MALVERN DISTRICT.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9012, 26 January 1895, Page 4

MALVERN DISTRICT.

■ Our Sheffield correspondent writee:— The endeavour to give an approximate idea of what the grain yields in this district are likely to be, ia one of more than ordinary difficulty, as the ground under white crops is quite half less than last season, and therefore more labour incurred in travelling to see the scattered fields. I propoee to simplify the work by placing The/districts under headings that will embrace a wider scope, and will take Greendale across to Courtenay as the primary area, it being the most forward.

Greendale-Courtenay.

Keeplns; up a well known name for grain growing some nice even fields of wheat are a pleasing feattire in the Greendale district, but the harvest will be a comparatively small one, although larger than any other running up to the hills. A fair average yield may be looked for, but' in 'places the tops of the heads are not filling well, following last sea. son's failure in this particular. Towards Kirwee and the Waimakarirl the wheat ie much weaker and thinner, and it is a doubtful matter of the yield being an average one. Over this whole area oats are looking well np to the usual standard* exceptions being on the lighter lands and where put in while the soil was wet.' A large proportion will bo consumed locally as chaff and horse feed. Oat* are fast falling oadcr the machine.

KIMBERLBY TO SHEFFIELD. A large percentage of the land has gone out of grain crops, and there will be but a poor export, as wheat is but little grown A short time back the prospects of a good return appeared better than juet now, for certain paddocks that look well to the eye arc, on closer inspection, shewing a tendency to shrivel. Farmers state the same fault was observable last January, and incline to the opinion that it is a disease. The-average yield will not be a good one. Oats are growing in quantity rather more than will supply local requirements, and should ba a good sam pie all rounds:

Vi|jw Hill Plains. Wheat fields are few in this district. The straw is short, but some crops here are well headed. Not much more is grown than will suffice for local consumption. Oats look well, and should be a better harvesting crop than last year's, but the machine owners will not be unduly pressed, as chaff for stock will take the bulk. DARFIELD TO WniTECLIFFS. The Racecourse Hill and Bangor estates give the finest show, but the area is very much below former years. Wheat has filled well, and will give an average return of a really good sample if fine weather assits the harvesting. Oats cover a large acreage and, with an exception at intervals, look like a big yield; sheep-feeding will absorb the major part. Higher up very small portions of the farms are in grain, and they will barely supply themselves. HORORATA. It is doubtful if ever since the district was settled so little land has been utilised for grain purposes. Growers got a severe lesson and loss for two .successive years and are not so anxious as formerly to give labour, seed, &c, for the pleasure of losing money. On Sir John Hall s property tbe crops look well, and tbe same re. marks apply to a number on the Downs. A few seem stunted and thin, but taken all round the sample should be a very fair one; but the quantity sent to town markets will not be great. Annat to Springfield. Quite 50% less grain is growing here, abouts, therefore home; consumption wil. require nearly the whole. Wheat in many places got a nasty knocking about by the winds in November and has nob fully recovered, consequently some of the paddocks will return a yield that will leave a debit balance. A few farms escaped damage, here the wheat will be good and I expect the machine state to tell a fair tale. Oα RuaeelTs Fiat the farmers are ! satisfied as far as appearances go, but as with all others the price is the bugbear. All over this combined district' oats are likely to turn outjwell,. but as requirements will be heavy for the winter a large quantity will go into chaff. The sample will be a good stout one. Summary. Aβ before mentioned ,< grain* is less, bub the growth of turnips is enormous in all districts. These forced by recent most favourable weather i promise > a splendid crop. In several places owners • have put id nearly all available land, growing just sufficient oats for chaff. Rape is coming into Some very nice paddocks of it mixed with oate or clover aie to be seen in various localities. As illustrating the acreage under roots, I may state that jSir John Hall has 1100 acres in. I estimate the averages (in bushels to the acre) of the combined districts for 1895 as follows :— Wheat. Oats.

