1 Sepr., 1899. ] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 259 
It should be observed that, although no account is taken, in the Argentine 
cost of production, of first or second ploughing, harrowing, rolling, drilling, &c., 
Mr. Goodwin says that this may be reckoned at half the year’s expenditure. If 
by that is meant the expenditure on the family groceries and the wages of the 
one peon, that would amount to £33 against the Queenslander’s £122. 
No account has been taken in either case of the cost of fencing, which isa 
very considerable item. Wire fencing must be used on plain lands devoid of 
large timber. This will cost from £25 to £30 per mile, so that £60 may be 
deducted from the net returns for fencing, which still leaves the Queenslander 
over £200 to the good, but adds considerably to the burden of the Argentina 
man. ° 
There are many contingent expenses in the shape of repairs to fencing, 
implements, losses in stock, and partial failure in crops to face; but with a good 
season at the start, the Queensland farmer may be considered well off, if at the 
end of the year, with his land cropped and stocked as above indicated, he has 
200 acres fenced, 160 acres under the plough, his house, his horses, and other 
stock and implements clear, and £150 or £200 in the bank to carry him through 
the next year. 
Two hundred pounds may seem a small amount to set down for house, stock, 
and implements, but the first house a new settler builds on his farm need not cost 
more than £50. The rest--consisting of 4 horses, 2 ploughs, 1 set harrows, roller, 
dray, harness, 6 pigs, sundry small tools, and finally a reaper and binder—will, 
if judiciously bought, not bring the total to much more than stated, if even to 
so much. 
WHEAT-GROWING IN THE VICTORIAN MALLER. 
Mr. Prerer Ketuy, of Cannam, in the Victorian Mallee, writing to Farm 
and Dairy, gives his experiences in the way of the cost of 
wheat-growing as 
follows :— 
Last year I produced 1,300 bags of wheat from 600 acres, 
average of 83 bushels per acre. This was a far better crop than many of the 
Mallee farmers got, and I don’t know that in an average of seasons we can 
expect, with the best cultivation which I always give my land, more than that. 
It will, therefore, be of interest to show what is my net returns on that crop. 
They are as follows :— 
giving an 
600 acres wheat cost, per acre, ploughing ds., seed wheat 2s. 6d., harrowing 1s. 3d.... £26210 0 
RETIN BIO R000) acres; (AbISSC 6d. Weta MNP NEN: | LOS IE mage etme ei ganr linear Ake qelirg tary 
1,300 corn sacks, 5s. 6d. per dozen, twine 30s. ee Ar, * 4c t4 vf: 31 0 0 
Cleaning 1,300 bags of wheat, at 6d. ... ae 30 Nt oft A ns Je 3210 0 
Carting 1,300 bags of wheat 12 miles to railway station, at 7d. ... be ; 37 18 0 
Shire rates, water rates, and repairing fences 7 ee a re st 5 8 0 0 
Interest on value of plant, horses, wear and tear of machinery, value £300, 10 per 
cent. ty ay xr a its rH en at He: ‘ Ay 0 0 
Total expenses 4 ie His “Asn a 6 +e, iy, £506 18 0 
Receipts, 1,300 bags of wheat at Warracknabeal, price 2s, 1d. per bushel (5,200 
bushels)... 40 re at st) vai “a ere fi " ari . £54113 4 
Credit balance £3415 4 
I think the balance-sheet is sufficient to show that some relief must be 
given to the producers of the back country, or they will have to give up very 
soon; in fact, large numbers have already gone away in despair on account of 
the bad seasous and the low prices. Nothing short of a substantial reduction— 
say, 30 to 40 per cent.—will do. Sucha reduction would, in my case, enable me to 
pay the wages of an additional man for nine months out of the twelve, employ a 
team of horses ploughing, and give an extra production of 600 to 800 bags of 
wheat for the railway to carry. 
