26 WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



cultivated ready for wheat, which should be sown before 

 winter sets in, so that the young plant may come up and 

 establish itself before the cold frosts commence. The 

 wheat spends the winter in root development, and does 

 not make much show above the ground until the spring. 

 After harvesting the crop in the autumn the farmer 

 again ploughs the land, after which it is left until the 

 spring. It is ploughed again then, and between this 

 ploughing and the sowing of a root crop, it undergoes 

 a thorough cleaning. 



Such, then, is the complete rotation, and it is obvious 

 that it is adapted only to countries where intensive 

 methods of cultivation are in operation. Among its 

 numerous advantages we may note that the system 

 provides excellent conditions for growing both wheat 

 and barley or oats in districts where the rainfall is 

 inclined to be deficient. Not only is an abundant supply 

 of nitrogen provided for these crops through the medium 

 of the cake purchased for the stock, but the solidification 

 of the deeper layers of the soil ensures the retention 

 of the winter's rain for the use of the crop during the 

 dry summer. Then, again, the residue of the phosphates 

 and potash applied to the root crop and left in the soil 

 when that crop is removed, provides for the mineral 

 requirements of the cereal crop. Furthermore, rotation 

 husbandry also distributes the labour of the farm over 

 the year. 



A modified form of this type of rotation is easily 

 applicable to New Zealand conditions, but would require 

 more labour than is obtainable at present. The home 

 of this rotation system is in England, and some of the 

 thickly populated countries of the Continent, and with 

 what results can readily be comprehended by a glance 

 at the table of yields for the different countries; for 

 several of these countries produce over thirty bushels 

 per acre. If New Zealand can produce a yield of over 

 thirty bushels per acre on a system bordering between 

 intensive and extensive cultivation, how much greater 

 would be her yield if the above rotation were adopted? 



(&) Climate. Wheat has a very wide climatic range, 



