THE WEATHER.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13250, 19 October 1908, Page 8

THE WEATHER.

THE AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK. Saturday and yesterday were particularly fine days, and the sun shone out steadily and brightly throughout each of the" two days. In the shade the thermometer reached 66 degrees on Saturday and 69 degrees yesterday. A strong nor'-west wind blew at Ashburton on Saturday, and the weather was unusually warm for this timo of the year, the temperature in the _hade reaching 78.5 uegrces. •Canterbury m her best spring attire" litiy describes the agricultural districts at tiie present moment. .Now is the timo when excursions into tile country give the correct view of the surprising iv-rtihty oi tho- land iv this pioviuce. On all hantls there is a wealth or grass for tho nocks and herds, and crops ot wlieat, oats, and barley cover the broad acres witli a mantle oi greenness and fresnness, inspiring sanguine hopes for the tuturo harvest, mo indications regarding the grain yields and the dairy returns were never more promising, xhe wneat lie Ids display a deep," Healthy green colour, pointiug to an absence of blight, and a good suppiy of root moisture ttiat will carry them" well into the hot season, if the province experiences another dry spell. Sheep and lambs aro in most forward condition, and some of the farms havo begun shearing. The cattle are losing their harsh winter coats, and are looKing sleek again; and the tins of cream going in by rail to the butter factories are on tho increase every week. In tho orchards thero is plenty of pear, plum, and cherry blossom, and appearances indicate a good fruit season. The season has been a favourable one for lucerne, and two paddocks at the Sunnyside -iental Hospital havo givc-u good crops. There was- a phenomenally heavy bailstorm at J-aiing on Thursday afternoon, the fall being continuous for an hour and a half. Tho hailstones were not unusually largo but in the aggregate w_u»n dissolved represented a considerable volume of water, and when the storm passed over the water was lying a couple of inches deep in sheepyards and similar depressions. The past fortnight in the .Ealing district has been much wetter than has been tho cax further south, tho frequent showers greatly hampering the shearing operations. At one woolshed only three days havo been put in during the fortnight, one only being a full working day. A farmer on the Opaki informs the ''Wairarapa Daily Times" that one of tho beneficial -effect- of last summer's dry spell was that nativo grasses died cut. This season ho has looked in vain for their re-appearance in his paddocks. The English grasses are having the field all to themselves, whereas in former seasons they were crowded out by the native growth. Tho somewhat paradoxical statement is made, writes the "Dominion's" Wairarapa correspondent, that our fields and pastures this season with less rain, will bo better able to stand a dry spell than they were last year, when the dry months wore preceded by rain which had continued for months. Tbe foreMing seems to be a strange assertion, but it appears to bo, nevertheless, true, jbor years the Wairarapa has never looked so well in a spring month as it does now. Its fields aro carpets of luscious grass, and the corn crops, some of them a foot in height, aro a delight to. the eye. It seems that last year the rain-soaked earth was baked under the continuous hot rays of the sun, and this condition stifled the growth of feed. This year there have been no Vavy rains so tar, and the earth is in a much better condition to nurture the grass. _ Feed is therefore plontiful in tho Wairarapa, where the season is about three weeks ahead of that of the districts. Nevertheless, a drenchjig shower of rain every now and then, just to moisten tho earth and keep things going, will be appreciated. In the intervals the dryness may rage as it pleases. It would be a very bad thing, however, if there wero to be a very long spell of rain, but this is hardly probable.