82 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Juny, 1901. 
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the Maranoa, the first four varieties were those most grown. The first two 
are not heard of now. Steinweidel is still grown on the Maranoa on some 
farms, and Purple Straw is only gromn to a small extent, as in a good seasoy 
itis very likely to develop the dreaded rust, but in the medium seasons there have been 
some splendid yields obtained from this variety of wheat. Allora Spring and Ward’s 
Prolific have many staunch friends, as both these wheats have been good yielders whey 
there has been rain enough to bring wheat to perfection, while the others mentioned 
are new to the district, and have only been planted during the last two or three yearg 
with varied results. Then another question very hard to answer is, When is the best 
time to sow the wheat, and how: broadcast or by seed drill? In the Maranoa district 
you will find farmers sowing all the way from early in March to early in July, — 
Surely sixteen weeks is a long range of difference of opinion. By early sowing most 
men hope to escape the rust fiend, and by so doing they may just get caught in a frost 
such as has happened for the past two years to the destruction of ‘so many crops and 
with disaster to many a hard-working farmer. Now, I think that there are several good 
varieties of wheat in the list quoted, and some of the latest varieties may turn out 
well. But I am of opinion that there are wheats to be found that will be far and 
away ahead of any of the above fora climate such as ours—Budd’s Early, for 
instance. We read of men on the Darling Downs putting in 17 acres and getting off 
200 bags of wheat: a truly splendid yield; and some of our farmers, myself amongst 
the number, must try Budd’s Early, and instead of a yield of 45 bushels to the acre we 
are miserably disappointed with the odd 5 bushels. 
This goes to show that some wheats suit a dry climate better than others, and 
I think it the bounden duty of the Government, through the Department of Agriculture, 
to do the experimenting for the farmers, and this should be done in each centre— 
say, Wallumbilla, where one of the best village settlements in the colony is situated ; 
and the men who went there, many with little or no capital, but with strong muscles 
and determined will, have cut out of the scrub that then grew in that district very 
many fair-sized holdings ; and, with a little practical assistance {rom the Department of 
Agriculture in finding an answer to the vexed questions that I have asked, Wallumbilla 
would yet turn out to be a prosperous place indeed, and to the very great advantage 
of the State of Queensland. ~The same remarks apply to Hodgson and Mitchell; 
each of these places have from 2,500 to 3,000 acres under cultivation, most of which 
is sown with wheat. 
If there were, say, 300 different varieties of wheat sown on, say, 3 acres of land 
in each of these three places, all under the same treatment and carefully watched, and 
the peculiarities of the various samples noted by the Government man in charge, it 
aE result in some half-dozen or more different varieties of wheat being found which 
might yield from 2 to 10 bushels per acre more. Any extra return such asthis would 
aa all the difference between profitable and unprofitable farming. In 1898 
I remember a German farmer putting in 8 acres of Ward’s Prolific wheat and getting 
a return of 28 bushels per acre, and he put in 4 acres of Purple Straw and got a return 
of 16 bushels per acre. This showed a difference of 12 bushels per acre, and as 
wheat was 5s. per bushel that year it made a big difference. That farm has increased 
its wheat area to over 100 acres now. ; 
There are dozens of farmers with 1C0 to 200 acres of wheat in this district; and 
the right kind of wheat to sow, and the proper time tound out when to do so, and the 
best method and right quantity to sow per acre, mean a very great deal to these men 
and through them to the district and indirectly to the Government of the country. 
The pioneer farmers in this district have had a hard up-hill fight, with clearing the 
dense scrub, fencing in their cultivation paddocks with wallaby-proof fencing, prickly 
ears, high railway rates on all their machinery and all the requirements of the 
1ousehold, high rates of interest to pay to storekeeper, blacksmith, and money- 
lenders for all the monetary accommodation that they have been compelled to get to 
carry on their industry, and the long-continued drought. I claim that they have a 
just claim en the Agricultural Department for at least these experimental wheat plots, 
and I hope soon to see not only those plots but a Government experimental farm 
established in our midst. 
Owing to the lateness of the hour, the Conference adjourned without 
discussing Mr. Miscamble’s paper. 7 
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