.

In the season ploughing usually starts at 7.30 a.m. and goes on until
5.30 p.m., with a break of a couple of hours during the day for dinner;
that is, where labour is employed. The settler himself handling his own
land usually works from dawn till dark, using changes of horses during
the day. Both mouldboard and disc ploughs are in use, some soils suiting
one and some the other, while use for both will often be found on the
one farm. The four-furrow plough, drawn by five or six horses, is most
favoured, and with it four to six acres will be done in a day. Harrowing
is done with a set of three to six sections of tines, covering from 12
to 20 ft. in width, and doing 15 to 20 acres a day. The bulk of the
sowing is done with a combined drill, which plants the seed and
distributes artificial fertiliser at the same time. The amount of seed
sown per acre varies from 25 to 45 lbs., and even up to 100 lbs. in some
parts of the Commonwealth, while usually about the same amount of
superphosphate is distributed, 45 to 60 lbs. being the most common
quantity. Both hoes and disc drills are in use, ranging from twelve to
fifteen tubes, the tubes being 7 in. apart. These particulars apply
mostly to the man cultivating 200 to 300 acres himself.

It is often found beneficial to harrow the growing crop until it is 3 or
4 in. high. While the crop is growing the settler will find plenty to do
in clearing and improving his property, attending to his sheep, and so
on. If he is on shares he will find work for his team and himself on
other properties, at contract work, or on the local roads.

Harvest time comes well on in the summer, and for several weeks everyone
is busy on the farm. It is usual when putting in a wheat crop to sow a
portion for hay. Either a separate crop is sown or a special variety
suitable for hay is sown around the main grain crop. This is cut with
the reaper and binder just after the wheat plant has flowered. The
sheaves, which are tied by the machine, are stooked in the paddock for
ten or fourteen days until dry enough to be carted in and stacked. The
climate--as a rule fine weather prevails--is favourable to haymaking,
and a bright-coloured nutritious hay is produced. The average yield is a
ton to one ton and a-half to the acre, but three, four, and even five
ton crops are taken off, but that is usually in a crop sown and
cultivated specially for hay with the intention of supplying the chaff
market, which is an indu