BY C. ROLLESTON, ESQ. 241 



(let it be observed that this was a period of comparatively high 

 prices, owing to the effects of the gold discovery) was 11s. 4d. 

 per bushel. The result is, that the farmer, during these years, 

 reaped a return of 8 10s. per acre as the reward of his toil. 

 But his seed wheat has to come out of this, at the rate of If 

 bushels per acre, and this reduces his profits by 17s., leaving 

 him only 7 13s. per acre. 



This, however, is the result of five years of higher prices than 

 have ruled since. Let us see then how much the farmer has 

 made by wheat-growing on the average of the last five years 

 1859 to 1863. 



We have seen that the average yield was only 11*3 bushels 

 per acre, whilst the average price was 7s. 3d. per bushel. Now 

 suppose, after deducting wheat for seed, the farmer had a clear 

 10 bushels of wheat for sale to the acre, the average remuneration 

 for his expenditure of time and labour would amount to 3 12s. 

 6d. per acre. If now we take the mean of the two quinquennial 

 periods, we get the result of 5 12s. 9d. per acre as the cash 

 return to the farmer. But this is a more favourable view than it 

 would be wise for him to make the basis of his calculations ; 

 because, on turning back to earlier statistics, I find that during 

 the four years previous to the decade I am speaking of, namely, 

 from '49 to '53, the average price of wheat was barely 6s. per 

 bushel. 



The South Australian farmer is content to get his 3s. 6d. per 

 bushel on the ground, and his average produce may be stated at 

 about 12 bushels to the acre, that is about 42s. per acre, whilst 

 our average return per acre is more than double. And yet what 

 are the facts ? Why, that the cultivation of wheat was in 1862 

 at the rate af 2| acres to each person in South Australia, whilst 

 in New South Wales there was not half an acre. If this is so, 

 the South Australian farmer may calculate on a remunerative 

 market for his breadstuffs in Sydney for many years to come, if 

 we do not bestir ourselves. We can also readily understand how 

 it is that we received from that colony in 1863 over 400,000 

 bushels of wheat and over 12,000 tons of flour of the aggregate 

 value of 270,717. 



In disparagement of the results arrived at in this paper, 



