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COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.
WHEAT GROWING
IN
AUSTRALIA.
ISSUED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS,
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1915.
By authority:
McCARRON, BIRD & CO., PRINTERS, 479 COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE.
Information Concerning AUSTRALIA
may be obtained on application to--
IN AMERICA:
THE AUSTRALIAN PAVILION,
PANAMA PACIFIC EXHIBITION, SAN FRANCISCO.
NIEL NIELSEN, Esq.,
Trade and Immigration Commissioner for New South Wales,
419 Market Street, San Francisco.
F. T. A. FRICKE, Esq.,
Land and Immigration Agent for Victoria,
687 Market Street, San Francisco.
IN LONDON:
The High Commissioner for
THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA,
72 Victoria Street, Westminster.
IN AUSTRALIA:
The Secretary
DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS,
Collins and Spring Streets, Melbourne.
CONTENTS.
Introduction 5
Australian Wheat Area 12
Factors Governing Wheatgrowing 18
Securing a Wheat Farm 22
Working Plant Required 23
Working the Wheat Farm 26
Cost of Production 34
Share Farming 38
How the Settler is Assisted 43
Social Life in Australia 49
WHEATGROWING IN AUSTRALIA.
With the growing scarcity of foodstuffs that has become a world-wide
feature of the last few years, the wheatgrower is one of the most
important necessities in civilisation. He has prospered in the past, but
the future holds still greater and richer prospects. And in no country
in the world are those prospects brighter than in the Commonwealth of
Australia. The world's surface is gradually filling up, and most of the
older countries have reached sight of the limit of cultivation, so the
world's millions have to look to newer lands to provide them with food.
The great island continent in the southern seas possesses a vast area of
proven wheat land, as yet untouched by the plough. It lies dormant,
fertile, and responsive, awaiting the union of labour and land to yield
abundance of food.
[Illustration: BREAKING UP NEW GROUND.]
Australia has many rural industries, but of agriculture wheat is the
most important, just as it is the most important of the world's crops.
Wheat is the king of cereals--the prime essential of civilised life.
Nearly half the inhabitants of the globe are wheat-eaters. And the
number is growing, for the Eastern races are becoming consumers of
wheat, which is significant of a higher standard of living. For as races
rise in the human scale wheat becomes a more important part of their
food. This alone shows the increasing importance of the cereal, and the
importance of the men who grow it. Indeed, the food value of wheat, its
ease of cultivation and preparation for human use, the fact that it will
grow and flourish in so many different soils and climates, and can be
made into so many and various products, combined with its quick and
bountiful return, all go to enhance the value of wheat grain, and the
prospects of the man who grows it.
Science is teaching how to produce more wheat from the same area, is
improving the varieties of wheat and the methods of cultivating it, and
teaching how to restore impoverished lands. And there is still an
enormous area as yet untouched, while land is being utilised now that
twenty years ago was deemed incapable of growing wheat. Who can tell
what the future will find?
Australia alone has many millions of acres of wheat land as yet unused
for that purpose. One of the youngest of nations, yet one of the oldest
parts of the world geologically, it can house and feed millions more
than its present population. There is room for the extension and
continuation of the magnificent progress that wheatgrowing has already
made. The story of wheat cultivation is the story of progress. In
Australia, within the last decade, wheatgrowing has advanced rapidly.
Railways have been built out into new districts, and freight is cheap.
Towns have sprung into existence, and the whole aspect of the
countryside in district after district being altered by increasing
settlement, where wheatfields have taken the place of sheep paddocks.
These towns are solvent and prosperous, and certain of a great future,
for there is room for immensely greater settlement. The majority of the
wheat farms are larger than necessary, and only a small percentage of
the wheat land is cultivated. The urgent necessity is for more men to
build homes and farm these lands. There are both private and public
lands awaiting settlement.
[Illustration: TYPICAL CLASSES OF FARMING LANDS.]
The profitable nature of wheatgrowing in Australia is shown by the
comfortable homesteads and the strong financial position of numerous
families in the wheat districts. Many of these successful
wheatgrowers, indeed most of them, are men who started with little or
no capital in cash, but with plenty of energy and willingness to work.
They have built homes for themselves in the "bush," and found
prosperity, and there is room for thousands of other men to follow in
their footsteps. In a favourable year a wheatfarmer will often receive
as much, or more, for his crop than the capital value of his land.
[Illustration: FIRST STAGES OF CROPPING.]
In the early stages of wheatgrowing in Australia mistakes were made and
progress was slow. Wheat was grown in the wrong soil and districts, and
suitable varieties of the cereal were not available. Cultivation was
confined to the moist coastal country, with its annual rainfall of 30 to
40 in., and wheat was not a success. The discovery that the drier
districts inland were more suitable for wheatgrowing altered the
position very happily. The bulk of the wheat is now grown in districts
with a rainfall of 20 to 25 in. and under. This averaged rainfall is
considered sufficient for wheatgrowing, and safer than a heavier
rainfall. Wheatgrowing has been most profitable in districts with a
rainfall below 20 in., and an average of 40 bushels per acre has been
harvested from 600 acres. On well-worked fallowed land splendid
money-making crops have been gathered, although the growing crop only
had 2 or 3 in. of rain.
