164 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Mar., 1902. 
life and vigour may be imported to our societies and associations, that they 
may be induced to improve the systems and conditions of local productions 
and industries, and that they will unite under the organisation now established 
for the purpose of voicing their wants and requirements, and prove by their 
co-operating with each other that the farmers of Queensland are prepared and 
are fully alive to the necessity of keeping pace with any State of the Common- 
wealth of Australia. 
: MANURE FOR LUCERNE. 
Where lucerne has been sown on poor land, or where it fails to yield 
satisfactory crops, give the land a good dressing of farmyard manure, and sow 
about 4 ewt. of superphosphate of lime and 2 ewt. of sulphate of potash per 
acre. 
HILLED LAND FOR OATS. 
Mr. A. Becker, of Eagle Hill, Nanango, writes :—It was by chance that 
I learned a little in the art of cultivating land for oats, wheat, barley, or any 
other crop for hay. It was only on a small scale. I had broken up some new 
forest land with a plough. After giving it two weeks’ rest, I hilled up part of 
it for sweet potatoes with the plough. On account of a scarcity of sweet potato 
vines I could not plant all the hills. Two months after the hilling I harrowed 
it level again, ploughed it once more, and also the unhilled portion, and put 
oats into it. Judge my surprise, when the oats came up, on seeing those on the 
part which had been hilled growing quicker than the rest and as evenly as if 
they had been clipped with a mowing machine. The other portion came up 
very patchy, and only attained a height of from 4 feet to 5 feet, whilst the even 
lot reached a height of 5 feet 6 inches. Thus the yield of straw was far heavier 
on the latter. The average yield of grain per acre was 64 bushels, and the ears 
were so heavy that they bent the stalk to within 1 foot of the ground. This was 
last May. When planting this year, I shall try the experiment again on a 
different piece of land, and will let you know the result. 
[If the land is of the same quality as that on which you got the heavy 
yield of grain, the result will most probably be the same. It is simply the 
natural effect of good cultivation. The hilled land would be in better tilth 
than the unhilled, which was most likely harder and more lumpy than the 
other. The soil being rendered finer in one case, the capillarity was increased, 
the roots could travel with ease in search of plant food, and there was less 
evaporation. The more you cultivate the land and the finer the tilth to which you 
reduce it, the better the crop will be. Your success with the hilled land proves 
this.—Editor Q.A.J.] 
EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILISERS. 
CarRIzED out By W. G. WINNETT, Slack’s Creek, Loganlea. 
In the early part of the year 1901, Messr. Webster and Co. offered to 
supply any members of the Logan Farmers’ Association with fertilisers for 
experimental purposes, in order to test their qualities in connection with 
various crops. One of the members of the association, Mr. W. G. Winnett, 
accepted the offer, and also the conditions which were to be fulfilled in making 
the experiments. The results have been tabulated and placed before the 
association, as an object lesson to any other farmers who were interested in the 
subject. Mr. Winnett says he does not put it too strongly when he declares 
that the question of the value of fertilisers is one of vital importance to every 
farmer who wishes to make a success of his calling. We quite agree with him 
also, that associations would be more popular if they would give more time to 
the discussion of questions of educational and practical value to the farmer. 
