OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET.

Otago Witness, Issue 3002, 27 September 1911, Page 20

OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET.

(Fbom OCR Own Correspondent.) THE WEATHER. Unseasonable and wretched weather conditions prevailed throughout the whole of last week, a cold south-west hLizzard, accompanied by rain, sleet, and snow, having been experienced for three days. The average rainfall for the week over the province exceeded 2in, and there was a heavy fall of snow in the back country, which still remains on the ranges to a fairly thick depth. Several frosts were also recorded, the heaviest in Mid-Canterbury being 11 degrees. The weather was likened to that experienced in the depth of winter, conse-' quently the growth of vegetation has been totally arrested; indeed, the weather was more spring-Inke during August. For this p H rl °u * he y€a ' r the Postures are unusually bare and feed is generally very scarce. Lambing is still in progress in the lower districts, and one sees a comparatively large number of dead iambs lying under the fences in the paddocks,- as a result of the south -west blizzard at the beginning of the week. The numlbar of skins hanging over fences, too, denotes that the storm has been responsible for the loss by death of many owes. Farmers in the lower districts informed me on Thursday that as a result of the paddocks being small and the shelter generally good, losses among breeding flocks, while great, are fortunately not so serious as was at first anticipated. In individual cases, however, fcho death rate among young iambs h.as been very serious. This was apparent in instances where the paddocks were large and unsheltered by live fences or plantation, belts. In and around the Hinds district the dairying industry was receiving a setback as a result of the inadequate feed suppjy. Farmers are confident, however, that with a week or two of warm springlike weather feed will come away very rapidly an ™, P rove sufficient for all requirements. The weather on Saturday and Sunday was cold, a penetrating south-east wind prevailing. .This (Monday) morning the weather is typical of spring. MORTALITY AMONG "FLCCKS. The mortality among flocks all over the province during the past week has been very serious, and in instances where lambing was actually in progress at the time the b'jizzard was raging the losses of lambs and ewes hove been truly appalling. A farmer from one of the upper districts in MidCanterbury on Saturday informed me that he knew of several farmers who had lost half their entire flock, lambs included. Taking the marked decrease in the flocks this season into full consideration together with the loss of sheep and lambs as a result of unfavourable conditions, he expressed the opinion that the number of• lambs available for export next season would be at least one-third less, as compared with last year's figures. Another farmer informed me that in many parts of South 'Canterbury fully 15 to 20 lambs per 100 ewes had succumbed as a result of the unfavourable weather. While the losses in North Canterbury, too, have been heavy in individual instances, the general losses are not so great as in the southern end, as lambing 'is further advanced. Generally the mortality among the floolts bas been exceedingly high, and the effect on the number available for export next season must necessarily be very. marked. .-...•" ...... * A farmer in the Aehburton County lost

270 lambs during two nights from a flock of about 650 ewes. THE GRASS GRUB. Mr John Rennie, a farmer of long and practical experience in the Doyieston district, writes as follows on the grass grubj-j----“By the attention given to ,grass grub this year one would suppose it was the first tame the grub has given any trouble. I have had the grass grub on my farm more or less for the past 25 years, and once you get to know its habits it is not so difficult to provide against. The principal thing is to put a sufficient quantity of cocksfoot in the grass mixture when laying down. The cocksfoot is a deeply-rooting plant, and takes a good hold of the ground, and the grub can make Little progress, and in cocksfoot dees more good than harm. I have been farming over. 40 years, and have never had an acre of crop injured by the grub, nor have I missed a mangold crop for the past 30 years, and I have seen the grub reach the flying stage after the mangolds have been up. This winter I had a small paddock grub-ridden. I put on the chain harrows after the first rain and re-sowed it with mixed grasses,- sowed a bag of basic slag, harrowed again-, and now the. grass is as thick as a mat., and no doubt the paddock has benefited by the working of the grub. On my land lam satisfied that the grub, like the worm, does more good than harm. On light lands I would advise, when It first shows sign® of grub, to harrow or grub, sow seed and plenty of slag. You will soon have a better ‘striW of grass than before. With regard to tb© aphis blight and diamond-back moth. the. birds are the farmere’ friends and in ordinary seasons they are able to cone with the pests, but with a long erell cf drought they increase too fast. In that case th© best plan is to put the sheep on as soon as they are seen.” LAMBING PERCENTAGES. Owing to th© weakness of lambs as a result of an insufficient supply of milk, docking operations have been purposely delayed this season, and up to th© present tim© comparatively few flocks have been treated. 1 leam that in North Canterbury the average lambing returns, so far, do not; reach 100 per cent., although instance© of between 110 and 120 per cent, are reported. In MidOa.nterbu.ry the returns will "be very disappointing, fjnd it is, questionable whether the average percentage will much exceed 70 per cent., when deaths of ©wes are taken into considration. Docking will be carried out on fairly extensive lines during the coming week, when I will be enabled to obtain a fairlv accurate estimate- Mr T. Stewart, of Seaview, has bad a lambing of 103 per cent, from young ewes; Mr P. Shearer, of Wheatstone, 110 per cent, from a flock of over 400 ewe®; and other returns average from 70 per cent, to 90 per cent. MISCELLANEOUS. The first annual meeting of the Ashburton Co-operative Dairy Factory Company (Ltd.) was held on Saturday last, when Mr Charles Redd (deputy chairman) presided, in the absence of Mr John Grigg (chairman) in England. For th© eight months during which the company operated 2,189,2421 b of milk and 348,697J;b of oroam were* received and from this 276.2711 b cf commercial butter was manufactured. Forty tons of butter were exported on consignment; milk suppliers received lid ner lb for butter-fat and cream suppliers ll|d per lb. The profit and loss account showed a credit balance of £243 19s. Th*e question of the pasteurisation of skim milk will be considered in. the near future. A very encouraging ton© prevailed at the rneeting, and those who have launched into dairying expressed themselves ee being in every way satisfied with their venter-©, which, they said, had proved more profitable, notwithstanding the up f a.vou.raible soason, than gtriain-growing'. _The annual horse parade under th© auspices of the Ashburton Ae-rioulturaJ and Pastoral Association- was held on the show grounds on Saturday last. Farmers and horse-breeders were present from every part of the country, and the animals were subjected tea c'os© and hypercritical examine..r); Ina-re were 25 entries, a® compared wdh 28 last vear. and. taken, as a whole, the onabtv and getem of the animals shown was distinctly creditable to all concerned Without exception th© horses were shown in tb© node of condition, and in tin-top fettle, ar>d the general oonser«ns of opinion a-monv those who are m a position to sneak authoritative’v on such matte-s was to the effect th-t h OTSo-breedm * in the country will s-j-ffor no deteriorate,r> n . while such high-class sires are available . for service. Many hroedo-. of horse® and others interested in t;-v md -st-rv expressed th© opinion that the t-r-c ha,-i arnd when the A. and P. A sSOston’d off er nrior f.h© lines tih-p- Oantrf*"'K”rv Association. I -o is p 8-c-rh one. and midh.* -t OTVTmfp be Considered lv- +h© commiffe© narrdo -The OlvrWdale .-i-o <3l. TolKaf. imported bv the D<ena.r+'".crt of <'oriculture whteh w ., rn-rrhaord " d-c-r Jtetn a,+ WsikoiWte. "* ° n * W. so-sop. and wJ.M travel t -i district "k m the prcoodinn sea”'"s cn exhibition only, but was not paraded.