THE YEAR AHEAD

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 89, 9 January 1919, Page 8

THE YEAR AHEAD

PROSPECTS DISCUSSED

A SOUTHERNER'S OPINIONS

Writing in tho "Farmers' Union Advocate" of the prospects for the New Year, "Agricolu" says;— "It is somewhat difficult at thie stage to eay much about the prospects of the current year.. Perhaps the most interesting portion of the South Island products is the grain crop, aud it ispleasant to be able to state teat up to the time of writing both wheat and oats are looting very well. There will not be ;i groat weight of straw, and the. harvest will probably be on the late side, unless the weather takes,a sudden turn. But the recent raius have done a great deal of good to the cereal crops, and they will bo in nice handling condition if nothing goes wrong during the next few weeks. Indeed, the rains that set in towards the end of October saved the situation, and were most opportune. The area Iβ much less than it was last year, but as far as the farmer is concerned it looks ns if he is going to make.more money out of this season's crop than he did out of last year's record crop of straw with a poor proportion of grain. The late oats have come away well, and it is on this crop that the farmers mostly depend for the Iced for their horses. Last season the oats were so poor that in many cases the mills pulled out of the sets after they had commenced thrashing. The charge that was made jier hour would have made the oats dearer than the market price, lluch of the oat sheaf chaff was little better than atraw chaff owing to the fact that there was absolutely no oats in the stuff, and in some cases the farmers had to give large cheques for their feed. At-the time of writing it is scarcely possible to get oats and oat sheaf chaff.

■ "The potatoes have had a rough time of it r during tho spring owing to the frost,' and it is possible that the crops will suffer'to some extent in conssquence. However, they are promising fairly well as yet. Last year they were very disappointing. There was plenty of promise to begin with, but the blight came iii_ February, andimany of the crops were no't worth digging. Like tho cereal crops and the clover, some of the best potatoes and the heaviest yield came off the light, shingly land or the sandy loams. Some farmers who owned that country made a small fortune last year. Tho area, in potatoes does not nppear. to be as great as usual, and even if the crops are good the price should be a remunerative one.

"There will be an increase' in the number of' acres put under root and forage crops, and they, should stand a good chance owing to the damp season. All the feed 'that can be grown will be needed, as- the flocks have shown a marked increase, and the fattening season will probably be a little later than usual. We have all learned the advisability of growing a good supply of winter feed, and the value of turnips was never so well demonstrated as it was last winter. Much of the turnip nnd the rape seed used this season is locally grown, and it is to be hoped that a local industry will spring up in that oonneetion, proper steps being taken to keep tho seed pure and good. The grow, ing'of lucerne has been givn an impetus during the Inst few monllis/' and hundreds of farmer? are trying a little patch of it. There are some who claim, that; lucerne is going to be a gold mine to the farmer, that it is! going to be tht short-cut to wealth, that it is going to take'thn nlaee of turnips and lessen the work of the farm by ;a - considerable amount.- Most of us, take. these assertions as the over-nassionafe expressions of a lover, but all the same we are trying it, and. I have no doubt that in (he years to come lucerne, will figure '•largely in oi'r farm organisation and management. It will never take the place of turnips, upon which the soulherii farmer depends so much for his winter -feed Lucerne hay, be it ever so good, cannot wholly take the plnfo of ronts. . . '

'■ "ft will be seen , that we nro lookincr confidently-into',the future. The vnr is over , and our bovs are coniin?' back to help it? incrnnsf. the production of the country. The infliienzo enidemie. c o fresh 'n.oiir memories, has left, some big gn.Es in our'ranks, and that eivos another reason why, we wanb nnr bovs baek to fill tho'caps made in our ranks We nave a bi? job ahead of us to repair 'he damages caus°d by the war in our finances and production.. and we-must all combine to increase that production by harder work and inore up-to-date machinery, and methods."'