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BUBAL HEW SOUTH WALES.
By II. M.S.
growing wheat districts.
Very interesting progress reports concern
ing settlement and production in districts.,
which were, once purely pastoral, are being
given by tlie Minister for Agriculture in
bis speeches at the country shows. Through
out thet great agricultural belt in the cen
tral division of. "New South Wales, the
change began more than 20 years ago. Diir
■ ing 10 years progress was very remarkable,
""but the increases in settlement and land
cultivated-have not been'so striking in the
-second decade, because the land so*much
desired for occupation lias "not been-avail
able. Speaking at Dubbo last week, Mr.
Ashford said that throughout two of the
counties of which this old pastoral tbwn is
the eentrc, the increase in holdings in the
last 10 years had been from 1,394 to 2,000,
.an advance of about 40 per cent. These were
the new or mast lately-developed districts,
• but in, the two older counties-the advance
. bad been 20 per ■ cent, in the number- of
holdings. The area under cultivation "was
325s0p0 acres. but progress in this" "direc
tion bad been much' greater in the'preceding
10 years." ?n that decade it had'advanced
from 52,000 acres to 250,000 acres, showing
that about. 75,000 had been added in -the
last 10 years. - £orae^reater increases were
recorded. . The Forbes -district allowed an
increase of 80 per cent., Wagga. 50 per cent.,
" and Tamworth 50 per cent., all in 10 years.
The -figures further showed c-loser settlement
end cultivation had not decreased the num
bers of animals kept in the'country. Thus
fa the Dubbo district sheep increased from
' one million to'one'million and a half in
10 years; while there were "also increases
in 'horses, and cattle, which were less
v'nlarked. The statement will probably be
taken as evidence that sheep are decreas
ing mainly in the country' which has not
- been fonsiderc-d" suitable for/closer settle
ment, and at a glance it would seem that
it is proved that tlie cutling-up of stations
into smaller holdings will .not reduce sheep
stocks. At the same time, it.'lids tp be
remembered that 'the central division, in
which" these, great strides in eioser. seitt.le
•'rhent and farming Jiayc taken place, jsmuch
more reliable than the purely.pastoral;enun
i -trf where an under-stocking policy htfs been
followed fcr'some yeairs.'
BUTTER (HTKSTIOIV.
•> jponng Last week, del^rates''repre^ptmg
^ - jDOfojierfitive. interests sat . in. cpnfeyepcg in
Vietuia-, - Qneeiislandv - and., ire iv
Wales were -represented,'fapd Mr.
^Whiter Warden, wh'o presided^.feul;' that
' ebjiipanies having a totiil annual turnover
3?a;«50,fiOO in -*biitter,^h«n?!^;rah<l'"Otlier
products, were behind the conference; Ihe
f;n»ttere^fte^mg;"^e$js|orf Trade, and
almost everything which "lias been said
before- was again;. repeated,..' jOploljHng in
margarine bas condemned as Tiling destruc
tive to butter interests, and it was resolved
to cable.-to London, a^ing;fob.'audehiyfed'
decision on the point, and also to bring
it under the notice of the Australian Go
vernnienls. The full report of the delega
tion to:New Zealand to inquire into condi
tions there was presented. ■; The-delegates
had been struck by the effects of pasteurisa
tion ,,on the: quality of New Zealand
butter. They also, found the system of/in
struction under the Government splendidly
organised, but the report dwelt .inqst upon
the natural advantages of ;New Zealand as
a , butter, country over Auslalia. Resolu
tions were passed which seemed to en
courage the hope that the heads, of the
co-operatior are beginning, to realise that
competent instruction is urgently needed in
the industry. So far as those in New South
Wales are concerned, there has always been'
more than a passive opposition to the sys
tem of expert advice and demonstration ■
eveu in the fac-tories. The. coastal farmers
being naturally. opposed" to what they re
gard as the interference of -paid officials
in their business, and the co-operative heads
being subject largely to the will of the
farmers, tl.ey have displayed the. greatest
indifference in the matter of instruction.
