WHEAT FOR HAY OR CHAFF.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20427, 23 December 1931, Page 8

WHEAT FOR HAY OR CHAFF.

ImBST T|ilß TO CUT. areas a portion of the wheat crojnKyh*»beqn, frosted this season, and some Jiarmers are intending to Cut their crops for. hay or chaff. For this purpose, advises Lincoln College, wheat should be* cut while it is still quite green. When cutting is delayed most of the nourishment moves out of the straw into the grain, and the : chaff or hay will be of inferior quality. If possible cut at the flowering stage, or shortly after. This is when the yellow anthers are extruded and before the grain has begun to swell. The crop can be cut with a binder, stooked and stacked as for oats, but the sheave* should be small so that they will dry out more readily. " . \ Hay or chaff from wheat teut in the proper stage is quite as good as oat chaff and is wellliked by stock. Southland, in common with the rest of the South Island, has been inflicted with a dry. spell of unusual length. However,- a good rain fell towards last week-end, and it has markedly altered the position. Crops were beginning to look exceedingly limp and showed signs of lack of nourishment. There were also possibilities of large areas of crop being used for stock feed, but rain, according to, a local paper, will'help to save the position. Stocks of grade oats have been cleared from stores and lines of undergrade oats have also been diminished by sales to North Otago for stock-feeding purposes. Stocks,of chaff have been depleted by sales to Oamaru and Auckland, and it is now difficult to obtain ' quotations for good bright quality. On truck prices have improved and to.-day £3 has been paid for fairly bright lines. Stocks of ryegrass have also been cleaned up and stores are fairly bare. New season's seed will come to an empty market, and prices should be a little better than last season. The area closed up for seeding, owing to the dry season, will be very much smaller than usual.