OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 20

OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET

(Fa.au Oob Own CosßtsYOKßnrr.) ' — The Weather and Crops. — When, unseasonable and spring-like weather prevailed during 1 the greater part of July settlers of long standing in the province, who ar.e thus fully conversant with the vagaries of the weajiher conditions, assumed a • certain amount "of confidence ir predicting a bad; epollr" during- ;Aiig^iefej^acd at*,a"iimg 1 wher it was most undesirable in view oT the lamtiaV eeasoa."." s- Curing the' first two ] weeks of . August fairly good weat&jer pre- r vailed, "but in the /s&«s-' weefc. j#«v experij enced a very material change. A cold ( south-westerly blizzard sprang up, accompanied by ram, sleet, and snow. For three 1 days snow felL heavily on the hill -country^ ! andr intermittently,- it extended to -the-flat- . country within eight miles of the- sea coast. . Fortunately, however, as a result of the subsequent mild north-west winds that occurred | the snow did not remain for any great i length of time on the ground, either on. the ranges and fiat country, co that «toek did not suffer any considerable? hardship. During the height of the blizzard there was an unusual number of deaths of lambs among' , flocks that were lambing near the sea j coast, but instances of s high mortality are ' not by any means numerous. The weather ' during last week was fairly mild, and was favourable to all agricultural and pastoral conditions. Lambing has been at its height generally over the whole of the- flat coun- ,' try, and thert is evidence on all hands of splendid all-round returns. Id driving \ through several districts last week, how- * ever, I. noticed a good number of dead carcases of ewes, and on making inquiries I ascertained that in cases where death had occurred the ewes were in & too-fat condition and were to give birth to twin lambs. Attendance at the skin sales also reveals the fact of an excessive death-rate among the ewes. j There is now a plentiful supply of >re&h i feed, and in consequence of this and the first-class manner in which the breeding ewes have been wintered — there being no pinch for feed at any time — lambs are thriving in a most remarkable manner. There are only . isolated instances N where docking has bean carried out, so that one cannot accurately estimate the percentages ; but, judging by the large number of twins j that have been born, the returns will be higher than was the case last year, should nothing untoward- occur till -the laotbing season has been completed. , From conversations I have had with farmers and what I have gained by my own observations the pestilential grass grubs are beginning to work" indutriously among the "early-sown crops, and more. particularly in the medium lands. In some cases the damage already done has been so great that resowing with spring crops has had to be resorted to. Taken as a Wihole tflie crops are looking particularly well, and both wheat and oats have grown so luxuriantly that farmers in many of the lower lying districts have been already enabled to feed off paddocks with 6tock. Teams are still at work preparing land for the reception of cereals/ but occasional showers of iain are interfering a great deal with the progress of drilling operations — at least, this remark applies more particularly to South and Mid-Canterbury. On the other band, insufficient rain to successfully work the soil has fallen in parts of North Canterbury. Light rain commenced to fall in the northern part of the province on Friday, while, the fall in Mid and South Canterbury on Saturday was fairly heavy. Right throughout tihe province there are signs of spring everywhere, and ir> a few days fruit trees will be covered with bloom, the willows will again be a mass of green., and the gardens will be profuse with reasonable flowers. j —The Stock Markets.— There is no outstanding feature in respect of the stock market, and although skins are selling at a much higher value than they were a few weeks ago this fact has not brought about, a corresponding higher- value in the prices that are being offered lor fat sheep. As a matter of fact, wethers for butchering purposes, or in forward condition, are selling at prices that do not compare tavourably with those ruling , two months ago. At some of the smaller provincial markets last week there was a slightly better demand for good woolled hoggets, and values obtained were much firmer. Export buyers have not operated to any extent for several . weeks past, and , what competition there exists is confined mainly among butohers for the purposes of satisfying local consumption. I Prime steers, cows, and heifers are still commanding high prices, and will no doubt . continue to do so antil feed becomes more . plentiful and the yardings at the markets larger. ,' In view of the increased interest that is being directed to the important industry i of dairying the demand for good and reliable springers and milch cows of approved breeds has become much keener, and the class of stock indicated now command . ready sale at prices that should encourage a more extensive breeding of cattle ir the future. i Prospects of a plentiful feed supply in the near future have brought about greater activity in the store cattle market, and although there has not been a very marked increase in prices at sales held during the past two weeks, still the stronger demand indicates a firming of values at no far distant date. i In consequence of the lambing 6eason being at hand the yardings of store sheep at the . various market .centres last week wore comparatively small. A number of , small lines of ewes and undocked lambs have ' been submitted at auction (all counted), and have sold at prices ranging from 5s to 7s, according to percentages and quality and age of the ewes. It cannot be said that the 6ales co far effected are encouraging, but a general improvement in the market may possibly eventuate as the spring advances — at least, a hope is being freely expressed that such may be the case, so that those who (speculated heavily at the beginning of the year, when prices were high, might have an opportunity of recouping themselves

