AUSTRALIAN WHEAT GROWING POSSIBILITIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2983, 17 May 1911, Page 16

AUSTRALIAN WHEAT GROWING POSSIBILITIES.

Professor Watt, Sydney University, speaking a few days ago in Sydney at a farewell gathering to Mr G. L. Sutton, said that the wheat-growing industry was the most important on the face of the earth, as but for it the white people could not live. On the success of the industry depended the predominance of the whit-e race. Referring to Sir William Crookes's prediction that by the year 1931 all the wheat land of the world would require to be carrying a crop to meet the demand for Consumption, unless the average yield was increased, he said that they were celebrating the departure of a man who had done much to keep this evil day further away. Men like Mr Sutton and the late Mr Fa.rrer were by their work • prolonging the life of the white race. Sir William Orookes was wrong in some of his calculations. He took it for granted that we in Australia could not grow wheat under-a rainfall of 20in, .but as the result of Farrer'e arid other scientific work we have been able to grow wheat with a rainfall of considerably less; than

that In this while South Australia hod gone further. Before coming to Australia he (Professor Watt) hod' not realised the immense resources of this country from a wheat-grow-ing standpoint. Although their resources as a pastoral country were known all tine world over, their resources as a wheatgrowing country were not knownw Una reason was that statistics showed tfheir overage yield to he one of the lowest m the world". He had no hesitation in saying that In the course of the next few years!, barring extreme droughts, they should see their average yield considerably increase* If Mr Cartwright could obtain a 50- bushel crop in a comparatively dry district like Ternora, there was no reason why their average should not bo nearer that figure. He had travelled about 12,000 miles in New South Wales, and hadi seen a great deal of the wheat country, and heardl a great deal about it, and he was perfectly

certain that the two and a-half million acres under wheat would some day be increased to 20 million acres. To accomplish that they needed the help of the political forces'. Railway facilities must be provided, immigration fostered, and the great wheatbreeding work carried on. He was told that he was too optimiistio, because he had never seen the effects of our droughts, but he bad studied the rainfall statistics, and what evaporation statistics that were available, and he held that even, in an extremely dry year there should not be a complete failure if the land was scientifically worked.