In Australian wheat districts the quantity of rain is not as important
as the time of the year in which it falls. Rain is wanted in the early
autumn, so that ploughing can be done, and in the spring, when the wheat
is heading and flowering. With rain in April and May, and again in
September or October, the Australian wheatgrower is assured of a fine
crop. In the wheat districts those are the seasonable times to get rain.
The summer is usually dry and warm, and this is one of the main
advantages from the wheatgrower's standpoint. This fine dry
weather--which is exceptionally healthy for the human being--means the
production of a high-class grain, for which there is an unlimited demand
in the world's markets. Unless the common rule is broken, and the season
is unduly wet, there is no fear of rust, and nothing to interfere with
the haymaking. The main crop, which is kept for grain, can be left
standing safely in the paddocks until it is thoroughly ripe, when it is
taken off with a stripper or harvester and bagged. So the districts that
have heavy summer rains are largely unsuitable for wheatgrowing, but
those in which the rains fall during the autumn, winter, and spring, and
have dry summers, are most suitable.
While the present average is low in the Australian wheatgrowing
districts compared with other countries, the cost of production is also
remarkably low. Furthermore, methods are improving generally, and a
considerable increase in yield can be expected with confidence. The very
richness of the soil and the kindliness of the climate has tempted
growers to adopt speculative methods of growing wheat. The main idea has
been to put a large area under crop on the chance of striking a good
year, when a small fortune may be realised. But growers are being
educated to the value of more careful methods as paying best in the long
run. The average yield in Australia has been about 11 to 13 bushels per
acre. The total area under wheat and the wheat yield in the different
Australian States for the season 1913-14 was:--
+------------------+---------------+------------------+-----------+
| | | | Average |
| State. | Area.--Acres. | Yield.--Bushels. | per Acre. |
|------------------+---------------+------------------+-----------+
|New South Wales | 3,206,600 | 38,043,360 | 11.09 |
|Victoria | 2,786,421 | 32,936,245 | 12.84 |
|South Australia | 2,699,632 | 16,736,988 | 7.47 |
|Western Australia | 1,104,753 | 13,496,242 | 12.02 |
|Queensland | 132,655 | 1,769,432 | 13.34 |
|Tasmania[A] | 18,054 | 421,380 | 23.33 |
| |---------------|------------------+-----------+
| | 9,948,115 | 103,403,647 | 10.39 |
+------------------+---------------+------------------+-----------+
[Footnote A: Estimated.]
As stated, compared with some of the older countries, such averages seem
small, yet in the dry districts of Australia they mean a reasonable
margin of profit. In such districts it is estimated that a 10-bushel
crop per acre will pay $0.60 per bushel. Of late years the price
received by growers has averaged about $0.84 per bushel.
[Illustration: DISC PLOUGHS ARE POPULAR IN AUSTRALIA.]
The average return does not show what a district or country is capable
of producing, as it is reduced by the low yields of careless and
unskilled farmers. The men are responsible, and not the soil or climate.
There are thousands of farmers who never have a lower average than 20 to
25 bushels, while in some well-farmed districts a whole locality has
averaged nearly 30 bushels to the acre. The whole tendency now is
towards more careful methods and higher averages, and this will mean
greater prosperity for the farmers. As it is, men have been wonderfully
successful in growing wheat in Australia, and if this is the case with
the careless, largely happy-go-lucky style of the past, the prospect is
extremely promising for the future. In a way, new men coming into
Australia, and taking up wheatgrowing, stand a better chance than many
of the long-settled farmers who have got into a groove--even a
profitable one--and who do not care to bother greatly with progressive
ideas. The new comer has no preconceived notions, and comes with an open
mind adaptable to the teachings of experience.
The new settler has his path made easy by the attention the Governments
of the different States are giving to wheatgrowing. In all the States
there is a Department of Agriculture, and all its accumulated knowledge
is available to the farmer. In all the principal States there are
Government Experiment Farms, where new wheats are tried, and also the
best methods; the results are furnished to the public. In most of the
wheat districts there are demonstration plots showing the best varieties
to grow in the different localities. The new settler is advised what
varieties to grow in his locality, and when to grow them, what amount of
fertiliser to use, and the best methods of handling his land. In any
difficulty the resources of the Department of Agriculture are at his
service. At the Government farms crops of the best wheats are grown, and
the seed distributed amongst the farmers, while inspectors are
continually travelling through the country lecturing and visiting the
growers, and advising them, whenever advice is asked for. With such
facilities the future of the settler practically depends upon the use he
makes of his opportunities, and the opportunities are unsurpassed in any
other country.
[Illustration: PUTTING IN SEED.]
In the wheat districts the summer is warm, and the thermometer often
registers over 100 degs. Fahr., but it is a dry, healthy heat that is
not as uncomfortable as the lower temperatures in moister climates. The
warm weather holds for two or three months in midsummer, when the heat
during the day is trying, but for the remainder of the year the climate
is perfect. The winter is mild, so much so that live stock need no
shelter, and often fatten on the natural pasture throughout the year.
