The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1892. CURRENT TOPICS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIII, Issue 2584, 6 February 1892, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1892. CURRENT TOPICS.

His Worship the Mayor, at the Fire Brigade supper the other night,, credited the excellent and cheap water supply with being a potent factor m the good health of the town. No doubt it is j so ; the fresh Avater flowing along most i of the streets is an object of envy to dwellers m other towns, and of justifiable prido to residents. But there is another side to the question, and it may be asked—How much of the sickness which is prevalent is attributable to the want of a supply of water for domestic purposes ? During the summer we have had a full average rainfall, both on the plains and on the hills, and the river* has been m flood more than once, and yet the predictions of those who said the wells would be replenished with the first good rain have not been realised. Not only are the wells m the first and second strata still dry, but m many of those which were sunk to lower strata the depth of water is decreasing, while the water that is obtainable from them is oftener than not turgid and impure. The question of a supply of pure water for household use will force itself upon the town before long. The money that has been thrown away upon well-sink-ing the last two years would have paid a good many years' water-rate.

The collectors of the agricultural statistics are making their annual round, and farmers will greatly lighten their task of being prepared with the required particulars of crops. Though the present system of statistics is not satisfactory it is important that the particulars given should be as accurate as possible. The returns are kept absolutely secret by the Registrar's department, and cannot be gained access to for the purpose of rating or taxation or any other purpose whatever except that for which they are collected, so that no end can be gained by making erroneous or false returns, while doing so renders the person making the return liable to a heavy penalty.

In connection with these agricultural statistics a suggestion that has often been mdae is renewed, and should have serious consideration. At present the statistics are collected and summarised too late to be of any practical value for the opening of the selling season, and too early to be any true guide of the total production, The suggestion is that a return should be obtained of the acreage of the various cereals sown, as soon as the sowing season is over—say m September or October. Fairly trustworthy estimates | of the probable yield at harvest time could be made from these figures from timeto time—say monthly—the nature of the season being considered, and a final return of actual production obtained when the bulk of the threshing had been done—in May or June. By I these means buyers and sellers alike would be made aware at the earliest possible moment of the quantity of produce that would have to be dealt with m any year. Under the present system the bulk of the grain is marketed long before the production for the season is known, and both buyers and sellers are to a great extent dealing m the dark.