OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 20

OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Extraordinary weather conditions have prevailed in Canterbury during the past J two weeks. Rain has fallen at intervals, frosts have been registered up to 13 degrees; yet, notwithstanding this, we have had, interspersed with the conditions mentioned, bright spring days and fairly heavy north-west winds, while during the middle of last week the ranges were 'whitened to thsir baso with a thin coating of snow. On Saturday (August 14) an old-fashioned nor' wester sprang up, and prevailed throughout the night and on Sunday, and as a result of this the snow on the hills, or at least on those to be seen on the open plains, has again almost entirely disappeared. Despite the variable character of the weather experienced, it has been, altogether, favourable to agriculture, and the cultivation of the soil and the subsequent sowing of cereals have been carried out, so far, under the very best possible conditions. Sufficient frosts occurred to sweeten the upturned soil, destroy insect pests, and to render the ground easily worked, and, as a consequenoe, the seed has been sown in a finely prepared bed, which should ensure for it a deep root and a rapid, strong growth. This is exactly what has occurred with regard to the early sown winter wheat, which has stooked out in a remarkable manner, and in many instances growth has been so strongly developed that a stroke .with -light tin© harrows will have to be carried out to reduce the thickness of the plants. The weather having been so favourable to the carrying out of such work as ploughing, harrowing, and sowing during the past fortnight, the area of land unsown with spring cereals has now been reduced to a comparatively small acreage, and farmers have already commenced to prepare somewhat smaller blocks of lands for the reception of root crops. Mainly as a result of the failure, during the past three seasons, of the bulk of the turnip and rape crops, and the slump in I the stock markets, the acreage to be sown , in root crops this yeai will be infinitely small as compared with former years. Although the majority of farmers in the province are somewhat pessimistic regard- , ing the future of the wool and stock mar- . kets and the frozen meat export trade, there are others who hold hopeful views and are confident that, provided the frozen meat trade undergoes a thorough system of j reform,' both as regards the quality of the meat exported and the manner in which it is retailed at Home, prices will | advance and find a level that will enable farmers to profitably engage in sheei> breeding in the future. Speaking on this question, a gentleman, who is thoroughly versed in matters pertaining to the frozen meat trade in the. .Homeland, informed me that during the past few j-ears the farmers in New Zealand and the freezing companies were greatly to blame in re- ] 6pect of the slump in the market, inasmuch as little or no attention had been diverted ■ to the quality of th< meat exported, and consumers' demands regarding the weight j and condition of the mutton and lamb had been repeatedly allowed to pass unnoticed, and in consequence of this, consumers in the Homeland had naturally bocome so indignant at " the selflshntss of j the colonial exporters" that tli-ey now declined to purchase the New Zealand product. The frozen meat export" industry having been one of the chief contributing causes of the success of New Zealand farmers, surely the demands of the consumers are worthy of the greatest consideration, j and if the farmers desire to conserve the ; trade and make it secure for all time, it ( necessarily follows that stricter attention > will have to be taken in regard to the I quality and class of lamb that they propose breeding in the future. Mr Stringer, the manager of the Auckland Freezing Company, writes on the question of the meat export trade as fol- ( lows : — j " Three growers come to us, say about ■ freezing their lambs. Put it at a thousand . each. We freeze them, and put on our brand. Then each of these three men consigns his lambs perhaps to a different agent. The meat gets Heme and one agent goes along to a -buyer and offers him the consignment at, 6ay, for argument's 6ake. 5d a lb. ' Oh,' replies the buyer, ' I had so and so along with the same brand at 4^d. I'll close with you at 42d.' He buys, and presently along comes agent No 3 and the bujers play off No. 2 on him, and wind up by getting his meat at 4id." Very little dhtomge has taken place in the abode market during the past two weeks, and prices are much the same. J iP prime condition, haye been fell-

Ing freely, 'but export "buyeis have not shown any gireat anxiety to speculate in hoggets. The yaa-dings at the various slock sale centres of late have been comparatively email, and, if anything, both the deimand and prices for store sheep have hardened. As a result of the shortage of finisliing-off feed, farmers have a larger number of hoggets on hand tian usual, and with the slightly-improved value <:f wool those who are holding for shearing should benefit considerably. Mildh cows and spa-imgers are selling remarkably well, but the inquiry for store cattle is limited. / Notwithstanding the fact tihat the greater part of the farm work ie completed, there is a manifest improvement in tbe- prices of draught horses, and of late young animals of approved breeding have been changing hands at values that are highly remunerative to vendors and breeders. Lambing is general in the districts- near the sea coast, and farmers report that, so far, fhe percentages are very satisfactory There has been a fine growth of grass during the past week, and taking this fact into consideration, there are indications At the present time that the lamibing ssaeon will prove successful Ewes are "in good breeding condition, and it is stated that an unusually large number of twins are imiakin,g thieir'apipsarance in the flocks. Of kite flier© has been a noticeable improvement in the land market, and a number of farms comprised of wheat-growing land have changed hands at better values than have olbbained for at least 12 months. Owing to the relief works instituted by local bodies, the une-moloyed difficulty is not so acute as it has been, but there are still c. comparatively large number oi men out of employment, and until the shearing season comes in inhere is litfcl© prospect of the surplus labour being absorbed. The outstanding feature in regard to the unemployed difficulty is that the greater number of men out of work aife colonials, and it is said that this "can be accounted for bj the fact that the immigrants' from the Homeland are accepting lower wages than those generally expected by competent farm workers