ON THE LAND

Southland Times, Issue 21897, 24 December 1932, Page 5

ON THE LAND

WORK OF THE WEEK SHEARING IN FULL SWING EXCELLENT WEATHER The splendid spell of fine weather has enabled farmers to get well on with seasonal work, and everywhere in the province general operations show that a forward move has been made in every direction.

Most farmers are very busy just now finishing off their sowings of turnips and grass. There has been a lot of grass-seed and manures going out to the country lately. This is a healthy sign.

Shearing is also fairly general, and should the present excellent spell of good weather continue there is every prospect of a first-class clip. For some years past it has been the custom of many farmers to delay the shearing of their ewes until the first draft of lambs are away. In such seasons as the present, however, the wisdom of this policy is very doubtful, and it will probably be found, as many of the more experienced farmers have discovered, that it pays to shear ewes a month or two earlier.

Grain crops are looking very well all over the province, and the indications are that there will be a bountiful harvest, but it looks as if prices will not be as satisfactory as the yield promises to be. A large quantity of Australian oatmeal is at present available in New Zealand and this, combined with the under-selling of the local article, has caused the consumption of oats to fall off considerably with the result that some merchants have been left with a good deal on their hands which they are anxious to quit. The outlook for the export of oats to England is also gloomy. The quantity of milk delivered to the factories continues to surpass that of last year, but if the dry weather continues no doubt the production will be affected.

Owing to the prevalence of club-root there has been a demand for other fodders for autumn sowing, and Duns have come in for attention; also ryecorn, but there is very little of the latter available.

There has not been much doing in the sale of land for a fortnight or so, mainly owing to the holiday rush, and most people will probably defer business till after the New Year. At the same time there is a lot of inquiry, and there is no doubt that if good farms are available with prices in accordance with buyers’ ideas, it is anticipated that considerable business will be done. It is unfortunate that most of the farms for sale are not first-class or have been neglected, and the demand for such farms is necessarily limited. It will not be long now before the freezing works open again. January 4 is the opening date for Southland. Lambs are doing very well, and a record season should follow. Plant Breeding. General expressions of satisfaction with the work of the plant-breeding station at Lincoln, of the New Zealand Wheat Research Institute, were made at a meeting of that body this week, after members had made an inspection of the 14,000 to 15,000 plots of field research under the direction of Dr O. Frankel, who is in charge of that phase of the institute’s operations. This was the first time that the institute as a specific party had made an official visit, and further interest attached to it because of the presence of Mr George Shirtcliffe, the president of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Last season, Professor R. E. Alexander, director of Canterbury Agricultural College, made the suggestion that the institute as a party should visit the plant-breeding station which is situate on a portion of the college’s land, and the recent visit was a result of the acceptance of that suggestion. Dr F. W. Hilgendorf, director of the institute, was in charge of the inspection of tl"? plots, while Dr O. Frankel made full explanation as each was inspected. Origin of Solid Straw Tuscan. It is believed that the first grower of solid straw Tuscan in Canterbury was Mr H. A. Knight, of Racecourse Hill, the first student entered on the books of Lincoln College, and afterwards for many years chairman of its Board of Governors. The fact is worth recording since the introduction of solid straw Tuscan has been the most important single event in the wheat history of Canterbury. Mr Knight says that he procured the seed from Mr Patrick, of Outram, Otago, who got it from Mr McGill, of Milton, but how Mr McGill obtained it has not been traced, since the inquiry was not started until after that gentleman’s decease. It was probably about 1905 that the first crops of solid straw Tuscan were grown in Canterbury. It was at first very much disliked both by millers and harvesters; these latter called it “barbed wire wheat” or “Matagouri wheat,” because it scratched their arms in stooking, and they also found special difficulty in stacking it because the heads of the sheaves are bigger than the butts. Both these difficulties still persist, but familiarity has bred, if not contempt, yet at least tolerance. The reliability of a high yield over a large range of conditions—that is, the adaptability of the variety and its wind resistance, cause it to increase in favour very rapidly, and in 10 years’ time it occupied the foremost place among New Zealand wheats. Price Adjustment of Wool. Nothing is more certain than that some price adjustment between raw material and semi-manufactures is necessary before the wool business can return to a satisfactory basis, but what form the adjustment will take is a question few people are yet prepared to answer. As things stand at present, the adjustment must come in one of two ways—either by an increase in the price of semi-manufactures, or a relaxation in the price of wool. It is futile, for instance, to think that either topmakers or spinners can support the recent advance in wool without adding to the price of their productions (remarks the Yorkshire Post',. Price differences between wool, tops, and yam have never been finer than to-day, a statement which finds endorsement in the fact that as soon as wool shows any notable advance, ruling prices for tops and yarns become definitely uneconomic. Some of them had, in fact, reached that stage before the recent rise in wool widened the gap on the wrong side. For some time, users of semi-manufactures have in many cases enjoyed prices relatively below Australian wool costs, but the advance in wool at the opening of the new season has so increased that disparity that topmakers and spinners have no alternative but to seek prices more closely in keeping with replacement costs. To secure such prices, however, is a very difficult matter, and is not likely to become much easier until users generally have more confidence than at present in the ability of wool to retain the higher level recently established. 1932-33 Wool Season. The roster of wool sales for the 193233 season in New Zealand, with the al-

locations made to each centre, is as follows: January 6, 1933—Wellington, 30,000. January 11—Napier, 30,000. January 16—Wanganui, 30,000. January 20—Auckland, 30,000. January 25—Christchurch, 25,000. January 30—Dunedin, 30,000. February 2—lnvercargill, 30,000. February 6—Timaru, 20,000. February 10—Wellington, 30,000. February 14—Napier, 25,000. February -17—Wanganui, 30,000. February 23—Christchurch, 25,000. February 28—Dunedin, 30,000. March 3—lnvercargill, no limit. March 9—Wellington, 30,000. March 13—Napier, 25,000. March 17—Auckland, no limit, March 23—Christchurch, no limit.