54 



WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



grower to have ready in autumn large areas in the best 

 state of tilth to receive the seed as soon as weather con- 

 ditions are favourable to sowing. 



Finally, many subsidiary advantages accrue from 

 fallowing. The land is cleaned of weeds, and a consoli- 

 dated seed bed is the more easily made.* 



The following table will sum up effectively what has 

 been said with reference to wheat growing on fallowed 

 and unfallowed land. 



TABLE XIV. 

 Wheat grown on fallowed and unfallowed land in Victoria, 1908. 



6. Harvesting. 



The differential advantages which New Zealand enjoys 

 on account of the fertility of her soil and the salubrity 

 of her climate, are somewhat counteracted by her methods 

 of harvesting. Not that these methods are inefficient; 

 but as the area is not very large the application of very 

 expensive machinery is not practicable, and, moreover, 

 the fear of adverse weather conditions, mainly strong 

 winds during the harvest, renders the use of such 

 machines as the combined harvester, rather a precarious 

 operation; for the wheat must be very ripe for the 

 efficient employment of this machine, and when in this 



*It must be noted that this discussion is not relevant to 

 conditions in many parts of New Zealand where the rainfall is 

 abundant. But where, as is often the case in Canterbury, the 

 months October to January are dry, the question of fallowing 

 is an important consideration. 



