CANTERBURY HARVEST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 26, 1 February 1937, Page 4

CANTERBURY HARVEST.

LOWER WHEAT AVERAGE. FLOODS RUIN SOIL. (By Telegraph.—Special to "Star.") CHRISTCHURCH, this day. The weather has been the main factor in reducing the area of wheat sown in ! Canterbury. Two heavy floods in February and March ruined the soil, for autumn sowing and soil was more waterlogged in some areas than it had been for 25 years. A greater amount of spring sowing became necessary, but again the weather took a hand, with the result that many crops did not tiller out as usual. Farmers have noticed in many cases that each plant carried only one "or two stems, as against the usual seven or eight or more. Crops on heavy land have suffered a good deal from various diseases, mildew being fairly prevalent, and on damper land the "takeall" fungoid disease of roots lias taken its toll. A certain amount of foot rot has also been experienced on marginal lands where the soil is fairly light. The general opinion this year ia that very few if any crops will average out at 60 or 70 bushels. People in a position to investigate the wheat yield an! who know conditions are of the opinion that this season's harvest will show an average reduction of about five bushels per acre on last year, when the average was 35.63 bushels. I The area under wheat this year is not nearly enough to supply milling requirements and investigators place the amount required from overseas to make' up the deficit at a million and a half bushels.