THIS YEAR'S CROPS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLVIII, Issue 10944, 16 June 1927, Page 2

THIS YEAR'S CROPS

IN THE WAKANUI DISTRICT. GOOD WHEAT AND OAT YIELDS. There have been some splendid crops of wheat, particularly Tuscan, threshed in the Wakanui district this season. It is estimated that over the whole district the average will reach 40 bushels. It is safe to say also that the area under wheat this season will equal that of last year. , " Some large yields of oats are also recorded, as high as 100 bushels having been obtained. The quantity threshed, however, is small, as the very low price offering caused most farmers to stack ' and hold their oats. It is said that one ! threshing-mill owner, with three machines, has threshed only 30.000 bushels. Now however, the oat stacks are being cut into chaff for sheep fodder, so that, before the end of the season, there will probably be a shortage of oats. As a crop for the coming season, also, oats are not popular. . . Red clover seed is threshing out tairlv well, averaging one bag to the acre. The harvesting of this crop extended late into the season, as it was very late before the bees began to work. The seed that has been shelled, however, is of a very fair sample. The potato crop is far from satisfactory this season. In this'district an average crop usually runs about 10 lons to the acre, but this year it is probable that table potatoes will average only about 2to 3 tons per acre. The reason is that the shortage of rain in the autumn completely checked the growth, with the result that there is a large percentage of tubers too small to grade for shipping. Very few potatoes are grown at Riverside and Lower Wakanui (towards the sea), as this land consists of stiff clay, and is ideal for wheatgrowing. Turnips are practically a failure throughout the district. Travelling through, only one crop is to be seen that will stand any feeding. It is quite evident, therefore, that it will be a difficult problem for farmers to winter their stock. . . In one respect fanners in this district have been fortunate this season, and that is in having magnificent crops of hay. These are already being used for the stock, in many oases. Fortunately, too, the majority of farmers are lightly stocked with breeding ewes. Some very fine crops of peas have been harvested, and there is no doubt ■that at the present price there is profit in growing (peas. . On the whole, Wakanui farmers are well forward with their crops, and the recent rains will do much good in bringing away the yonng growth. Alreaqy paddocks of early wheat are green. Grass lands, too, will greatly benefit from the rainfall, as it'was becoming almost impossible to plough them.