THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15463, 16 December 1915, Page 4

THE COUNTRY.

NEWS AND NOTES.

CANTERBURY SfiEEPOWNERS'

UNION.

MEETING OF COMMITTEE

A meeting of the general committee of the Canterbury Sbeepowners' Union was held on Tuesday. Present: Mr L-. C. Gardiner (president) in the chair, and Messrs U. I>. Acland, AV. Hannier-Atkinson, N. D. Campbell. J. Cullen. C. H. Elisor, W. F. Parkinson, and W. I>. Stewart. The secretary reported that he had been in communication with the officials of the Citizens' Defence Corps in regard to finding employment for returned soldiers. The meeting suggested that the Union should offer every facility to the j C.D.C. branch lor finding employment in the country for the returned men. A letter was received from the South Canterbury branch of the Union in reference to the kea pe.<.t. which was vcrv prevalent in the Mackenzie country It wns stated that the kens wore on the increase in the North Canterbury district especially j n the back country, ami sheep-farmers were paying 2s <>d per head and as much as os nor head in the oft season. Several members stated that at shearing time it was quite common to notion kea-pecked sheep among the flocks. s A letter was received from tho secreLabourers Union. slating that the X\ orkers Lnion intended to apply to o„; ;l !' at V 0 " to ' lrt lor n Postponement or the heanng of the mustcrcrs', shepherds', and packers' dispute ?

CROPS IN THE NORTH ISLAND.

in the V r + l r .T rl ?. of . in the North Island it is gathered that oat crops ,„ the North of Auckland are to a very large extent a failure, i„ COnsecjnonee of so much wet weather, and [or the same reason the potato crops. have been ruined by blight. Vivv erop s of -ram all through the West Coast of !he North Island hove suffem from ram and wind, having been badly

I In the Poverty Bay district the cutting ot the earlier crops of oats is completed, and a good deal of the crop has been stacked, but shortage of laboaiis being (elt as tho wet weather of last month delayed the shearing and prevented shearers from being free Tor harvest work. Some of the oat crops bad to be cut green for hay owing to the attacks of caterpillars. Tho crops in Hawkc's Ba v are said to be exceptionally good, tlic showery spring having promoted excellent growth, without being too rank. The results promise to be the best for some years.

The crops throughout almost the whole of tho- Wairaropa are coming on well, and only on the light and stony land m the Southern Wairarnpa aro they on the' thin side. Tho oat crops aro particularly good, and the wheat crops are considerably in advance of those of-last year. Some of the most enterprising farmers i n the Wairarnpa have been paying considerable attention of late years to grain growing, and experimenting Avith varieties of wheat and oats to ascertain which arc tho 7nost suitable for their district, lied Marvel Avheat is a variety that is showing most satisfactory results, am! in oats some excellent crops of Jlecord. Ligowo, and Abundance arc to bo seen." A\. gcrians are particularly . robust, and promise fino crops. Caterpillars and [grass grubs have attacked some of the Crops, and Algerian oats appear to have withstood their ravages the best of anv f variety of oats.

JOTTINGS FOR FAU3IEUS.

At the Addi'n»ton saleyanls vcstci<]uv a purebred Shorthorti bull. brXl at Canterbury Collie. Wl scnL in by Mr T. Dowlim;, of Springfield, Mcthv-Rii, was sold for potting purposes at £26 os. This is probably the highest price paid in the Dominion for an unimal lor such a purpose, but the bull was of great size and in good condition, and his estimated dressed weight is about 14001b. •CHEVIOT. Mrs lloss. lion, treasurer of the Ladies' Belgian and Patriotic Committee, has forwarded to the Red Cross depot 102 articles, and to the Liverpool depot 4C, including 28 soldiers' wallets, furnished with writing material.

