BANKS PENINSULA.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 884, 9 December 1916, Page 11

BANKS PENINSULA.

PROSPECTS FOR COCKSFOOT HARVEST. '< RAIN REQUIRED. i [Written for THE SUN.] ' At no other time of the year does the ■ \ Banks Peninsula look so prosperous as in .j the early summer. Just now everything •lis looking at its best. There is plenty of feed on the hills, anil especially in the gullies, although on some of the more exI posed faces the continued dry weather , and more drying winds have had the effect of browning the grass a little. Rain is very necessary to this country, and a few good, heavy showers would be I welcomed every week during the summer. 'However, the Peninsula is very fortunate, | if compared with the Plain.., for in*parts things are becoming extremely dry. and grass is going off rapidly. Many of the oat crops are changing colour before the heads are properly filled, and many have had to be cut already. The casual observer invariably comI tnents that the paddocks on the Peninj sula are greatly understocked, and it is easy to get this impression, for the cattle J are up to their knees in grass, and the j sheep are almost lost in it. But a closer scrutiny of the paddocks discloses the ef- ! feet that two years of severe drought have I had. The cocksfoot has grown well and j tall, and has spread out, but between there is an almost entire absence of clover, and in its place there is a fine I collection of weeds, such as tares, gooseI grass, etc. COCKSFOOT HARVEST. From all accounts the cocksfoot harvest is not going to be nearly as large as even | the short harvest of last year, when tlie quantity gathered was not up to the average. According to an Akaroa farmer, the average yearly taking of cocksfoot for the last ten years, up to 1014, ha« been something over 80,000 sacks per year, but he estimates that this year it will be a long way below that amount, and that, seeing that the Peninsula i s the chief cocksfoot centre of the Dominion, seed is almost sure to be expensive. Fat cattle are bringing such great prices in the stock markets that grass is deemed more valuable than seed just now. However, cattle are not plentiful by any means, and paddocks have had to be closed up ou this account. Dairying is also monopolising a large part of the Peninsula now, more especially in the Pigeon and Okaiu's Bay side of the hills, j As a last factoT against an average harvest of cocksfoot, there is the question of labour for gathering it in. Many fanners give this as their sole reason for not closing up more paddocks. These considerations do not seem to have weighed so much with fanners on i the Little River side of the hills, fori here there is a fair amount of grass go- j ing to seed. The quality of the seed promises to be good and heavy in itself. : but as a sample it will be hardly up to ' the Banks Peninsula standard, for ther? , will be a lot of rubbish mixed with it,! such as goosegrass. This grass is not un- \ like the cocksfoot, and is very difficult to separate by machinery. DAIRYING. The lucrative business of producing butter and cheese is inducing many farmers who previously confined their efforts to fattening, to now turn their attention in 'the direction of the dual j purpose shorthorn cow, a breed that is steadily gaining favour in this district, rn Okain's Bay, the chief dairying bay, the co-operative cheese factory is working at top speed under the able management of Mr Button. Some of the best cheese made in New Zealand comes from this factory, as is evidenced by the fact that at the recent metropolitan show in Christchurch its cheese took first prize. In a good year! like the present one, over 200 tons of, cheese are exported from the factory, j besides producing a certain amount of' whey butter. Previously the whey from the cheese was fed to pigs, etc., but re- ; •ently an addition was made in the shape of two cream separators, and , these have proved a very profitable in-:; vestment. The whole of the season 's cheese out- . put has already been disposed of at what must be considered very satisfae- • tory prices, being a fraction under 10d i per lb., and consignments are being regularly shipped to Bristol. ', In the Kaituna district the reaper and binder is at work on the rye grass, there being one or two tip-top crops in this district that are ripening off quickly under the last week 's hot weather.' On Mr J. O. Coop's property at Kaituna , a 35 acre paddock of Italian ryegrass | has just been cut and stooked. and it is;, estimated to go 50 or 60 bushels per j acre. Another smaller paddock on the flat is expected to thresh out about 90 |, bushels. These were particularly heavy 1 crops, but were sadly shaken by the re- j cent nor '-west gales. I.

TTIE FRUIT CHOP. The fruit crop in Akaroa shows great promise, and large quantities of cher- J j ries have already been sent into the Christehureh fruit marts. The recent ' frost was not severe enough to seriously damage any of the fruit, and the plum, j ■ peach, and aprieot trees are nil heavily:' loaded. Walnuts, for which Akaroa is H noted, are coming on satisfactorily, ex- „ cept in one or two places where the soil ! : has been very wet all the winter. ' Higher up, in drier places, the crop is good, and on the whole should be an [ average one. A PROGRESSIVE FARMER. •'- A very fine two storied house is ill * - course of construction in Okain's Bay,, i on Mr John Thaeker, sen.'s, farm. Allj the timber that is being used is totara hj from the surrounding hills, and sawn on < Mr Thaeker'a own property, and the bricks have also all been made on the ! farm. The house is a splendidly-! ' built one, designed by Mr Cecil - Woods, architect, of Christehureh, and ' there are 12 rooms in all —five down- ' stairs and seven bedrooms upstairs. There is a commodious billiards-room, ' and the whole house is a model of modern convenience and luxury, with spa- , cious sleeping balconies, etc. The bricks used are not of the ordinary shape, but are narrow, being about 2in ( in thickness, and this gives the building , an appearance out of the usual. The walls are double, being hollow in the ( middle, so as to guard against dampness, and. as a further improvement, . slate lias been placed over the fouuda- \ lion. : L The slates have something of a his 1 torv. for they were brought out to Aka- J roa by Mr Thaeker's father, 50 years ago. The residents of Okain's Hay were / taking subscriptions for the erection of " a church, and Mr Thaeker offered to' 1 ' build the roof, lie later sailed for Aus-1 * Iralia with a cargo of produce, and brought back the slates. It was found / that they had too many for the church, <o other buildings that have long since / lisappeared were roofed with them, but " the slates have been kept, and are as ' •ound as ever. Mr Thaeker\s house has jeen under the carpenters' hands for ibout 12 months now, and it will prob-j tblv be another 12 before it is com- ( deted. :; H.R.W. 'y.