WAIMATE THE HARVEST

Timaru Herald, Volume CLI, Issue 22202, 20 February 1942, Page 3

WAIMATE THE HARVEST

Unfavourable Weather Standard Of Grain Affected Until yesterday, the weather in Waimate this week was very bad for harvesting, and the standard of the wheat samples received to date by seed merchants has not been good. The season has been a bad one so far for header harvesters, and farmers with grain waiting for combines have had cause for considerable anxiety. Stooking has practically been completed, thanks to valuable assistance provided by town labour. Grain in the stook has not had an opportunity to mature and stacking and stook threshing opera-, tions have been at a standstill. Since the heavy rain early in the week, there has not been enough drying weather to make sheaves fit for stacking. As far as yields are concerned, there is scarcely a bad wheat crop to be seen in the Waimate district. It is anticipated that many crops will yield 60 to 70 bushels to the acre and on the heavy coast land yields of 100 bushels are expected. Oat crops are good and some exceptional returns can be expected. Oats do not seem to be so uniformly good as wheat, nor does it seem as if barley has fared so well. Grass seed has now been threshed and some crops have obviously been cut on the green side owing to the approach of the main harvest. The weather must have also had an affect, as a large number of samples are not up to the usual standard. Rain has definitely been helpful to growing crops and pastures end phenomenal growth has been made in recent weeks. For such crops more rain would still do good, but a spell of fine weather is now urgently needed to clean up the harvest. NO AFTERNOON MAIL Starting from Monday the northbound mail which closes at the Waimate Post Office at 4.45 p.m. will be discontinued. That mail has been of great use to business people, especially those ending letters to Timaru, and some inconvenience will be caused when the service is discontinued. AMBULANCE UNIT As the result of a decision made at a recent public meeting to form a brigade of the St. John Ambulance in Waimate, first aid classes are now being held to train recruits and also to provide refresher courses for those already in possession of certificates. About 16 men are available to form the brigade. It is hoped to secure rooms in the town for headquarters so that meetings can be held at least twice a month. So far as attendances at sports meetings and other fixtures are concerned, different men will be allocated on each occasion so that the work will not have to be shouldered by a few. In the case of an accident, a qualified man nearest to the scene will be notified. When all the proposals are in operation, the ambulance service provided in Waimate will be equal to that anywhere in the Dominion. PERSONAL Mr and Mrs Ferguson of Waimate, have received advice that their son Gordon, is a prisoner of war in Italy.