GROWING CONCERN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 25, 20 November 1945, Page 5

GROWING CONCERN

THE CONTINUED DRY SPELL

EFFECT ON PRODUCTION

The last, rain of any consequence in the Eastern Bay of Plenty fell on Ocober 2(5 —over three weeks ago. The fall on that occasion was not a heavy one but was seasonal enough to maintain the normal development of pastures and to give the impression that the spring production figures Avould be more than maintained, and that prospects J'or 1945 were exceptionally good.

The unfortunate aspect of the dry spell is that it has been accompanied by a dry southerly wind, which parched the uplands and produced on most - pastures, the mid-summer rankness -which is not calculated •> to give the expanding butterfal so usual about this time of the year. On the 'Rangitaiki Plains, the low lying, and consolidated areas • are still weathering well but even round Edgecumbe, Olakiri and Thornton, many farmers have been compelled. to throw open their hay paildocks to stock in order to maintain • the Hush of supply. Unless the ■weather breaks shortly there should be a definite shortage of hay next winter for this reason. The high lying country, and that which 1 has', the sandy basis at Onepu and the northern parts of Tarawera, are acutely affected. Already the pastures in these areas carry the burnt brown appearance of a particularly dry mid-summer. Farmers are minded of the crastic three months •dry spell which meant such heavy seven years when the whole of the area above mentioned had to be deserted, and stock removed to more favoured districts •9 where pastures remained in fair Iheart. at the. present time, "are not promising and the low'.mist which usually descends in the evening } coupled with the quickly dispersing fog of the early mornings is not considered a propitious omen. Rain will lie an urgent necessity on the Rangitaiki Plains the next week, if anything like the normal output of butterfat is to be .reached. jln the town kitchen gardeners have also found the dry spell considerably trying. Fruit has set well, but there is little growth in the usual crops which at this time of the year are' remarkable for their rapid movement. Tomatoes are more or less at a standstill and vege.tables sown since the last rain have registered little growth. To .the town's water supply remains .sound, but there is every prospect of a tightening up should, the dry weather continue. Apiarists report that the season is one of the best on record from the honey making point of view. There lias been a super abundance of blossom and no wet spell to hin.der the honey gathering by the bees.