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DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



easily realize that the carriage of this stuff over 13,000 miles of sea will 

 add a tremendous value to that or from the farmer. After careful calcula- 

 tion I have found out that from the difference between the London prices 

 and the farmer's prices, after giving the farmer all the assistance we can, 

 notwithstanding the fact, he only gets four-fifths in cash of the amount of 

 what his wheat sells for in London. If we produce butter, when that is 

 sent to London we only lose 7 percent on the value of the butter. If we 

 produce wool — last year 800 million pounds of wool was produced — sending 

 it to London, we only lose about 6 percent of its value; and mutton beef, 

 which is produced in enormous quantities, is sent to London, its only adds 

 12 percent to its value to send it there. Mutton production is a mere by- 

 product of the mutton industry, as it is of so little value to us in Australia. 

 That, however, is a very good thing for the consumer. 



I can go into any retail butcher shop in Sydney and buy a quarter of 

 mutton for 50 cents or less. It is a matter of absolute impossibility to sell 

 all the sheep and cattle in Australia, although the quantities are sent away. 

 The result is that we have every year a large number of livestock getting 

 old, so that in order to make use of them, we boil them down into tallow, 

 and send the tallow to London. I only point out these facts to show how 

 disabled we are on account of marketing. I realize, however, that when you 

 people farm your land so closely that you cannot produce enough beef for 

 your use, we can sell you some. 



In regard to dry-farming, it is practically the same in Australia as in 

 the United States and Canada; the only difference being that every dry- 

 farmer keeps stock as well as farms. He keeps a certain number of sheep 

 and other livestock, so that he hasn't all the eggs in one basket. The Gov- 

 ernment has assisted the farmer to this extent. It estimates how much a 

 farmer should have, say 300 acres of wheat on a 16-inch rainfall. He is 

 not limited, however, to 300 acres, but given 900 acres he follows the plan 

 of rotation of crops — wheat on one-third of the land one year, sheep next 

 year and fallow the next year. That rotation we have found in Australia 

 is the best from every point of view. This rotation would possibly not be 

 so valuable to you here in this country, as you could grow other crops more 

 valuable than sheep. The government recognizes this fact by giving the 

 dry-farmer three times as much land as is considered necessary to live on. 



We have a different way of taking off our wheat crops in Australia. 

 We use almost exclusively the stripper harvester. Instead of the reel and 

 cutter on the ordinary binder, this harvester has a hood which is placed 

 over the wheat. In this hood are a set of fans and a cylinder. The cylinder 

 beats the grain out of the heads of wheat and the fans cause a suction 

 which carries the wheat on to another part of the machine, where it is 

 thoroughly cleaned or threshed. This leaves practically everything on the 

 field. The result of this method of taking off the grain has been that it 

 puts the wheat on the market quickly after harvest and we. can get better 

 prices in London. Another valuable feature of using this plan is that it 

 has practically done away with farm labor at harvest time. I have a friend 

 who farms 400 acres each year, using two stripper harvesters to take off 



