AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2286, 23 December 1897, Page 14

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

• Mr A. Bergin, who is sjid to have devised a new method of dressing Now Zealand flix, ;*i sited the Parliamentary Buildiufß with his daughter and set his spinning jetiny in motion in the presence of the Minister for Public Works »nd others, who were favourably impressed. The Chiislchuich Press iaj s :— "The farmers about Wakanui have begun to give their theep ptraw, in the absence of seasonable feed. A atari; has been made to cut oat*, with indifferent results ; the machines merely throwing, at Jong intervale, bundles of stuff measuring 6in to lfo in length. In the Coalgale and sui Ifoundiug districts even the heaviest lands have begun to show the need of rain for the growing crcps. Light showers fell on Thursday morning, and later on a constant rain continued till evening. — A light rain r fell in the Ashburton di*trict on Thursday, bub ib was net sufficient to more than j jst freshen things up for a few hours. It rained pretty heavily away towards the hills, bub very little fell in the districts towards the sea, where it is so badly needed. For m&ny years past the celebrated Wakanui lands have returned heavy jields of cereals, but this season the district; is putting up a most undesirable record of failures. Iv pUce3 •where onchas bein sccustoined to sco at this time of tbo year magniGcent standing crops of wheat, oats, and barley and an abundance of good pasture are now paichedup grass paddocks, and sheep and cattle are feeding < ft' miserably poor crops of wheat and oats. Here and there are a few fairish crop?, but generally 'speaking they are very poor, and the yield from that district will be the lowest ever recorded. There are some splendid crops on the Longbeach estate, and Mr D. Cimeron, of Springfield, near Methven v and Mr C. F. To3hunfcer, cf Western* ld, have a lot of wheat and oat 3 ■which promise very heavy yields. There was every appearance of rain again last evening, and a good downpour would sfciJl be of great benefit to the standing crops, in addition to Iniogiug on the pastures and root crops."

. An Oamaru resident, who has been on a trip South and north cf Oainaru, informs us (North O.tago Times) that feod for stock is scarce in the south and sheep are seUicg cheap. A line of out of condition sheep 'failed to reach a reserve of Bd. The wet and cold weather is responsible for the scarcity of feed. Tho crops, however, look wtll. NortfT of Oamaru, and more especially towards Chrietchurch, the srop3 aro wretchedly poor, and the grass has Seen burnt eft". ' StartiDg from" Oamaru, the farther north one travels the poorer the crops are. Rain would cectainly do good, if not to the crops at l°aet to the grass ; but even the crops would advantage by moisture. This is more particularly the case in this district..

Oar (Timaru Herald) Geraldino correspondent writes : " The steady rain yesterday morning was very welcome to farmers, bat ifc rather disappointed the promoters of the united sports at Geraldine, who had prepared a first-rate programme and looked t'oiward to. raiting a good round sum towards replacing the pavilion which a shcri time ago was desttoyed by fire. Owing to the rain the spoits were postponed till January 1, 1698. The bazaar at the Volunteer Hall, however, was opened at noon, and as the rain went iff a little in the afternoon there was a fairly good attendance, and the stallkeepers were kept busy enough under the circumstances. — Rain commenced falling at Waimate early on Friday morning, and continued throughout the day. The holiday was-com-pletely spoiled, and shooting and cricket matches had to be, postponed. The rain will do an almost incalculable amount of good to crops and grass. Many crops have wilted, and are now beyond redemption, but a great number w 11 still be vastly bentGted by the raiD, which was still falling la.fr b evening."

Friday's Oamaru Mail Bays : — t: The rain yesterday appears to have been very general throughout the district and to have extended well into Canterbury, though the fall north of the .Waitaki seems to have become gradually lighter as it travelled nor'hwaid. In someparts of this district there was a good downpour, ifhich left little pools of water in the hitherto 'dry holes to mirk its welcome advent. It is needless to say that the rain will do an immense amount of good to the country, especially in respect to the turnips and grass, while the springsown wheat will also reap great benefit from it, and some good will accrue to the earlier crops. ■Much as this district has suffered from the .drought, the injury fells a long way shore of that experienced in Canterbury northward of fWaimate. All along the line, as a traveller informs us, scarcely a fairly decent crop is to be seen, while the grass is completely burnt up. £Fhe crops are very stunted and thin, and are in most places coming into ear, aud poor yields only can be looked for."