1 Mar., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 171 7 
tremendously handicapped to enable him to find a profitable market outside his 
own particular district. There is no doubt that it will not pay him to send his 
wheat to Brisbane. The Brisbane millers must then buy their wheat in 
Melbourne, paying at the present moment 2s. 5d. to 2s. 6d. per bushel, and 
with the low freights and the payment of 4d. per bushel duty they are landing 
wheat of even better quality than our own in their mills at Brisbane at a much 
cheaper rate than they could obtain it from the Darling Downs. 
There, the present value is from 2s. 8d. to 2s. 9d. at Warwick, whilst the 
price at Toowoomba ranges from 2s. 10d. to 3s., the latter price being paid for 
the very best sorts of the hard varieties of wheat. We have it on very 
reliable authority that there is abundance of wheat now held on the 
Darling Downs between Toowoomba and Killarney to keep the local mills in 
full work throughout the year, whilst the Brisbane and the Northern millers 
are debarred from drawing any supplies of grain from the Downs for milling 
purposes. 
In the neighbourhood of Allora and Clifton Back Plains the wheat crop, 
owing to the absence of rain during the past abnormally dry season, may be 
considered as having proved a decided failure. Of course there were some 
good fields of early planted wheat, which well repaid the farmer for his labour, 
but, taken as a whole, these districts did not produce sufficient wheat by a long 
way to give even the semblance of a successful harvest, and thus in any case 
the average production here must be a very low one. 
On the other hand, Toowoomba, Pittsworth, Jondaryan, Gowrie, and Merin- 
gandan, whilst not getting a return quite up to what they have had in previous 
years, yet, owing to the late rains on the plains in those directions and round 
Warwick, especially on Swan Creek, Emu Vale, Yangan, and Killarney high 
lands, the farmers in these districts have been enabled to harvest a crop 
decidedly above the average. 
Now let us see, in support of our contention that Brisbane is a poor market 
for wheat from the Downs, how much wheat has actually been purchased by 
Brisbane millers up to date, 18th February, from over the Range. We have it on 
the most reliable authority that the coast mills have only purchased about 5,150 
bushels, and much of this is more for horse feed than: for milling purposes, 
although it was lately stated that these mills had purchased 10,000 sacks or 
40,000 bushels. Some of the Downs mills do not grist more than 15,000 sacks 
in the year, and between them they now hold some 30,000 sacks. From 
inquiries we have made from the most reliable sources, we can only come to one 
conclusion, and that is that there is quite sufficient wheat now on the Darling 
Downs to run all the local mills throughout the year. 
MAIZE. 
Until about three weeks ago, the continued dry weather, almost unprece- 
dented at this season of the year, had a most disastrous effect upon the early 
planted maize, and quite justified our prediction that there would be little or 
no maize crop, at all events from early-sown fields, and indeed the outlook was 
none too promising for the later-sown crops on the Darling Downs, as well as 
on the rich plains lying between Laidley and Murphy’s Creek. The recent 
bountiful rains, amounting to from 10 to 12 inches, have, however, most wonder- 
fully improved the late maize crops in all parts of the colony and on the Downs. . 
Thisis more especially noticeablealong the sides of the Range,and particularly in 
and around Freestone Creek and away towards the Condamine River, on the spurs 
of the ranges. ‘The appearance of the crops fully justifies us in expressing the 
expectation of a very fair and reasonable crop in the near future on the Downs 
proper—on the rich alluvial and volcanic plains. But we must point out that 
in some cases there will probably be disappointment, owing to the recent 
favourable weather inducing farmers to.sow maize which cannot arrive at 
maturity before the frosty weather sets in. 
N 
