The Farming Outlook.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XXIV, Issue 4122, 12 November 1919, Page 2

The Farming Outlook.

ELLESMERE DISTRICT.

GOOD SUPPLY OP FEED.

The splendid growing weather experienced since about a fortnight before the EUesmere Show has made a great differ- *\ ence in the feed supply throughout the district. Up to the middle of October growth was very slow and in not a few cases dairy f arniers were finding it difficult to provide their cows with sufficient feed to keep up the milk supply until the grass got a fair start. Mangolds were scarce, and there was not much hay saved last year owing to the very late season. During the last fortnight the grass has made remarkable growth, as a result of the warm weather, the absence of severe frosts and the good supply of moisture. The rain experi- ■ enced at the beginning of last week I was welcomed by the farmers generally. Throughout the district the prospects • from a farming point of view are most I encouraging. There is now an abundance of grass, stock of all kinds are in excellent condition, and the dairy cows ■ are giving good returns. A large quantity of cream is being sent away from the district daily to the factories iv Christchurch.. A good deal of attention has been given during the last few weeks to poj ti»to planting and mangold sowing, and : this work is now practically finished. In | some cases the mangolds are already , above the ground and some very good ■i " strikes'' are to be seen in different i localities. It is rather too early yet for j the potatoes to be much above the i ground, for some very severe frosts j have been experienced in the month of ! | November for several years past. Farmers are inclined to think that it is bet--1 ter to be a little on the late side than risk too many set-backs by frost. The weather conditions up to the present ' have been very favourable to the po- : tato and mangold crops. 5 It is more than ever apparent that • the acreage sown in cereal crops is ' much below the average taken over the last five years. Wheat, in particular, shows a marked decrease, and if other districts have gone out of whe lat growing to the same extent a fairly substantial shortage after next harvest seems a certainty, unless the yields are abnormally high. It is true that up to the present the cereal crops promise well. t They have a fine healthy colour, and , with a continuance of the favourable weather conditions there should be good yields at harvest time. However, previous experience has shown that vart ious things may happen before reaping time to. completely transform the outlook. It would appear that various causes have contributed to the decrease in the growing of wheat. Not the least . of these, it is safe to say, is the manner t in which the wheat business has been handled by the Government during the |s last few years. The farmers of Can- % \ terbury have not forgotten that while j they were endeavouring to grow wheat ; and suffered financial loss for two, and iv seme cases three seasons, receiving s little encouragement from the National I Government, farmers in other parts of the Dominion were doing well, with in- , finitely less trouble and worry, raising i fat stock. Another factor that has 3 influenced the farmers to a large exte. j. is the fact that stock raising offers greater financial inducement, while the labour involved does not amount to ' more than a quarter or a third of the labour required for cropping on anything like a large scale. There is still y another reason that might be mention- • cd. During the war period farmers went in for much more wheat growing p than previously, many from patriotic motives and others because of conditions imposed under the Military Service Act. The result is that a good deal of the land has been overcropped r and needs a spell. Still another point worthy of note is that in many instances t the ploughing of grass lands could not be proceeded with in the autumn ow- } ing to the dry weather. It was too J ilate to get the land ploughed and worki ed properly when sufficient moisture } did come. It seems very evident that .some encouragement will have to be ; given the farmers in Canterbury if the Dominion is not to depend upon Australia for a large part of the wheat required in the years to come.