THE WEATHER AND THE HARVEST.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXXI, Issue 10271, 13 February 1894, Page 6

THE WEATHER AND THE HARVEST.

[Per Press Association.! TIMARU, Feb. 12,

Farmers had a fine week from Saturday to Saturday, when warm, wet weather returned. Most of the grain is now in atook, and it is expected that it will suffer considerably.

A light north - wester blew in the northern district all’ day yesterday, and did good service in drying the grain sufficiently to permit cutting and stacking to be proceeded with.. The principal part of the crops on the i plains and downs is now in stack, and good progress is being made with the reaping on the lowlands. Some of the samples obtained in the threshing already done are not very satisfactory. The oats, although yielding well, are of bad colour, and the wheat is also dark with a proportion Of sprouted grain. During the fine weather last week a large area of wheat was harvested in excellent condition, that which proved unsatisfactory having been out through the long spell of wot weather in the early part of the harvest season.

There was a drying nor’-wost wind at Ashburton all day yesterday, which did much good, drying the grain and enabling the farmers to go on with their stacking. The Eakaia river was in high flood, a good deal of - warm rain having fallen in the hills on Sunday. . , There has been another spell .of bad weather in South Canterbury, and graingrowers despair of getting .their crops properly harvested. On Saturday night, and well into Sunday, rain fell heavily, and although there was a brief spell of sunshine in the afternoon, rain again set in at night, and throughout Monday there were showers, while the atmosphere was very close, and it is probable that soma of the grain has sprouted. Stacking cannot be gone on with, and there are a number of hands idle. Only a little grain has bean threshed, and the bulk of the wheat appears to be shrivelled. Oats appear to yield well, and the sample is fairly good. ■