Australasian Agriculture.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 38, 23 February 1884, Page 5

Australasian Agriculture.

Thk best testimony to the value of the work ■which Consul Grill'm is doing for New Zealand is the frequency w ith w Inch the press of the colony find facts that arc new and interesting even to New Zealandcrs. In a paper on " Australasian Agriculture " published in the "Consular Reports" for September, theagricultureofT^ewZenland is compared with that of other colonies. These statistics, as ye have before shown, bring out icsults that are most favourable to New Zealand. In ISB3, the average produce per acie ot wheat -was : Victoria, 9.40 bushels ; New South Wales, 14.09 bushels; Qucenslnnd, 8.41 bushels ; South Australia, 4.07 bushels; Western Australia, 7 bushels; total Australia, 0.90 bushels; Tasmania, 18.88 bushels; New Zealand, '22.09 bushels ; total Australasia, b.84 bushels. In England the average is 2(5], bushels per acic. Mr (Jriih'n, in commenting upon the abo\ c fact, says. -" Tho production of wheat in Franco is 1(5. '2 bushels per acre; in Saxony, 22.5: Belgium, 20.2; "while in Russia it is as low as 5.5 bushels. The figures I have given are sufficient to show the pioud position New Zealand occupies in w heat production per acre ; .still I must mention that farming is done here on the rotation plan so universally practised in England. Besides changing the crops every \ear or allowing the land to rest, the farmers of New Zealand import annually about 5,000 ton.s of bonedust and 2,000 tons ot guano for the purpose of enriching the soil In all the crops' thehupeiiority ot New Zealand to the other Australasian colonies is conspicuous. The mean avciagc of the seven years in New Zealand tor oats was 33.42 bushels to the acre, while Victoria gave 19,57 bushels-, New South Wales, lG.4i, and South Australia 18.07. The average ot potatoes to the acre was : in New Zealand, 5.13 tons; in Victoria, 3.27 tons : in New South Wales, 2.90 tons ; in I Queensland, 2.45 tons ; in South Australia, 3.35 tons. In (his connection I Avili mention that New Zealand oats have won great reputation in Emopean markets on account of their superior quality. It is perhaps not; generally known that there is a very groat diilerence in the quality of this kind ot grain, and that much depends on the weight per bushel. While one bushel of oats will weigh only 24 pounds, another bushel will weigh 4S pounds. It is seldom that New Zealand oats, and especially those grown in the North Island and in the northern part of the South Island, "weigh less than from 40 to 48 pounds per bushel. It will be well enough for the New Zealand fanner not to lose sight of the extra weight of his oats, for it is the custom in European markets to buy by the quantity and to sell by weight. The quantity of wheat glow n in New Zealand is also worthy of prai-e. There are several varieties jjeculiar to the colony, and which ha%e been successfully introduced into Victoria, Now South Wales, and South Australia, among which I shall mention the celebiated New Zealand Sharman wheat. This vaiiety is a bearded ■wheat, free from red rust and smut, and yields a small but plump grain. It has a thin, hard, wiry straw of a peculiar brightness, about 3 feet 4 inches in height, bearing heads from 3 inches to 4 inches in length, and containing from 50 to GO grains each. Dr. Schomburgh, who is an authority on agriculture in Australasia, classes the Sharman wheat along with the celebrated American brands, the Defiance and Champlain." With regard to the average cost of growing wheat, Mr Griflin says it is being reduced every year by the introduction of machinery, mostly of Ameriranmanufacture. On Ellis Brothers' estate, Southland, last year, the total cost of growing and putting the grain aboard ship was 92 cents (3s lOd) per bushel. In harvesting this crop, soven of McCormicks reapers and binders were kept running day and night, and cut on an average 140 acres per day, or an average of 20 acres to each reaper. There are 107,800 persons engaged in agricultural pursuits in Australasia, of whom 54,408 reside in New Zealand. Mr Griffin has not formed a favourable opinion of the modo of shipping grain here. It compares badly, he says, with that adopted in the United States ;—"; — " It is indeed deplorable to witness the vast amount of labour, to say nothing of the great length of time, sj)ent ovor the transportation of grain from the farm to the ship. The sacks, in the first place, are too large and heavy (each sack containing 4.^- bushels of grain) to be handled with anything like ease. In putting the sacks on and oil" the trucks, and in the hold of the ship, the men arB obliged to use hooks, which of course do great harm. If the American system wore adopted much time would be saved which is now lostintho old-fashioned and tedious method of weighing the grain. The farmer is at present paid for the weight of his grain per bushel ; wheat at 60 pounds per bushel, barley 50 pounds, and oats 40 pounds per bushel. If the grain were put in 100-pound sacks at the machine, as in the United States, he would know how much grain he had as soon as the last cental left his farm, whereas now he has to wait several days for his grain to be discharged and weighed. The European importers arc constantly drawing comparisons favourable to the manner in which grain is shipped in the United States, as against that practised in the Australasian ports. It is no exaggeration to say that it takes about as many weeks here as it would days in the United States to load a ship with grain. "When the crops increase, which they are very likoly to do in the near future, the disadvantages of the present system will become so patent that tho people, it is hoped, will be forced to make the change." A consideration of these observations may^ be productive of benefit to our families and grain merchants.