FARM METHODS IN AUSTRALIA

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 55, 27 November 1937, Page 16

FARM METHODS IN AUSTRALIA

Early Marketing of rat Lambs ERRATIC RAINFALLS The practice of Australian farmers m sending their early fat lambs to the market a month or two before the New Zealand season starts was commented upon by Mr. A. in. Manning, a farmer, of Darling Downs, Toowoomba, Australia, wbo recently visited Gisborne. The trade is becoming so well organised that the Brisbane market is supplied all the year round with fat laiiibs. The Queensland property which he farms, is open rolling country on which he cultivates wlieat and raises sheep and early fat lambs. the land being ideal' for that type of farming. The greatest worry to farmers in the Darling Dowiis "region is tho, erratic rainfall. Everything depends upon rain, and tlie run-holders' plight is experiencing its third conseeutive year of drought. The district usually has an average rainfall of 38 inches, but the past three years have been the driest on record. This year to date only 13 inches of rain have fallen. Extcnsive Wheat Belts. . With wheat the rain is required at the right tim'e. If there was a fall of 10 inches. between May and October farmers would make a fortune. he declared. Wheat is being grown very extensiyely in Queensland, and last year alone thousands of acres of open plain country were brought under this

crop for the first time. When the ooTn was waving it made a wonderful sight, Reverting to the subject of the fat lamb trade, in reply to further questions, Mr. Mannipg said that sheepowners largely favoured Down-cross or Leicester stock for fattening, while Merino ewes also played a part. Farmers also paid a good deal of attention to Dorset Horns, which were an early maturing breed. Diiring periods of drouglit maiiy Merinos are drawn from the west. wliere rain often falls in the back country. Dairying forms another strong phase of farming, but its normal difficulties are aggrevated by the fact that a satisfactory rainfall cannot be depended upon. Cows are brought into caif at all times of tlie year, which aetually made for more profitable farming, but it all depended upon the rainfall as to the me*sure of sUccess which went the way of the farmer.

Oominion's Feed Impressss. Mr. Manning has been much impressed by the feed he has seen in the districts he had traversed since his arrlval in Wellington by the Awatea on November 8. cTt is a treat for sore eyes," he said. Forty years ago, wben on a visjt to this district, he had the experience or riding up the coast from Napier, iiecalling tlus. and other trials of past years, ne declared that New Zealand nad progressed at a greater rate than Austraha during the past 30 years. This served weil as an index of the Dominion's prosperity. The roads of Queensland were not so good as those in New Aealand. Altnougli tlie roads were iorhied trafhc frequently became bogged in wet weather wliere black soii country was passed through. With a smile he recalled an instance when a New Zealand party oi bowlers was Held up m their car ut Dalby, about 50 miies from Toowoomba. With the approacli of the Western mail train they pulled it up and boarded oue 0f the carriages. Nothmg was said and the visitors were treated with hospitality. Had they been Queenslanders their action would Have been more than frowned upon.