BANKS PENINSULA.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 764, 22 July 1916, Page 2

BANKS PENINSULA.

MAKING GOOD PROGRESS. RESULT OF A SPLENDID AUTUMN. Farmers on the plains are sometimes inclined to lend a none too credulous ear to the tales recited by settlers from the Peninsula, regarding the quantity of feed that grows thereon, the number of sheep it carries to the acre, and the lambs they fatten on the grass alone, etc. It is an old adage that seeing is believing, and the unbelieving would do well to take the trip. He is assured of a warm welcome from his fellow-pas-toralists, for the hospitality of Banks Peninsula is proven. The reports of the wonderful crops of grass that :.re growing on the Peninsula and the prosperous state- of farmers sounded like news, and a reporter was dispatched forthwith. News is an elusive thing, and what makes the poor Pressman's task still more difficult is that most people, and perhaps farmers in particular, do not recognise it when it concerns themselves. However, a few direct questions were in the most part successful in eliciting the fact that tha Peninsula community generally were well satisfied with the present state of affairs in their district, and were quite confident of the future.

But, *o start from the commencement, we left Christehurch on a morning that if not exactly fine was a decided improvement on the two wet days previous, ! and as Kaituna was approached the weather was perfect, and, strange to say, | from here onward the signs of recent irain became less and less. Apparently I this district missed the best part of the (rain that fell during last week-end, but the opinion of farmers appears to be (that they have had an ample supply of ! rain for a month or two to come, and ! the majority are anxious to push on with I ploughing, etc. Owing to the high price and scarcity of potatoes in Christehurch, one is apt tj surmise that Canterbury's crop is all lifted, if not eaten, but on a number of farms late diggers are to be seen unearthing the now precious tubers. This lateness is more evident on the right and swampy side of the road after leaving Tai Tapu. | Compared with a few months baek, the hills between Christehurch and Little River show a remarkable change; in fact, old hands opine that they have not looked so well for years. The grass is green, the crops are green, and the ■ sheep, if rather few in number, are in the very pink of condition, and viewing this soft feed it is not hard to understand why farmers are willing to give such prices for sheep, even if they happen to have few or no teeth. As Little River is approached the abundance of feed becomes more pronounced, and more than one herd of fat and forward cattle were passed on the road en route to the city markets. On the right-haad side of the road going out whole paddocks are submerged, in some places feet, deep, with ac overflow from Lake Forsyth. Owing to the rains recently, the lake has filled to an unusual degree, and has had to find an outlet, and thus encroached on paddocks that are at the best of times only a little above the lake. These paddocks are mostly light and shingly, or probably better provision would have been made for keeping out the waters. On the. other side of the road, hills that but a few months ago were brown and practically bare of feed and stock alike, are now clothed in thick grass nearly to the topmost ridges. Sheep can be seen dotted all over these hills, but as yet no new lambs are with them. The ewes are mostly in splendid condition here, and can give their owners nq cause for anxiety as to their chances of properly mothering the lambs that will be appearing shortly. I Little River, low lying as it is, has | received and made the most of a fair j share of autumn and winter rains, [and the county is now in great heart, i Any quantity of rain has fallen jaround Akaroa, and springs that were jdry at Christmas for the first time in the memory of the oldest pioneers, are I now running full. But, nevertheless, the autumn and winter have been remarkably mild, and in several of the gardens ! ripe tomatoes can still be seen, and fruit ; trees, that should, by all the laws of najture, be bare, are budding, a fact that I is giving farmers concern for the next Ifruit crop. The Hill Top gained, one is able to form a still better opinion of the prosperous state of the surrounding 'country. Stretching as far as one can i see are mile upon mile of luxuriant grass- ■ covered hills, the higher tops sometimes i obscured by a mist. Cattle that would j excite the envy of a metropolitan butcher, graze lazily in peace, but surely j their lays are numbered, for Addington <-alls loudlv for more and still more fat beef.

Passing from the Summit Road down ; into Pigeon Bay, perhaps one of the ! most fertile bays of the Peninsula, one 1 is again surrounded with green cocksfoot, a foot deep in places. Jlr E. Hay, I who owns a splendid farm in this bay, in conversation stated that some of the padlocks had been sown down with j cocksfoot, sometimes with a sprinkling I of ryegrass, 50 years ago, and had not been touched since. All the year they Carry 21 sheep to the acre, or the equivalent in cattle, and fatten a large proportion of the lambs, a lirst draft straight off t'ue mothers ami another after weaning. Neither Jlr Hay, nor, in fact, any of the Pigeon Bay settlers, ! grow turnips or rape for fattening, finding it better to sell the surplus as stores, ' and, if feed will allow, keeping the ewe hoggets to grow into two-tooth sheep—- | a profitable practice with ewes at their I present price. The Pigeon Bay hills rise to a height j of fcom 1500 to 1600 feet, and grass, although hardly so good, grows right to ■to top peak, and in country easily accessible to sheep. In years gone by this i was all covered with dense bush to the {water's edge, but this lias changed, and now the only timber suitable for fire- ' wood is to be found on the higher reaches, and to say the hast, is hard to j get at. Horses are useless, and the good j old bullock team once more comes into its own. But even with these sureI footed and slow-moving beasts the work : is extremely hazardous. There are still three teams of bullocks in this bay, I serving to link the farmer of years ago with the modern and calculating man on the land to-day.

Last season was generally admitted as being the driest ever experienced in this district, and dams that have been full for L! 0 years were completely empty. The great point that is necessary in this district for the furtherance of grass is that good rains should fall in February and March, and it was extremely fortunate that a certain amount of rain fell early in these two months, and gave grass time to get away. This gave the stock much-needed food, and allowed the importation of more sheep and cattle to make up for those disposed of during the dry spell. Feed came away so weU w ass possible to

reserve paddocks for winter feed, and later rains put the grass well under way. At present the hills are stocked to their fullest, capacity, and fat sheep and eattle are still being sent into the markets. The dry pinch, while it lasted, was felt badly, liut at present there is ample, food and even a reserve, and, although August may be a bad month, the outlook is exceedingly bright

As is well known, the cocksfoot harvest last season was very poor, but the farmers are confident for the next year, and a substantial crop should be gathered if present appearances count for anything. The Peninsula cocksfoot is renowned throughout New Zealand—in fact, being the main supply —and a poor return from there has a decided effect upon the market. The land and climate are eminently suited for the erop, and all the preparation that is needed is to shut the gate and keep stock off. The soil is not very deep, there being about a foot on the lower slopes, and, of course, less higher up, but there is a splendid subsoil, whieh compensates for a great deal. The average annual temperature for Pigeon Bay is some lOdeg above that of the city, and there lemons ripen readily, and even now spring flowers are making show. Akaroa people are nothing if not progressive, and in Pigeon Bay Mr Hay has a private electrical plant which supplies his house with light. A natural stream on the property has been diverted into a dam at very little expense, and a never-failing supply is obtained. Less fortunate settlers are looking forward to seeing the Lake Coleridge scheme supplying them in a few years' time. Had the war not intervened, the Minis ter would have been approached ere this, but in the meantime all the preliminary arrangements are being settled, so that at the earliest moment the Government can be asked to consider the proposal.