THE HARVEST.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16118, 24 January 1918, Page 3

THE HARVEST.

ELLESMERE DISTRICT,

WORK IN FULL SWING

A careful inspection of wheat crops in all parts of the Ellesmere district justifies the opinion that the Prime Minister was unduly optimistic when he expressed the belief at Southbridge a fortnight ago that the farmers wero in for a bumper harvest. Ma* Massey's inspection of the crops was necessarily of a superficial nature, and anyone travelling through the district at the present time might well bo excused for comifig to the same conclusion, or at least forming the opinion that there would be a good average harvest. While the barley is likely to average 40 bushels to the aero and the oats threshed so far have yielded up to expectations, the indications all point to the probability of the bulk of the wheat giving a disappointing return. There are numbers of wheat crops that look quite good enough for anything from 50 to 60 bushels to the acre, but it will be surprising if many of their i exceed from 35 to 40 bushels, and the chances are that a large proportion will nob exceed 30 bushels. The wheal looks very well standing in the paddock, but a glance at tlie sheaves oi stooks in cases where cereals have beer reaped at once arouses suspicion, foi the heads of the sheaves in many case: taper off at the top, indicating thai the ears are not properly- developed, • and well filled. Another thing that j tends to the belief that all is not well ! is the fact that the sheaves are unusually light in weight, while an. examination of the heads goes to show that in every sheaf a large number seem to have withered off and contain little grain of any value. As already stated, this condition of affairs does not exist merely in any one part of the district, for the early wheat crops generally seem to be affccted in much the same way. While rust and blight may to some extent have been responsible for this state of affairs, many observant people incline to the belief that it was the long spell of dry weather precedingj&e rain which fell in the middle of December that did most harm. During October and early in November, the cereals were much too far advanced and the growth appeared to be very rank, consequent upon the mild weather in the winter and spring and the frequent rains. Then came a long spell of dry weather, which had a very marked effect on all the early sown crops, which did not appear to .properly recover when the ram came m December. So far no wheat threshing returns are available, but one or two very early fields of wheat will be put through by the end of the week if the remains favourable, and it should then be oossible to form, some idea as to what the yields will be. The spring wheat promises very much better, for it has benefited to a very marked extent bv the rains of the past month. Unfortunately very little wheat was sown in the spring, owing to the gather being so favourable in the au

tum.il and winter. *» . ~ It is fairly safe to say that the acre- ] a ' in crop is from 25 to 30 peH mt ; i efeater than the average taken over a period of, say, five years, and the Proportion of wheat to the two other prinoipal cereals has greatly increased ?£xny farmers who formerly went m for barley-growing on a .large scale have greatly restricted their acreages of this |rain, in order to give more attention to -wheat-. Binders are now at work everywhere in wheat, oats, and bar ey, and the threshing mills are all out. threshing the grass seed <Jats, barlev- In some eases the barley has been slightly discoloured by tho f A req „ U< £r showers', but the yields aro very encouraging. Two Bi-ooKSide farmers had yields of<ss and 67 bushels respectively-. A Dunsandel farmer had a (30-bushcl crop, another man a wbushel return. Although the acreage sown is very much less, there will be _ a far greater quantity of barley to be marketed than last year. In appearance the oat crops compare very unfavourably with the wheat. AY ith the exception of the Algerians and Green s liuakura, the oats for the most part were ruined by rust, from which they have not properly recovered. In most cases they are thin and patchy, and give the impression that the threshing returns willlje small, though it is satisfactory to be able to say they are yielding well up to appearances. Some exceptionally fine fields of Algerians and Ruakura are to be seen. At Southbridge Mr L. Ruddock is just threshing a sixty-acre field of Algerians, yielding round about 70 bushels to the acre, and I Mr John Christie, of Xiittle Rakaia, ; had a paddock of the same variety that < gave a 6S-bushel return, though the I crop was heavily fed off in the spring. ! That the groin is plump and heavy is ; evidenced by the fact that the mill bag- ! man was able to get four, bushels into ! ; the ordinary size wheat sack. On the 1 1 farms of Messrs E. G. Hubbard. F. Gil- : bert, J. Greenwood, and J. Moorhead the caterpillar has been at work, but the damage done is not great. The pest was found to be working in the sheaves i in some cases after the crops were cut. j The caterpillar has also been found m i the cereals in certain other parts of the • district, some barley on Mr E. T. Mc- i land at Irwel] having been j slightly damaged. ! A great.deal of the ryegrass is not threshing out at all well, anH the qual--rc- see( * £om ewhat In different. ; rhis applies to the grass rut very early. .. The seed harvested late in the season, 1 which had the benefit o£ the> rains, is in 1 ln .any cases of splendid quality, and the ' Jields are first-rate, quite a number of < 1

