THE Harvest.

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2081, 3 January 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE Harvest.

Wo have not in t.iia district at anvratr, any notable chanire to report in the a*j«it of the cr »ps. So *•* they appear to fu 1 1 the anticipations farmed, w.ien the Ute r<titi had dissipated theglo >my prospects of October ; aui it raijr fairly he supplied, unless *»na Ufifores>*>n ctrcutit«r:uiCH, •uc'i for inst nice a< the adre 'it of a hnrricine. should arise, that an estiiut'ecan now be fo-nied of the probab 1 * htrvest yield It mu«t tie reifwded :• fortunate, that as a genera! tiling wb«t.t dot*a not, after ita pmu.try sugvsof gro-vth. Hiand iv need of any considerable qu»i.» tity of moisture. Were the case othvi* wine on m.uiy of the li^ht toils in this dmtnut ttie crops woiil 1 huve been almost destroyed, and it many other parts of to*. I«l nid toUlly no. Tue tin' lire of the yUnt is such, however, th.it provided care is t.iken to tiff it early, tlie ro<jts are vunl>led no to spread th<u so 10114 as. my moi^cure reniains in the ground, for a c uiHldiT.il ilt) depth bflow tl».< surf i<%. the ifood office* of ram, so n« »<!• I at all t mm by iv less fortunatM neighbor*, can wilt* out any ijreiit disadvantajfet, be <lUpe!i.-td with. The absence of ram unfortunately was not the only tiinj* to be conteuded with. Wlut di I the most serious part of the diiinaige on the Canterbury Pliins, at any rut c, if not in our own district, were the scorching nor'- westers, which as on* of our correspondent* phrauus it, " swept through tlu» tield like a fl.tma r>f tirw." Wlieat OAto. potatoes, grasi, fruit trees, and inde%Hi?-- everything green drooped nuder them. Now »t^. dismal apprehen* sious are happify at an end, and although we know thit a loss hn* Iwen suffered, sines >me satisfaction is derivable from it, because it leads us to be thankful that the loss is so circumscribed as it i*. The average will not be much affected, probably it will be two or three bushels under that of last year. < >ats will average probably 36 bushels to the acres ; potatoes and other crops will also average fairly. In Can*«rbury and in many other places the worat t'e.irs of thefarmerahaveboeu realised. The TniLtru Herald ».tys— The prospects of the fanners are gloomy in the extreme ; not a drop of the long- wished-f or rain has fallen, aud it is a well acknowledged fact