1 Juty, 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, ° 27 
If wheat-growing is to become an industry of the far Western districts, settlers must 
first provide the water supply or obtain it through the enterprise of those willing 
to expend capital in this direction. The farmer in the south paying high rent for 
his land, in many cases having to spend months of labour in clearing a small 
persion of his selection, and dependent upon a capricious rainfall whether he 
as a good crop, or a bad crop, or no crop at all, may be excused for con- 
templating with some degree of envy the happier lot of the farmer in the west of 
Central Queensland, who, having an artesian well to aid him, can regard with perfect 
serenity those periodical droughts which have done so much to retard the progress of 
agriculture not only in this colony but throughout Australia. There seems to be no 
reason why the wheatgrower of the future, having the two essentials in good land 
and abundance of water for irrigating, should not become as independent and 
prosperous as the grazing farmer. The grazier’s work is that of supervision with an 
occasional spell at the drafting-yards. The modern wheatgrower on a fairly large 
scale. has little to do after the crop is in the ground until harvest time, and modern 
machinery has lifted the burden from the shoulders of the labourer in this direction. 
When the harvest is over and the wheat is sold, the grower is as free from care as the 
grazier after his wool is despatched to market. In years to come we may confidently 
anticipate that irrigation by artesian water on a large scale will have successfully 
solved the problem of how to sustain close settlement on our Western lands. 
(Applause.) 
In reply to questions put by Messrs. W. Deacon, W. D. Lamb, W. R. 
Twine, and others, Mr. CAMPBELL, among other things, stated his land was only 
ploughed and cross-ploughed. he only cost of the irrigation to his land was 
to let the water in and run along the furrows. His yield last year had been 
29 bags from 53 acres of land. The wheat, all of the Allora Spring variety, 
went 62 lb. to the bushel, and he had disposed of it all for seed purposes at 
6s. 6d. per bushel. It had been pronounced by a miller as good milling wheat, 
and he had been offered 4s. 6d. per bushel at Rockhampton for 200 bags. 
Fencing in his district cost about £26 per mile. His land was not subsoiled, 
nor wag it drained. In height his wheat varied, but the straw went as high as 
4 feet, and plenty of it was 3 feet and 8feet 6inches. The success of the crop 
depended entirely on the water supply. With regard to the supply of water 
from artesian wells diminishing, he only knew of three cases where this was 
occurring, and they were probably due to defective casing. Hmerald was 
165 miles from the coast, Barcaldine 358. 
Mr. J. E. Noakes (Maryborough), after remarking that he was glad to 
hear there was some good land in the colony besides on the Darling Downs, 
said he was seeking information, and desired to know how much flour 2 bushels 
of wheat would produce. A miller had told him that 2 bushels of wheat in 
South Australia would produce 100 1b. of flour. He had also been told that 
in other places 2 bushels of wheat would only give 80 Ib. of flour. Did the 
quality of wheat vary like this ? 
Mr. W. D. Lams (Yangan) said the theory of getting 50 Ib. of flour from 
a bushel of wheat was a myth. He had never heard of it being obtained in 
anty part of the world, and, in fact, 40 lb. to 48 lb. te the bushel was as much 
as was generally got, and then the yield was nearer 40 than 43. In reply 
to Mr. Scholefield, Mr. Lame stated that if a man got his own wheat gristed 
he generally got back in return about 57 lb. of flour and bran. There was 
usually about 3 lb: out of the bushel that went in waste. 
Mr. A. Macrarnane (Rockhampton) had been very pleased to hear 
Mr. Campbell’s paper, and if it only had the effect of calling the atten- 
tion of Southern farmers to the possibilities of wheatgrowing in the 
western districts of Central Queensland it would have answered a very 
good purpose. Experts, such as Professor Shelton, had assured them that 
Central Queensland Jands west from Emerald were of the finest quality for 
wheat, and had predicted a great future for the industry there. Judging from 
the experience of Mr. Campbell and others, and considering the vast extent of 
these magnificent Western lands, the predictions had every probability of being 
verified. He had traveiled all over both them and the Darling Downs, and 
could assure the gentlemen present that if the Darling Downs were dumped 
