CEREALS 9 



crops appears to encourage pests, and a rotation of crops 

 is recommended. One that is being tested is maize, 

 wheat, beans, linseed. 



Manurial tests are being made, and, in spite of the 

 apparent richness of the soil, an application of dung or 

 compost seems to give greatly increased yields. The 

 addition of phosphatic manure has a wholly beneficial 

 effect on the wheat crop, for it strengthens the straw 

 and renders it less liable to rust. No doubt the trials 

 will be repeated on rust-resistant varieties. 



The environments required for successful commercial 

 production are large, slightly undulating, open spaces at 

 a considerable altitude where implements and machinery 

 can be used to advantage. These are found near Njoro. 

 Already some thousands of acres are producing wheat in 

 that neighbourhood, and the employment of the modern 

 machinery now available makes it possible to produce a 

 crop at a low cost and without the employment of many 

 farm hands. One of the Reports I have read says: 

 " The impetus given by wheat growers in the Njoro 

 district and the probable profits should induce others in 

 the vicinity to take up wheat growing, and it is probable 

 that the whole district between Njoro and Naivasha may 

 in the near future be under this cereal. The vast plains 

 stretching from Machakos to Nairobi, especially con- 

 sidering the flatness of the land and its freedom from 

 timber, offer every facility for growing wheat on a large 

 scale." 



TROPICAL AUSTRALIA. 



Queensland. From publications whkh the Official 

 Secretary to the High Commissioner for Australia has 

 sent me, I find that the 100,000 acres under wheat in 

 Queensland are situated wholly in the temperate zone, 

 and I may add in passing that only about 16 per cent, of 

 the total area under cultivation in that State is situated 

 in the tropics. I would also like to add that at the State 

 Farm, Roma, which is about 200 miles south of Capricorn, 

 Campbell's system of dry soil farming has been tried, and 

 that in a dry season on land so treated about 19 bushels 

 of wheat per acre had been obtained. The manager 



