RURAL RIDES

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21992, 16 January 1937, Page 9

RURAL RIDES

EYRE-RANGIORA DISTRICTS

"HLSKLES3" OATS

[By H.A.M.]

The "whirr"—as our picturesque writers would describe it—of the reaper is being heard afar in the land, but except, in the northern part of the province the noise has been confined almost entirely to the oats crop. The writer on Thursday had a run around the Eyre and Rangiora counties, embracing the cropping districts of Cust, Bennetts, Horrelville, West Eyreton,, Swannanoa, Fernside, and the Mairaki Downs. In all these districts the cutting of oats is general. One or two odd crops of wheat are to be been in slock, but with the present weather conditions the cutting ol wheat should be well under way the next fortnight. , There is a considerable area oi oats in stook, and generally the crops are good, and should average in many cases a safe 50 bushels to the acre Thev are generally very free of pests, although in a .few cases where the straw has been heavy there has been a fair amount ol rust. One or two crops have been badly tangled by the storm of last week, and in patches will be difficult to cut. A few fields the writer saw should yield not far short of 70 bushels. . One of the first crops of wheat to be cut was noticed in the Swannanoa area, where a 25-acre of Dreadnought, completely free of mildew rust or smut, was being reaped. It had come in unevenly, and was being cut on the green side. The yield in this case should be dightly more than 40 bushels to the acre. However, through the districts traversed it cannot be said that the yield looks so promising as it did last year, although there are some good crops to be seen on the lighter land. An inspection of some showed that they were affected by the general complaint of being "thin," though there is undoubtedly less of this trouble than is the case in some districts. The probabilities are that the yield will be down on that of last season, but not to the extent predicted.

In the South

During the week-end the writer had an opportunity of seeing crops in South Canterbury and North Otago, and they appear quite good, though in few cases did they appear as if they would yield more than a good average. There is rather a marked absence of the exceptionally heavy crops which were to be seen in South Canterbury this time last season. Some crops on the downs are late, and are some distance away from commencing to turn colour, and these look as if they will develop satisfactorily. Generally the wheat bears a good colour, and only in very rare cases are patches lodged as .a result of the storms. This part of ""the province appears to have escaped storm effects better than farther north. " In North Otago the comparatively few areas of wheat to be seen from the main roads bear a promising appearance, and should yield little less than last year, when the average •was high. • The one fact impressed on the traveller, "however, throughout both Canterbury and North Otago, is that the acreage is less. A succession of paddocks which up to a year or two ago carried wheat are to be.seen this season in some other crop. It is to be feared that the returns from the heavy wheat land this year will not be of a nature to encourage a more extended sowing in the futui-e, unless, of course, the pricestill to be fixed—for this season's crop is made more attractive.

Great Clover Season

There rarely "has been a year in which clover growth has been so luxuriant as is the case this season. The illustration on this page to-day shows the wealth of blossom on a paddock in the Culverden district. When in full blossom the appearance from a distance was that of a paddock of' snow, and was a source of great" interest to travellers to Hanmer during the holidays. The heavy growth is general in respect of all clovers. Some very fine fields of red clover are to be seen in the Eyre county, where hay saving appears to. have been less interfered with than in some other districts. On Thursday the work of hay making was being expedited in the good weather conditions prevailing. The strike of turnips also appears to bo better than usual.

