IN SOUTH CANTERBURY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 15022, 17 July 1914, Page 4

IN SOUTH CANTERBURY.

A Soutn Canterbury . correspondent writes;— During the past week wo have been terrified by those paragraphs in . tho newspapers,- bidding -us expect storm-—apparently because the barometer was high, and steady at that— but on Tuesday at last came the Wintry i weather, fend once agam tho bills af, i snow-clad to tho lowest slones. Out on the plains, no frost worth mentioning has followed the snowfall, but everywhere is a.dull, raw cold, with a ! prospect of worse ahead. More cheer- ■ inn than toast things at the moment, is the reflection that am _idv the 4avhave lengthened visibly, and t_e- winter I season has passed tho half-way mark. Not many days ago tussock fires wore spreading along the hills between th* H .c Te.M6a.na and Omiha. but though , tho burning made a great clearance, it was put in practice unwisely soon, ar.d it _. difficult to see how the yourg grast cau survive the sdow and frost. The creeks and smaller river. are low ard full of silkweed as in summer time ard in their case a heavy rainfall woul . bo very welcome, for from the Hae Te Moana—and in a lesser degreo from the Waihi—the trulls have been taking the tront wholesale. In cno instarce retributivo measures were adopted, and a score of troutlets left tn a side pool became victim ~ to save their kin. Carefully doctored wit-If str> citrine they were arranged upon tho shingle at the edge, and several gulls are reported "missing" in consequence. If this plan is legal, it might be tried elsewhere in similar circumstances, to save the tront. j A .ri-iltura-1 operations have pro j cecded apace, for the frost seldom hae> i

{___ bar. enough to hinder tho plcnchan<f alUarm ™.rk » wd. aneaci. the, autumn sow* grain crop* aro making excellent progress, but fren. certain places we hear com plaints, that the larks ire still basil v engaged in pulling up tho wheat. Mot t»t trom Ruapuna is an oat crop njarred by great yellow patches, of which grats grub* are tlio repute, causo, but apparently this is an exceptional case, ana in tho __no paddock w&s a great flock of starlings, who no doubt wore doing their best to diminish the harmSo far tho stock generally has wintered very well, but in some of tho flocks in the Woodbury and Orari Bridge districts and c&_wboro foot-rot ha« been unusually prevalent. Apparently the sheep at this time of the year will prefer pine branches to either the withered looking grass or tlio turnips, whoro they have equal access. In several places I have seen waggon-load* of pine-toppings carted ou;. into the paddocks, aud in two or three days the branches wero ali stripped bare. It is likely that before the winter is otqt. good feed of any kind will be scarce tor many of the turnip croj.,«. w__3 disappointing, and alreaav have been fed off. However, there is littlo use in anticipating evil, and un!->s_ lh© present gloomy weather outlook fulfils itself, tho.farmers in South Canterbury have but few causes for complaiit A hard frost set in early y_.tcrt.ay morning, and cold, bright weather seems probable.