Mallee - Part 2

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stone outcropping, and in some places it is unworkable on that account.

Area held : My block consists of 1,795 acres.

Present value : With improvements, it is worth, say, £2 per acres.

Methods of clearing : the scrub is generally rolled in the winter and burnt off during the following summer. The contract price for rolling ranges from 3s. to 5s. per acres.

Methods of cultivation : Many crops are put in the first year without cultivation whatever, and in a good year such crops are nearly equal to those grown on worked land. After the first year, however, ploughing is generally the practice. A light plough with from 10 to 14 furrows is very popular. In the event of a bad burn being obtained it is often necessary to resort to a disc implement.

Quantity of seed used : Light seeing is most profitable; the general run of settlers favour 45lbs., but for a late wheat, early sown, 30lbs.; and an early wheat late sown, 60lbs. is sometimes used. During the season just closed I experimented with Federation, with 30, 45, 60, and 75lbs. per acre. The results were 324, 308, 327, and 290lbs. respectively.

Quantity of super used : At the rate of 60lbs. is mostly applied, the inclination being towards a larger quantity, say up to 80lbs. In the past year an experiment with 56, 80, 112, and 156lbs. did not disclose any appreciable difference in yields.

Average rainfall :— Since the land was allotted :—

Year. — Inches.

1912 .. .. — .. 12•32

1913 .. .. — .. 13•37

1914 .. .. — .. 7•03

1915 .. .. — .. 12•25

1916 .. .. — .. 22•10

Wheat returns :

Year — 1912. — 1913. — 1914. — 1915. — 1916.

Bushels — 9 — 6 — nil — 10 — 11

General remarks : It has been found that good cultivation pays; but at the same time in isolated cases crops equally good have been grown on land that has not been properly worked. In the 1916 season, reports were very general that the later the cultivation the better the crop. Water can be secured unfailingly by boring at depths varying up to 300 feet according to the site of the bore being on high or low ground. The difficulty mostly experienced is want of capital. The impression is pretty general that mallee land is suitable for the poor man; but unless the first seasons are good this is not so. Owing to the short growing season early and mid-season wheats are mostly grown. Federation is very popular; Gluyas returns well but is very weak strawed and goes down, especially on the stronger land. Budds and Walker's Wonder did well last year. These wheats are very similar. The mistake most apparent is for settlers to roll down too much scrub in the early years and consequently cannot contend with the shoots. Oats do well on the sandy soil, but prices are generally too low to be profitable. As a good stubble burn is assured after an oat crop, this is one of the best means of subjugating the mallee and broom bush—which latter is harder to get rid of than the mallee. I do not think a mallee farmer should be expected to cart produce more than about seven miles to the railway or seaboard.

A. .B THIELE, farmer, of Sutherlands.

Situation of holdings : Hundreds of Neales and Brownlow, near the Adelaide-Morgan railway, 25 miles from Morgan.

Area held : 878 acres.

Description of land : Limestone and limestone rubble.

Original cost of land : 7s. 6d. per acre.

Present value : With improvements, about 37s. 6d. per acre.

Methods of clearing : The land has been partly grubbed and partly mullenised, the grubbing costing about £3 and the mullenising £1 an acre. No rolling could be done here, it was all axe work.

Cultivation methods : As usual, ploughing, harrowing, cultivating and fallowing have always been in vogue. Most farmers here are now using the seed drill, drilling in about three-quarter bushel of seed, but super is rarely used as we generally have a dry spell towards the end of the season and any rank grown wheat suffers badly.

Average annual rainfall : for the last six years (as far as I can gather from the records here) about 10 inches, but often a good portion of this falls in the summer when it is of little value. In this average is last year's rainfall of 17 inches which is an exceptional fall here.

Average wheat returns : The average returns for the last six years have been about five bushels. My own average wheat returns since 1900 are as follows:—

1900—6 bushels

1901—nil

1902—nil

1903—5 bushels

1904—1½ bushels

1905—1½ bushels

1906—3 bushels

1907—2½ bushels

1908—2½ bushels

1909—3 bushels

1910—12 bushels

1911—3½ bushels

1912—3 bushels

1913—nil

1914—nil

1915—6½ bushels

1916—17 bushels

General remarks : Water conservation is by means of dams where clay can be found, but in many instances it lies too deep; then underground tanks have to be made and they are generally built up of concrete or of masonry work of lime and sand and limestone with a coating of cement and sand, which all means a lot of work and expense. There is no possibility of securing a supply by sinking wells, as all the wells that have been sunk resulted in a failure by striking sea water. The main difficulties here with the mallee farmers are the drought years, often two in succession, such as 1913 and 1914, when stock dies or has to be sold for next to nothing, and when better seasons come it has to be bought again in many instances for high prices. As to experiences in the early years, I might say it would do anybody good to go through them, as it would tend to teach economy, but I shall refrain from stating any as it would not be very encouraging to a selector. Experiments with seed show that the best wheat for this district is Federation and principally early varieties.

A. J. A. KOCH, farmer, of Lameroo.

Location of holding : Hundred of Bews, County Chandos.

Original cost of land : Per acre 5s. to 10s. covenant to purchase, according to distance from railway and nature of soil. My block originally cost 20s. per acre.

Character of land : With the exception of a few high hills, practically the whole area is arable. It is described by surveyor as chocolate soil over clay, sandy soil over clay; some light chocolate, some heavy; the two latter mostly between sandy rises running east and west. My land is comprised mostly of chocolate loam interspersed with low sand rises; two-thirds of the former and one-third of the latter.

Area held : 975 acres. The average farms in the district are 1,000 acres.

Present value : My farm is worth about £5 per acre. Some land has been sold as high as £10, a good lot at £6 and £7, down to as low as original cost, according to quality of land and improvements, also location.

Method of clearing : A wooden or boiler roller is generally used. Land around Lameroo had to be axed down in some instances. The cost according to variety and size of mallee (up to 12ft. high) was 4s. to 5s. per acre and 10s. to 12s. for axe work. Very little of the latter work was done. After the roller, "springbacks" had to be cut costing from 1s. to 2s. 6d. per acre and depending on whether the scrub was low and bushy or high and stiffer, the latter producing fewer "springbacks".

Cultivation methods : New land after having been burnt and sticks left from fire picked up and burnt, was generally cultivated with a tine cultivator, drilled and then harrowed; often the latter operation was missed. Usually two crops of wheat were taken off in succession, and a year for pasture followed. Then, quoting from my own experience, the land was cropped with wheat, stubble burnt (with fire rake or running burn, whichever was possible), then put in with oats, either just drilled in on the burnt ground or cultivated first, then drilled and harrowed. I fallow three to four inches deep and afterwards harrow and cultivate, then keep clean with sheep, At seeding time cultivate, drill, and harrow. It is a good plan to harrow previous to drilling as it makes the seed bed more even.