Agricultural Prospect and Retrospect.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 32, 18 February 1875, Page 5

Agricultural Prospect and Retrospect.

■'■',[ t( GEla?£blbk," addressing juts in.'tkar.--, ■ usual orthodox stvle>says :— Witkyour - , permission; " I wfll- furnish you with a fW notes from late observations ; and, , ; looking at my engagements from .their, :: present stand-point, I am sanguine! of, ""' being ab]e to continue* then* weekly.; lj* This (the Clutha) district f* botlr a] widely known and justly celebrated"; as . ".1 the "Garden of Otago." No agricul- ,;/' tural district in New Zeafarid' l can 3 recall to mind can equal it— at' all,' ' : events surpass it — as regards yreld'!o£ A oats, wheat, and other cereal products: ; Its settlers have labored perse veringljf ever since the first days of settlement* ; in Otago, and enabled as I am to drs^r ;, a comparison between the past and pre 4:4: 4 sent, the changes brought about within s < the past few years, appear striking indeed. It is not so very many years since the' classification of crop was a thing little known, at all events little practised in the place. Oats, wheat, potatoes, <fee, were all sown in one and the same field. Now, they are kept separate and distinct, as much so as they could possibly be in the highest circles of agricultural settlement. Dvr r ing the primitive times wheat sufficient . for family purposes, together with H , patch of potatoes, was considered enough for a season's cultivation. Now,' however, the thing is quite different. All the staple products, including root" crops, barley, wheat, and rye are' largely grown, and may be seen flourishing luxuriantly side by side. ', Another striking change is to be witnessed in the extent of grazing paddocks now provided for throughout the district. These paddocks are as a rule, well fenced, and in very many instances heavily cropped with English grass*, clover, &g. But to proceed upon my prospective and retrospective tour. The clover and English grass growing between Balclutha and Waitepeka are, at the present moment, something to admire. Good strong, sturdy bullocks are in many places almost drowned amongst it, and in every instance they can be seen literally wallowing in plenty. A year for clover like this has not been known in the place for many a long day. Then, taking the district as a whole, the turnip and potato crops are far above the average, and will amply repay the labor and expense of cultivation. Harvesting -work is now. at its busiest and most critical stage ; indeed, the undivided attention of the farmer will be demanded until crops are secured from the effects of both wind and weather. The first to commence harvesting in the district this year was, T understand, Mr James Melrose. He started with one of Nicholson's reapers on the 9th ultimo. Since then both Nicholson's and Reid and Gray's machines have been in request, and just now the supply of reapers is far from being equal to the demand. At Wai*epa the fields are fully ripe and ■ nearly all cut down, although laborers are very scarce, and high in their demands. From Fahey's by Smith's, Porteous, and Falconer's, direct to Ayson's, aDd through by Dabinet's, the majority of the crop is cut. Beyond that, the oats are either later sown oix the climate is more moist until the Kaihiku stream is reached. There, very little wheat has been sown, but the yield of oats is very good. At Nichol's farm the crop is nearly all cut, and the settlers from thence to the vicinity of Moa Hill are all busily engaged reaping. One pleasing feature of their operations is worth recording : one man assists his neighbor, so that as soon as the paddocks become "ripe no delay is experienced in reaping them. The Messrs Johnston's farms, situated in, this neighborhood, are well provided, with green crops, &c. They have, got a number of paddock-fed sheep on their-. , grounds, these flocks being, in my humble estimation, by far the best to ■ be found between Hillend and Wairuna. I mention these two points as the boundaries of a district with which I j am intimately acquainted andrespecting" ; which I can, speak authoritatively. Proceeding on towards Wairuna, we have the Messrs Peat's faring occupying" a commanding position not only Qji account of situation, but likewise on. account cf the breadth of cultivation., Over one hundred acres have been! jputL , under crop this year, and certainly a» better growth could not be expected. The hotel farm at, Wairuna is now fully ripe, the yield being to 'all appear- , ance a most magnificent one. A great deal of care and a vast amount of laborhas'been bestowed hot only upon the♦cultivation of the soil' but likewise' in? v : the selection of seed. On - the >: land 1 • formerly known as that of Messrs rj-.. ? and J. H. Barr's, I understand' the reaf f ," Sutherland" oats," as ]well mutfetf and wool of; a very superior^class^are,-/ to be found to splendid- condition; >r -At;: r Rogart Farm, on the opposite Bide, .a^h very large- extent of crop hasfl>eejiiowhj '■& the largest eyerj^wii^ttlriDp^e^Hill/ '-% It haff;aow, haweyerf^^e^^ptlevelle^i* or nearly Tyzoph; knife : -^%or^^o^B^o^^ , .^osing ; aiese.^re^^||^g|fl|iy i 'yflle^ ? 1 -firms mgom^mm^^zm