402 ' (QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Dzc., 1898. 
The showers which fell on the evening of our visit freshened up the land- 
scape wonderfully, and added much to its beauty. Unfortunately, during the 
storm, a hayshed belonging to Mr. McDougall, at Lyndhurst, was struck by 
lightning, and 40 or 50 tons of hay, together, of course, with the shed, were 
destroyed. We heard of other casualties due to the short, sharp storm. Only 
the previous week a heavy frost had visited the district, and had done serious 
damage to the potato crops and young corn. : 
Returning towards Warwick, the “ Hermitage’ Government Experiment 
Farm was visited. Mr. Ross, the manager, very obligingly showed us over the 
farm, and spared no pains to give us every information in his power. 
The amount of work done at the farm is remarkable, considering the short 
time which has elapsed since Mr. Ross took charge. The total area of the 
farm is 240 acres, and, with the exception of a small grass paddock, the whole 
is under crop, and is everywhere clear of anything like weeds. The work of 
breaking up the land was begun in June, 1897, and the average amount of 
labour available has been only four men. ‘The soil is of a peculiar nature. In 
wet weather it is extremely sticky, and as it dries it becomes excessively hard, 
and at such times no plough can touch it. Yet we found it to be all in fine 
tilth, and it could be seen that great care had been bestowed upon the crops, 
_ from the manner in which they had responded to the treatment. 
The great drawback to the land is the occurrence of what in the far 
North are called “salt pans,” here “alkali,” patches. All the farms in the 
neighbourhood have more or less of these patches, which can be at once detected 
either by the failure of the seed or else by the green patches of wheat, giving 
a piebald appearance to the crop—yellow and green alternating. One field 
we saw in Jack Smith’s Gully looked like a veritable Joseph’s coat—purple, 
green, yellow, and brown. On some farms in the same neighbourhood the 
green and gold were seen in regular lines. Mr. Ross gave it as his opinion, in 
which Mr. R. Soutter, Inspector of State Farms, concurred, that 
THE CAUSE OF IRREGULAR RIPENING 
is, thatin dry seasons, when the requirements for plant life can be more easily 
seen than during the rains, the alkali patches indicate the necessity for 
drainage. The whole thing lies in that. Small depressions are then noticed 
in the fields, varying from a tew square feet to many square yards. These are 
the salt pans. When the seed is sown, the grain in the sweet soil germinates 
quicker than in these spots, where it sometimes fails altogether. When it does 
grow, the growth isso slow that the former has reached maturity often before 
the grain is even formed in the latter. Hence the alkaline soil is responsible 
for the irregular ripening. The superabundance of flag in some wheats on these 
areas is very apparent, and for this there is no explanation, beyond the want of 
drainage. An expert in wheatgrowing would lay it down as a fundamental 
law—drain. 
Where this is not done, the farmer should grow beets and mangolds on the 
alkali spots, but drainage would be better, as it would clear away the alkali. 
EXPERIMENT WHEATS. 
There are over 400 varieties of wheat sown in rows for experimental 
purposes. The utmost care is lavished on these stud wheats to ensure their 
turning out true to name. 
The larger wheat plots consist of 26 acres of Marshall’s No. 3, sown at 
the latter end of May; 28 acres of Marshall’s No. 8, sown three weeks later 
(27th June); 5 acres Belatourka, sown on the same date. This latter is a 
magnificent sample. The poorest portion of it will, it is confidently believed, 
return 5 bags per acre, and the larger area will yield from 6 to 7 bags. 
Of Dr. Cobb’s Improved Allora Spring, there are 2} acres sown late in 
July and in the beginning of August. 
Alongside this we find 22 acres of Budd’s Early Sown on the same date, 
and 5 acres of Marshall’s No. 3. 
