THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15465, 18 December 1915, Page 6

THE COUNTRY.

. 1 — news and notes. TXCERNK AS A FODDER CROP. Messrs. A. Macpherson and McCullough, of tho Agricultural Department, accompanied by a representative oi " Tho Press." made a brief tour yesterday of » few* lucerne plots that have been established under tho auspices o: the Department, and an inspection oi these flourishing plots, which are growing on what is practically pure wand, makes one wonder why more farmers in Canterbury do not go iu extensively for this splendid fodder plant, .lust now*, when scores of farmers are at their wit*' end i«>r fodder, and many are seriously considering the boiling down of surplus sheep, a few acres of lucernc would come as a god-send, and would probably save a large proportion of tln j ir stock. The first plot inspected yesterday v.-as at the Te Orangu liumc. and here ab.nit a quarter-acre of lucerne was growing luxuriantly on pure sand. The plot had been cut out e this season and j liad again grown to about lift in height. 11 was looking exceptionally healthy, and I though slightly patchy owiug to sonio j of the seed having been blown away. |ii covered ihe ground well. Another j good stand of lucerne w as oeeii in a yadj dock at Dallington. this growing on rathe,- better land. A visit was paid I to the School for the Deaf at Sumner, j and here there was about half an acre j"l grand lucerne growing. This had been down about two years, and at the | present time the institution'.-; six cows j are being kept- solelv on it. there being absolutely no other feed available. The contrast which this lucerne shows when compared with the drv and barren grass paddocks is an object lesson which any progressive! farmer should take to heart, and the Department is doing a good work in trying to spread the knowledge of this crop among the conservative Canterbury farmers. "if lucerne will grow like this in a drought on sand, surely it would growwell on Canterbury's good land," said Mr Maepheison. "All the farmer has to do is to make no his mind to look after the crop for the tirsi year or so, and he will then have a permanent source of food for stock "which will .stand almost any amount of dry weather.'' SO L' "I'M I'ANTE I' Bl" K Y CROPS. ! Our Timaru correspondent writes: — Th*? grain crops in Sou Lit Canterbury are looking exceedingly poor, bv reason of the lack of rain. The .straw is short, and it is not very well headed. Many oi the crcr>s. though only about. ISin high, are rij>«>iiing prematurely in patches, wbcie they are particularly hot and dry. and to make, matters worse, the birds, through the absence of other iced this summer, are already creating havoc in them. Many crops have already been fed off to starving stoik, and other* are to be cut and ch.yfi'eil. even wheat crops coming in for this.treatment, ciops which would not pay for threshing. JOTTINGS 1011 FARMERS. Mr I\. Kennedy, secretary of the Agricultural and Pastoral Labourers' Union reports having visited the Oxford, Raugiora, Loburn, Sheffield and West Kyrcton district.*, and states that the crops he saw wore very poor. He learns that on the plair.s along the line between Christchurch and Oamarti there is practically no harvest at all. Along the hills the crops are fair, but "nothing to crow ■ about." (Several farmers told him that, they would not require any extra hands for harvest this seaso^. IvAIKOUftA. Members of the Presbyterian Church held a sale of work on Wednesday in aid of the Christchurch Orphanage and Missions. The net proceeds will probably exceed £50. When returning from a drive, and nearly home, Mrs Olse.n and Mrs J. .Monk (with three children) met with a mishap that for a few moments was fraught with dire consequences. A hurricane-like -sou'-easier caught . their vehicle, and capsized it. The occupants were thrown violently to the ground. Mrs Olscn was stunned for a second or two, but recovering, managed, with Mrs Monk's aid, to restrain the horse, which was entangled in tho harness and completely wrecked gig. Other than bruises and strained arm muscles sustained by Mrs Olscr., tho mishap