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I COUNTRY SECTION!
-v'- tlL . . -
WHEAT INSTEAD OF
WOOL.
IN BAIRNSDALE DISTRICTS
t Sheep Farmers Turn to
Cereals.
' BAIKftSDAI/E, Thursday. — The decline
. in' the price, of .wool lias turned the at
: tention of glaziers in Bairnsdulc district
toward -seeking more profitable nieaiiH ot
-v? \ utilising their land, and one of the altcrna-
tives which is becoming increasingly fav
ored is -the growing of wheat, hoi years
the breeding of sheep for wool has been n
profitable occupation here, and the clips
have been gradually unproved until they
arcs' now among the best in . the State.
Bui in common with other districts the
0?; -' local wool growers have suffered from the
v- recent fall iu wool prices, with the result
that serious consideration is now being
given to the growing of wheat on the
:,;v lighter land in the out-back portions oi
the district. The suitability of thousand!
of acres of land from I'crnhnnk, Lmdenow
- and Glcnaladalc right through to the
<;n , coast for the successful growing of wheat
: has already been convincingly, demon-
btraicd. It is also recognised that sheep
in conjunction with wheat growing arc a
x. , fcouud proposition. Land under cultiva-
>:. tion is being constantly unproved from a
reed point of view, and it has been proved
in Bairnsdale district that crops of wheat
ffi:'. atl outs generally yield better when fed
, oil in the early stages of growth, thus
suing green feed when it is often urgently
-1 / needed for "topping off" Jumbs and other
: stock, -and also returning better yields. It
is also beuig recognised iliat cuHivation
dears the land of weeds and pests, ploy
; ins havoc with manuka scrub, bracken
y; . ; fern and tuft grass; and thereby giving
,v : labbits and other vermin less chance to
i . establish themselves. This is m itself an
i . ' ' . _ r important consideration to the landholder
: - in tho out-back portions of Bnirnsdnlo
shire, where the gradual encroachment of
noxioufc weeds and vcrmm from tho in-
f,; -:; , tested Crown -lands has become au in-
: .V. A ' " . crcasingly serious ; problem.
It is lecogmsed that the establishment
- of wheat growing on a big scale in this dm-
Liet would not only increase the cavrvmg
capacity of the land lor sheep, but would
- also open up large area of land in the out
back districts which have boon sur-
;;A:VV: rcudered in recent years owing to the en-
crouchment of the manuka scrub. The
ViAA;.' - success of the industry has been proved
by the fact that district farmers who have
; - been experimenting with small areas are
now contemplating the purchase of power
plants and a big increase in their areas.
In recent years -experimental paddocks
u'Ar- have been sown with wheat at Broadlands,
' '?,' Jbhnsbnville, Liudenow and other district
; : - centres, and excellent results have been
A- . ' klnincd. An interesting demonstration
of the possibilities of power tunning was
Riven at Jjindcnow. r1 lie property selected
. was typical of many properties in the out-
back portion of that district, the manuka
huub having obtained a lu-m hold, with
v the result that the owner was laced with
' fhc alternative of purchasing a power
i " . plant capable of dealing with it, or eom-
pietoly, surrendering the. land to tho pest.
j v. . ' An experiment on 10 acres last year
Ivi ,>v\ prompted the decision to go in to" the
AA-'AA'Av ''' york on a large scale. The paddock
rA;A;A.v-: ; selected comprised an area of 300 acres,
nlmoat completely covered to a height of
v :> /. about b feet with manuka scrub, and prc-
. . scntcd a seemingly impenetrable barrier to
ite-r-v.!';.-- any machine. The effective work of the
tractor, however, was a revelation, the
disc plough cutting to a depth of 4 inches,
. and doing its work so effectively that
v, -:( , . scarcely more than 1 per cent, of the
rWt'-j.'V'- ' stalks was left standing. An cxperi-
:a- ; s enced farmer estimated the work done
, to be equivalent to that of eighteen horses.
The success ot the demonstration opens
l1;?!' up a huge field for development by means
f power farming in areas previously con-
; nidered useless,, and it i8 expected that in
! :r .-/i-the near future the areas under wheat in
- i -tile- districts referred to will be consider-
r.V'iably ' increased.
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