OUR HARVEST PROSPECTS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1799, 17 January 1884, Page 2

OUR HARVEST PROSPECTS.

From the unu-oial severity of the weather m this district during the sptmg, and we might say tho suniuiot ui'mfchs, it was considered th.it the harvest in Waikato this year would be a pior one, and serious fears were enfceifcaiued by faniurs on this head. The spring commenced fairly, but soon broke into miseiably bleak and chenching weather, at tunes bitterly cold and full of deadening lnfliunee to young plants and ciops genvr illy : but, notwithstanding, as the seison advanced, though the weather did not improve, the young ciops continued to assume a mure healthy and promising appearance daily, unlessi on low lying land, for here the seed was completely drovned at the outset without making much of a struggle for existence. It would seem as if last yen's cropping in respact to wheat and oats among Waikato far neis was successful and encouraging, as this year the acreage, particulaily in the Gambiidgo district, is fully 20 per cent, in advance of that of la^t year. A few years ago the soil of Waik.ito wa. looked upon as anything hut suitable for cereal cropping, but a.s tune advanced and the soil became sweeter and bjtter adapt»d tlnoiv>h skilful treatment, and a system of tillage well consideied, it was found that wheat and oats could bj grown with eminent success and pioht wherever attempted with proper c nisideration. Withoit exception, we feel assuied in stating th.it througliou*; the entire distuct of Waikato last li uvest was a very pioh'table o ie, the yijltls being exceptionally laige, and the priu-s realised fairly reasonable. If our cieps aie a failure this year it certainly cannot be because of a lack of moistiue. At the samo time it is not likely th.it tho viold w ill be so laigj as it was Ust yeai, the stiaw baing nfcher out of piopn'tion. It lias been said that though the oats will enjoy the extra, sitiuation, the wheat, upOn which the faimera mainly depend for a piofitable return, would have flourished better in a wanner and loss l.iiny sea-jon. Be this as it may, the wheat is much m>ie encouraging than was expected. We do not hear the farmers guunble, and this must be taken as a sine sign of satisfaction. On the whole the average teniperatme this season, particulaily during the eaily part of it, has been exceptionally low, but the pleasant weathoi expetienced during the p ist few dav.s (if we except Tuesday aod yestei day's lain) seems to have impaited a fiesh vigour to the ceieals, and, though the stiaw is very high in place->, we have not as yet seen a piostrated crop. Possibly the recent heavy lain may have worked a change in this lespect. Anyhow, we need not exult before wo mo out of the wood, as tliPie aie yet many risks- to bo encounteied before the wheat and oats aie threshed out and bagged In the Cambridge, Pukerimu, and Tamaheie di-tiicts the ciops all ovei ue peifectiou. Kveiyfaun has its ciops, whether small or Luge, but generally speaking tho acieage of wheat may be said to be fully 50 per cent laiger than that of oats. This is doubtless due to the fact that wheat is a moie saleable aiticle, and commands a much bettei pi ice. A traveller passing through the above distiicts, not altogethei unacquainted with them in former days, cannot but be stiuck with the pioj;iess they ha\e made — the progiessive tiansformation they have undergone. Up to within a very lecent period the settlei-* stuck religiously t) pastoial pui suits, but finding that then land was well adopted to ceieai cropping if only piopeily tieated, and that this bianch of husbandly paid them bbtter, they s'oin to have divided their attention pietty fai ly between the pastoral and the agricultural The warm weather lately experienced seems to have lipened the wheat in places veiy considerably, but the dampness is as yet too prevalent to permit of the eaily ripening of oats, though in places patches aie now beaig put under the machine. Possibly one of the finest ciops of oats in the district is that which is now being cut by Mi Jno. Kunciman at Broadmeadows. The straw alone is expected to reap about fotn tons to the acie. As an instance of the pioh table nt'ss of a good cr >p of oaten stiaw, we might instance the fact that Mr Kuncunau has already disposed of twenty tons of it at the handsome price of £5 a ton. Doubtless this pneo will soon fall, as the supply mci eases, Mi Runciman