20 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [lL Jaw., 1902. 
column shows what the plant food costs at most, whilst column two shows what 
the nitrogen gained, to which must also be added the value of the potash and 
phosphoric acid contained in the crop. 
Cost. p ee 
Clover 2 ee 16 60 = 19 25 
Cow peas is 13 80 os 18 45 
Alfalfa and lucerne 17 60 ss 19 15 
Beggar weed yews 13 80 eA 18 75 
The table shows that under the most favourable conditions legume nitrogen 
pays merely as a fertiliser problem. Of course the value of the crop as forage 
or for other purposes is an additional value gained. Certainly it is important 
to note that this legume nitrogen is not all gain. It costs something, and, 
if the potash and phosphoric acid are lacking or improperly proportioned, 
growing legume fertiliser very easily becomes unprofitable. The planter must 
do his own thinking on this subject, and mix it with a good grade of common 
sense. 
COMPARATIVE RETURNS OF RICE AND OTHER PRODUCTS. 
8. Vd. £ 8 d. 
30 bushels of rice per acre at 4 0 per bushel ... 6 0 O 
30 5 wheat ' 2 10 és on 4 5 0 
30 7 barley " 3 0 bp pert 410 0O 
30 _ mazie 5 2 6 s bes 315 0 
From the above, it appears that rice is more profitable than any other cereal. 
There is also this in favour of rice: That in seasons when the average wheat 
yield would fall below 15 bushels, value, say, £2 2s. 6d., the yield of rice would 
be about 40 bushels, value £8, owing to the conditions of growth and absence 
of rust. It does not follow from this that farmers should give up maize and 
wheat growing, and rush into rice. That would be putting all the eggs into one 
basket. Besides, it is not all soils that are suitable for ricegrowing, whilst 
hundreds of thousands of acres are adapted to wheat, barley, oats, and maize 
culture. 
Then consider potatoes. Although the average potato crop for 1900-1901 
was not quite 2 tons, and the sweet potato crop a little over 5 tons per acre, 
that does not show that in favoured localities from 4 to 6 tons of English 
potatoes, and 8 tons ot sweet potatoes were harvested in the same year. ‘I'wo 
tons of English potatoes per acre would in a plentiful year be equal in money 
value to 30 bushels of rice, 423 bushels of wheat, 45 bushels of maize, or 40 
bushels of barley. 
The cost of seed, of preparing the ground, of after-cultivation, and of 
harvesting and preparing for market are factors which must be always taken 
into consideration in reckoning the net returns from any crop. or instance, 
6 cwt. of seed are required for 1 acre of potatoes. Before hilling up, at least 
two cleanings will be required. That is to say, that each acre has to be worked 
over three times. But when the crop is ripe the only preparation for market 
consists in digging, gathering, grading, and bagging. In the case of maize, 
the cost of seed for an acre is trifling, but in a dropping season the ground will 
demand clearing and cultivating several times before the plants are beyond 
reach of injury from weeds. When the corn is ripe, much labour has to be 
expended on pulling, husking, threshing, and winnowing before the grain can 
finally be bagged. 
Tf wheat be sown, about 1 bushel per acre will be required for seed, and 
the seed must be steeped in bluestone, but the only afterwork will consist in 
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