a Se S---_- 
— 
sass 
356 : QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1898. 
The hot water method has an additional advantage over the old method 
with bluestone in that, in ordinary practice, it is responsible for the destruction 
of less seed. Whatever precautions may be taken, the corroding action of the 
bluestone is certain to be fatal to the germinating powers of more or less of 
the seeds to which it is applied. 
The following table prepared by Professor J. C. Arthur, it is very impor- 
tant to note :— 
GERMINATING Powers oF WHEAT TREATED witH Hor WATER. 
; Per cent. 5 Total per 
Temperature of Water. Time of Immersion. Mica a in 24 cent. Germinating, 
Untreated xt 9°83 | 94 
130 degrees 5 minutes 14°5 | 90 
135 4) et of) oy ry, 5 aT 12°4 91 
140 43 aS He ae ee 5 Fi} 67 73 
145 a 5 3 1°0 62 
150 7) 5 a3 0°0 : 33 
Bulletin No. 22 of the Queensland Department of Agriculture. 
‘ 
YIELD OF WHEAT IN AUSTRALASIA. 
In an otherwise admirable article on Western Australia, by Ernest E. 
Williams, in the March number of the Windsor Magazine, the following 
remarkable statement occurs :—‘‘ The average return per acre of Westralian 
wheatfields for the decade 1885 to 1894, was twelve bushels; and even in the 
bad year, 1885, 8°09 bushels to the acre were produced, which is ¢wice the 
amount raised from Victorian and Queensland wheat acres.” 
This is a statement worth analysing. The average yield in each colony 
during the decade mentioned—viz., 1885 to 1894—is as follows, and is derived 
from official sources :— 
: Average Yield per Acre, 
Colony. ? Bushels, 
New South Wale ds a aes 12°0 
Victoria ... oe er a A 9:9 
Queensland a mas ie ee) 14:9 
South Australia ... ee 7 ais 6:8 
Western Australia axe sf is iahory 
Tasmania ... — 7 xvi oer 17-4 
New Zealand... Pe at! 23°% 
Or an average yield for the seven colonies of 9°9 bushels per acre. 
It will be observed that Queensland’s average during the ten years under 
consideration was 14°9 bushels per acre, and of Victoria 9'9 bushels, whilst the 
average yield for Western Australia was 11°7 bushels per acre. 
- The production of wheat and the acreage under that crop in the seven 
colonies. between the years 1881 and 1894 are shown in the following table :— 
Colony. 1881. 1891. | 1894, 1881, 1891. 1894, 
,| Acres. Acres. Acres. Bushels. | Bushels. | Bushels. 
New South Wales eas 221,888 356,666 647,483 | 3,405,966 | 3,963,668 | 7,041,378 
Victoria AY a 926,729 | 1,332,683 | 1,372,819 | 8,714,377 | 13,629,370 | 11,436,483 
Queensland _... oR 10,958 19,306 28,997 39,612 392,309 545,185 
South Australia ] ... | 1,768,781 | 1,552,423 | 1,576,950 | 8,087,032 | 6,436,488 | 7,781,223 
Western Australia... 21,951 26,866 21,483 153,657 288,810 170,390 
Tasmania me XS 51,757 47,584 52,028 977,365 930,841 872,000 
New Zealand ... We 365,715 402,273 148,575 | 8,297,890 | 10,257,738 | 3,613,037 
