WEATHER RECORDS: DECEMBER AND CALENDAR YEAR, 1930.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 42, Issue 1, 20 January 1931, Page 68

WEATHER RECORDS: DECEMBER AND CALENDAR YEAR, 1930.

Dominion Meteorological Office.

GENERAL NOTES FOR DECEMBER

Once again the Dominion as a whole experienced a cold month, the December mean temperature at many of the climatological stations being the lowest since observations were commenced. Except for the brief stormy period from the 15th to the 17th the month was not a particularly unsettled one, but from its commencement until the 18th cloudy skies were much in evidence. After the 19th warmer weather set in, and Christmas week was the warmest period experienced so far this summer, almost . perfect summer weather continuing from then to the close of the month.

Owing to the coldness and low rainfall growth of vegetation was again backward and small fruits were slow in ripening. In the hill country of the North Island east coast district, especially, grass on which stock was grazing made little headway. On the other hand, the warm, dry spell towards the close of . the month enabled farmers to harvest their hay crops under favourable conditions. Stock kept in good condition generally.

Rainfall was below the average over the whole of the Dominion, except at a few places in the extreme south of the South Island. The deficit was considerable in nearly all districts, but greatest in the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, and Hawke’s Bay districts of the North Island, and the Nelson and Westland districts of the South. At Tauranga, the total month’s fall was only 15 points, against the December average of 375 points.

. Weather and Pressure Systems.— During the month no depressions of marked intensity crossed the Dominion, and nowhere did the barometer fall below 29-50 in. Pressure was therefore nearly everywhere above the December average.

From Ah e 1st to the 13th an anticyclone remained practically stationary over the Tasman Sea, while, there was a persistent tendency for low pressure to the east of New Zealand. As a consequence the general trend of wind was from the south, although, occasionally northerlies prevailed, more especially through Cook Strait. The weather during this period was mainly fair though cloudy, and temperatures remained unseasonably cool.

On the night of the 12th a small depression crossed the Dominion, and by the morning of the 13th a slight secondary centre had developed off the west coast of the South Island. The . latter passed rapidly in the vicinity of Cook Strait, and the fresh southerly winds- in its rear were accompanied by light rain in most districts. At Wellington, however, a heavy fall of 175 points occurred, which was more than half the total recorded for the whole month.

On the 15th another depression moved on to the Dominion, and after passing eastward during the night it became very intense. . As a result a severe southerly storm set in, which continued until the 17th. The night of the 15th was a most unpleasant one, a violent southerly gale blowing at many places. The worst effects of the storm were felt in the east coast districts, and in Canterbury particularly. Rain fell in nearly all districts, with some scattered heavy falls, though precipitation was chiefly of a showery nature. Hail showers were also experienced at places, and some of the mountains received a heavy coating of snow. On the Tararuas the snow came lower down than at any time since August. The damage, however, was not considerable. Some losses of newlyshorn sheep occurred, and fruit crops suffered somewhat in the eastern districts.

After the disappearance eastwards of this, storm area on the 18th the weather became generally more settled, and, except for a few isolated light showers on the 21st, 24th, 28th, and 29th, associated with slight low-pressure waves passing to the south of the Dominion, the weather continued fine until the end of the month.

FARM MACHINERY AND ENGINES.

Following is a summary of farm machinery and engines employed on rural holdings (outside borough boundaries) in New Zealand for the past five years

-Census and Statistics Office.

STATISTICS OF IRRIGATED LANDS IN NEW ZEALAND.

Of the total area of irrigated lands for the year 1929-30, tabulated below,. 64,791 acres are situated in the Otago Land District (Central region). The remainder consists of 50 acres of pasture in Hawke’s Bay, and 1 acre of orchard and 4 acres of green fodder and root crops in the Auckland District.

—Census and, Statistics Office.

Phosphate Transport. — new steamer, of 6,500 tons capacity, is being built at Belfast for the British Phosphate' Commission, and is expected to be completed by the end of March next. She will be fitted with special appliances for laying or lifting the deep-sea moorings at Nauru and Ocean Islands. > '

—Edward Kidson, Director, of Meteorological Services, Wellington, 7 /i/31.

