The average return does not show what a district or country is capable of producing, as it is reduced by the low yields of careless and unskilled farmers. The men are responsible, and not the soil or climate. There are thousands of farmers who never have a lower average than 20 to 25 bushels, while in some well-farmed districts a whole locality has averaged nearly 30 bushels to the acre. The whole tendency now is towards more careful methods and higher averages, and this will mean greater prosperity for the farmers. As it is, men have been wonderfully successful in growing wheat in Australia, and if this is the case with the careless, largely happy-go-lucky style of the past, the prospect is extremely promising for the future. In a way, new men coming into Australia, and taking up wheatgrowing, stand a better chance than many of the long-settled farmers who have got into a groove--even a profitable one--and who do not care to bother greatly with progressive ideas. The new comer has no preconceived notions, and comes with an open mind adaptable to the teachings of experience. The new settler has his path made easy by the attention the Governments of the different States are giving to wheatgrowing. In all the States there is a Department of Agriculture, and all its accumulated knowledge is available to the farmer. In all the principal States there are Government Experiment Farms, where new wheats are tried, and also the best methods; the results are furnished to the public. In most of the wheat districts there are demonstration plots showing the best varieties to grow in the different localities. The new settler is advised what varieties to grow in his locality, and when to grow them, what amount of fertiliser to use, and the best methods of handling his land. In any difficulty the resources of the Department of Agriculture are at his service. At the Government farms crops of the best wheats are grown, and the seed distributed amongst the farmers, while inspectors are continually travelling through the country lecturing and visiting the growers, and advising them, whenever advice is asked for. With such facilities the future of the settler practically depends upon the use he makes of his opportunities, and the opportunities are unsurpassed in any other country. [Illustration: PUTTING IN SEED.] In the wheat districts the summer is warm, and the thermometer often registers over 100 degs. Fahr., but it is a dry, healthy heat that is not as uncomfortable as the lower temperatures in moister climates. The warm weather holds for two or three months in midsummer, when the heat during the day is trying, but for the remainder of the year the climate is perfect. The winter is mild, so much so that live stock need no shelter, and often fatten on the natural pasture throughout the year. Farming operations can be conducted throughout the year. There is no snow or period when work is practically at a standstill. AUSTRALIAN WHEAT AREA.