Evidently* this attitude is only modified
through the urgent necessity for an improve
. inent in quality. It, is not hard to gather
from the reports of last week's conference
that the heads are still afraid to touch
the question of compnlsorily educating the
suppliers to adopt proper methods in Band
ling and delivering their cream.- In this
State the position will continue as hope
less as it is at present, until these -con
trolling authorities in the co-operative move
ment go-behind the factories, aiid insist
that only first-grade cream shall be paid
foV at first-grade priees, and that the State
shall use Aery drastic means to bring all
suppliers up to a decent standard.
THE HVDVG AREA.
Wiser counsels are beginning to prevail
in connection Avith the acreage which is
considered necessary for, a man and his
family. In a country of large holdings like
New South Wales the tendency ' when
closer settlement bceomes a dominant idea
seems to be towards the "other extreme.
Every Minister for Lands is inclined to go
one better in his attempts 'to crowd popu
lation on to the country than his predeces
sor. This has resulted, particularly in re
spect-to the operations of the closer settle
ment resumption, in a proportion of in
evperieficed~people being 'induced to take
up areas too small for safe, permanent oc
cupation. The authorities are too apt in
New*.South Wales to take it-for granted
that "land-seekers know exactly hoAV much
.land they require. They oA'erlook the fact
that there is always a proportion ' which
does not know tliei class of country offered
for - settlement, and, another "proportion,
which knows very little about the business
"of taking up and improving new
country.- " Probably "In -some -- cases,
bad all : the applicants been ex
perienced, they Avould have refused to go
on unless the bring -areas were-• .in
creased. This is happening here and there,
hut so far it lias occurred only in districts
'which are on-the fringe' of the safe rainfall
limit. The latest-instance is in the Nyn
gan district, which, though ' described-.-as
being suitable- for closer settlement, is -just
far enough ;out' to make- the :-future of a
man who goes on less than- 5,000 -acres.some
what Uncertain. -Some fifteen months ago
the. department set aside 27,000 acres .for
selection in 22-areas. Although there-is
a strong.dciH.md for living areas-in- tlie dis
trict.,this land lias not - been applied, for,
and the local feeling is that tins failure
should - prove a; Wholesome lesson ■ to- the
Lands-department.,, It is; still - .doubtful
-wliethpr eveu imour-rafcKt'.Aviieat. districts
prosperous-settlement can be assured unless
-the-living area provides Ihat-a-fair.propor
tion of-the returns can-be made from sheep.
herd'testjNc.
The testing of cows is . going ahead in
great style .on the. Northern ;Ti vers., :Under
the Tweed and Richmond Herd-testing
Council, 20,000 cows are enrolled for testing,
the totals showing gn increase gf 5,000 since
the first.year's operations closed .at the-end
of last February. The most enthusiastic
men in the rhovcnient*^ay that they are
"convinced; that testing and culling aje^going
to prpye, the means "by, wlycli, the farmers
Ayjll compensate themselves fby, all the pew"
troubles, . with Ayhich, the ' indpstyyt is
menaced., , High . p ages, increased Jt^st of
living, the cpmpefatiqp of ipai^gapng, ,^tiff
rents, for lan^:.,lqw priges of bqt^/are
js. whidi, m?ikc /thg .farmer
the.things,
in New South' Wales take fi^pessijmsUc
view-of the future/ Against this" the pro
plict§.;pf,(the ,heid-te9tjpg,.;nip^ngnt say
that thgiputput can ..he inqi^asedJo .meet
the enlarging-^cost. ot ^rodpctjgii, ,esp§eiglly
it,means,ibaij bf.dcG^d fay move regular
feeding of catflp than lias beep the practice.
