WHEAT SOWING.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20363, 21 July 1934, Page 11

WHEAT SOWING.

In Backward State in South Canterbury. The sowing of wheat in South Canterbury has been very backward owing to the unfavourable weather that has prevailed. This fact was mentioned this morning by Mr R. M’Gillivray, Fields Superintendent of the Department of Agriculture at Christchurch, after a visit to South Canterbry. “In many cases farmers who proposed sowing winter wheat have not yet managed to plough their land owing to the wetness of the soil,” said Mr M’Gillivray. “On the drier soils some wheat has been sown but, generally speaking, it can be said that the sowing is extremely backward. In some districts practically no sowing has been done. Farmers are not anxious to sow at the present time owing to the coldness of the soil, but, no doubt, a considerable number of them will endeavour to get some wheat in during Augusjt.”

Asked what proportion of the crop had been sown, Mr M’Gillivray said it was impossible to say, but two prominent farmers had said that less than one-third of the usual sowing had been made. They considered, further, that in two or three of the damper districts practically no sowing at all had taken place. Mr M’Gillivray added that there was a large quantity of last year’s wheat still in hand in South Canterbury. In some cases the wheat had been threshed, but in quite a number of cases it was still in stack. He thought it advisable for those farmers who had wheat in stack to let it remain there until the spring, when it would probably be in quite good milling condition. Quite a fot of farmers in South Canterbury were taking exception to the bushel weight of tvheat being fixed at 611 b, but that was a matter for the Wheat Purchase Board to attend to.