Huskless Oats

Some time ago there was a good deal of publicity concerning the merits of the new huskless oat, the use of which has made great strides in England. A local firm last year imported about 50 bushels of the new variety, which were supplied lo farmers, principally in the Eyre and Rangiora districts, to try out. The writer saw two crops on Thurs-

day on the. farms of Messrs Colin Mcintosh (West Eyreton) and A. E. Cross (Bennetts),, and from their appearance it has to be confessed that the heavy yielding claims made on behalf of the new variety do not appear to be extravagant. The oat is "skinless," and is claimed to increase the yield by 50 per cent, compared with ordinary oats, which have a proportion of husk to kernel of approximately 1 to 2. The weight of the huskless Imperial bushel is claimed to be 591 b, and on account of the very high feeding value of the straw it possesses a special value for stock feed. English experiments show that while ordinary pedigree oats give a return of £8 8s an acre the new variety has given a return of £lB an acre. The oats are claimed to give a very appetising vanilla flavour to the oatmeal gristed from them. No doubt the crops about to be harvested will provide some confirmation or otherwise of these claims. At least one fact is certain, which is that in the scores of oat crops seen by the writer this season there has been none so heavy as those on the two farms mentioned. Mr Mcintosh's area is of- five acres. The crop is very thick, about sft 6in high, well headed, and a similar crop of ordinary oats would yield round about 80 bushels. It is free of any pest troubles, and is commencing to change, colour. Mr Cross': crop is heavier, and is laid in patches. It would be difficult to find a crop anywhere with such promise, but it has paid the penalty of the wet season by being affected with rust in the straw. The dry winds appear to have arrested this trouble. The straw of the huskless oats should make it exceptionally good chaff, and the exceptional bushel weight suggests that it might fill a useful place in the poultry industry. A number of years ago a fairly large area of the Sparrowbill variety was grown for poultry feed, but this variety appears to have practically gone out in recent years.

A FRIESIAN RECORD

HEIFER'S PRODUCTION OK (592L8.

An article some months ago on this page referred to the butter-fat achievement of the Fricsian herd of C. W. Humm and Sons, at Wainui, Akaroa. A junior two-year-old, Glenhope Queen Echo Jewel, was then nearing the end of her C.O.R. test. The heifer—a pedigree bred by Messrs Humm—during her 365 days on test, which commenced at the age of two years 31 days, produced 21,625.11 b milk and 692.661 b fat. The milk return averages out at a fraction less than six gallons a day, and is the second highest milk production for all time for a junior two-year-old Fricsian heifer tested under C.O.R. conditions. The return would undoubtedly have been higher but for the fact that she developed acute indigestion in the eleventh month of her test, when she went nearly dry. But for this development there is .little doubt that the heifer would have exceeded the 7001 b return. She calved within the period, but unfortunately the calf died. The fact that high producers can be assisted to develop indigestion may not be generally known. The writer saw Messrs Humm's heifer when sne was obviously not herself, and in the eleventh month of her test. She had temporary periods of very pronounced distension, suggestive of a form ox bloat. However, the trouble was indigestion. A low producer can. be fed to the maximum, and it should be reflected in the milk yield, but the risk of feeding a high producer beyond her capacity, and when she is doing her best in any case, is attended with the risk of indigestion setting in In such cases anything in the way of concentrates should be eliminated and the cow fed on grass only. This opinion is based on the experience of a breeder who has owned a number of high producing cows.

WOOL SALES

REMAINING DATES AND

ALLOCATIONS

Dates of the remaining wool sales for the season, with the maximum aggregate quantities of wool which may be offered at the sales are as follows:

Jan. 16 Napier 30.000 Jan. 21 Wanganui 28,000 Jan. 25 Auckland 27.000 Feb 1 Christchurch 00.000 Feb. 5 Invercargill 26,000 Feb. 10 Dunedin 30,000 Feb. 19 Wellington .. 30,000 Feb. 24 Napier ~ 30,000 Mar. 1 Wanganui 28.000 Mar. 5 Auckland . (No limit) Mar 12 Christchurch 26,000 Mar. 16 Timaru (No limit) Mar. 19 Invercargill V (No limit) Mar 24 Dunedin 30,000 Apr. 3 Wellington 25.000 Apr. 8 Napier (No limit) Apr 12 Wanganui (No limit) Apr. 16 Christchurch (No limit) Apr 20 Dunedin (No limit) Apr 24 Wellington (No limit)