was devoid of serious personal injury. CHK.VIOT. At the adjourned annual meeting of the Cheviot County Council there were present—Messrs T. Stevenson, C. Barnes, G. 1,. Rutherford, T. Gee. T. Meikle, and R. 1,. Jameson. The county clerk presided, and on the mo-] tjon of Mr Barnes, seconded by Mr Gee. Mr G. L. Rutherford w - as unanimously elected chairman for the ensuing year. Tho regular meeting was then held. The question of providing the county's quota to the Canterbury Patriotic Fund was discussed, and it was decided that the chairman call a public meeting to decide the best method of contributing. The Port Robinson Domain Board forwarded an estimate cf the cost of a new fence between its reserve, 3147. and Jed Cemetery Reserve, and it was decided to share the cost of a new fence with the Board. B. .Skinner applied to have a deviation of Spring Creek along Mruce's road cleaned, and it was resolved to comply tfith the request. The tenuer oi C. I. Borrell for the suuoly of 4-jO dog collars at 9-Jd. including labels, was accepted. Tho Public Works Department notified approval of work on the Men dip-Leader road, and that X'OO on a L (or ij had been paid to the Council's crcdit at the bank. 1 lie Mount Herbert County Council wrote forwarding a cony of a resolution it had passed urging the Government to grant: local board* tho power to levy a Patriotic I'tind rate. The letter was received. The Pet one Borough Council wrote re urgim; the Government to emend the War Pensions Act as regards payment to deceased soldiers' dependents. Tiie suggestion that all amounts ! payable be irrevocably Used by Statute was not, anriroved. and the letter was received. The dog tax for 191G was fixed on the present basis. The clerk »ih instructed to add 10 per cent, to ; all rates uunaid bv the first week in Januarv. and to .ne tor rat.?s and penalty. U wiK resolved to continue'team i I work in the Kaiwara Hiding for the j : nre*ent. A concrete culver' was auihor- j iscd for the main Dome U-Hnrunui road ! ' 'I HA WAR DEN. I The children of the HorMey Downs I School have bwn working hard lor the j Red Cross during the last ievv months. They have forwarded to the Society a > parcel of work containing lace cloths, j ; handkerchiefs, serviettes, medicine j cloths, scarves, and writing pads. The ! i materia! has all been bought, by the children themselves, and they have also forwarded £*8 Ss. tho proceeds of sales of flowers, watercress, mint, honey, cones, lavender bags, and plaques. The : children have been keenly interested in the work, and much encouraged bv the lieln and sympathy given them bv the ! residents of t£e~ district. ! LOBURN. The usual picnic of the Lobura School was held at Rossiter's Bush, Haylands, on Thursday. A large num. | ber of children, with their parents and ! friends, were conveyed by Messrs . Feather Bros.' traction train, and in spite of the strong north-west wind I blowing, all seemed to enjoy themselves J thoroughly. Tho school staff, oonsistI ing of Mr F. "Warr.er and Mr» Dawson,

and too school committee, of which Mr I. !•. Croft is chairman. did their utmost to give everyone a moat enjoyable time. On acoouut of the very hot and dry weather, the crops in tfeis district tin ripenmg more quieklr than was expected. In South Loburn. iMr R. H. Bailey hn* a crop of oats in stack, whilo many other crops of oat« and grass aro in stooK. In North Loburn, it. had be decided to hold harvest holiday# in February for the school children, but. on account of the rapid ripening of the croos, the usual Christmas holidays will be held, as moat of the harvest should be over before February. Unless rain, and plenty of it. comcs very soon, the rape Arjd turnio crops throughout the district generally, will be of little account, and the grass, also, needs a ijreat deal of moisture to ca'Ty I the stock on properly. KAIAPOT. : At ihe K.iiapoi District .High School yesterdav tho parents and friends of tho children were, by invitation. present to witness the work done in the various elas>es. Subsequently the [ pupils gave a displav of, Swedish drill. AMJBERhEY. | A meeting wa s hold at Anil>erlov < ):l I \\ cdnesdav evening t.» receive nommatious lor the Queen of Kowai County : to contest with the Aniuri. Waipara, j Cheviot, and Ashley counties, the honj our of Queen of the Hill-:. Tlie Kowai i County being divided into two ridings, it was decided t.