THE WAIKATO. PROSPECTS OF THE HARVEST. (From "The New Zealand Farmer.)

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 241, 11 February 1888, Page 8 (Supplement)

THE WAIKATO. PROSPECTS OF THE HARVEST. (From "The New Zealand Farmer.)

There is no doubt in the minds of practical agriculturists all over the country, that the ' yield of grain from the crops now cut and those ready for the machinos, will be heavier than any oblained for years past, more especially those in the Auckland Provincial Disttict, and if the weathor only proves avourable the samplos will be very superior. In the vicinity of Auckland city, that is in the districts of Pakuranga, East Tamaki, Papatoitoi,Mangere and Otahuhu, there is a much larger area of land under grain cultivation, than for many years past, and most of the crops are unusually heavy. Many paddocks of wheat in the?e localities are estimattd to yield from 40 to 50 bushels to the aero, and the oats aro correspondingly prolific, though as usual many of the oat paddocks have been cut before they were fully ripe, for the purpose of chaff cutting for the town and other local demands. In tho Piako, Waikato, and Waipa counties the crops are likewise very superior, and if the price of cereals was not so low as that which if likely to obtain, the farming operations this year would bo fully remunerative fo faras tho production of grain isconcerned. In order to give the readers of The Farmer a fairly accurate idea of the extent of land which has been under wheat and oat cultivation in the countries named, a special visit has been made by one who is familar with farming operations, and the result of this inspection has been to fully justify the reports which had reached us of the favour able prospects of an abundant harvest.

MORIUNSVJLLK. After an inspection of the crops in the neighbourhood of Otahuhu and the surrounding district, and closely observing those whioh were growing along the line of railway, mostof which were heavy, especially the oats, a halt was made at Morrinaville, at which place a very large area wa3 under wheat on the Lockerby estate. The visit was made on Friday, the 20th, and it was rather a surprise to find that the crop was riper than many of those growing 100 miles further north, in the direction of Otahuhu. Indeed it was in some of the paddocks fully ripe, and the machines were already at work on a very nice even crop; and, taking into consideration the fact that the land at Moirinsville has been frequently denounced as worthies?, the appearance of the crop was an agreeable surprise, and the people of the township were justifiably proud of the success which has resulted from the first really extensive system of whe*t cropping which has been undertaken on this large estate. I believe, however, that a liberal supply of manure was used, which will from its cost largely discount the profits arising from the wheat production. Nevertheless it was gratifying to find that with proper farming the country can be made to grow wheat and oats of very fine quality, and in large quantities. On this Lockerby estate there was an area of six hundred acres under, wheat, and though it was not convenient to see the whole of this large extent of crop sufficient of it was seen to satisfy the writer that the poorest of it will yield 25 bushels to the nore, and the bost of it close on to 40 bushels. The farming operations on this estate have been under the practical supervision of Mr Harrison, who has to all appearance carried on his work to the satisfaction of Mr Hunter, who is the general inspector of many large estates in this part of the North Island. It was a source of regret that time and other engagements prevented a longer stay at ulorrinsville, although for all ' practical purposes, sufficient of the crop was seen to ■ accomplish the present object. As "the etookswhich stood in the distance indicated that the crop was dven thicker where we , did not go than that which was waded j through, and Mr Harrisons statements that in the distant paddock " the machine was throwing off the sheaves every yard;" seemed justified by the thickness of the tooks which stood on the stubble.

