HARVEST PROSPECTS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 9941, 21 January 1898, Page 2

HARVEST PROSPECTS.

, ——•-— . ' "Weekly Press artd Referee."

-. ILLESMERE AND LINCOLN . DISTRICTS. r Never In the knowledge o! the oldest inhabitant has such a dry seafon been experiejMjed aa the present one. The crops ,tm all the lands, except the wet swampy louts, are very light and bad- 0° the light; lands they are a failure, and in numerous •cases have been fed off with sheep, while hundreds of acres that are left would have ' paid belter had they been used for fatten- • tug lambs. Fortunately the EUeamero and ' Lincoln lands are very mixed, wet and dry, .hence while the larger portion is light, . yet there are numerous good and heavy • crops which will lift up the average. The failure of the cereal crops is . not the Worst feature this season. The loss of grass and root crops will be felt more seriously than the. grr»in. The Ellesmere ' district is year by year more utilised for ■ growing and fattening lambs and mutton, and the dairy industry, than grain growing. Several of our best farmers are of the opinion . thAt lambs at 10s pay as well as grain grow- : ing with the extra advantage of improving instead of impoverishing the land. Except on wet swampy lands there is no grass, and except in specially favoured instances, no roots. A few of potatoes, mangolds, and turnips are to be seen on the drier lands, but Only in cases where the land has been specially worked. Relative to the growing of- roots, this season has demonstrated pWinty that to get good crops the land mast have extra working even in addition to '. that usually given, to prepare the soil properly. This season wnerever the land has been worked exceptionally well the root crops • are good. The land being fine has drawn moisture from the (lows aud damp air, and also held the showers that have fallen. This, of course, can only be clone on a very limited scale for turnips, and the result is, so far, no turnips are to be seen. The EHesniere district has for many years been noted for its hay, clover and grass*fraed crops, but this season these are almost a total failure. Three to six paddocks of hay will about include all the hay crops saved. "There are a few more lots of grass seed. Two years ago at Little Rakaia, which district possesses some of the best dry land in New Zealand, Mr William Gabbie, of Mount Pleasant, had an enormous crop of hay with a wonderful crop of clover seed, but this season he has neither bay nor grass. Where in previous years there was a great Kowth of grass and seeds, there are now own, burnt np looking paddocks. LITTLE RAKAIA. Storting at Little Rakaia, via Southbridge, the country, with few exceptions, is dry and brown, and is worse near the sea and , . river than farther inland, as occasional • showers which have fallen round Leeston , And Brookside have passed by Little Rakaia. A large quantity of cereal crop has been used for stock, and a quantity left is not worth harvesting. Messrs Heybourne, McMillan, Montgomery, McEvedy, Ruddock and Humphrey have a few paddocks of wheat and oats that will yield well. The latter gentleman has been irrigating on a somewhat extensive scale. Having the advantage of the outfall of two water races, ha has turned these more or- less on to hi* paddocks with good results both to grass and growing crops. Nearer Southbridge, Mr J. R. Campbell has some nice paddooks of wheat. LEK_TON. At Leeston. where is swampy, there are some magnificent looking crop*. There are also a large number of failures ' on .ordinary good land. The piok of the . district are tjiree paddooka, two being Mr Honty Chamberlain s, Ravensworth, and Mr W. 11. Jaroieson'a, on the Birdling Brook property. Mr Chamberlain has two magnificent paddocks of wheat which were sown in May, and the land specially wall worked. The Ravensworth property would grow good heavy crops in any season;' The records held by this property of a yield of £10 an acre for the «wimp paddooka per annum will be more than maintained this wason. Mr W_H. on bisimwty--j acquired Blrdltng .Brook propwiv, fee* wi>udei„l crop* of barley and wheat t—ia are nrluiifo'd by all who see them. •vfceve*mssM . x n'ops of wheat afid oat« trnaj be •••■ 01 tlio properties of Messrs Hampton, Marshall. J>rker,.Lpckhead r Phillips; T. DUoo, k V KmUlison,"Anderapu, Longsteff, Osborne, 1 /ATcr. -.fteUeMui. and Mrs Pressor/ Mr Mm shall..has., a, wonderful paddock of clover, -which,- he has,found it almost im* ' possible to feed off. The crops named a** nearly all on wet swampy lands. Through the Kiliinchy swamp thejre are some good paddocks of wheels and oats, the best oi .