OUR CANTERBURY AGRTCULTURAL BUDGET.

Otago Witness, Issue 3029, 3 April 1912, Page 20

OUR CANTERBURY AGRTCULTURAL BUDGET.

(JTiioM Oua Own €obresi>ondknt.; THE HARVEST, WEATHER, AND GENERAL. The weather during the past week has been fitful and unsettled, but, notwithstanding the several showers that fell, fairly good progress was made with all classes of sea.soliable work. With the exception of isolated paddocks of cereals in swampy and heavy country, the whole of the grain in the province is now in the stack, and almost half of it lias been threshed. This applies more particularly to oats, of which an unusually large quantity was grown this season. Reports to hand from all parts of the province show that the yields of oats have been almost phenomenal; but, generally, the threshing machines have revealed the fact that the wheat crop's are not by any means so proportionately satisfactory. In the first place, tl'.e season has been too wet and cold, and the grain has not matured as it would have done had anything Like seasonable weather prevailed. As a result of the unfavourable weather during January and February, the sample of wheat is in many instances shrivelled, and for milling purpuras the grain will ho much inferior to that grown last season. Much of tho wheat crops too, was put into stack in a very indifferent condition, and this, coupled with the presence of a large amount of clover and other undergrowth in tho butts of the sheaves, will necessitate the grain being threshed before it sweats or allowing it to remain in tho stack for close on two months. In instances where the land was in a clean condition and the wheat crops were sown early there have been some very heavy yields, over 60 bushels per aero being quite a common return. Tho late crops on dirty, weedinfested land have not fared so favourably, as I have ascertained that in many cases the phenomenal exuberance of the undergrowth has materially checked the growth of the grain; indeed, instances have bean brought under my notice where the crop has been entirely choked, and has been cut for chaff. Ono feature of the past season is that it was altogether suitable for the mediumquality land, which has given a proportionate return far m excess of the heavy, high-priced country. (Jne of tho best yields 1 have heard of having been obtained on medium soil was 70 bushels of Gartons per acre, the price of the land being about £8 per acre. All things considered, the season that is just closing has been, from an agricultural standpoint, an entirely favourablo one; and, with tho good average prices current for cereals, tho return of farmers for their year's work should be highly remunerative, and ono of the best on record for at least 10 years past. As showing the enormous quantity of cereals grown this season, it is interesting to mention that practically tho wholo of tho corn sacks in tho Dominion have been disposed of, and as on additional consignment is not expected till May, many of tho threshing mills will have to pull in very shortly until such times as sacks are available. The number of sacks ordered for this season, I am led to believe, was much in excess of that for any ordinary year. Then, again, the threshing mills have already tallies averaging about 60.000, or close on that for any ordinary year; and it is estimated that each of tho machines in the province has still about 25,000 to 30,000 bushels yet to thresh, which gives a good indication of tho largo quantity of grain that has been crown.

Cutting chaff in mid-Canterbury last week, Messrs M'Elhinney Bros, established

a record: for a week of 5£ days, the tally being' 1875 tons. Messrs Fitzgerald Bros., of Ashburton, recently threshed 16,400 bushels of oats and wheat in one week on Mr T. Dowling's Springfield Estate. Many farmers state that owing to the severity of last winter and the heavy subsequent rainfalks, the humble bees have been greatly reduced, and as a result of this the fertility of the red clover seed has been seriously interfered with; indeed, in many finely-grown paddocks of this forage plant, which were reserved for cutting, the clover heads are so poorly filled with seed that cutting and threshing the crop is altogether out of the question. The autumnal growth of grass and clover has been most luxuriant, and quite a number of farmers on the heavy lands around Christcburch have actually saved two profitable crops of hay this season. Skim-ploughing is now being vigorously pushed- ahead, and as much of the graincarting is done by steam haulage plants, the whole of the available horse power is being requisitioned for this important work, which is being carried out under the most favourable conditions, the soil being damp and easily worked. THE STOCK MARKET. The market for stock of all classes continues solid and stable, and sheep, lambs, and cattle- command ready sale at remunerative prices to vendors. The freezing works have so far had a poor season, which is due to a variety of reasons In the first place, a large proportion of the ewe lambs will be kept on hand to replenish the breeding flocks; and secondly, the rank and succulent character of the feed is "so great that its fattening properties are very limited. One farmer informed me last week that he had about 600 lambs ready for the freezing works, and had been offered 15s 9d per head for them but he declined, stating that his price' was 17s 3d. During the past two weeks the sales at the chief centres have been much larger than previously, and tliis indicates that there has been a large number of sheep brought into the province from outside sources, including the North Island, Marlborough, and Southland. Breeding ewes of good quality are keenly sought after, and there is every prospeot of the prices for this class of stock increasing. There is an abundance of feed on every hand, and the root crops are fairly satisfactory. With these favourable conditions, graziers appear to have a good season ahead of them. PERMANENT PASTURES. The establishment of permanent pastures and the most efficacious subsequent treatment is a questfc-ii that frequently gives rise to lengthy debate at meetings of farmers' organisations arid 1 institutions, and one on which there appears to be no unanimity of opinion. Some fawners absolutely disapprove of nermancnt pasture, and advance the contention that it is unprofitable both as regards the depasturing of stock and- increasing the fertility of the sail; while others again hold an entirely opposite opinion. Much, however, depends on the quality of the soil, on the seasons, and on the treatment of the pasture. For instance, an exceptionally dry eeason more often than otherwise is responsible for the almost complete extermination of clovers even in soil of the highest fertility, and Of course, this fact seriously interferes with the quality of the pasture thus affected, and unquestionably the absence of clovers materially reduces the value of feed as regards fattening properties Ihen, again, pasture that has been cut for hay on several occasions shows a marked deterioration, and seldom, if ever, regains its former exuberance of growth. These remarks however, aro by the way, and I would just here like to recount the prominent points of a conversation I recently had on the Subject of permanent pastures with Mr William Harding, of Willowby (Mid-Canter-bury), who is a sound, practical farmer, possessing considerable colonial experience. Mr Harding, in reply to questions, said he had given the question of permanent pas ture and its treatment thoughtful and close attention for many years, and his experiments had convinced him that on suitable country it was possible to establish, and keep it permanent, a most profitable pasture by a very simple and inexpensive treatment. Fie went on to say that he had pasture of over 20 years' standing that was as good to-day as ii. was 15 years ago, and, what was of greater importance, stock thrived' well on it, and the soil at the same time was almost" free of noxious weeds. The carrying qualities of the pasture were as great as they were two years after the seed was sown, and the only treatmejnt he had adopted was to run tripod and chain harrows over the pasture in the early part of the spring in each year, and Nature had done the remainder. One could write a great deal on this important question as to the- most suitable grasses and clovers to sow for permanent pasture; but. the variable nature of the scil and climatic conditions that obtain would have to bo takein into consideration

