THE CANTERBURY NOR'-WESTER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume xxix, Issue 7240, 27 July 1907, Page 4

THE CANTERBURY NOR'-WESTER.

(By a Young Ashburtonite.) The nor'-wester is the most prevalent wind of our part oi: New Zealand-. It originates in thei Tasman? Sea, o.ikl from thence it collects an abundance of moisture, intending, '.is it would seem, to water this fair plain of ours. • Although it is a warm wind, coming frQin a northerly direction, it, however, strikes the Southern Alps before it is able to carry out its pu-rpS&s of visiting us, and in being driven up the ravines and gullies of the "West Coast it rises to a much higher altitude. The greater the height above the earth, the rarer is the atmosphere; hence the colder it is, and becaxise of this the moisture in this wind is condensed and falls 'in heavy rains on the west side of the Alps. Once started, however, a wind seldom turns back, so our nor'-wester rises Tip over the hills, and rushes (lowil again through the gorges of otir rivers, arriving on this side, chilly and destitute of moisture. It then proceeds across the plains, and by the time it has passed over 25 miles of hot plain and reached Ashburton, it has absorbed a fair amount of warmth itself; hence it is a hot, dry wind to us. The nor'-wester anight be called the father of our district, for, although it does not water our laud,, it brings us frosts* in winter to fertilise the soil, and in the summer it does much towards ripening and drying the crops. However, it has done much damage to property at times. Several years ago, Highbauk Estate was first subdivided, the occupants tilled tlleir land and sowed their corn,' each farmer to his liking, but they took no count of wind. Before the seed had stmck root, however, a strong gale blew ffOm the north-west, and raged across this district. It lifted the soil and buried the fences, and even houses and a waggonette were lifted bodily over a fence into a paddock. But stranger than these things was the fact that in the autumn of that year a farmer, who had sowed oats in the spring, reaped wheat, and in the wheat paddock was found' barley or vice versa The gale of the spring had lifted the soil and crop from one field to. another, and hence this misappropriation of , goods. . liii the old days before the plains were divided by fences; and before plantations were planted, the nor'-wester rushed across a sea of dry tussocks and matakauri scrub. This, however, has been altered by the hard toil of our pioneer farmers, and we have now by the means of plantations and fences placed the nor'-wester on the credit | side^of our books, instead of allowing it to stunt, our crops with the fierce heat it contained of old •