Tk.ey,.§gy that-,Ayhep, fliey,get good .co^ys.'fh
all.;^^,.fJie,owngrs,->*il^;bj^ii tjy.rgaljfe
,tlwt,t|jese are,wordy
f bettey;thgg(li3i;j2',bjpeptpvtlip
. : jpS^d "rajtGe,jpapy mf 'wlijcb could'pni,^^1)0
. g pajjln^prppp^imn on giflss)ii 'thdjjyestjOf
.gesspns,. J^trwQ$d. .pjEeim'tii^je #cgtest
^TiiWcarried
getting the
feed. Perhaps., thfere is little iemptatipn
to-; ffeed -specially' for tesi^ .'^hfen'.tlietejare
: only .carried out for ^idlihg piujioses. \On"
Abe^otber hand; it is pfeMy cerfaih .jtlia£'
cows-are continually'fed specially .fot tests
.for l^gistritiop in lierd ladoks: |5oirife'of
the evidence in the recent case, in connec
tion with the milk and butter.tests at the,
'.Sydney Royal Show- proves that cows are
specially prepared for these herd book, tests.
A material witness, who denied having fed
milk to his cow at the Royal, frankly ad
mitted that he did not feed her willi milk
•because, he" had. tried her-with this for. a,
herd book -test,-and found that she did noj
good on it, while some other food increased'
liei-test. - '
JXA1T1XG SETTLERS. . . ;
Some of the Mudgee'settlers have formed '
what, in this State at all events, is a novel
kind Of association. Its title is the Mudgee
Wheat-growers' Association. One would
naturally imagine that ' this would mean
an association for the purpose-of advancing,
the mutual interests of the vhcat-growers;
in the district, andji;is a littlje .surprise to*
liud that the prinfeipfa'l ohj^ts.JASfe fii-st to,'
prove that wheat c^|be pr^'tkplif<gi'owu hi]
this old-established1 ijiflrtjilSputh
"Wales,, and secondiyi to jnlucciseitlemlrom;.
other States to.cointe-pl^g'ahi^igrow'- it. j
Mudgee is pyeir-lsjq'ftln' as; ibfehlg'* famous i
for its fine'H5&es\.oF~ 'meffn6eBj."whifeh pro
duced a class oRjtf&pr -that could not be ,
equalled in afiy-oth^^arfc'iof^^trBi^
Much to the regret, of the old pastoialists,
_circunvstaiices hayte' resulted in "swcral of
. these being dispersed,- , 'In .sjiort, .it' waB:
found that the land 'could, be-.put -to more
profitable purposes than that1 of producing
ja speeial-combing wkfehhas'not'h^nj^ymg^
the returns that are gained from4 other
• sheep. - Wheat, -however, has -not -been a-'
prominent crop, and it is.erident .tha^sqme,,
of the, settlers think it lias been neglected.
It is, perhaps, a tribute to the knowledge
and enterprise' of Yietorhm and Soiffh. Aus
tralian farmers that the- Mudgee- associa
tion designs to secure some of .these, mainly-;
that ft may. be- pioVedithat; their.-i^trict*
can grow wheat. The association is .pro
viding that two memkcrs shall gfe to South
Australia ok.a 'imn^ritlpn'iiiw
siori... South Australian farmers will he eii-V.
lightened as to 'thp."Mijdgee'-sdiis Md\cli-'
mate.and they, will. beshown that tliere. is^
a very, good chance, of producing an ,avcr-'/
age of 16 to^O bushels per acre.., It seems
somewhat strange that,1 while the pushing
wheat-growers from Victoria and Souths
Australia have shown- the way in so many
districts in New Soiith Wales, they have
not got in about Mudgfee. -Probably this
may be dye to the land being tigbtly held
by large holders. However that may be",
the operations of an association formed to
bring jfi hew settlers Without the paternal
Government talcing arli$53 will naturally bp
looked upon with greAt'^interest; by other i
districts. 1 T *' 4' ' -Jji--- ■ -•:
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