Farming operations can be conducted throughout the year. There is no
snow or period when work is practically at a standstill.
AUSTRALIAN WHEAT AREA.
On the average of the past five years the wheat yield of Australia
represents about 2 per cent. of the world's production. The return per
acre is low, but as has been pointed out, the cost of production is
likewise low, and it is doubtful if in any other country the business of
growing wheat is more profitable. The area now cultivated is but a mere
percentage of what could be put under wheat profitably. The exact area
is almost impossible to arrive at, for the simple reason that with
improved methods and better varieties of wheat, the extent of country in
which the cereal can be successfully grown increases.
For practical purposes the area deemed suitable for wheatgrowing is that
which has sufficient rainfall to admit of ploughing being carried out at
the right time of the year, as already stated, from March to June, to
cover the growing period, and to fill the grain during September and
October. In other words, it is not so much a matter of what the annual
rainfall is as when the rain usually falls. The State of New South Wales
for example. For a long time land with less than a rainfall of 20 in.
has been excluded from the area considered safe for profitable
wheatgrowing. Even then the area in that State suitable for wheat covers
25 million acres. In the State of South Australia farmers place the
annual rainfall limit at 16 in., provided it is regular and the land is
properly worked. If wheat can be grown on that rainfall in the latter
State, and the evidence is that it certainly can, at least another
10,000,000 acres can be added to the wheat belt of the State. Although,
therefore, the present area under wheat (1913-14) is only 3,206,600
acres, there are 35,000,000 acres on a moderate estimate in New South
Wales alone that can grow wheat profitably. And experiments in the west
show that a still greater extension of the wheat belt can be looked for,
especially with improvement in the breeding of varieties suitable for
the dryer districts. At present, however, there is no necessity for
settlers to go outside the area of "safe country."
[Illustration: (1) TYPICAL AUSTRALIAN FARM SCENE. (2) PREPARING WHEAT
FOR HARVEST. (3) PLOUGHING.]
What can be achieved in dry districts with a limited and intermittent
rainfall has been most forcibly proved by experience. At Messrs. Gagie
Bros.' farm, Spy Hill, West Wyalong, New South Wales, a yield of 24
bushels of wheat was obtained in the 1911-12 season on a rainfall of 668
points--less than 7 in.! Of course, such a crop could not be grown on
such a rainfall alone, as a much larger quantity of water would be
required to produce that amount of wheat. The crop during the growing
period only received 668 points of rain, but in the land on which it was
grown, and which was fallowed and properly worked, a large quantity of
moisture was stored from the previous year, and on this reserve the
growing crop grew, and with the additional 668 points that fell during
the growing period a yield of 24 bushels per acre was obtained.
Still more remarkable were the results obtained in the same season from
experiment plots on the farm of Mr. Carew, Deniliquin, in the same
State. The seed was sown on well-worked fallow land in which a good
amount of the previous year's rainfall had been conserved. The rainfall
during the growing period was 322 points, distributed as follows:--May,
210; June, 60; July, 12; August, nil; September, 37; October, 3 points.
Under ordinary conditions such a rainfall would mean utter failure of a
wheat crop, yet in this case a yield of 14 bushels per acre was
obtained.
[Illustration: A FINE CROP OF WHEAT.]
Again at Mr. G. Laidlaw's farm, "Elm Park," Jindera, Albury, New South
Wales, 28 bushels 56 lbs. were obtained on fallowed land with a rainfall
of 752 points.
With a seasonal distribution of rain wheat can be successfully grown
with an average of 10 in. There are growers in country that ten years
ago was considered outside the wheat belt, that is, the safe country,
who for the last five years have never harvested less than an average of
25 bushels per acre. Yet an average of 12 to 15 bushels has proved
profitable.
In Victoria, wheatgrowing can increase fivefold before the whole of the
suitable land is brought under the plough. The wheat crop of that State
should, if the settlers are forthcoming, within a few years reach
8,000,000 acres, provided that one-third of each farm is regularly
cultivated. The area under wheat in 1913-14 was 2,786,421 acres, so
there is room for thousands of growers yet.
In South Australia and in Western Australia there are immense areas,
running into millions of acres, which yet remain to be brought under
wheat. In Queensland wheatgrowing practically remains to be developed.
At present stockraising proves most profitable, but there is no question
that in the course of time that State will add immensely to the wheat
belt of the Commonwealth. In all the States the usual course has been
for wheat to follow stockraising, after the latter have sweetened and
improved the soil, making it more compact and suitable for cultivation.
In new lands, where the soil has been practically untrodden for ages, it
is seldom immediately suitable for the cultivation of wheat, in what
later on proved to be ideal wheat districts. Therefore, in such a vast
country as Australia, which totals 2,974,581 square miles, it is beyond
man's calculations to even estimate what proportion may ultimately come
under the plough.
