OUR FARMS AND FARMERS.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 303, 14 September 1860, Page 4

OUR FARMS AND FARMERS.

Maize is secondary in importance to wheat as an agricultural production, not only in respect to the quantity of land devoted to its cultivation, but also in reference to its monetary value as a crop. It is of peculiar importance to us in this respect, as New South Wales is the only locality in the Australian colonies where it is grown in any quantity ; the chief demand for its consumption being confined principally to Victoria and South Australia, "where, from the unsuitableness of the climate, it has not. been successfully cultivated. There does not appear to have been much more than, one third the area of land under cultivation for wheat, devoted to that of maize ; the average annual proportion from the year 1849 to 1858 being as 263 aores of the former to 1 of the latter.

The counties of Durham, Cumberland, Northumberland, and Macquarie, are the chief maize producing districts, but the average yield per acre varies greatly. In the year ending March 31, 1859, it was as follows :—

Acres. Bushels. Ay. per nerO Durham . . 9082 2G6507 29 i Cumberland . 7201 223991 31 Northumberland; 6025 158097 22| Macquarie . . 6183 376065 60* The average produced per acre in the county of Macquarie offers a striking contrast to that of the others enumerated, being nearly double that of Cumberland, and more than exceeding this amount in the rest. It may to some appear that a mistake must exist in reference to the return of Macquarie, but we happen to have resided for some few years in this district, and can, therefore, speak from personal experience. The rich alluvial brush lands are the principal, if not the only localities where maize is there cultivated.

These lands are heavily timbered with different species of trees, popularly known a 9 brushtimber, and the vegetation generally is of a semi-tropical character. The fig-tree especially is very abundant, and attains enormous dimensions. Most of the small farms are let out on clearing leases, the conditions of which are, that the land shall be cleared of all standing timber and brought into a state of cultivation, for which the tenant is to receive it at a quit rent for a period varying generally between five and seven years; after which its occupation is resumed by the owner with all improvements. In other cases the erection of a building of some kind is affixed to the conditions, together with fencing. The first thing the settler does is, of course, to fall the timber and burn it off. This he does to the extent of four or five acres, perhaps, during the first year of his occupancy, allowing the timber to lie on the ground a sufficient time to become partially dry. About August or September, acc©rding to the state of the weather, he burns off the felled timber and brushwood, and without other preparation plants his corn with the hoe. The return for the first crop, if he gets a favorable run, and the season has been at all propitious, is generally estimated at between fifty and sixty bushels per acre, and the land shows very little diminution in its fertility for a succession of years. This arises in a measure, no doubt, from the practice of burning the stalks of the corn on the land ; and some two or three years will elapse before the trunks of the larger trees are got rid of, and the ashes from these sources contribute to maintain the fertility of the soil. We have before alluded to an additional crop of "wheat or barley being taken in succession to maize. This crop is usually grown for home consumption, but the wheat generally is not of good quality, and, at the best, is a v very uncertain crop.

It must be very evident that the market price which of late has been obtained for this product, will only remunerate the farmer where the produce per acre is very high. If we take the .highest average, with the exception of Macquarie, it will give a return of only > ,=£6 4s. per acre, if we take the pi ice at four shillings per bushel, and from this must be deducted the expense of cartage or freight, which in most cases forms no inconsiderable item. Taking the highest average of sixty bushels, it will give a return of £12 per acre, from which must be deducted for freight, commission, &c, some•what about £3. We know an instance from the above locality where, during the current year, a shipment of maize sold in Sydney, after deducting all expenses, realised only thirteen pence half-penny per bushel, and ■we believe it was by no means an exceptional instance. Our impression is that the farmer could turn the produce of his farm to more profitable account by converting his maize into pork and poultry, For these there is a steady demand, with little fluctuation in price, and maize converted into pork or the more delicate flesh of poultry (to say nothing of eggs) would be far less expensive iv its transit to market, and ■would from a material on which he could base his calculations of profit with far greater certainty than on the constantly fluctuating price •of maize. We have been told that it would require time to effect this, and so it does to develop any mercantile produce. Spasmodic efforts, during a season of depression, would produce little good, but if a steady direction were given to the rearing of pigs and poultry, so that a constant supply could be maintained, we have little doubt that it would, in the long run, be found more profitable to the small farmer, and that there would be no deficiency in the means for conveying their produce to market at comparatively reduced cost. — Jllawarra Mercury. .