HARVEST PROSPECTS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1847, 31 January 1889, Page 2

HARVEST PROSPECTS.

The weather uf the past few weeks has given the farmer little cause to grumble bo far as cereal crops are concerned. Warm ripening weather, unaccompanied by dry wiads, and with the • nights fairly cool, has given thevgrain >j 1 every chance of filling steadily, ana the samples from this part of Canterbury at all events should this season be able to ' challenge criticism, From the general appearance of the wheat crop it should ' yield fully up to, if not above, the. average, hut oats are not so promising, 1 except in individual instances. Iho early part of the season was somewhat • cold and wet, and in consequence some 1 of the heavy flat lands have suffered. 1 This is noticeable on the Waitobi Fiat, and also in partß of the Kakahu district, in both of which places the wheat crop looks somewhat thin and the oats stunted, Of the down land, however, there is no 1 cause to complain. The Bangitira downs, on the Arowhenua estate, promise to give a more than average yield of good wheat, and the same may be said of the Dinda farm, upon which Mr Hullen has a promising but somewhat late crop, Mr McKinuon's crop adjoining also looks well. The proprietors of the estate have a nice crop of barley just ready for the reaper. This down land is obtaining an enviable notoriety for the , production of good sound milling light in bran. The yields are by means phenomena), but the quality w excellent and the bulk payable. In the Rangitira Valley the bulk of the crop seems an improvement upon last season. On the Smithfield estate Mr J. 4itken lias put in between Jtwo and three hundred acres o£ wheat and oats. The former shows promise of an average yield, and the latter sliould be uaKorn. moniy good. He has aJso a particularly good acreage of turnips, Iu the Hilton Valley Messrs Swauey Bros., Crow, Young, and Hay have good crops of. , 1 wheat fairly forward, the earlier sown looking the best, As usual the crops on the rich alluvial soils between Temuka and Winchester are all that a farmer animated with a perfect thirst for grain can desire. Messrs Jlees Thomas, McOallum, and Lyon have all crops equal to that of former years, the yield of which has always been payable, while as pretty a sight as one cowld wish to see is a paddock of barley on Mr Edward Lee's farm. It is wonderfully even and well beaded, and granted a contain* mce of fair weather should give a, ce.pital return for the labor expended upon it. Mr Lee has also a good crop of beans, one of the few in the district, and several acres of potatoes that look promising. Mr A, Olyne, adjoining the Winchester domain, has u paddock of somewhat short, but particularly even oats, and opposite Mr Cliff can show his usual good acreage of wheat. Near Winchester, Mr A. J. Young has some four or five acres of potatoes, that, if they yield as well as they look, should bring \ in quite a little fortune. They, are sown on nice, clean, and free ' appear to have bad every attention, Some of the best crops iu the district may be seen in the neighborhood of the , Orari Swamp j road. v Messrs Bigseit, |

Stewart, and Gladstone have crops that should yield well at the machine, while Mr Crompton's wheat crop ie a perfect picture. It is, if anything, a iittle too good, but it appears to be well headed and to be filling well. Mr 0. Bisdee, close by, has one of the choicest pieces of wheat in the district. Messrs Austin and Scott, in the same neighborhood, have crops of wheat and oats, and .also a good show of roots. A paddock of velvet wheat belonging to Messrs Matthews and Trezise is worthy of note, as are the general crops on Mr Guild's farm at SL'revenna. On the old Springfield estate the wheat sown early looks very promising, particularly a paddock in Mr H. Oldfield's possession, which looks really excellent. Mr A. Grant has close upon 20 acres in potatoes, which, although sown late, seem to be coming forward well. The crops in the Milford district do not display this Sfason that evenness that generally characterises them. There are some exceptionally good oats on Mr P. ] Wareing's farm, and his wheat is good, but hardly up to former yields. Mr J. B, Wareing has a very nice lot of early wheat alongside the road, which in about a week should be fit for the machine. Messrs John Brown, Parke, . and McAaley have crops rather above the average, better certainly than last season, and Bolwell, on a paddock near the beach, has a very nice even piece of wheat, This land was summer fallowed, and the work bestowed upon it haß not , been thrown away. Mr Caleb Woodley, on swaraD laud, has both wheat and oats, one paddock of the former should thraßh particularly well. In the neighborhood, however, some of the late sown wheat and oats are poor. The roots on the whole are fair, but would be improved by rain.