At the present time, however, it is far from extravagant to say that
while Australia is now, roughly, producing 100,000,000 bushels of wheat
on 10,000,000 acres, it is capable, without improving the average yield,
of producing 1,000,000,000 bushels of wheat from 100,000,000 acres. And
as the experience of good farms has conclusively demonstrated that the
average yield could be much greater than it is at present, with good
farming methods, the general use of more suitable varieties of wheat,
not to mention the still greater improvement in the breeding of suitable
wheats, that yield should certainly be half as much again. Australia
therefore stands out as promising to be one of the greatest
wheat-producing countries in the world.
[Illustration: AUSTRALIA'S AVERAGE WHEAT YIELD IS FROM 11 TO 13 BUSHELS
PER ACRE, BUT THOUSANDS OF FARMS YIELD FROM 20 TO 25 BUSHELS PER ACRE.]
Australia has the land and climate; she wants the men.
There is a large area of country in Victoria, South Australia, and New
South Wales known as the Mallee, the name being derived from a dense
dwarf eucalyptus scrub which covers the land in its natural state. For a
long period this land was deemed unfit for wheatgrowing on account
mainly of the low rainfall, and, away from the River Murray, absence of
water supply. Experience has long since proved that it is very
profitable wheat land when properly worked, while the discovery of a
sub-artesian water supply and good water-holding country has overcome
most of the difficulty that first faced settlement. There is a large
area of this land available for share farming, and a great area is also
being opened up for settlement, particularly in South Australia. There
is thus a sound prospect fronting the new settler, as he might start on
the Mallee country share farming, and on what he has earned establish
himself on a holding of his own, with all the advantage of a practical
experience of that particular type of land and the climate. The Mallee
soil is mostly sandy loam, but red and black loams, varying from sand to
clay, are found. It is a low elevation above sea level, but the country
is undulating. The vegetation is reckoned a sound guide to the quality
of the soil for wheatgrowing; indeed, this same principle can be
accepted in all parts of the wheat belt. On the Mallee the richest parts
are denoted by the pines and bull oak trees, while the large and small
Mallee marks good and medium loams and clays.
The Mallee land is suitable for handling by the man with small means,
either on a farm of his own or as a share farmer, as in the first case
the clearing is cheap, while in the second he can handle a large area.
The scrub is broken down by rollers, and is comparatively easily
eradicated. For a time young suckers come up amongst the wheat crop, but
they are burnt off when the standing stubble is burnt after the crop has
been taken off, and in time quite cleaned out. The soil is naturally
rich in potash, nitrogen, and lime, but requires superphosphate, as the
percentage of phosphoric acid is low. Although the average yield is
lower than other parts of the wheat belt, wheatgrowing has proved very
profitable in the Mallee country, and there is plenty of evidence of
that fact.
In Victoria the Mallee country is an important part of the wheat belt of
that State, there being over 800,000 acres under wheat last season
(1913-14) out of a total area for that State of 2,786,421 acres. Yet it
is only within the last ten years that it has had any reputation for
farming, being mostly looked upon as useless. Most of the first settlers
were share farmers with little capital, but with brains and energy, and
many of them are now worth from $50,000.00 to $100,000.00. There were
failures in the early days, because there was want of knowledge of the
proper methods of working low-rainfall country for growing wheat, and
also proper methods and lack of proper implements for that class of
country. Suitable implements, especially "stump-jump" implements, have
been evolved, and there is a solid guide for the new settlers to follow.
One of the leading farmers in the Mallee country in Victoria, Mr. R.
Blackwood, at Hopetoun, where the soil is of average quality and the
rainfall less than 14 in., started on the share system in 1892. It was
seven years before he adopted the "bare fallow" method, an essential in
such country, and since doing so he has averaged 16 bushels per acre. In
the record dry year (1902) his crop went 8 bushels to the acre, and paid
working expenses. By 1913 he was the owner of 5000 acres. He crops about
650 acres each year, and fallows about the same area, working on a
three-year rotation of fallow, wheat, grazing.
[Illustration: CARTING STOOKS.]
FACTORS GOVERNING WHEATGROWING.
The principal factors governing wheatgrowing in Australia are:--
Conservation of soil moisture by fallowing the land.
Sowing of varieties of wheat most suitable for the different
districts.
Judicious use of fertilisers.
The settler has not to find these things out for himself. He has the
assistance of well-organised and progressive departments of agriculture
in the different States to tell him what to do, how and when to do it.
The working of his land is a matter upon which he will be fully
informed. He will have the scientific experience of the departmental
experts, the examples of local experimental plots, and the experience of
working farmers to guide him in regard to the best method of working his
soil. Methods vary somewhat in different soils and districts, as has
been previously stated.
He is informed as to the best varieties to sow in his district and the
proper time to sow them. The completeness of that information can be
gathered from the following particulars which are supplied by the
Department of Agriculture in New South Wales every season. Similar
information is furnished in other States. In New South Wales a
classification of varieties of wheat is made by the department, and a
table published for the information of wheatgrowers. The following is
the classification for the season 1913-14:--
With regard to time of maturity varieties of wheat recommended were
classified as follows:--
Very Early.--Bunyip, Florence, Firbank.
Early.--Comeback, Thew, Steinwedel.