Note.- In cases where farmers top-dressed the same areas with two or more of the fertilizers quoted, either separately or as a mixture, duplicated of such areas under the appropriate fertilizer headings may have resultd. Consequently the actual total area top-dressed is somewhat less thanthe sum of the areas appearing under the individual fertilizer headings. -Census and Statistics Office

No. Station. December, 1930. Average December Rainfall. Calendar Year. Total Fall. Number of Wet Days. Maximum Fall. Rainfall in 1930. Average Rainfall. North Island. Inches. Inches. Inches. Inches. Inches. I Kaitaia . . 0-71 5 0'30 2-63 42-25 58-07 2 Russell . . 6-19 3 0-07 2-6i 41-15 51-52 3 Whangarei 0-29 6 0-21 3-07 47'44 62-27 4 Auckland o-8i 12 0-29 2-93 46-80 44-85 5 Hamilton Hamilton . . 142 142 6 6 0-56 O-56 3'69 ' 3'69 . 38-79 38-79 5°-88 50-88 6 Rotorua . . . . 0-58 4 0’3° 3-89 46-43 55-72 7 Kawhia . . 1’79 12 0-30 3’43 47-06 54-33 8 New .Plymouth 1*20 7 041 4-38 53-92 60-56 9 Riversdale, Inglewood 2-36 9 o-88 7-69 83-19 105-01 IO Whangamomona . . i-73 5 0-62 5-96 59-88 78-86 i.i Eltham . . 1-42 7 . 0-65 4-08 45-20 56-45 12 Tairua . . . . 0-64 2 040 4-60 49-31 66-78 J 3 Tauranga 0-15 5 0-06 3’75 50-73 53-51 14 Maraehako Station 1-30 6 0-90 • 2-81 57-57 53-6i 15 Gisborne o-47 6 0-20 2-37 30-84 45-85 .16 Taupo . . 0-65 8 o-34 3-28 29-17 45-n 17 Napier . . .. 0-41 7 0-16 2-3.5 . 26-30 35'00 .18 Hastings . 0-27 6 0-17 2-08 25-70 33-09 19 Taihape . . 0-82 7 0-22 3-38 34'44 37'77 20 Masterton 2-14 6 0-77 2-94 35’37 38-97 .21 Patea i-39 10 o-53 3’66 37-83 45-17 22 Wanganui 0-89 7 0-40 2-72 29-64 36-44 23 Foxton . . 0-71 5 042 2-79 25-85 33-28 24 Wellington (Karori) 2-99 9 1-65 3-16 42-09 46-04 ' South Island. 25 Westport .. 4-28 10 i-34 8'45 68-24 96-80 26 mouth ■ 2-87 11 0-84 8-72 73-13 101-17 27 Hokitika .. 3’05 12 i’i5 10-63 80-57 116-35 28 Ross . . .. ■3-82 11 1-20 12-34 98-10 I37-98 29 Arthur’s Pass . 2-52 7 i-35 15-23 111-56. 164-07 30 Okuru .. 4'94 7 n-43 108-18 147-79 3i Bainham . 2-78 9 0-98 ■ 8-24 91-03 140-18 32 Nelson 0-67 9 0-28 2-56 25-08 37’94 33 Spring Creek 0-62 3 049 2-19 21-42 • 3i-i9 34 Tophouse . . I-80 7 0-85 5’97 42-74 62-60 35 Hamner Springs 3’°3 10 0-89 3-63 32-70 41-83 36 Highfield, Waiau ■ . . ■ i-86 9 0-50 2-72 32-41 33’93 37 Gore Bav 1-98 5 0-96 2-85 29-38 31-64 38 Christchurch i-79 9 0-85 2-19 23-05 25-21 39 Timaru . . . . 0-96 9 0-36 2-51 22-06 22-78 40 Lambrook Station. . o-86 5 0-56 0-56 2-65 2-65 2O-83 2O-83 25-21 25-21 .41 Benmore Station . . 0-69 5 0-32 . 2-30 I5-6I 25-15 42 Oamaru . . i-5i 14 0-30 2-26 18-12 22-l8 43 Queenstown . . I.-21 8 o-43 2-57 22-67 3O-69 44 Clyde 0'91 8 0-31 i-79 11-14 -I5-32 45 Dunedin . . 2-91 4 o-86 3’57 33’66 37-20 46 Wendon . . . . 2-07 12 0-32 2-72 25-77 30-23 47 Gore 2-13 15 o-57 3’29 32-09 34-34 48 Invercargill ' 2.63 19 0-50 4-i5 41-86 45’95 49 Puysegur Point 8-04 22 3-07 7-01 86-12 86-n 50 Half-moon Bay 5’68 14 2-59 5-02 54-05 59-56

