OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 322, 8 June 1911, Page 8

OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

RURAL NEW ZEALAND UNDER REVIEW No. 33. [All Eights Reserved.] (By R. J. EAMES). "PRIME CANTERBURY." SETTLED, EXTENSIVE AND PRO GRESSIVE.

It may be as well to remind readers that this series of articles is the product of impressions, wayside enquiry, and such'general observation and investigation as are possible in a more or leas painstaking cycling aurvey of the Dominion. But limitations of time, of opportunity and of season, rendered an exhaustive and detailed examination impossible when the extensive province ot Canterbury was encountered. For instance, if one traversed all the roads in this laud district he would have travelled no fewer than 10,000 miles! If he took all the available railway journeys (one way only) his ticket account would be for over 500 miles; while the seaboard, which is skirted daily by inyl portant ferry and intercolonial services, has a length of some 300 miles. There are numerous rivers which distribute their life-giving waters over maiy valleys and plains, the various lengths of! the streams being 100, 90, 85, 74, CO and a lesser number of miles. In the whole* district there are 9,004,045 acres, which land is officially divided into 2,040,071 acres of first-class land, 5,207,173 acres of second-class, and 2,350,801 acres otj third-class land, the last-named being "barren land and land of small value." A trip across the Plains, either by road or by rail, provides a vivid impression' of extensiveness. Miles upon end may I be travelled over roads which are as level as a table. It is a big district—big in accomplishment and big in pos-1 sibility. There is no other ''flat" in New Zealand which in points of size and agricultural productivity can compare' with that huge plain, two and a-halt millions of acres in extent, which fronts the ocean and occupies the area between the Ashley and the Opihi rivers. It is upon this sweeping plain that the city of Christchurch is situated. Of the 9y 2 millions of acres of land in the district, only a little over 500,000 acres are 'in forest, but on the plains the plantations of imported trees lend themselves attractively to the landscape. Back on the hiils, a»d high up, the ploughs go and a clump of trees is the mark of a homestead. One cannot but feel that a real need of the district is a good hedge. For this purpose gorse is largely used, but gorse, unless very carefully tended, invariably becomes scraggy and unsightly. In this regard it may be said that nowhere in New Zealand are there so many fine farm hedges as in South Taranaki, where boxthorn grows in massy walls of sombre green, affording splendid protection for the stock. In Canterbury, on account of the heavy winds experienced, shelter hedges are essential and the gorse is serviceable, although it has the disadvantage of spreading rather badly. In the flowering seasog these hundreds of miles of gorse lend a golden glory to the view, giving color to the belts of pines anU gums and other trees—plantations which give to Canterbury a most distinctive appearance.

A GREAT GRAIN CENTRE. If one takes the map of Canterbury it will be noticed that along the eastern portion, from the Hurunui river to the south of Timaru, there is a line of railway which forms the main artery of commerce. At regular intervals branch lines strike into the interior of the province, draining the produce to the commercial centres. It is along the east coast that the great plains lay; inland, from mere hills the country develops into mountains, rough, rugged and grand. But from the point of view of utility it is tho hills which lend themselves so admirably to sheep farming, and even to the plough, which command most attention. In one sense Canterbury must be regarded as fully oicupied. Practically no pioneering Temains to be d»»e, aithomgh the province has yet to experience extensive changes in the way of intenser cultivation and olossr sheopfarming and cattle-grazing settlement. It is upon the Canterbury plains themselves that we have the great whwatgrowing contro of the South Island. These plains altne would furnish a multitude ef examples of up-to-date agricultural husbandry for the whole of New Zealand. Much' of the cropping is done in a very big way, but that is not t« be wondered at when it is considered that the arable area has a length of some 150 miles and a breadth, from the sea coast inland, of about 40 miles. It is a great thing to be able to say that on a plain of 3,009,000 acres, by'which the greater part is admirably adapted to the growth of grain, barley and oats, besides cultivated grasses and forage plants. In point of quality there is a range from soil which looks more like a river-bed than ploughable land, to land of excellent quality. Probably the heaviest land is to the north of Christchurch, near Rangiora. In this locality up to £OO per acre is paid for land for mixed farming. The mention of price reminds one of the extraordinary differences in value, even upon the plain itself. In such territories as Banks Peninsula, rich country broken in the making into ridges and gullies, and round about Timaru, where it is rather hilly, one expects variations in price, but on the even surface over which one may travel for, say, 100 miles in a straight line without meeting a rise of any land the visitor is surprised at the richest and poverty of soil in proximity. One hears of sales at £BO and £9O, but there is plenty of land available at £7 to £lO per acre. Extending from Cheviot te Waitaki there are some splendid tracts of plain and down lands, and the granary of the south is in the rich alluvial soil centres about Cheviot, Rangiora, Ellesmere, Tcrauka,.Waimate and other places. Interspersed on the plain are many light and stony patches, some still in tussock (which looks odd when the age of settlement is remembered) and these inferior lands are used for pastoral purposes. The native grasses which abound have been found to be most suitable for the aristocratic merino. Not only the rich flats, but the downs and the lower hills are cultivated. The splendid draught stock to be seen,' the fine sheep and cattle, and the useful and highly ornamental plantations and shelter clumps give a convincing atmos-