NORTH CANTERBURY r - < ■' ' f-"" , f - Included in the counties of (Ashley, Amari, aad Cheviot, which may be reckoned by physical boundaries as embracing the Northern District of Canterbury, In contradistinction from Middle and South Canterbury, there are several thousand acresjnrhtch have during the last year been opened up fotarable purposes in the Cheviot block.' On the other hand, the sheep on thie area are returned:at ££484,981 head—an increase of 703,312, and tbafc very largely in the crossbreds for freezing purposes. This change, together with 'a slight increase in dairy farming, indicates plainly that on many of the older settled farms in Ashley and : Amuri there has been a less extent in crop and a greater tprea in grass.- The experiences of grain-growing in the season of 1892-3 were but favourable at any period. It is true there were some hones of a fair yields about January, bub the spring will long be remembered as a backward one hrwhich the corn did not fill out as-ib should have done, and the absence of suitable weather for the ingathering of the fruits of the earth was more than disappointing. Low prices moreover added.to the series of drawbacks which befell the farmer's operations. It cannot be said that there are any more cheerful prospects as to prices for this harvest's produce; but it seems certain that the bottom rates have been touched, and that nothing worse In that direction may be anticipated.

Bat In comiog to a review of the events of the season it may fairly be stated thac the yield of grain as well as the quality thereof Iβ excepted -. to be satisfactory. The crops are*further Advanced in condition than, the crops of last season were *at this.period of the year, and there seems atTtho time of writing every prospect of fine auhahlney weather to ripen and mature them, and the average yield per acre should be at least from five to eight bushels more than last year, when the returns gave, a for wheat 19*56 bushels, ~oats' *29 , 55 bushels, barley 24-11 bushels, 24*78 bushels, and beans 38 bushels. la»eome parts the cereal crops are exceptionally good where the land is ot a rich alluvial character, but they fall away as to quantity ovejTthe lighter land and on the opiates. 'Softie of the shorter crops, so far a&stunted straw is concerned, are the best In commercial value, the corn has developed' Well "and , there will be lees cost for harvesting than in many instances where the straw la exceedingly heavy and has been twisted and laid in each a manner as to render harvesting tedius and expensive.

The season haa'been a forward as well as a regular one. The antunm sown grain went In under satisfactory conditions, but at the spring sowing the weather was dry , for a time, and threw the sowing late before rain *rt in.' No more favourable season has been experienced for its regularity after the catchy part of the , early eprinjpwas passed. Towards the latter part of December rain came in the nick oHime to put the finishing touch on the quality and weight of the yield. Everywhere the groin looks in beautiful condition, and the ripening has taken place evenly all along the line. The majority of the oat crops from light land have been put into etook, and by the end of this week the harvesting of early maturing wheat will be in full swing, And the barley and later wheat crops will speedily follow, and should the opening hot 'weather of January be maintained at the end of the month, there wijl be a rather early com* pletion of the harvest operations. As a role, the crops are favourable for the expeditious work of machines, and the modern harvester soon tells a tale in an even field. Almost every farmer has one, if not more, of these machines, and is thus able, with horse power at a cheap price, to quickly overtake the work of reaping, binding 'and stocking. The majority of the crops are excellently clean and pure in the samples. The quantity «f land under eats largely preponderates

over wheat, and the of barley grown for crop ie limited to a few very good fields of that cereal. The rust has appeared slightly in some of the crops, bub there have been no complaints of blight or caterpiller to any serious extent. On all hands there appears to be a constant dread of noxious weeds, and at the same time there is an evident determination on the part of the farmers to keep them in check.

Increased attention has lately been given to the clearing of gorse from roads, but this plant has obtained so strong a hold in many pieces of waste land, as well as in the river beds that ie Iβ doubtful if it can ever be successfully eradicated. The mv portance of clean seed for sowing has come home to the minds of the farmers, and great care appears to be exercised in destroying the seeds of weeds after the threshing. The sparrow and small birds nuisance is still a heavy tax on the grain* growing iudustry, but has been pretty well kept in check this season; what Iβ now required is more careful attention to spreading poisoned grain for the birds in the winter and spring months, when the best results are obtained. The starlings and other insectivorous birds experienced a fairly good spring and did much to clear away the grubs which bare lately taken possession of grass landa. The reports circulated lost year to the effect that the starlings were killing the humble bees have not been borne out by recent observations. These bees at present seem to be largely increasing, and no doubt the farmers are enclosing for their occupation and delectation pretty extensive fields of red and white clover. Thie crop has profited by the season, and handsome yields of seed are looked for should the weather prove propitious for harvesting the crop. Hay was secured in good condition, and the average yield should be quite three to four tons per acre. Grass seed which has been threshed out has yielded sound and heavy samples. The pea and bean crops on all hands are promising. The strength of the haulm, the quantity of flowers, and the general healthiness of the bean plants, especially on the deep rich soils, indicate prolific returns. Potato crops likewise promise very well, and the low average of six tone per acre of last season will be nearly doubled. Turnip crops have come on well since the December and recent rains, and may bo pronounced a flourishing crop.