60-bushel returns being reported. An Invell farmer hn/1 a return of uz bushels to the acre, and the machine was putting through. ,200 bushels an hour on Monday morning. Some wheat on tho same farin, though it looks very fair, will probably bo threshed by the hour instead of by the bushel, indicating that the mill-owner does not oxpect it to yield very well. A tour through the district impresses one with tho fact that a great deal of crop will be reaDod within the next week if the weather holds out, and now that operations are in full swing and there is so much cutting to be done, farmers are all expressing the hope that favourable conditions will prevail. It would certainly be a very serious matter if tho showery conditions were to continue. A good deal of attention has been paid to the growing of peas this season, and there aro some remarkably good crops to be socii in all parts of tho district. The best that has come under the writer's notice Is on the farm of Mr T. Prosser, at Leeston.. Tho pens are standing almost as high as a" man. If tho conditions for ripening and harvest are favourable some great yields may be expected. The potatoes, too, have never looked letter at this time of the year than they do at present. They were greatly in need of the rain when it came in December, and since then they have been growing very rapidly. Anxiety is felt lest there should be too much moisture. Mangolds are also doing exceptionally well, and some of tho Brookside farmers have taken advantage of the suitable conditions to sow a considerable area in rape. So far, tho labour shortage is by no means acuto. Most farmers had their full teams of men engaged sorfie time ago. and in consequence work is proceeding briskly. Tho harvest is likely to be lengthy, owing to tho in® creased sowings, and although farmers and their men are in for a strenuous time, most employers are quito confident of being able to got through all right. All the available threshing mills aro fully manned. In the matter of labour, farmers are putting the principles of co-operation into practice in very many cases, and with very satisfactory results. i The small bird pest, which seems to be doing so much damage in other districts, according to reports, is giving less trouble in Ellesmere year by year. A few years ago tho birds consumed an enormous quantity of grain,

but owing to the vigorous campaign of destruction waged by the» Ellesmero County Council, in the free distribution of phosphorus-poisoned grain, the birds have been greatly roduced in numbers It was a common experience a few years ago to see flocks of hundreds of sparrows rising from fields of corn, but nowadays one sops only a few dozen occasionally, even in places where thero are trees affording plenty of shelter. The amount of money saved must run into some thousands of pounds. Just at present the farmers are all looking forward anxiously to the early wheat threshing returns. These should prove unusually interesting. THE GERALDINE DISTRICT. A welcome change in the weather conditions occurred at the beginning of the week, and three fine days in succession have brought some of the much-needed improvement to harvest prospects in the Geraldine district. A tour of inspection through the districts between the Hangitata and Op ill i rivers shows that though very much damage has resulted from the lodging of the corn during the recent incessant rains, and such evils as rust and smut, thero are yet many fine crops in fair order, which in favourable circumstances will £o far towards making up for the deficiencies of the rest. It i s not a particularly encouraging view after the bright spring outlook, and in tho chief cornproducing neighbourhoods like Winchester, Eiverslea, and Trevenna, it is easy to understand how great must be the disappointment of the farmers who had hoped for an exceptionally good harvest just when it was needed most-. Everything now depends upon the absence of a further heavy rainfall, and in the event of a period of fino weather, which at the moment of writing seems quite probable, the returns may yet prove much less unsatisfactory " tfian was feared a week ago. Tuesday was a sunny day with a fino drying breeze, and from the sea to the foothills the delayed harvest operations were in renewed activity. A large number of the crops have ripened very quickly, and the reaping machines could be seen almost everywhere at work, and in many place s this might be taken for the real beginning of harvesting. In tho vicinity of Pleasant Valley, Woodbury, tho i'our Peaks Settlements, AVoodside, and Gapes Valley, the bulk of the wheat is not yet ready for the binder, and it is evident that great difficulty will be experienced in dealing with many of the crops. In some of the paddocks almost half the corn is lying lodged in tangled masses, which will be most difficult to cut, and great trouble and delay must occur in attempts at harvesting. One wheat field on the downs to the north of _ tho >ld Four Peaks station, was noticed particularly, for it has been laid entirely, and the stalks are so twisted ihat harvesting appears impossible. Beyond the Upper Kakahu and along Beautiful Valley, by Skipton, and towards Raincliff, the same promise of a jlentiful corn year soenis equally likely j x> remain unfulfilled, and in many places harvesting will be as difficut as :lsewhere, but .when a man says that lis wheat is too much tangled and odged to be worth the trouble of cutring, it d°cs not follow that he will not be able to save some of it at Optimists still havo it that the wheat

J harvest in South Canterbury will be | an average one, and. it is to bo hoped they will prove true prophets. It is reported generally that the rains have greatly improved the prospects of the late oat crops, which are now likely to yield far more heavily than had been expected. t"p to the present tho majority of the potato crops have done excellently well, but it is%aid that recently some* of them have become affected with the blight or other diseases. Both ra P® and turnip fields are making good and satisfactory progress, and from their apearance at the moment should produce an abundant supply of winter feed. LABOUR FOR THE HARVEST. MINISTER SATS THERE 15 SUFFICIENT. An important statement in regard to the wheat question will probably be made next week by the Hon. AV. MacDouald, Minister of Agriculture.^ In an interview which he accordeci a "'Press' 1 representative yesterday, the Minister stated that the whole matter m regard to the purchase and distribution of wheat is now practically soUicd so far as the brokers and the Government staff are concerned, and the wheat is just beginning to come in. "1 am not prepared to make a statoment .'it present on the 'matter/' he said, "but I hope to make a full statement next week, 60 that everyone will understand the whole position, and know where they are in this matter. I have had some anxiety iegardingr the labour problem in connexion with the harvest, but un to tho present more labour is available than is required. But there is no certainty that when the harvest begins in real earnest there may not be difficulties. However, the Labour Department. under the Prime Minister, have agents throughout tho wheat-growing districts, and in all the largo centros, and their business is to try to procure the necessary labour. I have had one or two isolated complaints, saying that of skilled labour there is a shortage. am not inclined to agree with that, but it may be 60 in certain districts. T have just had a report from the centres in both islands, and the general conclusion is that there is sufficient labour to harvest the cron."