SOUTH CANTERBURY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14885, 27 January 1914, Page 10

SOUTH CANTERBURY.

A South Canterbury correspondent writes:—• Of all country doings, work in the corn fields now is chiefly interesting; for. in spite of sudden rains to lay down the crops, and north-west gales to strip them when they got up again, the poor, much-abused * weather has caused serious harm in very few cases, and. given ordinary luck, we have tlio soothing prospect of a successful harvest right .ah«ad. This hoj>eful comment at tho moment would hold good on almost any farm between the Rangitata and Opihi, and back inland to Peel Forest, and southwards again to the Hanging Rock. A motor journey from Rangitata-on-sca to Orari showid crop after crop in prosperous condition, and wheat fields oven more satisfactory than the rest,- though up to date— Sunday—but littlo cutting has been accomplished, and only occasional oat crops,aro in stook. Higher up river, on the lighter land, the outlook is not quite so good, for a number of tbe crops are thin, and in certain of the paddocks traces of smut are or.lv ton plain. Across the Rangitata bridge, and left-handed up to May field, the oatficlds promise an abundant yield, of which great flocks of sparrows are busily taking tithe, but here again "it's an ill wind," etc.. and I gathered that the promise of sixpence an hour and the use of an old gun and cartridge** made a most pleasing holiday task for a bird-minding boy. That "father gave half-a-crcwn for this gun. and ouite a good one with two barrels.' 1 did not appear to lessen the bli<ss uf the moment in the slightest df.q;re<?. and I hope for the best still, though the sale price of thirty pence for. a single barrelled gun and "one ditto with two barrels," may sound nn c like a nice cheap estimate for the removal of a few fingers than anything else. In the district between Orari aid

"Winchester and thc set, the prospect is almost unbrokeuly good, "level fieL* of whispering corn*" with hero and thero a reaping machine at work, am: in its wake a paddock dotted thickly with yard-high stooks. Said the farmer—"This" is the best harvest I have had for years." and the usual strings of doubts and exceptions were wholly lacking, so 1 wrote the statement down at a rato of knots *. adding a footnote for once, "Farmer B. truly, really -satisfied, wonders will never cease." On my own, I cau give a word of evidence in the same direction, for the crops at Riversiea have interested mc especially during the last dozen years, and it would be hard to find a season in which they looked better than they do to-day. Away to tho south of Riversiea I saw tho first stock that I have noticed during the present season, and more wero building as fast as a full supply of horses and a short supply of hands could contrive. Iv an oat paddock near by, 1 noticed a rather curious fact, evidently a quantity of wild barley had become mixed among the seed, ancl while a largo half of the barley suffered very badly from smut, on the oats there was'no visible sign of the disease. From tho Hanging Rock to Hilton, and then right-handed along the course of the Kakahu, the crops look good and better, and for my sins 1 tried a short cut through a field of oats which in the middle grew far above mv head. •Vnything thicker, or hotter, or more boa'-U.lv stuffy than that oat field m the midday sun.shine I have rarely found, and the owner says "it will n.o about ecventv-five bushels to tne acre, and I hope it will go eighty, for ho never grumbled at mv most wicked attempt at short-cutting; but perhaps ho saw on mv face tho determination . nevei -.vain!" Besides, wheat, and oats, and suchlike, there is apparently a remarkable crop of grey ducks along the Kakahu. One landowner told mc, "1 have let my shooting next year tor seven pounds." and when 1 replied rather too rashly. ''What with one thing and another, and all these siliy game laws, you can't do anything of 'the kind,'' lie made the quickest kind of haste to assure mc that he owned the land, and could, and would, etc.; so I swiftly presented him with a brace of trout." in case he might feel disposed to do likewise with his fishing. They say they can do all this along the Kakahu, and if one writes to the secretary of an Acclimatisation Society ho answers, "Really I am not quite sure." I have his letter—and it would be so comfortable and reassuring to know exactly how you stood. Who knows? I have a shilling! Inland along Pleasant Valley thero aro good crops, and fair crops, and seme few that were stunted by tho sunny weeks in spring. Directly on the upper course of the Hao Te Moana river such are the rulo rather than the exception, but further south along the foot bills matters improve as they go, and "a good harvest" is the general answer to any question on that subject. Northwards by Woodbury tho crops are generally good, but by way of that exception there is a wheat field suffering from some strange disease. Apparently the ovil is already at tho roots, which, of course, -will save much trouble in getting at tho rooi of the evil, but in the distressing result tho wheat stalks shrivel through their ?-^J ro , I , en S tl '* and the heads contain little bleached grains like "seconds" rice. Elsewhore is an oat field very badly infested with caterpillars, but the sea swallows also havo ascertained this fact, and all day long they hover and swoop above the field. Each swoop means death to a caterpillar, and so the sea swallows are proving their worth. or * x c ,l cst > shea **-ng is now over except at tho stations far away back '«.„!, We i t} iat it has finished six weeks later than usual, and the ewe shearing is nearly clue. Root crops.werS" + ened y the do **'npour on Thursday night, and are making excellent nro- & + there* re some tu££ fields that are yet unsown, and the owners are beginning to say "shall we ful ai A?b° t? " LahoUr ]i not P*»E tutand I have seen a man cutting his oat crop and stopping after half a trulj heartbreaking business this, and the crop is.dead ripe, and many acres are yet upright. Feed is growing tt condLn G r a 'l den ? S Seif-UJt condition Likewise there is an excel-;-n S bD siTei s e b s|£fS" -&&*_s&*%