LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7725, 19 February 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ti.ircfe j.i?>k3 Ivdui the • Ashburton 80-,viiiig Club will visit Timaru to-mor-row an;l play .<> match against the Timani Clnli. The following .have, 'b*jon selected to roprrscnJi^Asbbur^pii: Ct'ai^hoad .(skip), MajVebtai-fcr, Vempleton, ■ Priest; Cstijjj't'icil (skip). Stevenson, JfooViVrovd, A. Lane; Hart (skip), J. D. Stewart-. 11..I 1.. Stewart, Flower; em-, ergeneies, Bell and Chris He, Tho New' Zealand FlotiYmiliera' Association's Vovij&'d price list is as fol- : lor.-s': J'Tour, par ton, £10 10s, sacks; £11,1001 b bags; £11 ss, 501 b bags; £11 10s, 261 b bags. Bran, por ton, £3 15s. Pollard, per ton, £§< j Mr A. rl. Sluu-y, secretary of the I Ash bur con Acclimatisation Societ has I iiitei'OsLcd^ himself cf Into regarding cteer-atalkiiig licenses, n« they are atfectod b,y tho If?fisw3 of pastoral runs to be offered at. traction at an early dace-. Mr Sluu-y, who ako interviewed the- Minister of Lund's oh.the mat- : t'e'r, is m receipt of the following on tho subject from Mr Gold-Smith, Com- : nmaiouer 01 Crown Lands: "The licc!:;.;og of any run upon which deer range shall allow to any legal holder of a license to stalk deer within tho district m which such run lies free and unrestricted rights of egress and regress upon and over any portion of the run for the purpose of stalking deer." Mr Shnry has interested himself m tho matter m view of the tale of some pastoral leases m deer country m tho Ashburton county. Mr 11. B. Bean, ftovernmeht labour agent, will retire at the ago limit oh March 31st. Hating been only sW years m the Government service^, Mr Bean will not participate m the superannuation funds. The name of l\'r Bean's successor has not. tso I u\ '1 (-on f-nnounced. y.hs W. Opio. M.A., jis miUr-wd !;..r portion on the- teaching .«,t-u'f of ,X Palmciiston High. School m. order tc take tip Maori Mission work lor 'lie Anglican Church. Miss Cpio ha<> been appointee).-to take charge of Ihe OktliO Maori Mission School, m iiio ?,i<:'lborough district., and will leave to take up her new duties iii Maroh. The Akaroa Mail states th.it on the PenhiGula an opinion is gaining groM-d that the bulk of the cocksf <ot seed was cm too green, and that the crops cat dilir are yielding much better; tl:tr>!l> any teed is ready for the market, but two-tmall sales at 5d to s^d per 11 have L'- mi' reported, and it is staW ib;.t oik ji»ower refused 6d per lb Ao v pr<i *< • '- tive buyer. At the present time the market i,s m an unsettled condition. The Temperance Band gave a municipal open air conceit m Baring Sqvjar< last evening m the presence of n ffirlj large number of people, who appeared to fully appreciate tho programme. Bishop Julius, of Chrietchureh, has accepted the invitation of Bishop Mercer to visit Tasmania at Synod timr (towards the end of April) and preacl: at the re-opening of the Cathedra' chancel, Hobart, as well as at th© dior;cfin:i meeting. I Farmers are said to he growing goot' j ns't crops or, the Waimate Plains (Tara- | iiaki) thil; year. Around JManaia tin j yields are up_ to 70 bushels to the acre. Wheat growing has never, to any extent, been successfully carried out m Taranaki. It was mentioned eJ: thi> last meeting of the South Canterbury Hospital Board that probationer mirses are now required to undergo instruction m cookery for invalid*. This, we learn from the Argus, i.<; required cf probationers at the Melbourne Hospital, who go for this instruction to the Working Men's College. The matron eaid that many of them did not need it, the girls being already good cooks. The probationer at the Melbourne Hospital is not so well paid as m New Zealand. Alter six months' sei-vice m return for keep and uniform, she gets, as "pocket ni'iiiey," £1 a month; for the second year £13 10s ; for the third year £18. Yet, said the. matron, applicants come m dozens, .three times as many as are wanted. Large numbers of sheep are being railed < hrough Oamaru to the Canterbury c/iatrict, presumably owing'to the abundance of feed which prevails there. On Tuesday morning a special train conveying