« which fa a pwldockjof wheat of Messrs J. | \ tt.aridJ. is <% boomer, M essrs McClure,' Lemon,Hogg, and^Vills > Bros. aTao have a few good paoooeks. , '. ' ~.' '<• ' ' ' ■'■'~•■'. " At Lakesids, as the name implies, the country is. mostly wet, and it is here. that good orops, plenty of grass and fair roots may be seen. .Tafia* altogether, crops 'in this part of the ditoriot ere good. Messrs MoOklUad, Greenwood, Rowney, Mrs! Marshall, Lambie, Overton, D. Marshall, j ■ Ludiemon and others have some very Ine j , paddooka of grain. m vi-si-oVKp, mwELL. Owing' to the uathre of die soil (heavy • clay subsoil) these districts have suflsrei . severely from the-drought. When grand properties like the Orange, Brnos-Coe Lodge; Wright's, Gardiner's, and others are - burnt and dried up it is an index to Avery bad season. After leaving the Lakeside . portion of these districts there is hardly onf good crop to be seen, while the grass it own- ', pfetely dried off. At Brooks-dc, in the swamps are some very good orops, but here general result is partial failure of . crops and grass. Messrs Mawson,Boag (MJMußigg), Moore, Beltou, Dunlop and others have some good paddocks. * '.'..'..'..' ' SELWYN. .;'•. ".:' Crossing ore* the Selwyn it is p*sasiag to . note some reamrl—Die results on light bad .by irrigation! on;Mr McGregor's lam. bast ieeeeou exceptional crops on light IssjnY sa I result of irrigation were spsoTaliy noted. This asasDQ Mr JjleGregor has o_taweted ~ andtr the same system on a larger soak, end . has some &is joteps. . # yBJOOLrI. "This country- is much the sense ss > the Leeston - Lakeside lapd,with the , »xception that the crope preesnt more evsojis—, and this laud has had a sisal mere . rain than that nearer the sea, probably*—ree or four t—isa as much as Little Becaje or i Southbridge. On the W-SOtshah*; road several good paddocks of wheat are W he . Men on the propertite of Gam_aok's estate, J. P. Andrew, fdorrish aad othsse. Mssrer i Hornby Mr John Overton has asvacM Sni - lookiag paddocks of wheat aad oats. While 'on the Templeton side Messrs F. a ' Maddison, Bailey Bros., Voyee aad ethers . have boom very good crops. Gong through . Springston to Lincoln and thanoe to Gresaperk the crops on the whole look !■ 'very well and, although not heavy in the e_aw, am remarksrWy well headed. The fi bfat orops aU round are to he asso on the ;| . Osaterbslry Agricultural Oalkgs. property. fi - * Hearer the lake the crop* are all heavier, ;| r and wIH ,be r abovs the .'average. On Dr. 1 Hunt's late property Mr G. Mcßean has a ' 1 { .roaguiftoeol crop of barley, aad eons good J paddocks<of oats. | XORTH CAKTBMMJBY. l| In the North CaMerbury district Jhp ..1 weather has been rAlirig on the agony an if 4 thefanaers during the last week. A few 1$ of the fairly good crops have in thiswise H /» Buffered by being sluiveUed aad the apin ■ ; 3,. blown cut, while a good deal of msssarnie f| . **ripsnl«g Kas gons on. It is not expected b M. that' the average can exceed 15. bushels psrfl sore, for the-good crops at «Xrf,. nanoa,. Woodend and Kaiapoi Jshutd art 1 disoottritadoy Use light yields SsMwhsia. 1 T 5 |- Our Ahhbj-rton qorrsSpondeat writes:—----4 Never since the turnins* oc the fttst sod lise" | so disastrods a eeaSoa been need as IJI. ,- the farmers are now undsrgoing h»assils at • M parts of the Ashborton i district. J& isi nearly two years 'since! thejw ,wae a | sufficiently heavy rainfall to penetrate to - the subsoil, and thougn there have bee* -" frequent light rains fHare not -bsa* " enough moisture to save the pastures aad ', ssVirr crops fxoo. ttast 4ia_tmst-M_Nt 4i : m .jc-7 *• _«i______r *

