MARLBOROUGH DROUGHT

Evening Star, Issue 22798, 5 November 1937, Page 2

MARLBOROUGH DROUGHT

RUIN OF CROPS FEARED* [Per United Press Association.] BLENHEIM, November 4. Unless soaking rain falls inside si week 5,000 acres of crops in the Marlborough district will be virtually ruined in consequence of the prolonged spell of dry weather. It is six weeks since rain exceeding a fraction of an inch' has fallen, and the __ total for nine weeks is only 164 points. October contributed only 17 points, being the driest October since 1914. The total rainfall for the year to date is 17.34 in. Agriculturists and pastoralists alike are worried, but the main anxiety ii felt by the growers of peas, wheats barley, oats, and small seeds. Fortunately in one sense the acreage under crop is smaller than usual this year on account of the general turnover to sheep in consequence of the greater assurance of good prices for meat and wool, but the drought threat all the same represents a serious menace to the district’s income from the approaching harvest. According to merchants and farmers interviewed to-day, much is expected of the irrigation scheme for the Wairau Plain which the Public Works Department has been investigating ioi the past two years.