to make such an article accurate and instructive, as, for instance, a small admixture of cocksfoot, while in every way advisable for sowing down light country, would be most inadvisable for heavy or swampy land. MISCELLANEOUS. Mr John Lambie, who has served as chairman of the Ashburton County Council for fivo years, resigned that position on Friday last. Mr Lambie intends leaving the Dominion shortly on an extended tour to Great Britain. Cr C. J. Harper was elected' as Mr Lambie's successor. SHORTENING TRAFFIC BRIDGES. During the past two years and more manylocal bodies in Canterbury have been discucsing the advisableness of shortening traffic bridges under their jurisdiction with a view to curtailing the enormous expenditure incurred by way of maintenance. When the structures were erected the full width of the rivers were bridged, and it is thought by experts that by confining the rivers by the aid of training walls, in many instances the length of bridges could for all practical purposes bo reduced by half. Bridges that have been shortened in this way have given every satisfaction, and successfully withstood the severe test of the floods during the latter part of last year. Apropos this question, the Ashburton County Council at its meeting on Friday last discussed a report presented by Mr F. W. Marchant, M. Inst. C.E., of which the following is a summary : The bridge now existing is 1820 ft long. It has been proposed by the county engineer to reduce its length to 1000 ft by cutting off 820 ft from its western end. There is no doubt but that the length of the bridge now existing is quite unnecessary, causing waste of money in its maintenance and future reconstruction. For the 'ast 25 years I have been training rivers in South Canterbury and reducing the lengths of bridges so as to make them only ampb/ sufficient to carry the heaviest floods with a margin of safety besides. The manner in which I should effect the reduction of bridge length is as follows: Construct a ramped gravel approach to the western end of the shortened bridge. Remove the whole of the 820 ft length, and stack the timber for sale or re-use. Embank this 820 ft length to a top width of 28ft the spoil to be obtained partly from a side cutting excavated from the northern side of the approach, and partly from the river bed. The lop of this embankment would be 4ft above Pood level, having a ramp on a grade of 1 in 22 up to the deck level of the bridge, and there should be 30ft of level approach between the ramp and the bridge end This embankment and the slope of the side cutting should be protected by netted boulders having willow stakes set at frequent intervals, the work being further protected against underscour by a willow apron work, which has in practice proved most efficient. A pile and boom groin should be bui't between the end of the shortened traffic bridge and the railway bridge. This class of protection work has been used by me in several places, and is most efficient. The piles, being set zig-zag. give great, strength to the work, and very effectually break up the flood stream. By the means described, I consider that a stable and most satisfactory result would be obtained, enabling County Council later on to supplant the timber bridge by a permanent reinforced concrete structure, incapable of being destroyed by fire, and not requiring repairs. The cost of such a permanent bridge, built on the 'ines of the Opihi and Ashley bridges, designed by me, would he between £IO,OOO and £II.OOO. In embanking the approach, it would be necessary In lay a 6in lead-jointed, cast-iron pine Under it. to carry the small stream existing there for the service of those below the bridge who now use that water. Earthenware pipes should not be used in this case. I estimate the total cost of forming the embankment and constructing the protective works described at £I7OO. Against this must be credited the value for sale or reuse of the timber removed from thet 820 ft length of bridging. Judging from pales of bridge timber in South Canterbury, the sale of such would probab'y fetch £4OO. I drew some scores of piles from a hard river-bed some years ago, at a cost of £1 15s each. —It was decided to further discuss the report at a meeting to be held at an early date. If is interesting to mention that the cost of decking the present structure amounts fo over £3OOO, and this requires renewing every 10 years' or so.