There bas been little done during the year in tree planting in the closely settled part of tbe district, and In the newer settled country the farmers have been too busy with fencing and break!ng-up to give special attention to plantations. Fruitgrowing is certainly increasing, and apples for cider-making will soon be plentiful. There is a disposition to look carefully after the orchards, and to dress the trees to remove the fruit pests.

The last official return of the district gave 877 freehold, 378 rented, and 312 rented-and-part-freehold holdings of a total of 971,712 acres. The extent then, at January last, broken up bub not under crop was 5093 acres.' There was sown in wheat, 22.654 acres; in oats* for grain, 23,258 acres; for paten hay, 2618 acres; for green oats, 323 acres; in barley, 933 acres; in rye, 77 acres ; in peas, 1645 acres, producing 44,653 bushels; beans, 3261 acres, producing 127,085 bushels; potatoes, 1083 acres, yielding 7782 tons. There were 15,093 "acres'' in turnips and rape, 46S acres in carrots, parsnips, onions and mangolds ; 1041 acres in other crops; 333 acres in gardens, and 434 acres in orchards. The area sown in grasses for hay was 3188 acrea, estimated to produce 4670 tons. The gra?s land which had been previously broken up was 209,419 acres. The produce of grass seed was: Cocksfoot, 2411 bushels; rye grass , seed 32,893 bushels. There were 1585 acres of plantations. The stock at the same date was 12,899 horned cattle, of which 5140 were breeding cowe. <,*■•;• The returns of grain in bushels grown in Ashley County for tho. past eight seasons have been:—

The respective yields of-potatoes f6r 188G-7, 10.173/ tons; 1887 8, 11,420 ton* 1888-9, 9628 tons; 9077t0n*; 1890-1,: 14.399 tons; 1801-2, 13,287 tons; 1892-3, 7986 tons. . Summary. Wβ approxmately estimate the crops of the three counties at, wheat, 25 to 28 bushels per acre; oats, 27 to 30 bushels; barley, 32 bushels; peas, 30 bushels; and beans, 35 to 40 bushele. . In the respective ridings ot the Ashley County our correspondents remark as follows :— . " Oxford. Crops here have not looked better or more promising. They are rapidly ripening and harvesting' of oats has commenced. Soma of the heavy oats are laid, but the majority of the grain Is on stoat straw of medium height and has neither been broken by the wind nor weighed downjby the heavy showers which have come this way recently. It was hoped that this season would have seta an extension of the .water race system, and that already the district would have benefited by a comprehensive system of irrigation, bat that has been delayed by circumstances which are pretty well known. The estimate of wheat is 25 bushels; oats, 20 to 23 bushels. The crops will cover from 3500 to 4000 acres. Cost. This district, which also expected to receive the -boon of an Irrigation scheme, has to submit to a postponement of its wishes, but for this season at apy* rate there has not been the outcry for water,which has been previously remarked upon. The majority of the grain crops are oats, but there are some very fine fields of wheat, which are ripening evenly and promise a good return of grain without too ranch straw to hamper the harvester. The average here will he: wheat about twenty-five to thirty bushele, and in some instances it will be more; oats about twenty to twenty-five bushels. The. probable extent in crop is between 3000 and 4000 acres. Wbst Eybeton. Along the strjp of conntry on the Eyre river, the wheat crops look remarkably fine, and the would-be prophet who makes his forecast, may make a liberal estimate here, bat it is reduced by the fields on the dry ridges. The crops are fast maturing, and oats are beiug cut. The yields are estimated: Wheat thirty to thirty-five bushels, oats abont twenty-six bushels, and barley twenty-five to thirty bushels. The extent of land in crop is about equal to that of the Cust riding. Mandeviixk and Banoioba« It Is estimated that about 7000 acres are. under grain in this riding of Ashley County. Again the crops present aflouriahIng appearance, and the view over them Is enhanced by the well-kept hedges, plantations, and tidy homesteads. In the Fernside quarter there aro some very good wheat and oat crops, as welt as a little barley of first-class, quality which is ready for cutting. Through Rangiora and thence to Southbrook the crops look nice and. even. At Coldstream the yields doable last' year's. Woodend and Waikutcu display very heavy crops, some of which should reach sixty bushels per acre; these heavy oat crops are mach laid with rain. Both beans and peas likewise will give a lower return. In the Flaxton district there is a good extent of clean well-grown crop. The averages are estimated: Wheat, np to forty bushels per acre, oats to thirty-five or thirtyi light bushele, barky about thirtyfive bushels, peas and beans abont forty bushels.

