228 WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



wheat production. The average yield per acre for the 

 whole of New Zealand for the last decade has been a 

 little over 30 bushels per acre, and on these lands where 

 cultivation is so intense, there is no doubt but that the 

 yield is considerably higher than this average. 



By careful husbandry, the Canterbury Agricultural 

 College farm has yielded an annual average of about 45 

 bushels per acre over the past eleven years, taking into 

 consideration the last two 1916 and 1917 exceptionally 

 bad years. Dr. Hilgendorf's estimate of 2s. 8d. per 

 bushel is thus fairly reliable as far as the College farm 

 is concerned, for farmers frequently stated, until quite 

 recently, (and many affirm it now), that 6 per acre is 

 sufficient to produce a crop of wheat. The position 

 assumed in Estimate I. in regard to the average yield 

 per acre does not appear to meet the facts of the case. 

 It is very unlikely that a farmer will suffer a dead loss 

 once in five years, and consequently the yield per acre 

 is unduly lowered. If it is stated that the average yield 

 per acre is 38 bushels, it means that this is the result 

 over a number of years considering good and bad. The 

 compilation of cost per acre itself is not unreasonable, 

 though, as stated above, an estimate which is compiled 

 by means of considering the absolute cost of each item 

 does not appear to me to be reliable. If it be argued that 

 the items mentioned are lower than contract rates, it must 

 be remembered that the contractor expects to reap a profit 

 from his operations, and that the farmer's profit comes 

 from the return obtained from the crop after expenses 

 have been deducted. Allowing for the fact that 

 additional costs arising from taxation be added to the 

 total given in Estimate I., the cost per bushel given is 

 probably too high when a higher yield per acre is 

 considered. 



Statistics of cost of production in Australia are not 

 irrelevant, and will perhaps throw some light on the 