RAINFALL FOR DECEMBER AND CALENDAR YEAR, 1930, AT REPRESENTATIVE STATIONS.

District. . Actual Area Top-dressed. Superphosphate. Slag. Artificial Fertilizers. Lime. Area. Quantity applied. Area. Quantity applied. Area. Quantity applied. Area. Quantity applied. Acres. Acres. ; Cwt.' Acres. Cwt. Acres. Cwt. Acres. . Cwt. Auckland 406, 178 493,862 152 440,864 103,030 284,904 26,637 105,330 Auckland . 948043 646 743 841 140,348 324,708 187,147 432,574 134,297 411,045 Gisborne ... 49.49 137 40, 85,473 • 3,455 6, 7,419 15,681 050 6,550 Bay 124,540 112,399 237,311 6,734 15,917 6,023 12,315 7,827 35,510 Taranaki 745 147,194 314,543 224,998 544,907 29,170 61,444 17,409 47,097 Wellington 329,053 232,112 516,024 71, 173,122 32,352 70.838 26,073 199,753 Nelson 24,563 672 41,177 859 3, 9,476 272 1, 2,275 3 669 , Marlborough .■ • . 23,062 20,236 28,835 887 ,214 880 , 928 816 6,018 Westland 6,655 .4,613 10,145 45! 867 850 4,163 408 10,974 Canterbury 122,961 102442 .156,970 2,440 3,967 7 1 34-39! 140 Otago . . 700 3 745 7,133 16,793 12090 650 21,508 215,024 Southland . 175,811 956. 185,425 37,359 79.805 51,874 89,642 83,184 629 761 , Totals, 1929-30 2,650,748 1,761,958 4,077,351 494 '622 619, 441,205 • 1,008,555 359,663 1,879,871 Totals, . 2,385,182 1,603,883 3,845,087 619,935 1,589,053 307,712 723,813 . 223,373 1,357,406

STATISTICS OF PASTURE TOP-DRESSING ON FARMS, SEASON 1929-30.

Class of Machinery, &c. 1926. . 19271928. 1929. 1930. Milking-plants . . 16,391 17090 18,049 18,756 20,415 Cream-separators 45,765 45,246 45, 2 46 45.78i 48,302 Shearing-machines — Plants ... 5,949 6,305 6,518 6 ,887 7,394 Stands . . .. 18,797 19269 19,677 20,329 21,482 Wool-presses . . 8,641 8,832 9,504 9,235 . 9,906 Agricultural tractors . . 2,025 2,588 2,883 3,377 3,891 Reapers-and-binders . . . . 15,574 15,287 15,432 15,172 15,484 Threshing-machines , . . . 361 364 406 406 418 Chaffcutters 2,865 2,562 2 ,326 2,297 2,206 Water-wheels or motors 817 784 932 824 923 Electric motors 6,356 8,436 10,806 13,377 16,456 Steam-engines 473 435 5°5 397 398 Internal-combustion engines 19,584 18,885 . 18,321 18,489 19,169

Utilization of Irrigated Lands. Area irrigated.' Year 1928-29. Year 1929-30. Acres. Acres. Orchards .. .. .... . . 2,032 ' 1,987 Green fodder and root crops . . . . 2,985 1,712 Pasture .. .. .'. . . 53/i°4 58,214 Lucerne . . . . .. . . . . ,061 2,436 Oats ... . . . . . ; 3 6 201 Wheat .. . . . . . . . . 106 102 Barley . . . . . . . . 159 Market gardens . . . . 19 36 - Hay ' 1.4 . 158 Totals .. . . 59,845 64,846