« T • • .•!.,..„. JZ- ~ -.-'■ v i.'..-:. the hot, scorching winds that :lmv%: prfniled. The prospect* of good pncee induced farmer, to sow down :■*' widely extended eras under grain, and ta the early part of the spring the -<*rops begun to come away under the influence of frequent showers, but as soon as a few dayjf hot weather set in they received a check until the next showers feH. As the-eeason advanced it became gainfully eyjdfnt that the result in many *instances would be total failure; and that only on particularly wtstt. tilled lands: and >i* exceptionally favoured' localities woeld there be anything . like' average yields of either wheat, oats, or barley. For. numy yeaxa past the Ashburton district has contributed very largely to the total quantity of grain grown iq the colony, it being practically the chief cerealproducing district in New Zealand, in proof: of which the following figures .might be given to show the actual number of bushels returned each year since 1887 :— .

The area under wheat crop this year will be from 75,000 to 80,000 acres. A fair average for the whole county would be from 22 bushels to 24 bushels per acre, bnt the average this year will certainly not tjo more than 10 bushels, for while there aresome fairly good crops in favoured situations there is a wide area of miserably poor stuff, in addition to which a very extensive acreage has been fed off. There is comparatively little barley grown. The area under oats would be about 35,000 acres, and here again the average yield will be phenomenally low, and good oats or oaten sh#af chaff will be scarce. Avery considerable extent of country was sown in turnips, but as these have failed in many instances it is hard to get at the acreage which could now be fairly considered as actually in turnip crop. It is by no means a pleasant task to write in so pessimistic a strain, but still there is no disguising the fact that the season so far has been a disastrous one. There is, however, this consolation, much of the land will get a badly needed rest, and if copious showers should fall within a reasonable period there will be yet a hope, of getting some winter feed. The Acton estate is the only property in the Ashburton county on which irrigation has been, scarried out to any extent. The value of water in a dry, hot season has been demonstrated on Longbeach, at Lowcliff and at Elgin on a small scale, and in a perfectly legal manner, while surreptitiously scores of farmers throughout the 1200 miles length of water races have proved to themselves that every gallon of water put on the land at the right period will repay a hundredfold the cost of distribution. It has been said, and truly so, that he who makes one, blade of grass grow where none grew before is a benefactor. Mr Allan, of Acton, has during the past four years made millions of blades of rich herbage grow where almostnone would have grown this season, and he deserves the thanks of the whole community for his enterprise in instituting an irrigation scheme, WAKANUI. In former years yields varying from 35 up to as high as 45 and 50 bushels per acre have been obtained on many, of the farms throughout the far-famed Wakanui district, and the idea of turning stock in to feed off the grain in November and December was never dreamt of till this season, and it has only been on very rare occasions that the firmer has not had a fair return for Sis year's labour. This season, however, there are thousands of acres of crop in this particular district which have absolutely failed, and stock has been turned in to feed off what little there was. All the pastures are completely burnt up, and the wonder is how farmers ire keeping their stock alive. To attempt to give anything like even an approximate estimate of the average yield of grain would, under present circumstances, be* a .lUttter, of aAjt ar'mot esey-to%et ,_rt»vwfcioh basj beso fsd off,/ neither ia it easy tp judge m average yield of the crop to be harvested, 1 There ieve—f little'straw throughout the Waktaui' Aktrict atauding more than two Jsetvhigjs, Aad thclttgE both Vheat and "oats were •filing out nicely, the violent and •oorching nor Vest gales experienced last treek pHyed sad havoc with the; grain;* and made the prsvious poor prospeota look more gloomy stall. **■ '-" , Threugfc Newfaade, Dundaa, the lower portions