Farming in Canterbury

Te Aroha News, Volume XXXIII, Issue 15706, 6 December 1915, Page 2

Farming in Canterbury

. DROUGHT AND FLOODS The following letter received from a Canterbury farmer by a resident of Manawaru will be of interest to many * South Islanders in this district ;; “ Well everything do\yn here is terrible, no rain, nothing but high winds and everything is dried up. We have only had one good rain since you went away. Last week we had a terrible flood down here. It came all over my bottom prddock, - from one side to the other, I have never seen it like that before, covered it all over with silt. It went all through Clarkille and over at Chaney's it was eight feet deep at Chaney’s corner. No one could get to town for two days. I saw in the paperthat 12 inches of rain fell on the West Coast in one night, so you may guess what sort of a flood it was. Albeit Rice was the greatest loser, he had three paddocks of potatoes washed away, earth and all went. Another lost some fat bullocks and Willie Smith very neany lost his life in trying to save them. All my sheep and lambs were down in the bottom paddock, a lot of them were cut off with the water, so I went down to get them on higher ground, it was up to my knees then. I thought they would be all right, so I came home for dinner, thinking it would rise no higher, so after I had finished dinner. I had a look out to see how things were and to my amazement the paddock was covered. All the crops are very poor, like someone said the other day “ You could catch a rat running through any of them. Up north they are ploughing up all the wheat crops, as they are no goodjgk The wheat up there is only about long as your finger We went up to Rangiora about a week ago, there was fine wheat and oat crops all out in ear through Flaxton. I had about 12 acres of potatoes up looking fine and the frost settled them too, so ■ everything is up side down in this world. There will be dozens of - farmers down here who will never - be able to pay their way this year. I was talking to a lot of our boys, who have returned from the war, at Addington last Wednesday, most of them are crippled for life, but bear up very cheerfully.