iherc of prosperity to this modern iornucopia. Clover and grass-seed nourish their crops; rye, peas, beans, potatoes, carrots, beet and mangolds thrive, but the chief crops are of wheat, oats, barley, turnips and rape. In wheatgrovfing Canterbury is easily the most important district in New Zealand, tor more than two-thirds of the total wheat area of the Dominion are embraced within its borders. In 1909-10 the area in Canterbury tinder crop for threshing was 210,000 acres. Besides growing 70 bushels out of every 100 bushels of wheat grown in New Zealand, Canterbury produces 45 per cent, of the oats, and 35 per cenff. of the barley all the Dominion produces. Thron rhout the district, by road or by railway, one is impressed by the up-to-date agricultural machinery and the commodious storehouses which tell eloquently of the greatness pf this grain centre.

Writing of London's second series of wool sales on March 14, the Live Stock' Journal says that of the quantity available it was noticed that a full half was from New Zealand, and "on that account the offering of crossbred wools were heavy; but trade, especially in this country, is so fully employed that no fear of over-supply need be entertained." This is from an American paper: "The English Agricultural Show at Liverpool cleared 27,000 dollars, a great live 9tock show of all the pedigree breeds of live stock, agricultural products, and ma'chlnery. No side-shows, horse-racing, or any entertainments are permitted on the grounds to detract from the benefits of the show to the visitors who attend the show. What a contrast to our American fairs, with their disgraceful side-shows, horse-racing, and scores of attractions. Mr. B. W. Snow, the American agricultural statistician, gives an estimate of 46,334,000 as representing the number of cattle, other than milch cows, in the I'nitcd States on January 1, 1911, a decrease of 945,000 head from the Government figures of a year ago, while 3,045,000 below the Government estimate of two years ago. The head of pigs, as estimated by the same statistician, is 49,215,000, an increase of 1,433,000 over January 1, 1910. The estimates go to prove (says the Drovers' Journal) the long-time argument of beef shortage, and though hog growth is showing some increases under stimulus of high prices in the past year, it will be at least another year until the trade shall have received full benefit from the effort towards increased production. Meanwhile, declining cattle production points to an alarming scarcity as probable within another year.

The public are becoming rno9t fastidious about dress and appearance. You must be "just so." If your clothing doesn't fit you they talk. If it does fit you nicely, they talk, and want to knew where you purchased it Tou can get perfectly fitted with any garment you want to wear, best quality, at lowest cash prices, at Ambury's, Devon staeet.

When you get Roslyn you get the best in all-wool blankets, rugs, tweeds, Worsteds, hosiery, unshrinkable flannal and underwear, "Delta" finish; so when purchasing woollen goods always say, "Roslyn. please."—Advt.

The "Defiance" brand of men's hats are right out on their own for style, comfort and durability. (Manufactured by the proprietors of the Roslyn Woollen Mills).—Advt.