OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 20

OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET.

I n?aoM Our Own Cobbesfondent.") . Fairly favourable weather ■prevailed last week and this enabled considerable progress to be made with- all classes of .farm work. Owing to the snow that has fallen on the ranges the weather, is now .much colder, and notwithstanding the fact that 85deg were registered in* the shade in MidOaniterbury on Saturday, frosts ranging up to sdeg were recorded earhei in the week. Stock feed has grown in a remarkable way, and graziers will be in a position to enter on the winter with a certain amount of confidence. Reports, however, are still coming to hand in respect of ravages of the diamond black moth in- the turnip crops, and it is feared that at least a fairly large acreage of the turnip crops in the province will have to be fed off ait an early date, otherwise they will decay prematurely. , Threshing work is being vigorously pushed ahead and. tlie forest of stacks of grain,on the heavy lands is, fast disappearing. As far as can be ascertained the returns generally continue- to prove disappointing, but when the prices ruling for all classes of cereals, and for wool and mutton are taken into full consideration, it must be admitted that the farmers have enjoyed a prosperous season. On what is termed first-class wheat-growing land, the average yield is between 27 to 30 bushels per acre, or from 10 to 15 bushels below returns for any ordinary favourable season; but, I as a result of the rankness of the growth of practically all classes of cereal crops tiiP expense incurred in harvesting and threshing work has seldom been greater. Fat lambs and sheep are still coming forward to the various freezing works in large numbers, and ait last week's stock sales export buyers have never been known to operate more freely for several years past. Large yarding of sheep and lambs were sent for.ward, and at every sale the fat stock changed hands at slightly better values; than obtained the, previous week. As an instance of the policy on the part of farmers ,to breed i stock, I may' mention,.that ,Mr John - Cochrane. Elgin, Mid-Canterbury, sold a Tine, of 250 Shropshire, cross lambs at public auction thait brought him 17s 7d, which is the highest price obtained for a large line in Canterbury this season. The lambs were well woolled. uniform in size and symmetry, and .were mostly heavy weights. Although

the Shropshire cross :has been neglected during:, the past, few years in favour of English Leicester it would appear from the sales at the various ram fairs this sealsqn thot this one-time highly popularbreed' i» again coining into general favour -a* least at the hande of those who breed for lamb export purposes. Border Leces'ppr rams v.ere largely purchased this season by farmers and graziers. There is. p very; firm demajnd for good samples of oat-sheaf chaff of late, but bright- chaff -is. hard to .procure. Then, igain, the straw, in the greater number of instances, is rust , eaten, and having grown so rank samples are mostly light. . . The potato crops are not digging up well,, and yields will be unusually light, while the samples are generally inferior. \> Light rain fell at intervals on Sunday, but farmers could very well do without any. further. for at least a month, ailways provided that drying north-west winds do not prevail.

The. Government fruit inspectors have visited a number of orchards in the province during the past few weeks, and quite a number of farmers or orchardieta in Mid-Canterbury will be brought before the court at an early date for failing to take steps to cope with the codlin moth. -■■—Field Trial Experiments.—

. A few months, ago'tab© Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association made representations to the Department of Agriculture with the object of having' field trial experiments conducted in the district under the supervision of the Government. A letter in reply was received iropi the department agreeing to carry out the ments on certain conditions, whioh would ■ be enumerated by one of the Fields instructors at the earliest possible opportunity. On Saturday, last Mr .A. MacPherson, one of the department'6 instructors, visited Ashburton and conferred at some length with 'a special committee set up represent- . ing the'A. and P. Association.

In a running commentary and in reply to questions, Mr ' that.' the main object of the Department of Agricul- " ture .in carrying out field.'.ejcperiments was to educate ' *he farmers. J i'n. agricultural science. That being so, it was necessary to first secure plots of land,. uniform in quality and typical of. the idi&tr'iot, and with a view to bringing the experimental olots ■ under the direct notice of ;the public, it was essential that they should abut on the main roads. He then went on to explain;that the experiments included manurial and ' variety tests, the Government supplying the seed and fertilisers in the manurial .tests • and. the seeds only in the variety tests; the farmers to do the work,/.. Of course, the farmers derived the full monetary benefits from the results. Mr MacPhersoh dwelt on ' the fact that it was absolutely necessary for the work in connection" with the plots to be carried, out intelligently under the direct supervision of the department. There should be no 'slumming of the work, and if the farmers faithfullv 'carried out their part of the contract the department would "do its share to the direct benefit of all con-.. cerned. He explained thaj "#r the experiments.in the varity and 'inanurial tests, in respect of cereals., each plot- should . not exceed one-tenth ,of an .acre; for turnips two widths of. an ordinary drill; for mangolds and potatoes, several rows. He did not believe in the plots being too large, ) and as far as possible he favoured a narrow plot to a square piece of grqund. in every instance, seven,to 12 variety were invariably sown, and onev plotr was left unmatured as a-n, educative factor. . As,the, character, of . the soil i« the county, ; yar,ied, -it would be wise to distribute-the Pkts as .far as possible. Before the experiments were pommenced, it be for the com, . mittee to send- him samples, of.: M™ which it was proposed,to ,work poses-of analysis. The department had 629 experimental, "field plots at Presenter's supervision, and good results had been obtained in the past. The sites, which..are genSy- selected by the.department, £fft , not be near'plantations or within a chain an a half from; gotse Mr MacPherson 'if * was ,ffl. sired' to-make, the experiment* ;a complete . sue" it would be hecesfciry tc extend ttenfover a period of several yk*,io permrt of a culling process beting adopted. AS far as possible the expetfmente be. conducted on lines ; *ere custoiW to the county as regards crop, and complete records would be kept show in ? tKuantity of seed g|p ■&£!£*£ c»«|

record that would prove a valuable educative factor. Many varieties of cereals and roots were decried beoaufse thej had not been given a proper trial. Much had been said against solid straw Tuscan, but, personally, he thought it was one of the best and most profitable wheats the farmer could grow. The .wheats grown in the variety teste would be analysed, and ■it would be ascertained after the experiments had been carried out for a few years which, were the most suitable seeds and roots for - the character of ; tho soil- and the climate, and those better able to resist parasitic diseases. Mr MacPherson recommended, -"'n conclusion, that the first year's tests should include the following varieties of seeds and roots: —Wheat: Velvet, velveteer, red and white Hunters. Bordier, "Webb's challenge, Marshall's white. M'Callum's autumn ■wheat, solid straw Tuscan, white marble red marble, senation, treasure, red and white Tuscan. Oats: Newmarket, Gartons, duns, Algerians, Danish, Rosbery, Tartarians (long and . short). Springle's beauty,-Tartar king, storm king. Turnips: Twenty-one varieties of swedes, '34- yellow and white flesh varieties. The committee decided that the experiments should be carried out, and that a canvass be made to select equitable sites at the earliest possible opportunity. Monday, March 28. Fairly heavy rain fell throughout last night, but this morning the weather broke , bright and clear.