ce for wheat, for instance, is $1.20 per bushel, it is for wheat up
to the f.a.q. standard. Say the latter has been fixed at 62 lbs., the
wheat must show that weight. Agents have what is called a chrondrometer
for the purpose of testing the wheat. If it is below the f.a.q.
standard, a lower price is given. This system has been devised to suit
the export trade. Samples of the standard wheat are sent to markets
abroad, and all cargoes are sold on that basis. When they arrive at the
market abroad they must test up to the f.a.q. standard. This system has
been in force in Australia for nearly half a century.

It must be understood that this standard f.a.q. weight has nothing to do
with the quantity for which the grower is paid. He is always paid on the
Imperial bushel basis, 60 lbs. Whatever the standard may be, every 60
lbs. of wheat is a bushel. The f.a.q. weight is a standard for quality,
not quantity.

There is always a market for Australian wheat, and the price is always
equal to what wheat is bringing in the world's main markets. Australian
wheat has a character of its own, and a character that is improving.
British millers want it on account of the large amount of flour it
produces, and the colour and bloom it gives to their product. The grain
is usually bright and clear in texture and rich in gluten, having fine
milling qualities. Of late years Australian wheats have been
considerably improved in strength, and this factor is continuing, and
they undoubtedly promise to more than equal any wheat produced,
possessing not only colour and bloom, but also strength, and giving the
miller what he wants to produce an ideal article.

[Illustration: FARMERS IN AUSTRALIA ARE NOT HARASSED BY HIGH RAIL
FREIGHTS.]

COST OF PRODUCING WHEAT.

The cost of production of wheat is a most important matter to the
grower. As already stated, the comparatively low yields in Australia are
amply compensated for by the low cost of producing wheat.

In regard to the work on the farm, the following figures are
approximately the prices for different classes of work when it is done
by contract:--Ploughing new ground, $1.68 per acre; old or fallowed
ground, $1.45 per acre; harrowing, 18 cents to 24 cents per acre;
cultivating, $0.50 per acre; drilling, 36 cents per acre; harvesting
with stripper-harvester, 72 cents per acre; cutting with binder, 84
cents per acre; stooking, 24 cents per acre; carting and stacking hay,
$1.35 per acre.

Supe