A Jcrge _ v displenis'hin& sale was jrec&ntijj held~of •"tb'e sfoe% on the ,I«owcHffe Estate,-Mid-Cantexbury, wnici was ""purchased! about- two months ago by Mir J. Findlay* for some years a farmer in^ the^ -Southland] province. Purebred Berkshire^boars *madd up to 7igs,- Berkshire sows -an pjg- -SgsS, sigsr 53gs, 6gs, tq Bge. Sheep : ' -Failing; three-quarterbred ewes majde up to 15s 9d, halfbreds up to 13s 7d, two and four toothT" crossbred wethers up to 10s Bd. Stajdl sheep : Four, six, and eight-tooth Bojrden Leicester ewes in. lamb, _4g, lg, to Jig rj, two-tooth Border Leicester ewes in, lamb, Ig, lg, to lig; four, six, and eight tooth English Leicester ewes in lamb, |g, lg, to 2gs; two-tooth English Leicester' ewes in lamb, lig tc l£g; Border Leicester; ewe lambs, |g to lig; Engdish. Leicester; ram lambs, lg to lig; Border Leicester ram, Davenport, lig; English :Lj£pester| rai^, -He?<jules II (tJKre^sh«a.r), lOige £ Bag" lish Leicester ,wuns,-^toee and four shear, Igs*. Cows in pnofit made up to £10, "andl .CTpdesdale, hor&s Jrom .£l3 10s to £69. The v major portion 6fiiKe>stud eheep'were purchased by Mr Find'ky, and' bj^ferawere from .various parts of the province,' and! as far south as Oamaru. "*.- ' " The horse' ntarket*'.'for' a few months "* -f>a*t- werejargely attended by farmers, and). in view of ' large acreage that has he6n3 put under cultivation- tHe demand: . was correspondingly" strong j ■ bat -now • that • the main part of the horse-work _has been*, accomplished "there has been a veryi, marked^ decrease . in. .the paces obtained at recent sales* " , . ' ' . . . - ■.; — Miscellaneous. — • The capabilities of the land .comprising the original* Edendafe Estate, 'Southland, for producing turnips is demonstrated by. three swede turnips which make a total weight of 511b, or an average of 171b each. These are being shown, at the offices of Messrs Friedlander Bros., Ashburton, and were grown on Mr Max Friedlander's farm, Waimumi, and* were taken from a paddock of 40 acres,' covered with turnips T>f almost equal size and quality. "The roots are being much admired by farmers of the county," says the local paper. Spring threshing has been carried out- in! .various parts of the province during tho past two weeks, when the weather has permitted, the cereal that has been threshed being chiefly oats. As a matter of fact, very little wheat was held over for spring* threshing, but those who reserved last season's crops will bo paid handsomely. Wh'eaii that is now being threshed is being keenly inquired for by millers, who prefer grain for milling purposes that has been properly matured in the stack to that which has been threshed whilst in the sweat. Apropos the question of saleable- holdings, it maw be said that such supplies are now exceedingly limited as far ac wheat ie concerned ;' but "there will be a fairly large supply of oats for marketing purposes when the spring threshing has been completed. As a , result of the introduction by tho Department of "Agriculture of a - number of varieties of new" classes' of wheat, a good deal of experimenting of these breeds has been tried by farmers si-nee ,-the di - . pa.rtmen,t'e exhibit has _ been, abawn. aj> Christchuirch and ~ .Ashburton. A St. Andrews farmer recently threshed, a paddock of wheat known as Syndicate, and he. obtained the excellent yield of 67 bushels per acre. The land m which the grain was grown was exceptionally fertile, having in- years gone by yielded 80 bushels pea: acre. Speaking in regard to new classes of wheat, however, it would be difficult to improve on Tuscan, pearl, velvet, and Huntere both as regards climatic and nipl* ing purposes. According to & prominent farmer at Che* viot there is every probability that caterpillars will be more plentiful this coming season than ever. He advances hie reason foi making - the statement to the fact of the comparatively mild season being in. their favour, and he says that at the present time millions of eggs may be seen under -tufts of grass a>waiti<ng the warm weather to hatch them out. After passing through a time of much! degression, one cannot fail to recognise at the present time, both in Ohriatohurch and in the smaller towns, a. decided improvement in the commercial and industrial tone of the community. Money is being more freely circulated and is easier to obtain, and this has had the effect of causing rj great deal of work that was held in abeyance as a. result of the financial stringency, being put into hand. The building trade is more active, and farmera, who were handicapped for the wan* of capital, anf,. engaging extra men just now, so that the unemployed difficulty is .gradually beco»a>- . ing a thing of tho past." There is still a fairly large number of men in Christ- . church and other ' towns and villages in the province out of work, but th© major portion of this class are men who pretend they are looking for work and praying at the same time that they may not find it. There is an improved demand also for land, and sales are being more easily effected at an increased rate, ranging at least up to 20s per acre. This remark applies more particularly to heavy wheatgrowing lands, and material rise in the value of grazing and oat-growing la-nids cannot be expected until substantial . im.provement has taken place in the stock' market. As demonstrating the improvement that has taken place in the price and demand for land, it may be mentioned that c farm in Mid-Canterbury that was offered a few months ago and withdrawn at £21 10s per acre was on Saturday sold at £25 per acre. Last week a farm ia North Canterbury situated at Waikuku, and consisting of 72 acres, changed hands tut £4-5 per acre. Another suburban^ lot consisting of 14& acres, near Rangdora, realised the same figure. The. North Canterbury Ploughing Match' Committee held its final meeting on Tues-

A boon to dairy farmers. Any contrw vanee which does away with the. drudgery . connected with the working of ' a dairy, farm is an unqualified blessing. The laboufl problem in its many different phases pre-^ scnts* almost insurmountable difficulties. A "Lawrenoe-Kennedy-Gilliea" Milking- J>iaf chine, however, solves the whole question* - It will do the milking as well as. expert milkers, but in a shorter time and at less expense. It has no ill effects on the cow»» and Messrs Greenway Bros., Puniho, voice the experience of all users when they eay:| "We find the quantity and richness of tho milk are fully maintained with the machine milking." Prices and all particulars ott application to J. B. MacEwan and Cfl.« S^ie Agents, Duncdixu

day.-- The' balance sheet showeel receipts .amounting to £115 14s Sd, expenditure £89 18»"6a,.creait l>alanee £25 16s 3d It was decided, as a c " recommendation* to # tbe Nor&exn -Ac and P Aswckttkm, to appoint annually a Ploughing- Match Committee.