fifty truck-loads from the .south* passed through; whilst a, week age a consignment of upwards of thirty truck-loads were consigned from the Ngapara district. ■ and one of forty trucks from Palmerston and Kartigi. cays the Oamaru Mail. Mrs Dohrman, of Nukuroa, Studholme, who had been m a delicate state of health for a considerable time, arising from heart trouble, complicated with a severe attack of bronchitis died on Snnduy ''morning, after cho had boon a fow days m a private hospital. Mrs Dohrman was greatly respected by a large circle of iYip-1 and was also well known before her marriage as Miss Elsie Low, of "Willowby. Reports of high yields of cereals continue to come to hand. Mr W, Moses' machine threshed out a crop, of oats on the Windermere estate that' yielded 70 bushels per acre. Mr W. H. Zouch, of Christchurch, who is at present m Australia, has been temporarily appointed sub-inspec-tor for the Animals' Protection Society of New South Wales. Mr J. A. Macdonald, of ZUangaweka, m the North Island, who has recently returned from a visit io Western 1 Canada, has bought 800 acres of prairie land m Southern Alberta. He says that a few Amci ifnns. who have tried grain-growing i:i that district have obtained astonishing results, yields going from 00 to 40 bushels of wheat per acre on iitst broken land, and as high as 57 m properly-worked ground. Oats often go as high as 100 bushels per acre. Tho land is good, black soil on a clay subsoil, all ready for the plough, and can be put m crop —breaking, discing three times, seeding, including cost of best 6eed— for 27s per acre. Harvesting costs about 14s per aero. These are contract prices, at which contractors do very well. The poorest crop to expect would be 30 bushels per acre, which is worth 3s or more per bushel, giving a return of £4 10s for an outlay of 41s. Sowing a crop on stubble ground costs very much less, and as the ground is better prepared and provides a better seed bed, gives a far greater crop. With regard to the high valuations by tho Valuation Department, a committee of tho Invercargill Town Council, after conferences with the valuer, him decided that the assessments are high, and that, after individual cases -'ii' what are considered undue m in<X';r>TO have been dealt with, the inspFcling valuer should bo requested to !V::;i:o ;; percentage reduction all round cm uniijiprovfid values. A meeting of North I 1!nil ratepayers at lnvercargill lust night protested strongly against the i'.icre:'.^>s made hi the unimproved valiK 1.-; m the >'i-;{rict, and appointed a deputation to r^ia 1!- v, ith the inspecting vainer. 1 ho. meeting also resolved io call v"on r::iev:<:ver.-; to indiudmuly lodg-j. objections to the : valuations. J

The. total amount contributed V.', m Duh&lin .I'dwards the Italian ea^thquakfe relief fund is £333 14s. The fund has now been closed. Mr C. Williams.,, of, iTeh>uka' cauSlit some fiufe troM- m thn O^ihU it, ,fe"w night* Sgri'i /Fb'u'r of. them weighed 601 b, the heaviest being 161 b. Harvesting operations have;becn,car r I ried en vigorously m North Otago throughout the week, and the bulk of the cereal crops have now been cut. A groat part is m stook, and some .stacking h»« been done. There has (says tlw North;.-Otago • •Times)-; been very Htj'le threshing;, partly because of the' gra^n not being m a condition for putting' through the machines, and partly because of the weather not being suitable for the work. Several machines oomnierscod operations m the Otiake district, but were" brought to a standstill by tho mill hands striking for an advance from lOd to Is. The trouble has, however, been overcome, an amicable settlement having, been reached, and Work resumed On Saturday. So, far .only. 6h,8 .sainplii of wheai; has .reached town, Hut it is .anticipated that several will .come for-' ward during the w.eek.. Only a single sample of barley has been submitted, ; and very few sample^, of o.ats.-have yet i been seen... , have-. rei;\ ■_ ttio Iwailv ;eng?.f*otl securing their- gram— which has ripened very quickly under tho influence' of the.-warm weatherto come, into to;vn with .samples, .tied on Saturday very few wore to be seen.