THE HARVEST.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 113, 5 March 1853, Page 6

THE HARVEST.

We received the following account of the Harvest too late for insertion last week. The weather has been so generally unfavourable since, that we fear some injury will be sustained by the crops. We are alto* gether puzzled how to describe the weather we have of late experienced,' so changeable - has it been. It is to-day . (Friday) as wet and gloomy as the most enthusiastic Londoner could desire in November. Victor Hugo affirms that ennui was born in London, on a wet Sunday in November; we-. are sure that Lyttelton, in a Sou-wester, may put in a claim as the birth-place. Wheat, especially on all lands a second season under cultivation, is a very abundant crop —the Ear is long and well-filled-I —-the Straw is quite as tall as the average height of the best crops in England, and very much stronger in the stem; for notwithstanding the late gales of wind and heavy, falls "of rain, there is not a single handful of laid grain in ■Canterbury. „ „ / ""'''i; I am only acquainted .with two instances of "smut" existing, to an extent sufficient,;to moSerially affect the value of, the crop.. One of the cases to which I allude, is that of a field of 15 acres which was sown with smutted seed grown from grain bought from the Natives two years ago. Prior to sowing the present year's crop, the seed was steeped for a short time in a weak solution of salt, from which it was at once sown without tbe application of caustic lime, and as an inevitable consequence which any practical cultivator could easily have fore- „\ told, the crop is smutted to the extent of nearly *: half the produce ; but for which, it would have been one of the finest crops on the Plain. Fortunately its owner is a gentleman who can easily sustain the loss, and it will serve" as a useful practical warning, both to himself and others, to exercise better judgment in the future selection and efficient preparation of their seed wheat. The whole of the 15: acres had, in

August last, been laid down to artificial Grasses, sind there is now in the bottom of the wheat stubble a very favourable promise of a most dense sward of English Grasses and Clovers. With the particulars of the other case to which I have alluded I am not at present conversant. I merely know that on examination I found a full, fourth of the crop destroyed by smut; but against these tvyo exceptions, I could easily adduce numerous pleasing instances of splendid crops, -in which smut exists but to a very limited extent, and from which their owners expectfrom 40 to 50 bushels, and, from a choice acre, one gentleman speaks very confidently of having 60 bushels. As, an experienced wheat-grower personally conversant with the agricultural capabilities of nearly every settlement in New Zealand, I must still adhere to the opinion which I have elsewhere publicly expressed, that Canterbury —under,.ordinary cultivation —a judicious selection and careful preparation of the seed, offers to wheat-growers the highest possible encouragement. Barley is short in the straw, and long in the Ear, and considering that much of it was sown a little too thin, and on land roughly prepared, it is, generally, a very fair crop. >■ Oats, • allowing for the circumstances under which they were sown, are also a fair crop, for almost without an exception they were sown on Fern land; they are affected to some extent with smut, whilst the " Black Tartarian" even on the same land are perfectly free from it, and fully maintain their productive superiority both in Straw and in Grain. One field of Oats already thrashed has yielded 48 bushels per acre, and there are crops in the settlement likely to give a greater yield. Potatoes, Carrots, Parsnips, Turnips and Mangold Wurzel are luxuriant everywhere. The weather from the first to the middle of February has been unusually wet, much to the advantage of our Green Crops and Garden productions, and Without the slightest injury that I am aware of to our grain crops; for unlike the warm harvest rains of England, which often occasion the grain to sprout in the Ear, our wet days are usually accompanied with a diminution of temperature to the extent of 10 or 12 degrees which has the favourable effect of checking the growth of the grain even under long continued rains. All the Barley and most of the Wheat is already cut, and under the present delightful Harvest weather, numerous stacks of corn are springing up everywhere beside the rural homesteads of our Agricultural settlers; pleasing proofs not only of progressive prosperity but of their own industry and perseverance—proofs to which we can pleasingly point in refutation of those who inconsiderately accuse our cultivators of a want of energy. I will endeavour to; shew how wheat may be readily freed from the more or less proportion of " smut" which it may happen to contain, for flour ground from smutty wheat is not only dark in colour and unpleasant in flavour, but it is questionable how far it can be considered wholesome. Fortunately, however, by the following simple process, the difficulty is easily overcome: — On the morning of a fine day, let a tub be filled with water, into which pour a bushelof , wheat —the sound grain will at once sink to the bottom, whilst' most of the unsound will flow over.the side of the tub with the water, the whole of which may be poured off and the tub refilled; the wheat may then be stirred and more water added, so as to overflow all that ?r comes to the surface. The same process may be gone through a third time, after which the grain may be thinly spread out on a cloth to dry and be repeatedly turned over during the course of the day. A sheet-iron kiln is of course the best mode of drying, but it would be simply absurd to recommend that which is not available, whilst a judicious choice of weather, plenty of cloths, and strict attention will be efficient substitutes. Further enquiry confirms my previous opinion that in every instance where smut exists to an appreciable extent, it has originated from inattention to the necessary precautions in the choice and preparation of the seed. What these precautions ought to be, and how most efficiently taken, I shall communicate nearer to the forthcoming season of wheat-sowing. W.W. Christchurch, Feb. 24,1853.