CROP SURVEY FOR DECEMBER

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27564, 22 January 1955, Page 5

CROP SURVEY FOR DECEMBER

SOME DAMAGE REPORTED IN WHEAT A prediction that although wheat , crops were expected to be good, yields ■ might be lower than last season is ’ made in the December crop report oi the Department of Agriculture, for the ; Canterbury district. In Waimate district there had been a fairly high in- , cidence of Hessian fly in wheat, says the survey, and in the Christchurch and North Canterbury area straw break and lodging had resulted from ft® straw being damaged by frost In “5, < t h S st . < S urch <u »‘rict black chaff was bad this season on heavy land where crops of Cross 7 and Hilgen- ; dorf were not fed off. ylelds - Particularly on light land, were expected to be below those ?. se t sol ',' .Barley crops were retor Jood yields.” 8 WeU Wi ‘ h prospectE 1 cr ? ps we F e maki ng vigorous °» heavy land and were genf ra lly looking well, continued the suriJ°? crops were progressing y e s r m Marlborough, but they MSshi^^? ad f e >. the K exp ? cted growth at JSjS’SS ,^ ho S£ h had been e . December rains. Marlborough reported that early ped crops nrSSiJL/® 1 in e ’ l ate r sown crops promiltag. Wel1 ’ • Elsewhere crops were Rape for Seed °t rape (for seed) were s?jX® ste S. “ with fair - I^rom Waimate there were re--1 f th°“ e icsses due to gale damCTOp WhUe “ was 111 the ryegrass was well before Christmas and a ■ substantial area was harvested before i the end of the month—a fortaieht ; earlier than usual. Moretormersthan i ‘o i rl ? y worm infestation had been reCTros d ald Se i ere •“ e ar?y Marlborough ££°P S a , graying with D.D.T. had and In Christchurch or Jr Canterbury there was a in some localised areas the™ 7 °i m l ny crops was light, but tnere had also been some good yields erage aS wou P ld the general av-i erage would be below normal RiinH “Section had been more preva- “ S . ou i h Canterbury thin to North Canterbury and Marlborouch white a rlnv^ llt ° f the Decem ber rains r Prospects were good on the medium to heavy land, but the f ai^s to ° late for the lighter grass had als ° boos ted cow"it ?r n o°m IKiT expected t 0 re°l th ? areas cut for hay and dann S the month had beendamby ram. Hay was still in short supply and short rotation rye£3n S S ir raw had been selling Nevertheless, the position was much better than it was a month ago. rape sown during the month had done well. There had been a fe .'Y instances on dry areas in the Christchurch district of damage to young chou moellier crops by Nysius huttom, an insect which caused similar trouble in 1948 and 1949. . but the light land, pastures had been rejuvenated by the rain and had been growing well. On the subject of pests and diseases, the survey states: ’’The army worm has caused damage in Marlborough and parts of North Canterbury and Christchurch districts to ryegrass, oats and wheat crops and spraying has been carried out in all these districts where required. There has been a fairly nigh incidence of damage by Hessian fly in Dreadnought crops in Waimate, with localised cases elsewhere. Black chaff damage has been reported in Cross 7 and Hilgendorf wheat on heavy land in the Christchurch district. A high incidence of damage to wheat stems by frosting has also been reported from Christchurch and North Canterbury. The incidence of blind seed disease is variable, but appears to be high only in some South Canterbury crops.”