Ashley. The Loburn and Ashley crops are well beaded on short straw and present a very favourable appearance. Those nearest the river are again the best looking. Harvesting is iv full work. The extent of crop -will be about 3000 acree, and the yields are expected to be: wheat, twentyfive bushels per acre; oats, twenty-two bushels; exceptional crops cutting much heavier. Ko-wai. In this district about 4000 acres of light crop for the most part is presented to us. Sefton district has some heavy yields in wheat and oats; there are some fair crops on the Terrace. At Amberley and towards Mount Grey the crops look very healthy, though not heavy the corn is well filled and plump. Oats are being rapidly harvested, the average of which Is twenty to twenty-five bushels, wheat about a similar return; for the heavy lands wheat up to forty bushels, oats to twenty-six bushels per acre. Eyketon. Throughout this riding grand crops of wheat and oats are the rule. It is a pleasure to go through them. Oats are being harvested and wheat will soon be ready. The heavy crops on Kaiapoi Island again bear comparison with the heavy yields on the Woodend and Maori run land*. Through Eyreton andOhoka the farmers seem to be well satisfied with their prospects. The average will be wheat up to 40 bushels per acre, oats to 40 bushels, and barley of which there are one or two crops an equal average. Waipara. There is a good extent of grain crop Iα the Waipara district, all of which is promising well. • Amuri Cottnty. There are several parts In crop at Culverden, Lynden, Leslie Hills and the other stations which are expected to give Rood yields. Most of the crop here is for local consumption. Cheviot. Most of the settlers were late with their crops, being delayed with fencing and then by the spring rains. The weather ultimately favoured the grain crops till Christmastime, when the want of moisture was a cause of considerable anxiety. The deficiency has subsequently, In parts, been made up, but not before the grain had been checked iv Its growth by the temporary dryness. Our correspondent writes that several of the settlers have fair prospects, but the results of the first year on new land, after a late ploughing, can hardly be taken as a criterion of what the country will produce. It Is, however, expected that some good proofs, will be given of the quality of the land at Cheviot when the threshing returns come in. ' It may-;be.stated in conclusion that the official returns are being collected, and should be out eariyv perhaps even earlier than last year, when Mr Walker, the district enumerator, was able to furnish them to us on March 24th. . A note might be added that the quantity of grass, and the quality of stock grazed during the period under notice in the foregoing report, has nover been better than for the past year, and. if low prices have prevailed in grain the farmers have been able to balance their accounts when they had plenty of grazing land and stock, and that, however "tight" matters may have been no extensive failures among the farmers of the North Canterbury district have to be recorded.

Greondaloetc ... ... 21 Kf mberley etc ... .w 84 View Hill Plains, ... ... 17 Hororata etc... ... „, 23 Annat etc ...- ..»< - ... 18 , Average»11 over ... ... SI' Average lor 1834 was ... 95 34 29 22 20 32 29 39

: Teat. Wheat. Oate. Barlej. • 1835-7. .« 476,678 47U.393 83.7*4 1887-8 ... 618,283 614.608 82,165 18*8-9 ... 7S0.-VC 495.329 28,222 • 183900 ... 751.1*1 5*4.607 ' 57,320 1890-1 ... 539,783 . 889,645 28,170 1891-2 ... 877,979 466,119. , 18,568 1692-S ... 654,731 '389.7*4 15.774 1893-4 ... 489,043 615,965 17,691