458 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Noy., 1899. 
THE WINNOWER. 
The winnower is another machine which has been greatly improved by manu- 
facturers of this colony. Messrs. Bagshaw and Sons have made the perfection of 
this implementa specialty, and if those who bore the burden and heat of a day at 
the crude machine of 40 years ago could have suddenly had dropped into their 
midst the Bagshaw of 1898 they would have thought they were sweetly dreaming. 
Professor Lowrie has frequently acknowledged the indebtedness of agricul- 
turists to the skill, enterprise, and ingenuity of South Australian manufacturers. 
They have, as he says, ‘nobly risen to the occasion,” and the exceptionally low 
cost of wheat production must be credited in large measure to their efforts. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
The evolution of the machinery of the hayfield has also been remarkable. 
Less than 80 years ago the scythe was the weapon of offence in the hayfield, 
but soon after that the mowing’ machine—an invention of a Scotch divine— 
reyolutionised hay-making, and now the binder has caused another revolution. 
The binder may to some extent supplant the stripper, but the latter will 
probably retain its supremacy over the greater part of South Australia. 
The drill is another importation which is calculated to have an important 
bearing in improving our farm practice and increasing its profitableness. .. 
INFLUENCE ON THE COST OF PRODUCTION. 
To return now to the important subject of what it costs to grow a bushel 
of wheat. Yo get an approximate estimate of the value of our improved 
machinery in reducing the expenses of production, it is necessary to go back to 
the pioneer days. Let us consider the cost of cultivation and of harvesting 
alone. A prominent farmer of this colony was paid in the early days £1 an 
acre for harvesting with a sickle, and 1s.a bushel for threshing with a flail—~ 
equal to £2 an acre for a 20-bushel crop. Taking the figures of Captain Bagot 
us a basis, the cost, minus rent, taxes, and seed, in 1842 works out thus :— 
a. od, 
Ploughing and sowing, per bushel __... dite «tos Dy ts) 
Harvesting a ox oi 6), $n ictal 
. 2.5 
In 1843, with the Ridley reaper, the cost figured out as follows :— 
Rae tly 
Ploughing and sowing ... aD ox aed a OG) 
Harvesting tre ok oe rs ob: OM Os, 
0 8% 
Thus through the inyention of the stripper the cost of the mechanical 
operations of the farm were reduced at once from 2s. 5d. per bushel to Sid. ; or 
from £2 8s. 6d. per acre to 14s. 4d. 
How will the same items in the present cost of production come out? It 
must be borne in mind that.the forties were the years of virgin land, and 20 
bushels to the acre with little cultivation was looked upon as quite the correct 
thing. ‘To-day land has to be worked twice or three times for one crop! And 
then without the aid of manures a return of 20 bushels is a bold, if not 
unwarranted, expectation. } 
About six years ago Mr. Peter Roach, of Kadina, published some interesting 
statisties concerning the cultivation of 1,000 acres of land by himself. ‘The 
particulars were in detail, and bore the impress of undoubtable authenticity: 
The mechanical operations of his farm cost him as follows :— 
8, d, 
Ploughing, per acre 2) 33 
Sowing ... an iyi ee xo 35 nor Dnty 
Harrowing... on ah apy a HW) 0 
Liery tilts oe dep aah SE 1 53 
Winnowine... ie, a me = foe Oe a) 
Cost per acre ... ms ie ier eerie Lilt 
CU ee 
