THE HARVEST.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16429, 24 January 1919, Page 3

THE HARVEST.

ashburton county. A hot nor'-west wind blew at Ashburton on Wednesday morning, and there were a couple of sharp showers of rnin. Tho wind chopped round in the afternoon, and for several hours a stiff southerly prevailed. The weather yesterday morning was beautifully fine from sunrise, and for several hours there was every appearance of a perfect harvest day being experienced, but a fierce hot nor'-wester toob command, and all outdoor occupations were the reverse of pleasant. The wind did not stop the reapers and binders, but it greatly interfered with stooKing and stacking, and levelled a lot of the sheaves of wheat and oats, which had been carefully stoobed up during the past week. * A large area of the wheat 011 the plains is now fast ripening off and Becoming ready for the reaper, and some approxnnaiw idea cau now be formed of what the average yield for the whole of the Ashburton district is likely to be. To take it generally, and to be at the same time 011 the perfectly safe side, jt is going to be very considerably above tho average per acre threshed last season. In the W'akanui district there is to be seen a large number of crops oi' wheat which can safely be estimated to yield from 35 to 45 bushels per acre, according to the quality of the land in the particular paddocks, and the work which was put into the land beforo tho seed was sown. A lot of the oat crops have already been reaped and stoobed up, and a good many newly-built stacks are to be seen. Travelling past the properties of Mrs T. Brankin, Mr H. F. Nicoll, and others on what is known as the Wa-kanui-Elgin road, and then away up j the Beach road past the farms of Mrs J. Brown, Miss Chalmers, and others, there are some really magnificent-look-ing crops of both wheat and oats to | be seen, and as good as any which have been grown for a lengthened period of years. Then away back again to Wakanui past the farms of Mr Thomas Taylor, Mr Bonnifant, and a feu' other grain growers, the prospects of good yields of both wheat and oats have rarely looked brighter, in spite of tho patches of blighted heads' to be seen, and the damage tvhich has been caused by the Hessian Sy or some other insect pest which, up to the present, has been unnamed and has puzzled both the farmer and the • scientist.

From the Wakanui school down towards Sea view and across towards Riverside there aro a lot of particularly good crops. Two or three crops of wheat to be seen at present in stook are on the farms of Mr Isaac Thompson and his near neighbour, Mr Crawford. Mr G. Brand has also one nice crop of wheat in stook, though tho yield will not bo so heavy as in tho other two instances. Mr Isaac Thompson has a big paddock of solid straw Tuscan wheat in stook which will thresh out all 45 bushels per acre of as bright and plump a sample of grain as one could wish to seo anywhere. The same paddock was in wheat last year, wheu thero was a good yield, but it was not .so good as the present crop. Tho present crop would have threshed out considerably over 45 bushels per aero but for the damage caused by tho Hessian fly. On entering this particular paddock one gees stooks of wheat which are as noar perfection in ovory way as the heart of a farmer could desire. Thero is not too great a length of ptraw and tho heads of grain aro not so longthy as solid straw Tuscan heads arc in some seasons, but they are woll filled with beautifully bright, plump, grain. "But wait," said Mr Thompson, "till wo get to that strip right across the paddock just on the riss)." Here there was ample evidence of. $e Jiessian fly having been at work. wore. <i liit of the stalks which, had been partly eaten through at the first joint and. not sufficient sap had been left to. develop all the gram m tho head, and the . stalks and heads were lying on .the grpund to the extent of two or. three bushels tq the acre. This particular part of the paddock is fully exposed to the full force of tho nor -west winds, and at first Mr Thompson thought it was the _ wiiid which had caused the stalks and heads to fall on the ground. But he went a lot further than this and made a very close investigation of the crop when it was growing- He only succeeded ini finding one solitary live Hessian fly, but the damage to thousands of stalks was identical with that whore he found the fly, and tho deduction made was that the examination had been made a little late just at the period when this pest does the most damage and only one late live worker was discovered. This is important, as many farmers are estimating their loss at from three up to six bushels per acre, and they do not now really know what lias caused the damage. SHEFFIELD. The crops in- the Sheffield district aro now rapidly ripening, and harvesting will become general in about a fortnight's time. Splendid fields of both wheat and oats aro to he seen along the banks of the Waimakariri from Courtenay up, particularly those of Messrs G. Robertson, Finlay, A. Robertson, McClelland _ Bros., Starkey, Dennis, and on the Pine Grove. Weetwood, and Westacre Estates. Mr Fred Bull has a magnificent crop of Garton oats which should yield 80 bushels to the acre. The rape and turnio crops aro not very good. * A _ great deal of trouble has been- experienced in Setting a good strike of either. Whether this is attributable to poor eeed, the variable <jcason, or the fly pest, is> hard to say, but it means a scarcity of winter feed.