NOTES BY THE WAY

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22304, 19 January 1938, Page 13

NOTES BY THE WAY

THE SEASON i Other provinces have not had sue . a good escape from the threatene i drought as Canterbury. A visitor wh . has just travelled down through th Hawke’s Bay province remarked t the writer yesterday that the countr looked very dry. Stock, so far, were i • excellent condition, but it was appai ent that unless rain came short! J feed would quickly go off. Lam • weights were not up to normal. O ; the west coast of the Island there ht | been plenty of rain, and dairying ap ; Pears to be favoured with an abunc ance of feed. Conditions arq again dry in th northern end of the Marlborough pre vince. according to another travellei though showers helped the wheat crop along _ satisfactorily near the harves The yields in Marlborough will be bel ter than was thought possible som time ago, and, on the whole, slight! better than those in Canterbury, bi not up to normal. Some of the crop had stocked up very well. The chang made by the rain in the last tw months has been remarkable. Th acreage in wheat was obviously les than that of last season. Oats ar generally light, but barley will retur. quite satisfactory yields. The pe crops did not look impressive. Som were ploughed up earlier in the sea 1 son. ; Conditions in the Nelson provinc had been very hot and dry, but mos of the small acreage of cereal crop looked fair, particularly barley. In th natural feed conditions that existe in the pastoral country there were’m complaints of worm infestation o pulpy kidney in iambs. A visitor to Central Otago informei the writer yesterday that the irrigatei area was producing great quantitie of lucerne and other feed, and stoc! were fattening well. The condition o stock on some of the higher unirri gated land was a surprise to him. The western district of Southlam has had some good rains, which ar' now being reflected in the numbe of drafts of fat lambs going to th southern works. In the eastern dis trict, however, there has been a com parative failure of pastures on accoun , of the lack of rain, and lambs goirq to the works are smaller and lightei than usual. A good rain less than ; fortnight ago is expected speedily t( improve conditions. It would appear that lamb weight: throughout the Dominion, unless there is a marked recovery later, will no be up to normal, though probably equa to those of last season. This is depend ept to some extent on whether fatteners rush their lambs to the work: when moderately ready, which there hj a tendency to do on account of the general uncertainty of prices. The prospects In »this respect are much improved in the South Island, where the countryside generally is showing the benefits of the copious rains. SUBTERRANEAN CLOVER The cutting of heavy subterranean I clover crops for hay has appealed tu I many growers, and some who have not had the stock to keep their clover adequately grazed have adopted the hay method of turning it to account. It would seem from an experience instanced to the writer the other day that this practice has one unforeseen result. The farmer concerned, who had a particularly heavy stand, cut it twice, and certainly got a great weight of hay. But instead of the subterranean reappearing the stand is now a splendid crop of ryegrass and clover. There is little sign of subterranean clover. The result, on a little thought, appears quite natural. Subterranean reseeds itself from -the runners which spread out from the established plant, and if the plant is cut before the seed has formed and got into the ground again, the disappearance of the clover appears a natural development. It is possible that the clover may re-establish itself later if not cut in the next year or so, but there is no guarantee of this. It is well recognised that the fertility created by subterranean clover acts as a stimulus in bringing back the other grasses, and in the long run this may be what the farmer wants. However, it is interesting to note the effect of cutting as against grazing at the right time. EWE PRICES The markets so far provide very little indication of probable values for ewes in the autumn. The few pens coming forward at the sales do not provide a basis for estimates, but it is plain that there is no rush at the moment for ewes. Towards the end of January, as a rule, there is a showing of ewes at Addington, and generally an active market. Medium sorts Of two-tooth, ewes 12 months ago wer* making up to 335, and young sheep three or four shillings less. These rates are not available to-day, but, of course, comparisons are practically impossible if they are not based on standard lines, as the variation in condition, wool, and breed is too great. Values, however, will probably be lower this season, notwithstanding the fact that the hard winter in the high country may reduce the number of two-tooths culled out for the fairs. This reduction is likely to be fairly substantial. Prices of ewes, however, are dependent on other factors than those of meat and wool values alone. Feed is one of the most important of these other factors. If there is a scarcity of this in the autumn competition must suffer and a lower set of values result. This, naturally, has always been a factor, but there are one or two now ones this year. The general uncertainty as to the future is one, increasing costs on the farm and in the factory are another, and this year an old factor has been revived —the better price for wheat. If another 75,000 acres are sown in wheat, which is not improbable, it will mean a decided reduction in the number of-ewes wanted. On the whole, therefore, it is probable that there will not be the scurry for ewes which has marked the fairs of the last few years, when these matters of added costs and better wheat prices did not come into the picture. It may be argued that if labour is a factor it would apply more to wheat growing, but mechanical processes have relieved the tension to some extent in this branch of farming. DESIRABLE HAWKE’S BAY PROPERTY An important land auction is to take place at Waipukurau, Hawke’s Bay, next Monday, January 24. when the Wharatoka station, of 2352 acres, situated in the well-known Waipawa district will be offered at auction by Dalgety’ and Company, Ltd. Practically all the property is ploughable, is subdivided into 22 paddocks, and is well watered. The carrying capacity of the station at the present time is 2100 breeding ewes, 900 dry sheep, and 200 cattle The property represents some of the pick of the pastoral country in Abe Hawke’s Bay province.