Matamata. After heartily congratulating the manager on thegeneral excellence of his crops the next place visited was the famous Matamata estate, passing en route tome fair crops on the Richmond block. Arriving at Matamata, the acting manager, Mr F. Dibble, took charge of the writer and sood sped from the station to his hospitable residence distant about one and a half miles from the railway station. On this la v rg9 estate, which for extent is almost a principality, there was not a large area under wheat* probably not more than 50 acres, and this not very heavy, probably not more than 22 or at the most 25 bushels to the acre ; but it presented a beautiful even appearance in one corner of an enormous paddock. Although tho wheat crop was not extensive, there was a large breadth under oats, one paddock alone containing over 600 acres, being covered with this crop, the yield of which will probably be from 25 to 30 bushels to the acre. Mr Dibble has lettheharvesting of these crops by contract, theprice being something undersix shillings an acre, he findinjr the string binder to do the work. The adjoining paddock, containing some 800 acres, was under a turnip crop which looked exceedingly well although a little thick. Although it may be considered a digression, we should like to state briefly that the sheep on the Matamata estate looked exceedingly healthy, and one lot of 1,400 lambs in one, paddock, just taken from their mothers were " perfect beauties, " being tho first cross from Napier ewes of the Leicester breed and Shropshire rarrs. Nothing could possibly exceed the kind hospitality of Mr and Mrs Dibble, or the courtesy of Mr Hunter, who is also the inspector of Matamata. And as Mr George Dibble, the celebrated cheese maker from Wellsford, Kaipara, was paying his brother a visit at the time, a most agreeable evening was spent in discussing the dairy, the farm, the prospects of the harvest and those of the country generally. From Mr Dibble we learnt that the crops on the large estates on the Waitoa were fairly good, especially those growing on Mr Goulds estate, and on the estate known as Mr Larkworthy's, managed by Mr Grant. On both of these large areas were under wheat and oats, Punctually at half past seven breakfast was on the table, and soon after 8 o'clock Mr Dibble had caused a tine mare to be saddled on which the visitor travelled to Cambridge in order to furnish the readers of this journal with information relative to the harvest prospects in this more settled portion of the interior of this island. After leaving Matamata there is very, little cultivation for the firs 15 miles, except where the Auckland Agri cultural' Company have carried on their operations, and these have, not been extensive in this direction, except at Paeroa, which, however, mainly lies up the river bank, and can only beseen from elevated positions on the road. : But nearer Cambridge the Garton Estate is touched, and whilst it would be interesting to deal with matters relating to Garton, we did not see much grain cultivation upon it, and although it would have been .interesting to examine the stock) we did hot do so, Glancing,

however, across the Gaiton Estate on the I tPukekura distriofc (of which a good deal of meniion was made in these columns on a previous occasion) the eight presented is an exceedingly pleasing one, as the country is nearly flat, and laid out in square "fifties." Hence between the variation caused by the golden wheat, the darker oats, the turnip fields getting green, and the- grass paddocks getting " done brown," the country resembles a huge chess board—alike novel and picturesque; but as a description of the crops in this district will be given in detail, we must not anticipate. I ; i

Cambridge. About 12 o'clock we gob into Cambridge, and it being Saturday, and market day, a numberof settlers were visiting it, nearly all of whom were indulging to the fullest extent in the farmer's priviloge, namely, a good, square grumble. And when I saw heavy fat cows passed in because they did not reach the reserve price of £3 each, and horses selling at from 35s to £6 55., 1 felt they had some justification. Some of them had just received their notice to pay the property tax with the additional one-sixteenth added which was not calculated to sweeten tempers already acidulated by low prices. In the Hautapu and Tamahere districts the wheat and oat crops are very good especially those of Messrs Day, Main, Baraugh, Cowley and others. And the crops of Messrs James Taylor and J. Martin in the neighbourhood of the township are excellent, one 50 acre padWock of Mr Taylors being estimated to yield nearly 50 bushels to the acre.