Mid-season.--Bobs, John Brown, Cedar, Warren, Federation, Bayah,
Rymer.
Late.--Jonathan, Marshall's No. 3, Zealand, Yandilla King,
Cleveland, Huguenot.
Very Late.--Hayne's Blue Stem.
In respect of time of sowing the varieties mentioned above were
recommended in inverse order.
Just as the farmer is advised as to the most suitable varieties of wheat
for his district, so experiments are conducted to ascertain the most
useful quantity of manure, and full particulars made available in the
agricultural gazettes or journals which are published in the different
States, as well as being made available in bulletin form. The question
of manuring is a very important one to the wheatgrower, as it influences
the yield greatly in most of the principal areas, if not all. As
Australian wheat soils possess abundance of nitrogen and sufficient
potash, but are mostly deficient in phosphoric acid, the manure chiefly
used on the wheatfields is superphosphates. There are some localities
where further experiment is required to definitely ascertain the most
suitable fertiliser, but in the main superphosphate is the requirement,
and practically the only manure used. This has been the course proved
most satisfactory by practical experience in wheatgrowing, and careful
experiment also with nitrogenous, pathonic, and phosphate manures,
singly and combined. Superphosphate has proved superior to bonedust or
basic slag; sulphate of potash has not increased the yield, while
nitrogenous fertilisers, such as dried blood or sulphate of ammonia,
have proved either useless or harmful. In New South Wales the quantity
of superphosphate usually used is 56 lbs. per acre, and the same
quantity is generally applied in Victoria, but in South Australia the
dressings are much heavier, running from 1 cwt. to 2 cwts. per acre. In
New South Wales experiments carried out clearly prove that larger
quantities, say, 84-112 lbs. to the acre, do not result in bigger yields
being obtained, while the still heavier quantities, 1-1/2 to 2 cwt.,
have actually resulted in poorer yields.
In Victoria about 56 lbs. of superphosphate to the acre is also the
usual thing, but the amount used averages probably from 56 to 84 lbs.;
the drier districts require less, and the wetter districts more, than
these amounts. Remarkable results are obtained from such small dressings
as 30 lbs. of superphosphate.
In South Australia heavier dressings of superphosphate are used than in
the other States. Wheatgrowing in South Australia was, in fact,
revolutionised and changed into a most profitable business through the
introduction and general practice of using this artificial fertiliser.
[Illustration: WITH AUSTRALIAN STRIPPER HARVESTERS WHEAT IS HARVESTED,
THRESHED AND PUT INTO THE BAG FOR 8 TO 10 CENTS PER BUSHEL.]
Commercial fertilisers are analysed by the Departments of Agriculture,
and official lists are published showing their content.
The Australian wheatgrower is practically not troubled with wheat
diseases. Thirty years ago rust was a trouble, but the breeding of
rust-resistant varieties of wheat has effectually overcome that
drawback, and rust is seldom, if ever, heard of now. In addition,
wheatgrowing is now carried on in districts where the conditions are
seldom favourable to rust, which is only liable to cause serious loss
when there is hot, moist weather late in the spring. This weather is
very rarely experienced in the Australian wheat belt, and certainly
little has been heard of rust for many years.
Smut is the only other important parasitic disease, but as the practice
of "pickling" seed before sowing is extending, this trouble has
practically disappeared. Bunt or stinking smut is so called because it
has an objectionable smell, which makes its presence known in the grain
and deteriorates its value. As stated, it can be readily prevented by
treating the seed. Smut belongs to a low form of plant life, and the
plant is produced from a seed, which in its turn matures and produces
other seed, which are microscopic and are known as spores. These spores
are found when matured in masses occupying the place of the wheat
kernels, and these masses are called bunt-balls. The chief and almost
only cause of smut is sowing wheat seed which has healthy smut spores
attached to it. By destroying the vitality of these spores the grain
crop will be clean.
The most common solutions for pickling wheat seed are bluestone (copper
sulphate) 1-1/2 lb. to 10 gallons of water, and formalin 1 lb. to 45
gallons of water. Bunt balls are lighter than wheat, and float in water,
so if the wheat to be treated is poured slowly into the pickle, and in
such a way that the bunt balls will not be carried down by the grain,
they will float on top, and can be skimmed off and destroyed. The
details of pickling vary on different farms, but a common method is to
place the wheat about 2 bushels at a time in loosely-tied butts or bags,
and then by means of a lever it is lowered into the solution for two or
three minutes, when it is raised on to a sloping trough, where the
superfluous solution can drain back into the cask. Another method is to
place the seed wheat, either loose or in bags, in elevated casks or
troughs made out of hollow logs, and pour the bluestone solution over
it. After it has remained on the wheat the necessary time it is run off
into another cask or trough placed in a lower position. After the seed
has been treated it requires some time drying before it can be sown
through the drill. All that is necessary is to place the butts where
they can drain freely, and the seed will be ready to sow after a few
hours.
The fullest particulars as to the best way of combating this disease or
any minor trouble is always obtainable from the Departments of
Agriculture in the various States.
