perhaps the chief reason that more sheep are not kept by many farmers is 

 that the area under crop must then be restricted. Under our conditions any year 

 may be a winning year — that is, the weather conditions may be so favourable 

 that very heavy yields may be obtained from even the worst prepared land. 

 This reason operated to a very great extent in the early development of wheat- 

 growing, and still prevails in many newly-opened districts, but in the 

 settled districts very many capable farmers have realised the value of 

 adopting sound systems of mixed farming, which give sure and satisfactory 

 returns. 



It is very rarely that a crop fails entirely, but it does happen in our worst 

 years, such as 1914 and 1919, that the crop fails for grain. In such years a 

 growth is produced which, by the use of sheep, can be converted into wool 

 and mutton, and made to give a very fair return. 



The number and class of sheep which can be carried upon the farm depend 

 upon the soil, climate, &c. In reaching a decision, other points should be 

 taken into consideration — first, the cash return from the sheep, and second, 

 the indirect return in the shape of heavier crop yields resulting from the 

 greater fertility of the soil that results from grazing with sheep. 



In the Riverina and central west, where the conditions are favourable 

 for the production of wheat, the number of sheep carried on a farm would 

 be the number required to keep the fallows in clean condition, and to enable 

 the stubble to be turned to good account. A fair amount of feed is available 

 from December to June, but natural herbage is generally short during the 

 balance of the year, owing to most of the land being under fallow or in crop. 

 A few acres of oats or barley should be grown to provide feed at this time. 

 Such crops are particularly valuable for topping off the lambs. 



In the northern portion of the western district, and to a greater extent in the 

 northern districts, the climatic conditions are not so favourable for the pro- 

 duction of wheat. The rainfall largely falls during the summer months, and 

 the wheat-growing season is frequently so dry that the growth of the crop is 

 affected. On the other hand, it happens not infrequently that the winter 

 and spring are abnormally wet. and the yield suffers by lodging or by the 

 attacks of rust. 



