LOOKING BACK

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 16, 31 October 1935, Page 4

LOOKING BACK

FIFTY YEARS SYNE. (From the “Guardian,” Oct. 31, 1885.) Shipment of Stoats and Weasels. — The last shipment of stoats and weasels by the lonic to the Order of the Government was a great success, only 16 out of the 290 shipped having been lost on the voyage. The Wellington “Press” states that the Government intend liberating the whole of them inland from Oamaru, near Ij.ke Wanaka, to prevent the Otago raohits from getting into Canterbury. Christchurch Show Entries.—The comparative total of entries for the Christchurch Show for 1884 and 1885 show the number of entries in the different classes to be: Sheep, 1884, 331; 1885, 327; cattle, 175, 165; horses, 130, 131; other exhibits, 620, 652; making a grand total of 1i75 entries this year, aS against 1256 in 1884. Small Jlirds in Christchurch.—Small birds are becoming a nuisance even in the city boundaries of Christchurch, and the Municipal Council has voted, a sum of £lO to be spent in their destruction.

twenty-eive years ago. (From the “Guardian,” Oct. 31, 1910.) Urgent Need for Rain.—Members of the Ashburton County Council, who are all practical farmers, when discussing the weather to-day in a conversational way, were agreed on the point that it is now many years , since the County was in such urgent need of rain at this period of the year. Crops and grass they said, were beginning to suffer in a "marked degree, and if the dry weather continued much longer the result must necessarily be very serious indeed. County Funds Low.—ln his statement at the monthly meeting of the County Council to-day. the chairman (Mr J. Lambie) said that the funds of the Council were getting somewhat low, and it would be necessary to take steps to strike a general rate, to be levied early next year. ■ Pilfering of Plants—During the past two weeks, a good deal of pilfering of flowers and plants has been carried on in the Domain. Only a few days ago, Mr Readhead (curator), planted "out some summer flowering annuals, and this morning he found that _a number had- been taken away. Imprints of naked feet on the beds 9how that the damage has been done by children, and the curator has a clue as to the identity of the culprits.