348 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1900. 
EXTRACTS FROM THE MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORT OF THE 
BIGGENDEN STATE FARM FOR MARCH, 1900. ; 
Tue three first months of 1900 form a record for absence of rain in ti 
district. Never before, since settlement took place here, has a rainy seas J 
been known to furnish only— 
2°61 in January, 
0°40 in February, 
with the whole of March dry until the last three days, when 0°77 fell. 
In consequence of. such dry.weather no progress could be made 1n 
with ploughing and other tillage operations. i 
But good work has been done in the harvesting of the cow pea, malze, ee | 
pumpkin crops. ath i 
The abundant return given by three of the above is a new tribute paid 7 
the beneficial effect of deep ploughing and thorough cultivation. 13 
This is, perhaps, the more striking from the fact that our soil is far a | t 
being of drought-resisting composition, as are our beautiful loams and 8 
ridges of the West. Ree, 
According to Mr. Briinnich’s very careful and interesting analys!*s in 
rich only in humus; it is fair in nitrogen and phosphoric acid; and poo 
potash. It contains also too mueh magnesia for its percentage of lime. 
As to our grass paddock, it is poor in everything except potash. f 
But the main fault of our cultivation paddock is its high percentage if 
clay (58°22), which makes it very sticky on the implements, and causes at | 
split in dry weather into wide and deep cracks even after having been subso” 7 
to depth of 18 inches. on 
This season we had five acres under black cow pea. ‘Three acres WY) 
sown on the 7th of November, 1899, on a piece of subsoiled land which i 
been thoroughly pulverised and prepared for an orchard. b 
The seeds, at the rate of 8 lb. per acre, were sown in drills 3 feet apart y 
means of a Planet Junior hand seed drill so regulated as to drop from one 
two seeds 18 inches apart. or 
The seeds remained dormant for about a fortnight, and only showed Oh 
ground on the 21st of November after a good rainfall of 1:40 inch on the rn l 
They came up very evenly, hardly any plant being missed. On the i i 
December, when they were about 6 inches high, they were harrowed with oa a 
harrows. Such rough treatment greatly scandalised some of my neighbor? q 
who thought I had irretrievably ruined a most promising crop. - The re oa a 
however, justified my expectations—not theirs. ‘The operation did not inju" 
single plant of cow pea; but it destroyed every little weed, loosened the © hee 
round the roots, and made of the soil a nice layer of mulch 2 and 3 me 
thick. A vigorous growth was our reward. ie 
On the 8rd January the crop was again gone over with a Planet Jumor |, | 
and scarifier, after which it took hold of the whole field, which, at a distan! 
had the look of a field of lucerne, not a single spot being left uncovered. if 
Flowering took place in the second week in January; and by the middle é 
February the plants were well loaded with ripe pods, although the crop, if 
not so heavy as would have been the case had the season been more propio 
The harvesting began on the 27th of February. know 
The operation leaves yet much to be desired, as no machine, that I yelh 
of, is yet in existence to simplify the work. It should not be difficult, hove uld 
for an engineering genius to invent a suitable one, in which case he W 
render an invaluable service to the Queensland farmers. tt 
The problem consists in combining three knives or cutters, one CVV of 
vertically in front all the entangled vines, whilst two lateral knives wo 
horizontally the stems near the roots along the rows. — 
So far, one must do the best he can with hand labour only. 
Mareh 
oe 
