AGRICULTURAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 806, 27 December 1881, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL.

"We rather from the Pastoral and Agricultural news, that in the Oamarn district the crnps are suffering from drought, &nd that many of the late sown crops are past recovery, and nearly all the early sown wheats arc failures. Spring sown grasses have fai'e d to the extent of thousand* of acres, and the Oamarn district grass feed is nearly all burnt up.

A. letter received by the Hon. E. Riehnrdfiin from a friend in Bedfordshire says :—" New Zealand wheat, although of fine quality, i* not liked by millers. It is very weak, and won't turn out nnv f hincr like the amount of bread that English will when good." Our exporters shoal' make it their business to improve the reputation of our colonial wheat as much as possible. Because our average yie 1 1 is the highest in the world is no reason that our grain should not be A 1 in quality ss well Tho Farmer of sth September has the following on the failure of the crops in England, and the c onsequent effects ou the agricultural community :—" The harvest, under the most favorable circumstances, must be below an average. Still after the bad hnrvoßt of the two

i proceeding years, the farmers vte~e de--1 ' lighted at the prospects of a yield at all ! approximating to an average. Bui now they have no ground for hoping that 1 even this moderate expectation will be realised. On Sunday, the 28th, the , rain again began to fall in torrents, and on subsequent dnys there was a steady downpour. This heavy rain, too, unfortunately, was not confined to any part of the country. From all parts comes the same tale of heavy and continuous storms, and oi wide spreading devastaing floods. The damage which these later floods have done is incalculable, | and its effect upon the agricultural j community will be very serious. j Brighter weather, if it comes, will now be too late ; and anothor bad year must be added to the many misf-rfcunes, which of late have so heavily afflicted British agriculture. The failure of the harvest this year will have, we fear, a most j disastrous effect. It will bring about i the rum of many farmers, who have long I been struggling against adverse circum- | stances, and it wiil greatly embarrass | many others. We are now compelled j to confront what is really a national calamity, and one which will fall with especial severity on one class. We trust, then, that the people of this coun- I try will extend their sympathy to the ! ! struggling agriculturist, and will do al] ! they possibly can to enable them to overcome their difficulties, and keep their heads above water. We are glad to | find, that a movement is already being I organised in London for a national sub- ; seription in aid of the farmers, and we ! are sure that when the appeal is made there will be a generous response throughout tlie country.'' The crops in the north of Scotland have now arrived at that stage of maturity, when a good estimate can be formed of the amount, quality, and value of this year's returns. Since the first of August the weather has b en of a very changeable character, yet it has been highly efficacious to growth of all kinds, inasmuch as it has so entirely changed the nature of early predictions, that the results are likely to turn out exactly opposite to tliat anticipated. Early wheat, which submitted to the severity of a winter of almost unexatnplifiod length and j severity, showed during the spring and j summer many indications of unsatisfactory results. 'lhe braird was thin, badly coloured, and sickly, and did not make satisfactory progress till about the first of June. Since then, however, it has come away very steadily and equally, but only to confirm earlier impressions that the crop would be, generally, very thin, although quite enough of seed was sown to make an average crop. The intense frosts of the past winter, doubtless, killed a great quantity and hence the scarcity of plants. The present condition of the crops in Western Scotland iSj we (Farmer) regret to say, very unfavorable. Wheat is thin and badly filled, many ears b?ing blighted with rust,and the yield must be disappointing. Barley is best crop, but it is much laid by the recent stormp, and it is feared the colour will have suffered. Oats are very irregular, and are not filling as they should do, owing to the cold unseasonable weather. Potatoes are a large crop, and little disease r ported a? yet. The weather is cold and unsettled; the wheat harvest will Se likely to be. a fortnight or more later than last year.