WELCOME RAIN

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVII, Issue 4460, 21 October 1933, Page 5

WELCOME RAIN

PASTURES MUCH REFRESHED. GOOD LAMBING SEASON. The rain which fell last night in this district, if not worth, with the present price of farm produce, quite its weight in gold, should prove of incalculable benefit to the farming community and to gardeners. This spring so far has been an exceedingly dry one, though, to judge from the rainfall records, not quite as dry as many imagine it to have been. In fact, the records taken at the Bank of New Zealand show that for September 3.21 inches of rain fell; it is not a large amount, but is an increase of nearly an inch over that for the dry September of last year, when 2.3 inches fell. Up to the 21st of this month, however, the position is very much reversed. For this period of 21 clays last year 2.03 inches of rain fell; this year the total for the month was .95 inches, .4 inches of which fell yesterday and last night. The district, however much immediate relief has been given by last night’s fall, will require very much more to carry it over a dry summer. While on one or two occasions substantial falls have occurred in the north, this district appears to have only received the fringe of the rain in the shape of light misty showers. One farmer who placed fencing posts in the ground when it was damp, found that the contraction of the dry soil made them loose, and they could be pulledj out of the ground with ease. Quite a number of farmers were beginning to feel anxious about their household supplies, a remarkable thing for this time of the year. Pastures, however, appear to have held out very well. The spring has been ideal for lambing. The percentages of lambs around the district has been above the average, while very few losses have occurred.