of Dromore, and Charing Cross, the crops are fairly good, though the land it, only of medium quality. Mr Max Fried- | lander had a considerable area under oats on his Dundee property, and hs lias succeeded in safely harvesting a crop which will return him a handsome profit on his outlay. • Mr Psarce and Mr Cook each bad nice crops of oast, and so had Messrs Peter and* Paul Dofg, the latter on their recently acquired properties eJose to Chertsey. RAKAIA. From this point north to tbe Rakaia river the crops, except iv one or two instances, are poor, and there is scarcely a green blade of grass to be'seen 'anywhere, except along* aide the water races, Mr Wm. Allau, ths manager of the Acton estate, has beeri harvesting some very fair orops of oat*, not a (treat length in the straw, but nnoesnnionly will headed and well filled. He ha* also , 'dome wheat crops which will yeild much hatter than one oould expect tins season. There is not much straw, but the crops are even, with a nice length of head, and the heeds well—led With plump grain. METHVEN. 'Leaving the town of Rakaia and travel* .Hog up in the direction of Methven there it nothing; much to feel pleaaed with till Bearing Caumbrae. Here there are some really ■pod crepe, and the oountry right away jap to Mount Hett is looking particularly wtlt Mr JX Cameron has a large aisa und«jcrop ea hie estate at SpaingieUL/bser Metayfcj and though his eyersg* vfekteirro-J-i'l wftt . not be up to scum previous years, _c has * lot of uaoommonly «*ood wJiset and oats, that part of the distriot hiring been favosn-ed with many aor'-weet «rsaa*' : which rarely reach more than about ten milee frorotht footof the hills. Mr Peter Drtiniremd hat harvested some nice crops of oats.off hit; teas at Laoristoo, btxA, generally- speakings . the orape tsu-ough this distriot ace. a leng way eesow the average. •■■'_. HINDS. There will he some fairly sjood * yidms through the Westerfleld district, and Mr E. Gates has pome mcc, even, weU-filled crop* en. hie two faraas abutting oa the Las-abor voed. -tecropw very poor again away over towatde tbe Hindi, but down oh the tower porttohef Ooldstrsam Mr Studholme hsa a wheat and oats. Mr McKtegue isako as a similar fortanate poeitiea.-LONGBB-CH, Many of the Longbeach catm are ptftioa* ladyvgeod, and some. highly *wtafaotory yields will be obtained, but taasa s_ round •van tUs exoeptkx—Uy wall farmed esteto wttlaot return the average yields obta_ed ip pTUvioas years. V V; '-'.*.:; WILLOUGHBi. | Bams evnelbnt crops are to be met?wlUs in the WiUovdhoy district. MrE. Stoddart I has slot of wheat which is worth goinff a I long way ,|e see. Paddock after paddock ataodiag from 4ft 6in to sft high, Nintiialiy evea,and snlsndid well felled hsade. The land ia rood, but Mr Stoddart is one 'ef these fas pals who believe in putting, ia Isibour and thorougfafj working bin land befpre sowing any mod oC.brop. He wil esrtain-y gat a-ha-Vdaome .return this year, tog besides splendid crops of wheat and oats iMhMahitexguedixratomps. ■ Hia panares are hare, hut hs vstesa hfc straw. siyHias slvsn some nice sweet stuff for the stock to ftAhk away at. , . These see a fsw good creps ahout bat sway dmsa tiureagh Wheatstoae and Waterteb thare is a Ist of staff which is Wretehedlypeer. , AitHBURTON IORKfi. - The very fsjrtiki strip of eimvial land si tasted betweea tbe north and south Bswhsa of the Ashburton riv-, ia ewsther vsry disappointing locality th_*.;s*eoqProut. fffW tap to sixty-five aad "#t*o'sfghty. :th« }^^^Mmlm^^^^m'^r

heavy yields oi barley and wheat have been S reduced, but there is scarcely a crop in the iatrfct this year which will average above 20 bushels to the acre. Mr Isaac Sargent has some wheat which may go up to 30 bushels in places, but there are thin patches which will pull down the average very considerably. He has a splendid crop of rape aw*aY"d6irTrnear the"fiver, and turnips that would yet be a good crop if* they got a i shower or two within a reasonable period.

WmtAT. Oats. Bushels. Bushels. 1887 .. 1,090,439 853,635 1883 .. 1,814,486 661,806 1889 .. 1,714,384 «5,U64 1880 .. 1,617,114 1,251,050 1891 .. 1,199,504 637,687 1392 . 2,287,263 912,567 1893 .. 1,719,297 725.607 1894 .. 1,520,515 1,187,535 1895 .. 766,036 38,428 Oats. Basxst. Bushels. 48,804 32,215 81,688 67,524 44,117 45,5820,282 46,417 68,680_ ! Baaurr. j