OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET.

Otago Witness, Issue 3332, 23 January 1918, Page 12

OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET.

(From Ode Own Cohrebpondent.)

HARVEST' WEATHER WANTED.

Wo seem to be fated to have a wet harvest. During the past fortnight there has been more rain than sunshine, which is a reversal of the typo of weather that is ■needed at this time of the year. The glass has been fairly high ever since the New Year, but it has brought muggy, showery, foggy, drizzly conditions instead of the bright sunny time that is badly needed at this juncture. At times heavy rain has fallen, and the rivers and creeks have been in mild, flood on several occasions. Indeed, at the time of writing the rivers are very dirty'_and the creeks have much more Water in them than is usual as this season of the year. Last summer and autumn some of the weather that we are getting now would have been much appreciated, and would have meant thousands of pounds into the pockets of Canterbury farmers. If the ram would come and bo done with it the caso would not be so bad; but it keeps on damp day after day for a comparatively small amount of rain after all. About a couplo of inches has fallen for tho month up to tho third week, so that it will be seen that we aro not by any means swamped out. It is tho constant drip, drip, with the acompaniment of cloudy, calm weather, that makes tho case such an annoying one at this season of tho year. As I write these lines the sun is trying to shine out, and is not making anything of a job of it. THE HARVEST. I have said enough to show that the harvest is. now ready for going on with, but that the weather is a hindrance. The rains that we have had during the past month have put back the harvest by somo two or three weeks, and now there is a good deal of stuff that is standing ready for the reaper, but the damp weather is preventing the machines working at the job in anything like a constant way. lne early oats are ripe everywhere, but there has "been no chance to get them into stook, and now growers are divided in opinion as to whether it is better to have the stuff standing or to have it down. It all depends on the state of the weather. It wo are to have rain it is just as well standing; but there is no guarantee that the nor'wester will keep away, and we know that if a day's wind came along there would be a mess among the Dun and the Algerian oats. On the other hand, there are a good many acres of oats that have been discoloured on account of the wet, and some of them are just on tho verge of growing. In somff cases the stooks have been turned. That I think, is a mistake. I seldom turn & stook even in a very Wet season. If the sheaves have been well set up they will turn a lot of water, and. will save themselves very well. If, on the other hand, there are any sheaves that arc lying on the ground, they should bo picked up and set upright at onco, as they will soon sprout on tho ground, especially- now that the land is warm and the weather warm and muggy. When the stooks are turned they never go so well together as when they were set up at first, and the damp and discoloured side is turned in, while the dry, bright stuff inside the stook is turned out to all the bad weather, that might follow. I have frequently noticed that the turning of stooks is a mistake. It is the easier and the better way to leave them severely alone as long as they are standing upright. Although there have been some heavy rains since the New Year, it cannot be said that much more of the crop has become laid. The straw since the tuff started to turn has grown a good deal stiffer, and it takes more to put it down. All the same, there is a big area that will never be reaped, on account of tho fact that the wheat, and some of the oats, too, has been badly lodged. The best thing to do with a lot of the tuff is to put a match to it as soon as the straw is dry enough and tho fire can be safely started. Some of the lodged stuff that will ge gathered up will do no more than pay for the trouble of reaping and harvesting. The grain will be small and shrivelled, and the sample will be dirty and discoloured. It will have no chance of coming anywhere near the fair average quality standard, no matter how low that standard might be, and I am afraid that if the weather does not soon take a change for tho better that standard will not be very high. Some of tho < pad- x docks are just soft enough for the binder, and it is feared that if some more heavy rain comes the ground will not carry, and that -wo shall have a repetition of the conditions that prevailed a few years ago, when tho big wheel of the reaper made a Waterrace in each hollpw, and tho machines cot stopped with mud every few yards on the heavy, low-lvmg land. It is fine to have the crops so good this season, but they are just on the heavy side in many instances, and the work with them is going to be very tiresome and trying, and" no natter how one may try, there is going to be a good deal of waste. There is one consolation about the matter, and that is that the late crops* have made up wonderfully, and they will make up for tho injury that has been done to some of the heavy ones. It is acknowledged that if the fine, dry weather that we had at the end of November and the beginning of Deoomber would have ruined most of the late crops, and that, in addition, many of the early-sown ones would not have filled properly. It will bo seen, therefore, that so far the wet weather has done a lot of good. It is to be hoped that now we shall not have to make the complaint that we aro getting too much of a good thing, and that the harvest will bo allowed to proceed expeditiously now that it is ready. Of in some of the early districts, especially in the middle and the north of tho province, the harvest is well forward. A good deal of crops ie ready for stacking, and the thrasher has already been at work. I hear that some of tho onts havo turned out at the rate of about 70 bushels an , aero, and that they are selling at from 2s 9d to 3s 2d a bushel according to the station. Some of these aro said_ to be for a special purpose, and those prices may not be maintained. The have now got their licenses to buy this season's wheat; but so far there has been practically none on the market, though a week's fine weather would see some of it put into tho bags. There is a quantity of grass seed to be thrashed as soon as it is dry enough, and it is expected 'that it will not he as dear as during the past two or three seasons. Cocksfoot is also ripe everywhere, and an endeavour is being made to save as much of it as possible. It is too valuable to allow to go to waste, and every orchard

