THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15769, 9 December 1916, Page 4

THE COUNTRY.

; NOTES AND NEWS, I THE COCKSFOOT CROP, j I A rOOi; HARVEST EXPECTED. ! i The very dry weather of the past week lias considerably altered the prosI poets of this, year's cocksfoot crop, and I where a lew weeks ago there -was a I prospect ot' a fair crop, the owners j find that the growth has been conij pletely checked, and weeds nre oper- | shadowing the cocksfoot (says yesterj day's "Akaroa Mail"). This is no I doubt the consequences of last year's | drought, as the paddocks have been I hard fed and they have no bottom in I them, and they tlu-relore cannot last j out the dry weather. In Little River, | especially in the lower areas, there will j l;e practically no cocksfoot harvested. | and though the higher paddocks are a | little better, it is expected that a crop ! equal to last yea*!' -will b<- hard to ob- | tain. Wectk ar(> also coming very j strongly, and the cocksfoot is taking a ' very c-orondary place. This is more i marked in Little Miver, though in the j Bays, also, iliv lower paddocks give | very jHXir prospects t in<:e the dry weaj ther set in. Ryegrass scorns to be j flourishing in the Little River district j and elsewhere. Good rains might \ bring tho cocksfoot back, but the dry | weather of Inst year and the hard graz- ! ing will fir responsible for a very ]>oor I harvest o[ nu-k-sioot on Uanks I'eninI stiliV again this year. The weather has ajso iv.»ultod in the I eai-!y nowcrh'fi of the cocksfoot, and j instead of being later than usual, as | it seemed lo be a few weeks ago, the i-vcd has come to head rapidly, and in ! the lower paddocks reaping should coni- : n-fiico at the end of this month. ■ JOTTINGS FOH FARMERS. | , Many of the early oat crops in the ! Winehmoiv and I.auruton and Lynd-di-tricl.s have b:«en cut and itooked. A line of i?/ii) stud merino ewes, purchased by Mr A. W. Hnthcrford, jinn-.. Brookdalo. from Mr A. J. Murray. Mount Crawford, South Australia, h.:vi> arrived at their destination ,in ■ good order. Although the sheep we're ! transhipped three times there wove no I losses. i Three blocks of land opened by the j Canterbury Land Hoard for selection I by returned soldiers were to have been I balloted for on Thursday, but there : were no applications. One of the ! blocks was situated at Tcmpleton. and : consisted of ten acres of agricultural j land valued at £350. The second was ! a block of 3G acres situated at Waij mate and valued at £1380, while the third was a block of a trifle over three acres situated near Hornby. As was the case, with the Washdyke sections, there was absolutely no "demand. j 'litis season, owing to the rains, there ! is a magnificent hay crop in the Marshj land district, and the fine weather comI ing just after cutting has afforded the j farmers there admirable opportunity of j savins the crop. Consequently all hands I in the district are working' early and I late. "Workers are doing especially I well, getting cighLoenpenco per hour, and three, four or even five meals a day. A man with a horse and cart is ! drawing 2a an hour and working all ! hours per day. "Unfortunately, though ! the. first crop is heavy, the late nor'I westers have dried up the ground so much that grass feed is scarce, and the milk supply is already falling off. Tho rains scorned just sufficient to freshen the first crop, and have entirely railed to benefit the later growth, winch in same places is even poorer than it was last year. On some of the best lands in the district the yra«s is already failing. OUST. Mr H. Tallott. of fust, and his daughter, aged nineteen, met with a turn accident when driving in the j neighbourhood of their home on Wedj nesu'ay morning. A badly-fitting bridle was responsible for the horse bolting, , niul in turning a coiner the'tran capsized. Mr Tallott had his right"ankle sprained, and some small bones, broken in his foot. He was also severely bruised on his arms and back by the vehicle dragging over him. Miss Tallott was olso much bruij-ed. and sustained an injury to her head, which rendered her unconscious for some time after the accident. ! RAXGIORA. On Thursday afternoon and evening the members and friends of the llangiora Methodist congregation were entertained at a garden partv by Mr and Mrs T. J. Withers,. Southbrook. Tho weather was perfect, and there was a huge attendance. A collection was made, and several stalls at which sweets, ice-creams, and produce were disposed of did good business. The proceeds of the party amounted to £13, which is to he devoted to the lt.ingiora Methodist Church funds. .In the evening Mr Withers's orchestra played selections, the grounds being lit by •'Chinese lanterns. Messrs F. B. Lane and S. Avers, on behalf of the Methodist congregation, thanked tho host and hostess for theiri hospitality. The members of the Young Helpers' League in connexion with Dr. Barnardo's Homes to the number of about J sixty-five were entertained by tlae executive officers in Victoria Park, Percival street, yesterday afternoon. was provided, and games of various kinds were enjoyed by the children. The Hon. D. Buddo, M.P., in a short address, pointed out the need there was for assistance being given the philanthropic work of Dr. Barnardo's homes, and spoke appreciatively of tho help of the young folk. The collecting boxes | issued to the League members some I time ago were opened, and it was found that approximately £15 had been col- | lected, made tin as follows: —P-angiora ! School £5 14h fid, Southbrook School £3 10s, High School about £3. and donations per Mrs Buddo £3 los 6d. "AKAROA. A special meeting of the Akaroa Borough Council was held on Wednesday. Present: —The Mayor (Mr Geo. Armstrong) and Councillors 'Xoonan, Fyfe, Munro, Leete, Cantrell, Haylock, and Henning. The Mayor explained that the special business was_ to consider the new wharf lease with the duties of wharfinger and scale of charges, as drawn uo by the borough's legal adviser. The Wharves Committee (Cr. Munro. chairman) submitted its report upon tho lease, and suggested certain alterations with respect to ealo of water at wharf, charges for use of weigh-bridge, and the keeping of storage book. After a long discussion the report was adopted, with the addition of tw 0 clauses" specif3'ing that the wharves should be kept clean, and that water rates, weigh-bridge earnings and wharf dues should be paid the Council quarterly. ASHBURTON". Mr A. Macpherson Government Fields Supervisor, visited Ashburton yesterday in connexion with the lay-uig-out of further plots at the High School experimental area;. All the crops already sown are looking well, but the continued drought is sure to be felt. A considerable amount of clearing up has been done. Mr H. C. Guinness, who has been chief goods clerk at the Ashburton railway station, handed over his duties to Mr J. C. Cowan yesterday. Mr McGuinncss. after his annual holidays,

