DROUGHT IN AUCKLAND DISTRICT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3342, 7 October 1911, Page 6

DROUGHT IN AUCKLAND DISTRICT.

AN ALARMING OUTLOOK

SITUATION CAUSING SOME UNEASINESS.

[.special to Times . 3

AUCKLAND, Oct. 6

A long spell of dry weather is causing farmers some uneasiness. Jmu around Auckland the conditions \re not so bad, but all through the Waikato and further south the growth of herbage is retarded for want of moisture. Several sharp frosts have been exoc: 1- - iemoed, and the pastures have suffered accordingly. September proved to be a particularly dry month south of Auckland, and nearly every rain-storm was followed by a south-west wind, which dried up the moisture almost before any material advantage had been obtained. What affected tlie dairy farmer and the grazier even more severely was the fact that, concomitant with the j nett omen ally dry winter and spring, the turnip crops failed. Thousands of acres were put under turnips this winter in the Auckland province, and the whole crop has boon practically a total failure. The result taa lihtn stigd redso f cowsan dgrea is that hundreds of cows and a great number of shoe]) have died of starvation. The pastures have become practically bare, and tlie hay stacks were demolished early in the winter. Usually stock owners have been able to keep their cattle in good! condition through the winter months by turning them into the turnip fields, and store stock so fattened have always been worth at least £1 more in market value than those which have had to rough it for winter fodder. The failure of the crop this year, therefore, has been largely responsible for tlie high price of beef and mutton, and kine which should now' be sleek with pasturing amongst much rich herbage, are instead emaciated for lack of sufficient winter feed. The season opened with an early spring, and, had good “growing w'eather” prevailed, there would have been a record established in the dairying industry this year. Even now, if satisfactory rains fall within a week, the position will not be. 50 bad. Butter, however, has proably readied its lowest price to the consumer. The London market is wonderfully firm, and tlie New Zealand exports will meet with a big demand, but should the dry weather continue, and already the hills show signs of burning, then the outlook for the season will indeed l he serious.