having had the advantage of an eaily crop. Mr Jas. Taylor considers his oiop this year altogether unparalleled, and ceitamly its appeal ance wan ants the belief. Along the Hamilton-Canibudge load many nice pieces of giowthinay be w itness^d, theiebeinp;comparatively few executions to the mle of excellence. Mr J. Arnold's wheat crop of about 12 acres on the (iywnneland propei ty seems to have suffered much at the hands (or at least the bills) of the sparrows. It is very smpiising that our settlers have not eie now taken some concerted action in this matter. In the Pukeiimu district the haivest piospects aie alike encouiagmg. Excellent ciops meet the e\e at every turn, and those of Messis Scott Bros., Mess .s Kisher Bios., Messrs Reynolds, Howie, (4ane, Caley and others aie particulaily woi thy of mention. On the (Joiton estate a small but handsome ciop may be seen ; but it is almost universally gi anted that a paddock of about fifty acies of oats on the Paoio.v Estate is unexcelled in the distuct Theic are about 700 acres of wheat <it M.itamata lepoited to be in excellent condition. It may be worthy of notice that in .some places a soit of blight has made its appearance m c uly sown wheat. This consists of a decaying in the root, before the grain gets formed in the head, or after the bloom disappeais. On the farm of Mr Picketing at Kautapu, may bo seen an excellent crop of b'irlev, about 20 acres. It is sui prising, considering the value of a good barley crop, th.it it is not more extensively giown m Waikato. Oeitainly the land must be of more than average quality, and must have gone thiongh a course of cropping and been systematically fai medforyeaisbefoiebailey giowmg can be attempted. It has always a good inaiket, brings a good price, and will doubtless, bo grown ivith much profit in Waikato in the course of a few yeais. Mr Jas. Fonest has giown a \ ery nice little : plot of linsoed. The stocks aie about 4ft I high, and the crop has a very heavy and piomiMng appearance. This is another cereal which \\ c expect to find more extenshcly grown in Waikato. On dry and highlying country the potato crop this year may be baid to be very encouraging, and in places should average about seven or eight tons to the acre. On low-lying ground, where the water has been allowed to lie, the potatoes have had no chance ; indeed, have been completely washed out. The turnips are likewise very promising. A gentleman speaking of the sparrow nuisance gives as his experience, that there is much more put do\vn to the depredations of this feathered blight than it is really guilty of. He says he has often known instances in which the failure of the turnip crop was attributed o sparrows, whereas it was simply the fault of the machine with which the seed was sown, the pipes having deposited it too deep in the soil. As a proof of this he quotes the fact that out of 24 acres sown by the machine its the usual working order, next to nothing has bpen the icsult, whereas, on altering the depositing pipes so as to lay the seed along the surface, over the manure, and then harrow it in with a bush harrow, six acies treated in this way do not present a single blank. The farmers have evidently, in most cases, taken advantage of the fine weather to get their hay in, most of the crop having now been saved. There is very little fear, therefore, of much damage being experienced in this particular department of our harvest. The grass and clover this season, throughout the entire district, looks unusually healthy and thick. As to fruit, with the exception of the peach, which has almost everywhere disappeared, the cr'.p may be said to be faiily good throughout.

The Pope has approved the proposal to erect a memorial church to Daniel O'Connell at Cahirceven, County Kerry. The coiner-stone will be laid by Rev. Dr. Croke, Archbishop of Cashel. A meeting of Liberal workmen convened at Torquay on December iOth to sympathise with O'Donell ; but when it came to getting up a petition to the Home Secretary in his behalf, the motion was defeated by a large majority. The New York Commissioners have found it necessary to purify the police department of that city. Early in December an officer \*as placed on trial for brutal and provoked murder, one was dismissed for drunkenness, one resigned to escape dismissal, and oue was dismissed for obtaining money under false pretences. Recently five were dismissed, and two more were permitted, to resign,