"Take-all" occasionally affects wheat crops growing under any
disadvantageous set of conditions, but good farming is a remedy for that
trouble, which is a minor one.
SECURING A WHEAT FARM.
Wheat land may be secured through public or private channels, but the
area of available Government lands is greater in some States than
others. The landseeker having decided in which State he is going to
reside, will adopt the means of securing a wheat farm best suited to his
capital. Not only are Crown lands being opened up, principally by
railway construction, but in some States the Government purchases
private estates, which are subdivided and sold in small areas to farmers
on exceptionally easy terms. Estates are also being constantly so
subdivided by private owners, and sold on terms extending over ten,
fifteen, and twenty years. With ordinary good fortune the farmer going
on such estates is in a sound and safe position after three or four
seasons. If he has the misfortune to experience a dry season at the
start, it will, of course, take him longer to work to independence, as
can easily be understood. On the other hand a normal year will see him
well started and safe for another two or three seasons, while a really
good year will place him in a position which means that only
carelessness and improvidence can prevent him from attaining comfortable
and practically independent circumstances.
In the different States information can be obtained from the Government
Information Bureau or Departments of Lands as to what Government lands
are available for settlement.
[Illustration: HARVESTER AS USED IN AUSTRALIA.]
The particulars of private lands for sale may be obtained from city and
country agents. They vary considerably in price according to the
locality, nature of improvements and proximity to railways. They may be
said to range from $16.80 to $38.40 per acre for improved land. In the
majority of cases such lands are either cleared or partly cleared, and
the settler is able to put in a crop right away, providing he obtains
possession at a seasonable time. The ploughing and sowing period is
mainly in April and May, and running to June, harvesting taking place in
November and December. The almost invariable practice in Australia is to
combine wheatgrowing and sheepfarming. Sheep are especially profitable
in Australia. This is an excellent combination, as the busy periods do
not clash, and the sheep help to fertilise the land, clear the stubble
paddocks, and are also often useful for the purpose of eating down a
crop in the early stages where it may be making an unduly rapid growth.
In most districts 250 acres of wheat is as much as one man can manage
without outside help, except at harvest time, although some energetic
farmers manage 300 acres. In the more settled districts wheat farms
usually range from 300 to 600 acres, but larger farms, up to four and
five thousand acres, are common. They are either worked on shares (see
p. 38), or with hired labour, and are usually owned by men who have
started on a small area, and increased it by subsequent purchase with
money made from wheatgrowing. On many large properties hitherto devoted
to sheepraising the practice is growing of putting down a large area
under wheat.
It is not practical to definitely state the amount of capital required
to purchase and prepare an area of land for a wheat farm. Much will
depend upon the capacity and experience, business acumen, and
resourcefulness of the settler, as is the case in all callings, but the
detailed information given in these pages should enable the intending
settler to work out the amount approximately required by his condition
and the lines he intends adopting.
WORKING PLANT REQUIRED.
The intending settler has to consider not only the capital required to
secure his farm, whatever its nature, but also the expenditure necessary
in obtaining a working farm plant. Prices of machinery cover a wide
range, according to size, &c. In working 200 to 250 acres of wheat
crop, the following plant would be required, and the prices given are
approximately correct:--
Five horses (good selected mares, if possible,
that will give an annual return of, say,
four foals), at $144 per head $720.00
Five sets of harness 72.00
One dray and set harness 86.00
One four-furrow plough 144.00
One set of harrows 33.00
One seed drill 182.00
One cultivator 96.00
------
Implements for putting in and working
growing crop $1333.00
One reaper and binder 142.00
One stripper-harvester 430.00
--------
Total $1905.00
[Illustration: STEAM THRESHER AT WORK.]
A chaffcutter ($67.00) might be added to the above list, and in some
localities a roller, costing about $19.00, is required. The price of
horses varies. In the above list they have been placed at $144.00, but
suitable animals may be secured for $96.00 to $120.00 per head. As soon
as he can manage it the new farmer will want to get a waggon ($168.00).
He will soon want a vehicle to move about in, a sulky ($72.00 to
$96.00), a light horse and harness, saddle, &c. Minor implements and
tools for fencing, carpentering, building, and so on will be wanted, and
altogether it would be well to reckon that working plant generally will
cost about $2400.00. To work a large area would not cost more
proportionately by any means; it is reckoned that an area of 600 acres
of cultivation costs about $3360.00 for working plant.
All the above parts of the plant would not be required at once, and the
above amounts can be greatly reduced by obtaining smaller implements,
lighter horses, and so on. Furthermore, it is not necessary that the
full amount should be paid down for the plant. Cash would have to be
paid for the horses, but machinery and most of the balance of the plant
can be acquired on terms, part payment being in cash, while the balance
runs over till after harvest, or even over two seasons. Usually
one-third is paid in cash, and the balance about February or March,
after the farmer has received the money for his crop. It is to the
interest of the machinery firms, storekeepers, and others who do
business with the wheatfarmer to help him as far as possible, especially
in the early years, and in Australia, when a man shows he is honest and
hard-working, he will receive every consideration in this direction.
