On the average of the past five years the wheat yield of Australia represents about 2 per cent. of the world's production. The return per acre is low, but as has been pointed out, the cost of production is likewise low, and it is doubtful if in any other country the business of growing wheat is more profitable. The area now cultivated is but a mere percentage of what could be put under wheat profitably. The exact area is almost impossible to arrive at, for the simple reason that with improved methods and better varieties of wheat, the extent of country in which the cereal can be successfully grown increases. For practical purposes the area deemed suitable for wheatgrowing is that which has sufficient rainfall to admit of ploughing being carried out at the right time of the year, as already stated, from March to June, to cover the growing period, and to fill the grain during September and October. In other words, it is not so much a matter of what the annual rainfall is as when the rain usually falls. The State of New South Wales for example. For a long time land with less than a rainfall of 20 in. has 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.]