20 



WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



harvester which " strips" the wheat crop and threshes 

 it out immediately the total cost for harvesting being 

 about 6s. 6d. per acre, according to an estimate in the 

 Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales for November, 



1914. The total cost according to the same estimate is 

 about 2s. Id. per bushel. It is because of these cheap 

 methods of production that Australia is able to maintain 

 her position as a producer of wheat. 



The extent of the possible area for wheat cultivation 

 in Australia is shown by the following table taken from 

 the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales for June, 



1915, and is based on the following assumptions : 



(1) That wheat cannot be grown profitably with 

 less than 10 inches of rain during the period 

 of growth. 



(2) That the proportion of land suitable for, or 

 available for wheat production is about one- 

 fourth of the total area over which this 10-inch 

 rainfall is experienced. 



(3) That the average yields per acre for the past 

 10 years will be maintained. 



(4) That only four out of the six States participate 

 in the expansion. 



TABLE V. 



Possible areas (in million acres) and yields (in million bushels) in 

 the four principal wheat producing States of Australia : 



In this table column (2) is taken as 25 per cent, of 

 column (1) on account of waste land and poor soil 

 within the 10-inch isohyet, while column (3) giving the 



