CANTERBURY NOTES

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 2310, 1 December 1925, Page 5

CANTERBURY NOTES

LIGHT WOOL CLIPS, , WHEAT SHORTAGES. Shearing is now becoming general in Canterbury, and it is being found that the fleeces this season are considerably on the light side, though the quality of the wool is somewhat better than usual. One fine of 2000 hoggets -has averaged only sJib. per head —they should have given 71b. to 81b. on the average. The loss in weight 's put down to two causes —the gieiu amount of rain and the severity of the winter. , The experience of last winter, with its wet and stormy weather, has caused the thoughts of many Canterbury farmers to turn longingly, towards tractors instead of horses tor their farm work. When a team of six draught horses is idle for several months m wet weather —not only is there a big wastage in feed and in labour, but also there is the done by _the horses to the fences and to their covers to be considered, and last but not least there is the churning into the deep mud of the horse paddocks with the consequent discomfort to man -and beast. On the other hand, the tractor in continued wet weather can be put under cover and left there without worry until the weather clottrs* A trip through Canterbury shows most convincingly that there is going to b e a very marked shortage in the wheat crop for the coming season. All through the county there is a very small area in crop, and the crops are backward. The same remarks apply to the Geraldine county 'and in both these counties there is urgent need of a good soaking rain. If rain does not come soon, the yield per acre cannot be up to the a-ver-age.