ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, 28 August 1919, Page 37

ON THE LAND

£j' : ; ; -^.v.' : MARKET REPORTS. -.. v .\ J ,v t At Burnside last week 150 fat cattle were yarded. Practically all these cattle came in by road, as on account of the flood no trucks of stock" arrived at Burnside on the night before or on the morning of the sale. The few trucks that did get through • arrived on the previous Monday night. This was a medium-sized yarding of fair quality, and met with keen competition at prices which were well up to the previous week's rates at the commencement of the sale and firmed up towards the conclusion. Prime bullocks £23 5s to £2B 12s 6d, medium to good £lB 10s to £22, light and unfinished £ls to £l7 ss, prime heifers £ls 10s to £lB 15s, medium to good £l2 5s to £l4 15s, light and aged £lO 10s to £ll 10s. Fat sheep: 1200 yarded. These were all driven in, with the exception of a few trucks which arrived on the previous Monday night. On account of the flood on the line, the usual Burnside stock train could not run. The yarding was mostly of medium quality, only a few pens of prime heavy sheep being brought forward. Prime quality sheep brought 5s per head above previous week's rates, whilst medium sheep advanced about 2s, and inferior Is to Is 6d. Prices, however, fell away somewhat towards the end. Extra prime wethers 65s to 72s 6d, prime 55s to 625, medium to good 46s 6d to 525, light and unfinished 34s to 38s. Only a few pens of ewes were on offer, and they sold from 30s to 37s 9d. Pigs: A small yarding met with ready sale at prices in advance of previous week's rates.

At the Addington market the yardings of stock were not very large in any department, except in fat sheep and store cattle, the latter showing a considerable increase over sales for some weeks past. Store sheep, especially ewes and ewe hoggets, sold at an advance on late rates. Eat sheep were, of course, not up to the rates of the double market a fortnight ago, but sold at an advance on prices ruling on July 30. The quality of the yarding was, however, very moderate on the whole, a considerable proportion being unfinished. Thei’e was a further advance in the price of fat cattle, the proportion of x-eally prime being small. There was only a limited demand for store cattle, and few sales were made at auction, but some business was done privately in the better classes. Good dairy cows sold well, and there was keen demand for the few vealers penned. Pigs of all classes sold well. Fat sheep; Prime wethers 50s to 60s, medium wethers 38s to 49s 6d, unfinished wethers 31s 3d to 37s 6d, extra prime ewes 535, prime ewes 38s to 455, medium ewes 30s to 37s 6d, unfinished ewes 23s 6d to 295, hoggets 28s. Fat cattle: Extra prime steers to £32 15s, prime steers £22 to £27 2s 6d, ordinary steers £lO 15s to £2l‘los, prime heifers £l4 to £l6 7s 6d, ordinary heifers £9 10s to £l3 10s, extra prime cows £ls to £lB 15s, ordinary cows £8 10s to £l4 10s. Pigs: Baconers £5 5s to £8 15s (equal to lOd to 10|d per lb), porkers £3 15s to £5 (equal to Is per lb), choppers £6 to £ll 17s 6d, medium stores £2 2s to £3, smaller 32s to’ £2, weaners 17s to 275.

IRRIGATION IN NEW ZEALAND. In.the course of a lecture on "Irrigation" delivered recently in Christchurch before the Workers' Educational Association, Mr. P. W. Furkert, assistant en-

gineer-in-chief of ' the Public Works Department, "said that in New" Zealand the only -place where there had been any serious irrigation was ’ Otago. There -the. following Government schemes had been completed so far, as the provision of water; was concerned: —Steward Settlement (irrigable area,. 1700 acres), Otekaike (13,000 acres), Ida Valley)(14,000 acres), Manuherikia (10,000 acres) and a private scheme was being carried: out by the Cromwellj Development Company whereby water would be supplied to 5000 acres in Central Otago. There was an arid area of approximately 2750 square miles, on which the average annual rainfall varied from 12in to 20in per annum. Government officers had reported that something over one-quarter of a million acres badly required irrigation. The areas in which this land was held were large. The average holding was assumed to be 1000 acres, and it was probably much more. This gave 500 families 500,000 acres. Worldwide experience seemed to be that from 40 to 100 acres of good irrigated land was as much as a family could manage and was sufficient to return a fair living. With regard to Canterbury and Marlborough, assuming that the land which could be beneficially irrigated was in the same proportion (in his, opinion it was in a much higher proportion), this would give roughly two million and a-half acres. The area in crop in 1915 in these localities was half a million acres, and if the result of irrigation, taking a cereal basis, was merely to increase the yield by five bushels per acre, this would be a gain of £500,000; but the result would be much greater. Irrigation in New Zealand must have a great future. Not much had yet been done. Important factors in irrigation schemes were: (1) Suitability of land, (2) availability of land, (3) legal processes, (4) suitability of climate, (5) quantity of water required, (6) availability of water, (7) sites for water storage, (8) cost and charges, (9) markets for irrigation produce, (10) suitable settlers for irrigated lands. The use of too much water was strongly to be condemned.