Mallee - Part 2

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THE AGRICULTURAL OCCUPATION OF MALLEE LANDS, VICTORIA.

Plant Food and Mineral Contents of Mallee Soils.

Mallee soils are in such a condition of aeration from their lacustrine and aeolian origin and of desiccation from their arid situation that none of the accepted standards as to quality is of service in judging an analysis of these soils. They are practically devoid of humus and become for lengthened periods, especially in the subsoil, devoid of all interstitial and capillary moisture. A fair average Victorian mallee soil, yielding in favourable seasons over 30 bushels of wheat to the acre contains about .5 per cent. potash (KO) against .25 per cent., the accepted standard for a good soil, .04 per cent. phosphoric acid (PO) against .15 per cent. The very great deficiency in phosphoric acid is readily made up by dressings of from one-half to one hundred weight of super phosphate of 18 per cent. water soluble phosphoric acid contents, or 36 per cent. calculated as monocalcic phosphate. No beneficial result has been attained by other dressings, such as nitrogenous manures. In South Australia, the mallee soils contain less phosphoric acid, averaging about .02 per cent., and heavier dressings of super phosphate are successfully employed. The alkali contents of Victorian mallee soils vary vary much. Unfortunately, very few determinations of them are available. The chlorine contents vary greatly. Where in large quantity, it is, in the form of common salt, generally found associated with sulphate of lime or gypsum, etc. In the surface soils in the wheat-growing areas it is generally under .01 per cent., but reaches as high a figure as .15 per cent. (The figures given are for chlorine. 65 per cent. should be added to bring them to the equivalent of common salt or sodic chloride). The latter case is one of the best Victorian mallee soils, yielding very large returns of wheat. In the subsoils the salt contents are much higher. Crops of hay, oats, and wheat have been profitably grown on soils containing much higher quantities of salt than those figured above, and having in addition very large percentages of gypsum; land so salt that its vegetation is practically all samphire or beadbush (salicornia australis). Very satisfactory results have also been obtained from soils carrying mallee scrub mixed with salt-bush (atriplex sp.), but cultivation of those growing exclusively saltbush or bluebush (Kochia sedifolia) has not been successful, these soils being generally too heavy and too clayey for our light rainfalls. It may be broadly stated that the sandier the soil the lower its apparent value by analysis, contrary to actual experience in cultivation. Red sands are the richest. Yellow sands are poor, while white sands, unless of no great depth overlying a clay subsoil, are practically worthless.

Observation of the class of soil, and particularly of the vegetation growing upon it, will give the only reliable result. So far, soil analysis has only proved a hindrance to mallee settlement, and had it been heeded some of the best districts in this and the adjoining State would still be unsettled, instead of turning out yields of up to 15 bags and acre.

                                                                                 THE CREDIT SYSTEM

Successful mallee settlement is only possible when credit is freely procurable in the early stages. In Victoria the average property, whether in cash or equipment, of the new settler is about £100 only. To this he can add, should he show satisfactory evidence of an industrious nature and possess some farming experience, substantial credit from the storekeeper for his domestic requirements. from manufacturers for his implements and fertilisers, from agents for his horses, seed and many other requirements.All these things are to be paid for after harvest, sometimes in one, sometimes in several installments. Should his first harvest be poor he has little difficulty in getting renewals and further credit to carry him over another season. The amount of debt that can be accumulated in this way in a few years that is the amount of credit available, is astonishing. It is as much as £2 per acre of holding in 4 (four) years. Such credit is, however, only possible because the persons giving credit are doing part only of their business with new settlers. When there is a general failure, both with new and old settled areas, as in 1914, this credit system fails and the Government is forced to step in or else the new settlements collapse.

All this system of private credit is very costly to the farmer and in the long run highly profitable to the creditor. It has, however, one advantage and that is, its compulsory restriction of spending by the farmer. A system of credit which is automatic, or practically so, such as the Victoria system of advancing 60 per cent. on the value of improvements irrespective of the use to be made of the advance, has serious drawbacks. Any public method of giving credit must have restriction, and sever restriction at that, as its guiding principle.

But, given a proper system of credit, the settlers in the mallee country rapidly progress and become prosperous farmers, provided of course that they are hard workers. In Victoria there have been two periods of doubt, one in the older mallee from 1895 to 1902, and one in the newer mallee from 1912 to 1914. In both districts there is now great prosperity. Yet the average yield on which this has been attained is seven bushels per acre only over a period of 30 years.

EXTRACT FROM REPORT OF EVIDENCE GIVEN BY MR. A. S. KENYOS BEFORE THE BORDER RAILWAY COMMISSION, 1916

Afred Stephen Kenyon, Civil and Hydraulic Engineer, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria, sworn and examined:

Will you briefly describe, for the information of the Commission, the location of the mallee country—what it was like in its natural conditions 20 or 30 years ago, and what is its state today?—A quarter of a century ago the mallee country, which comprises one-fifth of the whole State, was given over to the rabbit. At no time had it supported any considerable population or any large number of stock, while those who ventured on pastoral pursuits, almost without exception, retired poorer than they arrived. In fact, it was generally considered to be desert, and it was seriously proposed on several occasions to exclude all settlement from its area, indeed in 1886 vermin-proof fences were erected by the Government all round it. Now there are 5,500,000 acres in agricultural occupation, with a production this year of probably 20,000,000 bushels of wheat. Besides the exclusively agricultural population there are a number of well established prosperous towns supporting many business people, artisan, and others.

What is the nature of the soil in the mallee country?—The soil is invariably of a sandy nature, and it is this character which largely explains its successful use for wheat growing. The draught is of the lightest and consequently the cost of all tillage operations is very low, while its retentiveness of moisture if high. Soil of a heavy character, such as river flats, of clayey plains, with salt bush and the like vegetation, are not of mallee formation, and are not suitable for dry farming. The mallee is divided into classes, viz., first class : pine, belar, and big mallee country; second class : big mallee with good red soil; third class : undulating ridgey country with dense scrub; fourth class : still poorer, but capable of growing wheat; and the inferior land, which is not classed at all.

Into what areas has the mallee country been divided for settlement purposes—that is the acreage per holing?—In this State the areas into which the country can be subdivided are fixed by law. For first class country the maximum holding is 640 acres; for second class, 1,000 acres; for third class, 1,280; and for fourth class, 1,600 acres. Fourth class country is not, however, considered fit for settlement under existing conditions, and any land of that quality is excluded from settlement along with inferior lands.

What yields of wheat are obtained in the mallee country?—The yields of wheat obtained depend upon the age of settlement, the methods employed, and the rainfall. After, say, six years' continuous cultivation, the scrub is completely killed out and the three years' rotational system of cropping can be properly entered upon. There are, therefore, two periods to be considered. Assuming the grower is a reasonably good farmer, yields of six to eight bushels per acre may be expected on the average for the first six years, and after that from 14 to 18 can, and have been obtained. Unfortunately, the average yields obtained over the whole country are much lower than these figures. This is accounted for by the general prevalence of inferior methods of farming and also by the practice, even by good farmers, of putting in



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