and roadside, as well as the corners of the paddocks, has some of it growing, and very good seed it seems 'to be. lno troublo is that there is so much else to do everywhere that much of it might not be saved owing to tho lack of time to do so and the difficulty of getting labour to take on the job. # So far there has been no troublo in getting harvesters; but there are some who think that as soon as the rush sets in there will be a difficulty, _ particularly as tho shearing is not yet finished. A DELAYED SHEARING. The shearing is dragging along still, and even on the farms near tho coast, where the shearing is usually one of the early operations of the year, woolly sheep are still to bo seen. It seems that no sooner do tho sheep get dry 'than rain or driving drizzles again set in, and the sheep aro made wet for another few days. When it ie not actually raining there is no dry-

ing to speak of. and the paddocks are so full of grass that it is almost impossible for the sheep to get dry in 'them. The damp seed stalks keep the wool on the bellies, neck and sides as wet as possible, and it is days before they get fit to shear again after a shower. The only way is to put them in a comparatively bare paddock or in the yards. Even there 'they do not dry quickly, as the' wind, when there is a, breeze, cannot get among the animals that «re crowded together in a small space. Some farmers have managed to get through by spreading their ehecp over several sheds to hold when there js rain about; but even that is a thing that cannot be done on anything like a big scale if the sheep ere ewes and lambs. The wet weather has caused a lot of yolk-stained wool. In the month of November there was a good deal of hot weather, and the voile must have risen very well. Then followed .the damp conditions that have prevailed since,

and tho yolk has not continued healthy. It seems to havo died, us it were, .with tho result that much of tho fleeces that are now being shorn arc very yellow, and contain a good deal of hard-crusted yolk, staining the wool badly in some instances. I am afraid that there is a good deal of wool that will not be as valuable as it would othorwise have been on account of tho yolk stain. The sheep have also got fairly daggy since the wet weather commenced, and that also means a little waste, 'though the dirty stuff is selling very well these times. Indeed, there are some buyers who will buy the actual dags, and it appears that they are more valuablo_ for overhauling for'the bit of wool that is in them than they are' for garden manure. As for seed for tho stock, it is very plentiful, ' and tho sheep and cattle are literally up to their backs in it in many cases. Tho grass is all the time getting away from the -stock, and there promises to be a great amount! of rough feed about for the next winter. Whilst harvest Is on, too, there will bo any amount of feed and water, and we- shall not be troubled with sheep breaking out of their paddocks while ■we are busv with the work of getting in tho croos. The turnips are coming away well, though I am afraid that the wet weather has hindered the sowing of somo of the land that was intended .for the roots. The rape is making a good show, and there will be any amount'of stubble feed in a month or six weeks, when some of the crops are harvested, stacked, or thrashed. There should be no difficulty in getting tho lambs into good weight this season. It will have been noticed, no doubt, that the area in rape .and turnips has been reduced considerably this season, whereas the area in crop has been increased very considerably. The Hon. 'Mr Macdonald states that there are 290,000 acres In wheat this season, and the figures havo been procured by means of a houee-to-house canvas. It anil be seen that the additional area put v in wheat has resulted in a reduction in the quantity of land put under root and fodder crops. It is only a natural thing that, if an increase {s mado in one direction, there is sur*e to >e a reduction in another, as farmers can only do a certain amount of cultivation each season, and it is not now possible to ■ increase that area, seeing that so many men have left for tho front who were actively engaged in team work. (