PIJKEKURA. About 7 o'clock Mr E. Allen of Pukekura came into Cambridge, and having sent my horse back to Matamata in the charge of Mr Georgo Dibble, who accompaniedme to Cambridge, I got into Mr Allens buggy, and after a half hour's drive we were at his residence in order to see the largest area of wheat grown by any settler in the Waikato, viz., 210 acrea all standing nearly ready for the machine within a radius of one and half miles from where his house stands. The readers of The Farmrr will remember that mention was made of Mr Allens operations in this district on a former occasion, and that he had leased a large extent of land from Mr M. Reynolds for a wheat crop. Some of Mr Allens crop can scarcely be beaten in the Auckland Provincial District, especially one paddock of sixty acres on Mr Reynold's estate, which is situated on the banks of the river. The wheat in this paddock averages about 5 feet 6 inches in height, and is as thick as it can well stand upon the ground, is heavy and full in the grain, free from seeds ot any kind, and there is scarcely a vestige of rust in the field. The caterpillars, however, have eaten all the i " flags off the stalks and they are standing like miniature canes, slightly bent at the top by the simple weight of the heads they ! carry. In the adjoining paddock the wheat is not quite so heavy ; as the first is growing after a turnip crop, and the other after wheat, which it grew last year. In these two paddocks the estimated yield is from 45 to 50 bushels, and 35 to 40 respectively, ' or nn average of over 40 bushels to the acre over an area of 150 acres. All the wheat was just about ready for themachines, two of which were all "fixed up" and in readiness to commence operations at any moment. Mr Allen has purchased a new McCormick machine, with all the modern improvements, which simplifies the machine, makes it much lighter of draught, le?s liable to stop from breakages, gathers and packs the sheaves neat and clean, and can be set to cut the crop as low as any ordinary mowing machine. Altogether, Mr Allens crop consists of 245 acres, viz., as J already indicated, 210 acres of wheat and 35 acres of oats. Mr Allen expects to cut about 32 acres a day with his two machines, but this will necessitate the starting at daylight and working till dark, with two or three relays of horses for each machine. In harvesting a crop of such magnitude the weather will be a most important factor, but if the weather should prove showery the caterpillars will not have proved an unmixed evil, as they have cleaned off the whole of the flag leaves from the wheat, and j have therefore left very little calculated to j retain moisture if rain falls on the crop before cutting, or even when standing in the stooks. Taking the oat crop of Pukekura, it may be generally characterised as light, a ! though part of Mr Allens crop is fairly good, whilst on the other hand, he has a paddock that is thin and weak, still calculated to make fine hay for chaffing purposes. In the Pukekura district there are about 820 acres under crop, the largest growers, next to Mr Allen, being Messrs William Vosper and J. Bridgman, who have nearly 100 acres each. On Mr Vosper's farm much of the crop is light, especially the wheat which is patchy, some patches being "splendid " whilst in the same paddock there are places where the yield will not exceed 15 bushels to the acre, and wifchin a few yardsthere are patches which will in all probability turn out over 50 bushels. Taken altogether, the yield of wheat on this estate (Dtngley Dell) will be about 25 bushels to the acre— a comparatively light yield, which Mr Vosper attributes to late sowing. He has, however, one piece of black Tartarian oats which was sown in the end of October. This is about the heaviest crop inspected, and the yield of this will likely be fully 70 bushels of oats to the acre. The her growers in the Pukekura district are Messrs Seabrook,Comei', F.Hicks,H. Hicks, Hale, Reynouds, NorrisandFrewin, making a total of about 820 acres of grain in the Pukekura district alone. Besides the grain there is about 400 acres under turnips, and a good breadth in potatoes, and the whole place must necessarily be characterised by great activity for the next few months. Most of the settlers were satisfied with the crop, but very apprehensive lest the low prices obtained should render the whole operation unremunerative, and amongst such growers as the owners of the Lockerby estate and Mr Allen the matter of sixpence per bushel in the price will make all the difference between remunerative success and financial failure. We find it will scarcely be possible to complete the article on the Waikato crops for this issue of The Farmer, hence in the next number the result of our visit to Pukerimu, Te Rahu, Te Awamutu, and other places, will appear. In the meantime, it is highly satisfactory to know that there is an abundance of grain in the country which can be grown to perfection, if it can only.be grown at remunerative prices.