The wheatgrower has also to allow for the keep of himself and his family
while waiting for his crop to ripen.
In the above plant a stripper-harvester has been allowed for, but if a
stripper and winnower be used instead, the cost for implements would be
about $120.00 less. On the other hand, more labour would be required to
work them. The utilisation of the stripper-harvester is the most popular
method of taking off a wheat crop.
The stripper is an Australian invention. It is a machine drawn through
the ripe standing crop by three or four horses attached to its side. The
horses walk in the stubble of the harvested portion. The ripe ears
coming within reach of the machine, which has a 5-ft. cut, are gathered
by a comb, and directed to a cutting plate, where the beater drum cuts
them from the straw and threshes the grain out. At the same time the
grain, with the chaff and some straw, is thrown into a receptacle at the
back of the machine. When this is full the stripper is driven to a
picked place in the paddock and emptied. Here a winnower has been
placed, and the mixture of grain and rubbish out of the stripper is put
through this winnower, which cleans and bags the wheat ready for market.
In fair crops one winnower, with four men to work it, will keep two
strippers going.
The stripper-harvester is another Australian invention. It is an
improvement on the stripper, and is now in more general use. It is
really a combined stripper and winnower. It takes off the heads of
wheat, and also threshes and cleans them as it goes along, and delivers
the grain into bags at the side of the machine. This reduces the cost of
harvesting, as less labour is required. Two men can work a harvester,
one driving the machine while the other removes and sews up the bags.
The machines cut 5 to 6 ft., but 8-ft. machines have proved successful
of late, and with them a good area can be handled in a day. The smaller
machine will strip about 10 acres of a fair crop in a working day.
[Illustration: (1) STEAM THRESHER. (2) STOOK-BUILDING. (3) HARVEST
PICNIC. (4) BALING FOR EXPORT. (5) STOOKS READY FOR CARTING.]
WORKING THE WHEAT FARM.
The settler having acquired his land, he will require to fence in his
holding, and also subdivide it into convenient paddocks or fields. All
Australian farms are fenced, and in districts in which the rabbit is a
menace the boundary fences are wire-netted. Unless timber is very
plentiful wire fences are almost universal. Posts, which are obtained
from timber on the farm that is fallen, and split into the necessary
lengths, are erected 9 or 11 ft. apart, with six or seven wires running
through them. Sometimes the posts are put at a greater distance apart,
and "droppers" placed between them at distances of 7 or 8 ft. Some of
these droppers are of split timber, but patent droppers, made of wire
and iron, can be obtained. Where timber is scarce such fences are
cheaper. The droppers hold the wires to which they are attached in their
place, but are not sunk into the ground. Fencing costs about $144.00 to
$168.00 per mile. Netting the fences to keep out the rabbit costs an
additional $192.00 to $240.00 per mile. If the new farm consists of
improved, that is, cleared or partly cleared land, the settler will
probably get his crop in before he does his fencing. It would be better
for him to do that than leave his sowing till unduly late.
Where green timber has to be cleared off the land it is ringbarked
first, and the trees allowed to die before they are grubbed out.
Ringbarking consists of cutting a small strip of bark from around the
trunk of the tree to prevent the flow of sap keeping it alive. After
ringbarking, the trees usually throw out young shoots or "suckers,"
which have to be broken off. Usually this has to be done twice, and is
called suckering. The deeper the trees are ringbarked, the bigger the
piece of bark removed, the sooner it will die, but there is then a
greater tendency to throw out suckers. The trees take two or three years
to die, then they are grubbed and burnt. It is very seldom that the
green trees are cut out at once, as this is very much more expensive,
and for some time after removal the ground is too sour to be good for
wheat or other crops. When the country is ringbarked the ground
sweetens, and by the time the tree is dead is ready for cropping. While
the trees are dying the country is usually used for grazing sheep and
other stock, as it will be carrying good pasture. Of recent years a
system has been tried, with considerable success, of poisoning the green
timber with a mixture of arsenic and soda and water. A ring is chopped
round the tree, and the bark thus makes a rough cup, into which the
mixture is poured. This treatment has proved very effective.
The cost of ringbarking and all similar operations, of course, depends
upon the amount of timber on the country, but it usually costs from 24
cents to 30 cents per acre, while suckering costs 8 cents to 12 cents
per acre. After the trees are dead they are grubbed or burnt out, all
roots to 12 or 18 in. depth being removed, and this work costs from
$2.80 to $3.60 per acre. In some cases the country is what is known as
"Yankee-grubbed," in which case the trees are cut off level with the
ground, and roots allowed to remain in below the surface. When the
country was used for grazing only, this was found a cheap and efficient
method, but nevertheless only a small proportion of Australian wheat
country has been so treated. To cultivate "Yankee-grubbed" country what
are known as stump-jump implements, ploughs and cultivators are used.
These are available on the market, and as "Yankee-grubbing" is certainly
cheaper than the usual method of grubbing, it has some attraction to the
man with limited capital. The more careful farmers, however, do not
advocate this method.
[Illustration: THRESHING BY HORSE POWER.]
