THE CROPS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1583, 25 March 1882, Page 6

THE CROPS.

Writing on harvest prospects on the Waimea Plains, a correspondent of the Mataura Ensign says:— "The New Zealand Agricultural Company has only 510 acres of grain this season, all oats— which will not bo a heavy crop, owing to the high winds and dry weather prevalent during December and January. I put down the yield at about 40 bushels per acre. It is almost all cut, and it looks bolter in the stook than anticipated, and will probably thresh 40 bushels. All the Company's work has been done with M'Cormick's reapers and binders, there being seven wire-binders and one twine-binder kept employed. I may say that, though a good many turnip crops have failed owing to the dry season, still the Com.

pany will have between 2000 and 3000 acres of first-rato turnips, as good as any I have ever seen in tho district. The heavy rain about 10 days ago made them grow amazingly, and has also given a 1 good start to the Englishgrass paddocks. The farmers on the Company's land have all got very good crops, considering the season. Mr Alexander (below the Pyramid) has some very fine wheat, which ha has nearly all cut now ; I should say it will thresh out 35 bushels per rcre. Some that ha has next the road on light land is very thin, but that was to be expected. His oats will go from 40 to 50 bushels. The same remarks apply to his neighbour, Mr Graham, whose wheat is also a very good sample. On an average settlers on the Mataura should thresh say, of wheat, 35 bushels, and of oats say 45 bushels. This may seem very small, andno doubt it is, as compared with ordinary years, but Ido not wish to exaggerate things at all, but to make a fair statement. The heaviest crop in thia neighbourhood is a crop of oats belonging to Sir Robert Hamilton, at his Pyramid farm. They are very even, well-grown, and heavyheaded, and I should not be surprised if they thresh out over 70 bushels per acre. .The deferred-payment settlers on Crown lands have got crops of (say) wheat, 30 to 35, and oats, 85 to 45 bushels per acre. Some of their wheat is not ripe yet, and must have been sown very late. All the wheat up here should be autumn^ sown. lam confident that much better crops would then be grown, and the harvesting would be over a month or six weeks sooner, thus making^ sure of longer days and finer weather. Potatoes are a good crop everywhere. The Company hasj| a fine crop of them at Wantwood— eight or nine tons to the acre. Mr Watt has a crop of linseed, which looks very well. This is a new crop up here, and will, I hope, be remunerative to him. Altogether, judging from reports from elsewhere, we cannot grumble this year, as we have as good,' if not better, crops than our neighbours seem to have. I may add that not in a solitary instance have I heard of rabbits having injured the crops, nor have I seen any crops injured by them. We find the pukeke, or swamp hen, far more mischievous . in the standing crops. Stacking is going on busily all about here, and a fine week would see the greater part of the grain safe in tho stack."