54 WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 
grower to have ready in autumn large areas in the best 
state of tilth to receive the seed as soon as weather con- 
ditions are favourable to sowing. 
Finally, many subsidiary advantages accrue from 
fallowing. The land is cleaned of weeds, and a consoli- 
dated seed bed is the more easily made.* 
The following table will sum up effectively what has 
been said with reference to wheat growing on fallowed 
and unfallowed land. 
TABLE XIV. 
Wheat grown on fallowed and unfallowed land in Victoria, 1908. 
Fallowed Land Non-Fallowed Land 
A 
area | PERE | ares | Sane? 
Acres Bushels Acres Bushels 
Wimmera ... sae «| 69,884 11.82 27,520 5.75 
Mallee ss we «| 81,963 5.75 20,908 2.62 
Northern... a «| 41,110 9.50 28,946 4.06 
Western wae site w| 4,821 17.93 5,993 13.47 
147,728 | 10.07 83,367 4.93 
6. Harvesting. 
The differential advantages which New Zealand enjoys 
on account of the fertility of her soil and the salubrity 
of her climate, are somewhat counteracted by her methods 
of harvesting. Not that these methods are inefficient; 
but as the area is not very large the application of very 
expensive machinery is not practicable, and, moreover, 
the fear of adverse weather conditions, mainly strong 
winds during the harvest, renders the use of such 
machines as the combined harvester, rather a precarious 
operation; for the wheat must be very ripe for the 
efficient employment of this machine, and when in this 
*It must be noted that this discussion is not relevant to 
conditions in many parts of New Zealand where the rainfall is 
abundant. But where, as is often the case in Canterbury, the 
months Oetober to January are dry, the question of fallowing 
is an important consideration. 
