4.00 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Dec., 1898. 
It7is quite impossible to give an idea on paper of the exquisite beauty of 
this portion of the Southern district at this moment. Those who have been 
privileged to witness harvesting operations in the old country can alone draw 
a comparison between our Queensland wheat country and that of old Britain. 
Leaving out of the question the lands east of the Main Range, which are 
far more adapted to maize, potatoes, arrowroot, lucerne, &c., than to wheat, we 
will take our readers ona trip to Warwick and thence on to Killarney, the 
headquarters of the Trout Acclimatisation Society, &c., and erstwhile of the 
tobacco industry. ; 
After leaving Toowoomba on the Western trip, a few paddocks of wheat 
are to be seen, some already in stook, others quite ready for cutting, and 
others again green as a young field of oats, having been planted far too late to 
give any hope of a good crop. 
Further on, at Westbrook and Gowrie, there are some very fine fields, 
and the reaper and binder is hard at work, taking advantage of the fine 
weather to get the crop saved. Some wheat here has been cut for hay, and its 
place has been taken by a crop of maize which, despite the hot weather and 
drying winds, looks very healthy indeed. At Clifton matters are not at all 
bright; in fact, it would appear that as a general rule the wheat here has been 
a bad failure. At Back Plains there are some fields which will yield well; but 
at King’s Creek, Greenmount, Goomburra, Table Top, and Allora, although 
here and there the farmers will have a good crop, the wheat on_ the whole is 
very unsatisfactory. We noticed some nice patches at Hendon. This is 
owing, we understand, to the fact that Hendon was much more favoured with 
rainfall than the Allora district. Taking the Central district, the results will 
probably bear out our estimate of a much reduced average yield for the season 
1898. After reaching Warwick it is that the traveller gets into the heart of 
the wheat district. Even close to the town the reaper and binder is seen at 
work, and thence to Killarney the eye wanders over some of the most beautiful 
rural scenery it is possible to conceive. Swan Creek, Mount Sturt, Yangan, 
Neereadah (or Farm Creek), Emu Vale, all present pictures which, were it not 
for the universal iron roofing, vividly recall to mind the snug British farm- 
houses and rickyards nestling in the midst of the good old-fashioned 
plane, oak, and pine trees, with their gardens, both flower and vegetable, 
orchards and vineries. Yangan is one of those country towns prettily 
situated amongst the hills, and surrounded by one of the most beautiful 
amongst the many beautiful agricultural districts of the Downs. Far as the 
eye can reach, little else of cultivation is visible but waving fields of golden 
grain, with its rolling billows raised by the high wind blowing at the time of 
our visit. The gold and brown fields are relieved here and there by occasional 
patches of late-sown wheat still in the dough stage, and by large fields of young 
maize, which has already taken the place of very early wheat. 
On all sides the harvesting machinery is at’ work, and most of the 
conversation so far has reference to the respective merits of the Buckeye, the 
McCormick, the Massy-Harris, and other well-known reapers and binders, and 
to the probable yield of this or that field. A noticeable feature is the absence 
of rust. Last year the drivers appeared to have been liberally powdered with 
fine iron rust. It lay thickly on the parts of the machines at rest; it gave a 
uniform colour to horses, men, and machines. This year nothing of this is 
apparent, the straw being perfectly bright and clean. We noticed that carriers 
attached to the binders are ‘generally used. By their help a very large saving 
in labour is effected, inasmuch as the sheaves are laid close together at regular 
intervals, three sheaves being carried and dropped together, instead of each 
being pitched out on the ground as it was bound. This enables stooking to 
be done much more rapidly, as the sheaves do not require to be carried any 
distance by the stookers. Some farmers always “ cap” their stooks, but the 
Majority say this is of little use, as a high wind invariably blows down the 
capping sheayes. 