> receive nominations lor the North 'Hiding at Amherley, and for tlto South Hiding at Scl'ton. The result was the unanimous noininatiou of Mrs F. N. Courage, of Seaci-own, Amborlev. A meeting will be held at Sefton to receive nominations lor the South Hiding. These, with the nomination of Mrs Courage, will he decided by tile Council at an early date. MOTUKAUAHA. There was a good gathering in the hall, Motukararu. on. Tuesday evening, at a .send-off to Corpora] Ivan Cebbie. SHh Heinforcejnents Mounted Hiflos. Euchre occupied the first part of the evening, the prizes being won by Mrs A. E. Harris ami Mr W. Gebbie. Daucing was afterwards engaged in. During the supper interval the '.uest of the evening was presented with r. ease of pipes. / WIEEN DALK. The continued dry weather and persistent hot. parching winds, have seriously fleeted crops antl feed of all kinds. Harvest prospects are oxeeedingly gloomy, aJid sheen have been turned on several of the grain crops. The frost of the latter part of November has done much more damage than was thought at first, and the dry nor'westcrs are making the effects of the frost more apparent. There is practically no feed in grass paddocks now, and sheep ;tro to be t-een'herded on the mads almost every riav. It seems at present to be of no use drilling turnips, as there is no moisture hear the surface to start them off. IX SOUTH CANTERBURY. A correspondent writes: — A whole night and day of misty rain has materially improved harvest, prospects in the hill districts, near Peel Forest. Woodbury, Pleasant Valley, and Four Peaks. Further towards the plains, about Orari, (Jeraldine, Orati Bridge, and Arundel, the .rainfall was rather less, but yet sufficient to do good, and if there is more to follow, as everybody hopes, the situation may still be saved. In many places between the Rangitata and Opihi rivers, the wheat is of good height, level, and well headed, and should be a fair crop. In the neighbourhood of Waitaki South, unfortunately, a very different state of things prevail, and a friend writes gloomily of stock losses and sun-baked cornfields, in a tract of country extending right awa.v down to Oamaru. Autumn-sown oats, as a geperal rule, have suffered greatly from the dry. weather, which has caused a stunten growth and premature rioeni'ng, but since the rain, even these liave made a noticcable progress. The small bird pests, in the shapo of droves of spar— rows, arc doing much mischief, but it has been found they will now take poisoned grain very readily, and tho experiment of scattering it near trees or hedgerows, at the edge of a cornfield, is now being tried with great succcss. A few dav«s ntro a note slated that a worthy little boy had collected and sold 110 dozen Muall birds' eggs; but it appears this was not a Tecord. I now hear that another industrious boy has already sold -32 dozen. One wonders what, will come to a bov like this, brtt "sufficient for the day." etc. —what has come to him at present is the sum of £"2 18s. Just right for Christmas, too! A north-west sale on Wednesday hunted the riucning ol the too-early oats, and it might be said thnt harvest has begun in South Canterbury for, dttring a drive, 1 passed three paddocks where watches of such crops had been cut and stooked. .lust now there i« little growth upon tho grasslands, which are greatly in need of a soaking rain. A< n general inle the stock are yet in fair condition, but should the dry weather continue, the short feed problem is agaH close ahead. Durir«i the week shearing operations in the bill districts bfye progressed under satisfactory rondit : ons. Contiai v to tho general hom\ Thursday brought rel'ef from north-west co'idi+ions. Instead of lessening, the gnlo increased, and so, na*orally, did the amount of its dosage. The second half, or "unfavourable change" and rain i>"tt of our weather prophets prediction, is now awaited most ansa-. ou»'y.