MORE PRODUCTION

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23086, 31 July 1940, Page 12

MORE PRODUCTION

Progress of Campaign NEED FOR EXTENSION OF CROPS The spring is now dose at hand and if worth while production results are to be secured in the summer from the “more production” campaign little time is left in which to prepare for them. There have j been numerous indications of a substantial extension of tilled ground—but there are more than 10,000 cultivators of land in the province. It is not an effort by a number of individuals that is wanted, but a wideI spread one. Methods have been evolved to lighten the ! task of the individual farmer. If he is penalised by | lack of machinery arrangements have been made, Jf i his land is suitable, for machinery to be provided, and I if he is hampered by lack of finance, that also can be overcome. What he has to provide himself is the will to do the job.

5 increase in th<j number of lambs ti 1 fatten. ) The circumstances described and th £ prospects suggested, however, shouh i not be permitted to delude stock-own - ers with the belief that such a seasoi r will happen again, making unnecessar; r provision of what is perhaps the mos . valuable stock feed in rough winters 3 Oats are one o£ the handiest an< . cheapest forms ot winter feed to grov t now that roots are so susceptible t< i disease, and the safest insurance is t< D have a few slacks to carry over fron 1 one season to another. There was ; ; time in this country when fron j 12-,000,000 to 14,000,000 bushels of oat: j were grown annually: to-day the quan , tity is about 15 to 20 per cent, o: ' this amount. Importations of oat: , should never be necessary to a coun f try that can grow them so economic , ally as New Zealand. t Soil Enriching Crop > A crop that has declined in importi ance in the Dominion in the last few years is the field pea. In 1939 the are: harvested was 13,436 acres, of whicl the Canterbury proportion was 853( ' acres. In 1935 the respective figure; ■ were 25,366 acres and 15,636 acres ■ Marlborough was reputedly the mair ■ pea-growing province of the Domin--1 ion, but the decline there over tht ! four years has been even more marked than in Canterbury. The drop was fron: • 7613 acres to 3629 —more than half. ■ The irregularity of the overseas mar- : ket was probably the main cause of the decline of the crop. The Contineni ■ was a fairly regular buyer some years I ago. but England is now about the only outlet. Export there has been hampered by lack of shipping space, b’ul some parcels have been got away al i the excellent price of 6s 9d to 7s a bushel on trucks. The possibility oi this price being maintained during the war is apparently encouraging a revival in growing, as inquiries foi : seed have been much brisker in the - last few week,:. Peas are of marked value as a soil rejuvenator in addition to their stock feeding qualities.

It is fairly plain that to date the cropping programme for our local needs has expanded, perhaps not to the point of sufficiency in respect of the major crop of wheat, but to within reasonable reach of that goal. The unwisdom of having to import wheat for our needs is more apparent than ever now that this Dominion has still further to encroach on its overseas funds to purchase war material from Australia. It has been computed that another 30,000 acres of wheat would put us in the best position for some iS years as far as a sufficiency is concerned, provided, of course, climatic 1 conditions do not interfere. The autumn-sown crops have secured an excellent start, and soil conditions are exceptionally favourable for the sowing of spring wheat. Several new varieties provide a greater degree of certainty than existed some years ago. in the spring sowing of wheats, so that where the soil and moisture conditions are suitable sowing should be a safe venture until early in September. Neglected Stock Feed Oat growing has been allowed to decline in Canterbury with a total disregard of the consequences. Those consequences were made manifest this season, when it was found necessary to import heavy quantities of feed oats from Australia. Practically all reserves of local feed oats were absorbed for stock feed in the severe winter of last year. Last season's lambing percentage was the lowest in Canterbury for many years, being 85.15 compared with averages in the preceding five years of close on 91 per cent. Plain lack of winter feed was the cause of a proportion of this decline. Fortunately the winter, which was faced with a good deal of concern because of the scarcity of feed, is now nearing an end. It has been one of the mildest for years. Lambing has not yet started, but with ordinary luck through the critical period, there should be a restoration of the normal lambing figures and consequently an