THE PRODUCTION OF WHEAT 19 



Argentina too, there are large areas suitable for wheat 

 growing, but the methods of production and the lack 

 of transportation and marketing facilities leave room for 

 vast improvements in these areas. 



Of great interest to New Zealand is wheat pro- 

 duction in Australia. Neither the nature of the soil 

 nor the general climatic conditions offer superior 

 advantage to this country for the growth of wheat. The 

 soil in the wheat districts is not of the rich black type 

 found in Russia and Canada, but of a more light loamy 

 character, while the rainfall in most parts is not only 

 xelatively light, but shows great fluctuations from year 

 to year, thus causing wheat growing to be rather a 

 precarious pursuit. The graph I have drawn for the 

 composite winter rainfall at several stations in Victoria* 

 is sufficiently illustrative on this point. Thus in 1902 

 and in 1907 very low rainfalls were recorded, while again 

 in 1914 only some 2J inches of rain fell in the period 

 May to October. The average winter rainfall for the 

 past 30 years (1884-1914) according to the graph is not 

 quite 10 inches a very low figure for wheat growing, as 

 the period May to October is the full growing period in 

 Australia, the crop being harvested in November and 

 December. But profitable wheat production is the result 

 of a number of miscellaneous factors, and despite the 

 fact that Australian land and rainfall are not con- 

 ducive to high yields, the country is able to maintain her 

 position as a producer, and is indeed becoming of ever- 

 increasing importance. 



To counterbalance the disadvantages which are 

 experienced on account of relatively poor land and 

 low rainfall with their consequent low yield, Australia 

 has an advantage from the point of view of cost of 

 production. The dry nature of the soil renders tillage 

 cheap and easy, and the long spell of dry weather at 

 harvest cheapens harvesting operations enormously. 

 Harvesting is done for the most part by a combined 



*And Victoria is favoured more than any other State by 

 Nature in regard to rainfall. See page 47. 



