THE DRY SEASON

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15393, 25 September 1915, Page 13

THE DRY SEASON

BAIN URGENTLY NEEDED,

(By Oar Agricultural Editor.) j It is 6omewhat remarkable that the , East Coast of the South Island, from J Blenheim to Oamaru. has missed tho > isual winter raius. Other parts of tho j [dominion have been more or less gt-nn - - ; Dusly served, and the long dry spell j >f the prjsvion* summer and autumn j tias been relieved. Tho North Island, Torn the far north #to Wellington, has i sntered upon a most promising season, il though the' East Coast there, from Poverty Bay to southern Hawke s Bay, oould do with more rain, not only for immediate requirements, hut as a reserve for tho crass and crops during the summer. The West Coast of tho South Island and tho whole of the country south of Dunedin. have had ample rain, ind Southland ivS now enjoying one of the best spring seasons for many years. The Province of Marlborough, which suffered severely last summer and autumn, has had somo light raius during the winter, but north of Kaikoura the coaKtn] lands are still very dry. From Kaikoura to the Waiau thero j have been fair rains, and the country, though still dry, is looking very well. From tho Waiau to Amberley, both on the coast and inland of the.main range, ono of tho driest periods known is still being experienced. Cheviot in particu- | lar has suffered severely from want of j rain, and never since the settlement was ; established have the conditions been so trying to the settlers. They are worse even than in 1897-98. when the Canterbury Plains were so badly affected. The coast from Cheviot to Amberley, and the Waikari and Waipara districts, though a little relieved by the rains of a month ago, are also exceptionally dry Further south along tho coast, including Banks Peninsula, light easterly rains, which did not penetrate far inland, have helped these districts, but the plains generally, right through to Timaru, have had little or uo rain for several months beyond that which fell on the night of August 31st. South Canterbury is even worse off than the plains farther north, as the rain was lighter there. The hill country i» generally looking well, as the nor'-west rains have reached well down to the front. In the last two winters the snowfalls have been light, and with tho short rainfall, all the small rivers are exceptionally low. For the time being there is a fair growth of grass on the plains, where the land is riot over-stocked, and the crops are looking well, but they are dependeut mainly upon the surface moisture, aJid without more rain soon, must soon go off, particularly if moro nor'-west winds prevail. North Otago is badly off for want of rain, and the water supply is so short that application has been made'for the free carriage of water on the railway to the Ngapara district. So far there has not been much loss of Btock. There are reports of lambs being killed to save the ewes, but there are probably only odd instances of this. In parts of South Canterbury and districts now so exceptionally dry as those north of Amberley, stock have suffered most. Ihiring the winter feed was so scarce in South Canterbury that large quantities of turnips were railed up from Southland, and with the aid of these flocks were enabled to cany on without severe loss. . The Government meteorologist's daily reports have been eagerly scanned for months past, and promises of rain and storms gave rise to hopes that the long dry spell would be broken. But apparently the rain expended itself in the south or on the main ranges, or was carried as far as the west coast of the North Island, and we have had only nor'-westers or dry soa'-westers, turning to easterly winds. The. rainfall figures for the years 1913, 1914, and for tlie nine months of 1915 show how far we are short of the usual amount of rain. The rainfall, as shown by "The Press' range in 1913, was 26.63 inches, which is about the average for Canterbury. In 1914 20.31 inches were recorded, which tallies very closely with the Government meteorologist's average of 20.49 inches for Canterbury, based on the records taken at Christchurch, Lincoln, Timaru, and Waimate. This year to date the rainfall reoorded by "The Press" gauge is only 10.07 inches, as oom pared with 14.79 inches to the same date last year, and 18.10 inches in 1913. The monthly reoords of tho rainfall registered by "The Press" gauge from January to September 24th for tho three following years will indicate clearily how much Delow tho average the winter and spring rains have been during this and last year:—

We have to go back to the years 1897-98 for a period similar to that through which vrd are now passing. The whole of 1897 was extremely dry, there being no' rains of any consequence in either antrnnn, winter, or Bpring, and conditions in the spring on the plains of Canterbnry were far .worse than they are to-day. The harvest of 1898 was a failure, and the long dry spell only broke up in the auttmm, by Bhowery weather, but no heavy rain. It is to be hoped that the remainder of this season is not' going to be a repetition of 1897-98, and that we will not have to wait until tie antumn before the break comes.

1913. 191L 1915.. Inches. Inchos. Inches. Jannarv — 4.38 1.41 1.90 February 2.36 1.54 .73 March — -49 .88 1.99 April ~ 1.06 2.61 .62 Mav — 2.97 4.28 2.fil June — .91 3.09 1.40 July — 2.1(5 .17 .16 Angnst — 3.53 .3-1 • .ol September... .24 .17 .-o Totals ... IS JO 14.79 10.07