EFFECTS OF HEAVY RAIN.

Shannon News, 23 January 1925, Page 3

EFFECTS OF HEAVY RAIN.

A shortage of wheat was predicted for the coming harvest and it is probable that, as the result of the floods during the week-end in mid_Canterbury and the heavy rains in North Canterbury, the shortage will be greater than was anticipated says the "Lyttolton Times." In some districts, a fair amount of wheat was in stook, and the heavy fall of moisture has caused a lot of this to commence to decay. ~

Large areasof standing wheat nave been flattened down, and in districts where rust and take-all have made their appearance very little of the flattened wheat ;will rise again. In the Oxford district, there were signs of rust before the heavy rainfall, and in the few days that have*'elapsed since the rain the rust has got a grip of the wheat. A spell of dry weather will help matters, but at the*same time the yield will be much less than was at first, anticipated.

Rust has also gained a strong hold in the wheat belt of mid-Canter bury, and around Ashburton many of the crops will not rise again as in many instances they were totally submerged. A farmer from that district stated recently that the loss would be well over ten bushels to the acre over the whole area.

Dairy farmers who had. made early cuts for hay are also among the sufferers, as much of the hay is now rotting in the "paddocks. In their case, however, the loss will be partially made up, as the rain has caused a strong growth of grass, an unusual feature of this time of the year. The grass which has sprung up is very watery, and a spell of warm weather i s needed to put body into it Ona farmer stated that the growth of grass was so strong that it had lifted his hay clear of the ground, and as a result the air was circulating through 11 and drying it satisfactorily.