will proceed to Kaiapoi. to fill a similar position thero. Mr V. C. Ingram, who left Ashburton and has been doing garrison duty at Samoa for the past two years, returned yesterday on two months' furlough. The annual school excursion in connexion with the TinwaJd Public School was held yesterday. The excursionists left by the early'morning train from Asbburton, and the day bring perfect, the outing at Caroline Bay. Timani. was greatly enjoyed by-old and young. -^—. THE GERALDINE "DISTRICT. The hottest days since last summer were experienced at the beginning of the week, and the change to cool overcast weather on Thursday was 'welcome. The whole district has 6Utfered more or less from the combined effect of the bright sunshine and strong north-west winds, and anybody who travelled through some of the outlying parts of it even a fortnight ago, would hardlv recognise them for tho same places. All over the lighter lands about Ilungitata, Belfieltl, Cooper's Creek, and Arundel, the grasslands have suddenly begun to look brown and bare, and the same alteration in the appearance of the country is noticeable right away past Ruapuna and on to •Maylield. * In the neighbourhood of the" hills, about Peel. Forest, Woodbury, and the Four Peaks Settlements good icvd is yet plentiful, but even here the pastures now require a good rainfall. " Shearing operations have been almost finished on the smaller farms, but at the hill stations it is expected that the work will continue until some time after Christmas. At the present moment the agricultural situation is extremely critical, and most farmers seem firmly impressed with the idea, that we are now to go through a long period of dry weather. It iri said that ;v rainy day within the next week would better every corn crop in the district by scye- . ra] bushels to the acre; for the majority are just coming into ear. and if the heads were once well filled out, a dry iime. afterwards would he of little consequence. The spring crops appear to need rain far more than those which were sown last autumn, hut. anyway, ihe difference between a fail- or a poor harvest is likely to be decided by the weather during the next fortnight. Unfortunately, it may bn said that the result of some of the oat, crops has been decided on the wrong side already, for here and there are fields where the thin stunted growth came prematurely into ear. and in the worst cases the sheep have been turned into feed off the failure in time for a sowing of turnips. A journey through the great corngrowing country about Winchester,. Mili'ord, Trevenna, and Clandeboye, showed little prospect of more than an average harvest, for here the winter rainfall was much less than in the country near the hills, and many of the crops jiave not done as well as seemed likely in early spring. Ono paddock we noticed contained chiefly a sturdy growth of docks, hut the cheerful owner informed us this pointed out the fact that it was good strong land, s.nd we drove on, happy at finding the proverbially grumbling farmer .sy> contented, it must be said that this paddock was the exception to the well-kept orderly rule prevailing in most parts of the district. Near Orari Bridge the corn crops generally promise fairly well, but near Woodbury- and Fairfield Downs, where Inst year" the fields were better than in almost any other part of South Canterbury, the prospects for next harvest are not as good, and a given reason is the wet wiui'.r, when some of the paddocks were waterlogged for weeks together. On the whole the wheat looks better than the oats, and the acreage of the bread-grain is about the same , as at hist harvest. The sowing of root crops is still proceeding steadily, and until the sudden heat of tho last few days, those already in full growth had made wonderfully rapid progress. This year, much more land than is usual has been laid up for hay, and soroo very good imps apparently are now reedy for cutting. In various parts of the : district the rabbit pest is likely to give , trouble in the near future, and along ( many of the roadsides they are now to , be seen more numerously than ever. For the Red Cross or other patriotic . purposes, the Carnival Queen campaign ] goes on vigorously in the Geraldine dis- , crier, where recently a number of gym- ] khan as or money-making fetes of sorts, j have been given by her subjects in the , interest of the Geraldine Queen, Miss \ Doris Barker. The sum collected at the Woodbnrv Gymkhana was over , £400; at the Pleasant Valley Gym'- j khan a between £200 and £300; at the Parkhurst Fete over £50; at Orari ' Fete and concert between £100 and' < £200; and so on. It all helps. 5