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1 May, 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 327 
So far, our disabilities are due in a measure to our methods of cultivation 
and to the subsequent handling of our crops. 
Take the maize crop. Can anything more primitive be conceived than our 
management of this crop from sowing to marketing? Of course we plough 
and harrow the ground in the usual manner. What do we do then? We 
mark off the rows with a plough (there are exceptions to this method amongst 
our up-to-date farmers) one row at a time. Then we walk along and dribble 
the seed in by hand. The result of this is an unequal stand of the crop. By 
and by we have either to replant misses or to remove superfluous plants. Then 
we sucker the stools—a needless operation. At one time we hilled up the corn 
with a shovel plough, but that practice has been discontinued. When the corn 
is ripe we pull it, haul it to the barn, and husk it. Then it is shelled with a 
hand machine capable of shelling 20 bushels an hour, and finally we winnow 
itin a sieve, bag it, and draw it to the railway station. How much profit do we 
get out of the crop when the selling price is 2s. 6d. per bushel? A large part 
of all this work has been unnecessary. How do the Americans do it? 
There, two general plans are followed with the corn crop. ‘The land is 
ploughed or else the crop is “listed.” We gave a description of listing corn in 
the Journal (Vol. VIL. p. 500). The “lister” is a plough with a double 
mould-board, and is also furnished with a planter and covering apparatus. It 
makes a furrow for each row of corn. One man and a team of three horses 
plough, mark the ground, plant and cover the seed at one operation, doing 
about 6 acres per day. 
When the crop is being cultivated, two rows are taken at each passage of 
the cultivator across the field. Hand-hoeing is rarely resorted to unless the 
field is very foul. The husking is a single operation, one man doing about 
60 bushels a day. But now the husking, and shelling, and winnowing are done 
by a single machine at the same time. 
Now, see under what artificial burdens the Queensland agriculturist 
labours. His crop is ready and bagged. What follows? He still has heavy 
odds against him. The bagging alone has cost him from 4d. to 6d. for four 
bushels. He loads it on to his wagon or dray; he hauls it often 10 miles to 
arailway station, where he may wait all day before he has a chance to unload, 
and the unloading he does himself. Then, at last his crop is loaded on to the 
train, and he pays pretty heavily for the privilege of being allowed to send it 
to Brisbane, or Rockhampton, or Maryborough, as the case may be. Then he 
has the middleman to deal with, the result being that he often receives no 
return whatever for his crop. Taking all things into consideration, his best 
plan is to sell straightout to one of the buyers representing the produce 
dealers. He then knows, at least, how much or how little profit he will get. 
What does the Yankee farmer do? He drives his load of corn straight to an 
elevator, where the weighbridge promptly gives him the weight of his load. 
Then, at the touch of a lever, the hind wheels of the wagon drop a couple of 
feet, and in a second the load is shot into a large hopper at the side of the 
weighbridge. Thence it is carried to the elevator, where, if it is in the cob, it 
is shelled, cleaned, and graded, and delivered to a special bin, from which it is 
spouted straight into the railway truck. When that truck has reached its 
destination, a steam shovel empties it into a hopper, from which it is lifted into 
the elevator of some trade centre. The farmer then receives from the elevator 
areceipt for so much grain of a certain standard of quality or grade. This 
receipt now does duty in the commercial world for the grain it represents. It 
may be held, sold, or transferred at the pleasure of the owner, and it is 
negotiable at the bank precisely as a bill of lading or a warehouse receipt. 
To sum up the whole business, the farmer can take his corn husked and 
shelled or only husked to the railway station, and then all his concern ends, 
He gets the elevator receipt and can then deal with his corn as he pleases. 
Now, why all this trouble about bagging? We allude, of course, to maize, 
wheat, and barley. Why a pathetic appeal to the Government for aid? Have 
our farmers no ideas on the subject of co-operation? Bulk-handling of grain is 
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