CANTERBURY CROPS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 995, 9 December 1910, Page 6

CANTERBURY CROPS.

WELCOME EAIN. (By Telegraph.—Speoial Correspondent.) Christchurch, December 8. •Welcome rain. has been: falling at intervals for the. past eighteen hours at Christchurch,' some very'heavy- showers being. experienced during the morning. It seems/to have been fairly general throughout the province, though Wie portions have unfortunately so far- missed their share. In ■ and around Christchurch', except for the showers mentioned,, the rain has been very light, but in some "of the country districts . a ' good downpour has rejoiced the farmers' hearts, particularly in the Morven and Ashburton districts. The'rain will do a great deal of good.. The wheat crop, generally speaking, is wonderfully good considering the dry season, and the.outlook is distinctly promising, and the" moisture now being experienced will ensure the heads filling .out. Wheat buyers'are'out of the. market; and there is no speculation, the ■svho'.e position being that no one knows whaj: is thq amount of the grain in the country owing to the way in which last season's. harvest was guessed at. ■ It' is certain that a good.deal more was carried over than . usual, . and if the crop turns out as well as it promises there should be enough wheat, taking the old and new crops together, for the year's requirements, but there will be none for export.

The oat crop will be very poor. In some places it is' past redemption,, and in others it has already been cut and stooked for what it is worth. ■ The rain' has come too late for a large proportion of. this crop, but in som'e parts, especially hear the hills, winter and springsown, oats have made a gbab recovery since the rainfall of the middle of last month. It is questionable, however, whether Canterbury will harvest enough oats for her own requirements, and owing to the demand from the. North Island, and the fact that in the country districts large quantities have been used for feeding stock during the dry weather, the new crop will. come. on to a bare market.'

The barley crop is very irregular, varying from very poor to very good.

Ryegrass will be in short supply, not morely. because of the poor yield, but because many farmers have been unable to shut up their paddocks, on account of scarcity of feed. Reports' from the Peninsula indicate that the. cocksfoot crop will probably be below the.average in' quantity; ' The rain; cannot do the early potatoes . much. good, but there is plenty of time for the main crops to bo benefited. So far-only a very small area has been sown in rape and turnips, and the c.rops that have been put in are .doing badly on all the lighter land. A good deal more moisture is needed to. enable farmers to make provision for their lambs. Pastures are in poor condition, and the. rainfall "has, not yet been nearly sufficient to effect much improvement, though the showers-have freshened up' the hcrbage.'_ Lambs-are coming on' to the market, in many -cases in a very unfinished condition, but prices are wonderfully good, ,The wool offered at to-day's sales showed the effect of the dry season, much of it being very dusty and dirty, and this condition naturally affected' values.