as been excluded from the area considered safe for profitable
wheatgrowing. Even then the area in that State suitable for wheat covers
25 million acres. In the State of South Australia farmers place the
annual rainfall limit at 16 in., provided it is regular and the land is
properly worked. If wheat can be grown on that rainfall in the latter
State, and the evidence is that it certainly can, at least another
10,000,000 acres can be added to the wheat belt of the State. Although,
therefore, the present area under wheat (1913-14) is only 3,206,600
acres, there are 35,000,000 acres on a moderate estimate in New South
Wales alone that can grow wheat profitably. And experiments in the west
show that a still greater extension of the wheat belt can be looked for,
especially with improvement in the breeding of varieties suitable for
the dryer districts. At present, however, there is no necessity for
settlers to go outside the area of "safe country."

[Illustration: (1) TYPICAL AUSTRALIAN FARM SCENE. (2) PREPARING WHEAT
FOR HARVEST. (3) PLOUGHING.]

What can be achieved in dry districts with a limited and intermittent
rainfall has been most forcibly proved by experience. At Messrs. Gagie
Bros.' farm, Spy Hill, West Wyalong, New South Wales, a yield of 24
bushels of wheat was obtained in the 1911-12 season on a rainfall of 668
points--less than 7 in.! Of course, such a crop could not be grown on
such a rainfall alone, as a much larger quantity of water would be
required to produce that amount of wheat. The crop during the growing
period only received 668 points of rain, but in the land on which it was
grown, and which was fallowed and properly worked, a large quantity of
moisture was stored from the previous year, and on this reserve the
growing crop grew, and with the additional 668 points that fell during
the growing period a yield of 24 bushels per acre was obtained.

Still more remarkable were the results obtained in the same season from
experiment plots on the farm of Mr. Carew, Deniliquin, in the same
State. The seed was sown on well-worked fallow land in which a good
amount of the previous year's rainfall had been conserved. The rainfall
during the growing period was 322 points, distributed as follows:--May,
210; June, 60; July, 12; August, nil; September, 37; October, 3 points.
Under ordinary conditions such a rainfall would mean utter failure of a
wheat crop, yet in this case a yield of 14 bushels per acre was
obtained