ell equipped, and have proved of great
practical value. Wheatgrowing being the most important crop in
Australia, the industry receives special attention, and scientific
investigation and experiment is being constantly made, and the results
communicated to the wheatgrowers.
Agricultural colleges, where accommodation is provided for students, who
are given theoretical and practical instruction in different branches of
farming; experiment farms, where students are also trained;
demonstration farms; and farmers' experiment plots are conducted by the
Departments of Agriculture. Wheatbreeding and pathological and
bacteriological work is carried on, and expert instructors work in the
field assisting the farmer in every possible way. Bulletins dealing with
different phases of work on the wheat farm, giving the results of
experiments made, lists of varieties of wheat to plant and when to plant
them, are issued in large numbers, and either given to the farmer free
or sold at a nominal price. Agricultural gazettes and journals are also
issued monthly, while topical information is made public through the
columns of the press, which in Australia devotes an unusual amount of
space regularly to rural topics.
In New South Wales wheat experiments are conducted at the Cowra
Experiment Farm, which is the headquarters, and at the Hawkesbury
Agricultural College, and Wagga, Bathurst, Glen Innes, Nyngan, and Yanco
Farms. At Nyngan tests are made with a view to determining the
suitability of the different varieties for cultivation in dry areas. The
work at each farm consists of:--Pedigree plots of the main varieties
grown on the farms; crossbreds in course of fixation for local
conditions of soil and climate; a "stud variety trial," including all
standard varieties, newly-introduced wheats, and samples sent for
identification; "stud bulks" to provide seed for planting the farm areas
which supply seed wheat for sale.
Since 1897 the Government agricultural experts have been endeavouring to
determine the varieties of wheats most suitable for different districts,
and to secure new types which return the best milling results locally,
and their efforts have been very successful. In this connection the work
of the late William Farrer, wheat experimentalist of the Department of
Agriculture, New South Wales, has become world famous. His efforts were
directed to the production of new varieties of greater milling value and
more rust-resistant. Far
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