It must be remembered that the above prices for clearing are where
labour has to be employed. It must also be remembered that the amount of
timber on different classes of wheat country in the different States
varies very much, so while it is usually estimated that clearing land
for wheat costs about $4.30 per acre, it does not mean that it will
always cost that, or, in any case, that the settler has to pay that
amount out in cash. After the timber is grubbed and pulled down it is
usually piled together and burnt. It burns well, and the burning
enriches the soil. The settler starting in to clear his farm has ever
the future picture in mind of when the work is done, and he has a
beautifully-cleared, improved property on which to spend the latter
years of his life. And there is no finer picture than an improved wheat
farm, with its alternation of park-like paddocks, paddocks carrying a
flock of sheep, paddocks of growing crops, and paddocks of fallowing
ploughed land ready for the crop next season, or perhaps carrying a
rotation crop of oats, rape, or cowpea. The homestead, surrounded by its
orchard, stables, hayshed, and machinery sheds, and poultry run, will
stand upon a rise, from which the whole property can be surveyed. And
to none is the picture finer than to the man who by his own toil and
energy has cleared and improved most of those paddocks. Such wheat farms
are to be found in thousands throughout Australia.
One of the first things the settler has to do is to provide a water
supply. It is the exception to find wheat farms with a natural permanent
water supply, such as a creek or river. In most cases the settler
depends upon tanks or dams for watering his stock. A suitable low-lying
site is picked, and the earth is scooped out and banked up at the end
and sides, so there is a hole into which the rainwater runs, following
the natural lay of the country, and assisted and directed by drains and
gutters. These tanks, as they are called, usually range from 1000 to
2000 cubic yards, and cost up to 24 cents or 30 cents per yard to
excavate. In most districts the country holds water splendidly, and when
the tank is filled by the autumn and winter rains it will carry through
the summer. For domestic use galvanised tanks are depended upon, being
placed to catch the rainwater off the rooms of the homestead buildings.
In some districts water is obtained by sinking shallow wells. In parts
of the wheat country sub-artesian wells are also common, good water
being obtained by boring 200 to 300 ft., when an unfailing supply of
good water for stock is secured. The real artesian country, where deep
bores are sunk for water, is outside the present wheat belt.
In the season ploughing usually starts at 7.30 a.m. and goes on until
5.30 p.m., with a break of a couple of hours during the day for dinner;
that is, where labour is employed. The settler himself handling his own
land usually works from dawn till dark, using changes of horses during
the day. Both mouldboard and disc ploughs are in use, some soils suiting
one and some the other, while use for both will often be found on the
one farm. The four-furrow plough, drawn by five or six horses, is most
favoured, and with it four to six acres will be done in a day. Harrowing
is done with a set of three to six sections of tines, covering from 12
to 20 ft. in width, and doing 15 to 20 acres a day. The bulk of the
sowing is done with a combined drill, which plants the seed and
distributes artificial fertiliser at the same time. The amount of seed
sown per acre varies from 25 to 45 lbs., and even up to 100 lbs. in some
parts of the Commonwealth, while usually about the same amount of
superphosphate is distributed, 45 to 60 lbs. being the most common
quantity. Both hoes and disc drills are in use, ranging from twelve to
fifteen tubes, the tubes being 7 in. apart. These particulars apply
mostly to the man cultivating 200 to 300 acres himself.
It is often found beneficial to harrow the growing crop until it is 3 or
4 in. high. While the crop is growing the settler will find plenty to do
in clearing and improving his property, attending to his sheep, and so
on. If he is on shares he will find work for his team and himself on
other properties, at contract work, or on the local roads.
Harvest time comes well on in the summer, and for several weeks everyone
is busy on the farm. It is usual when putting in a wheat crop to sow a
portion for hay. Either a separate crop is sown or a special variety
suitable for hay is sown around the main grain crop. This is cut with
the reaper and binder just after the wheat plant has flowered. The
sheaves, which are tied by the machine, are stooked in the paddock for
ten or fourteen days until dry enough to be carted in and stacked. The
climate--as a rule fine weather prevails--is favourable to haymaking,
and a bright-coloured nutritious hay is produced. The average yield is a
ton to one ton and a-half to the acre, but three, four, and even five
ton crops are taken off, but that is usually in a crop sown and
cultivated specially for hay with the intention of supplying the chaff
market, which is an industry in itself. The wheatfarmer, properly
speaking, only cuts what he will require for his own horses. A reaper
and binder is drawn by three horses, and will cut from 10 to 12 acres
per day. One man is required to drive the machine, and one or two men to
pick up and stook the sheaves. Some farmers cut their own hay for chaff,
working the machine either by hand or with horse-works for turning the
cutting wheel, but the majority have the hay cut by contractors, who
travel through the country with a special plant for the purpose,
charging $2.16 per ton for cutting. After a portion round the edges of
the crops has been cut for hay a strip of land is ploughed around the
crop in the stubble for the purpose of making a break in case of fire,
and thus enabling a fire that might approach the crop being controlled
on the bare ploughed ground.
[Illustration: CARTING WHEAT TO RAILWAY STATION.]