OXFORD. The East Oxford District liigh School j Committee met on Monday lught, tho chairman (fclio Rev. J. S. llolloway) presiding. Tlio headmaster iopon«ainc. average attendance tor the month to bavo been V-2 in the primary, and 13 in the secondary department, it was decided to pluce tuo matter of procuring an honours board in tho hands of the headmaster. On account of his leavthe district, the Rev. Mr Holloway tendered his resignation, which was accepted with regret. Mr l>. JScwmau was elected to the vaeancy. On Saturday night the Orangemen of Oxford tendered a social to Mr A. Cleeve, who is going to the front as a member of the Ninth Reinforcements. There Wii« a good attendance, and u pleasant evening was spent. Addresses were given by Messis. U. iiDallcy and C. Duncombe. On behalf of his tcllow-mcmbcrs, Mr H. Campbell presented Mr Cievvc with a •,ri*cpointed star."

On Monday night there was a large attendance at the Last Oxford Hail, when a social was tendered to Messrs W. Walker. It. Alien. A. Wright, A. Cleeve, A. Paget, A. Newport, and J, J''orboe, members ot the Ninth anu Eleventh Reinforcements. Mr J. Wells, chairman of the County Council, presided, the evening being occupied with dancing interspersed with wings. Tho **ev. J. K. Holloway garo an address. A.-, >H- liollowny is !eavin r .; the <iistiict shortly for Hokitika. he • was heartily thanked for the assistance hohad given to tiie patriotic movement, and as-itirod of the bc.-t wishes of the community. A presentation «as made to each of th o departing soldiers.

OHOKA. On .Monday lust Mr* Robert Ward gave her omnia! garden partv to the pupils ot To Wai foimamu College and their irieiids. There was a large gathering on the lawn. where ai'icrno«7n tea was handed round. The To Wai I'nunatuu girls gave a perlotmance ot" "Mrs Jarley's Waxworks," which was much enjoyed. In th«« evening the ham was cleared and dancing was kept up till a Into hoar.

WADDINUTON. The Boys' ltign School Cadets,, numbering lid, rtcin into <-umx> at Puuri Bank, Mr i). McMillan's residence, on Tueiday. Captain Montgomery is Ouicor Coaiinanding, and with himate Lieutenants Whitehead, Shaw, and Stevens. Lieutenant A. Hotni«s, Officer Commanding Company 49, Senior Cadets, is also in camp. StafJ-oergcant-Major Pound is instructor, and (QuartermasterSergeant Hicks is in charge ot the commissariat. Captain McMillan is sparing no paius to make the camp as pleasant as possible, and the district ladiee are sending a huge Christmas cake, so that, altogether, the hoys will have a good time. Sport* .ire to ho held on Saturday. The Sheffield Riding Patriotic (.Vimmi tUv met at Mr dole's residence, Waddiiirjton, on Monday evening. Mr W. J. .Tonkins occupied the chair. The secretary read the report and cones- :

jwatloaea frt» the LnOy LiTflrjwot Committee, It Was dacidad to Whttributd SU 10s lUi« wonth. Mr 0, ii, Judd gnve a rGj»rt ef the delegates' meeting, ead it wits Ueoidad to call- a jiUbliO mooting for January- 11th iH ibo Sheffield Hall, t» discuss, ways afltl rtfiafia of Collecting the ritlißft's quota U> the Patriotic Fufld. A SpOFil aB«l Bhow progfaftune tfere drawn iij* far TAi~TAru\ At the iaet meeting of the Ellesiuere Lands Drainage Board, there were present: Messrs Morten, Osborne, 3liller, Macartney, Sharp, and Peryman. Mr Morten was nnanimously re-elected chairman. A letter was received from O. Derriil, offering to clean certain drains at a stated price. The clerk was asked to inspect and report. It was resolved to give notice to occupiers of land adjoining Hart's creek, to clean it out immediately. The clerk reported thut th'e dredge was doing good work, having covered the last milo in thirtysix days. DA 11 FIELD. Harvest prospects in the Darfield district, ana between Darfield and the mountains, though not particularly bright, appear to be much better than j nearer the coast. The rainfall for the year has been abnormally low, loss than loin being recorded to date. During October and the earlier part of November, however, about 4in fell at intervals, with the resuit that wheat crops showed remarkable development. What showers have fallen in the past month have been quickly dissipated by high winds, and rain is now badly needed, otherwise the cars will be poorly tilled. Until threshing, it is difficult to estimate the amount of damage done by the heavy frost experienced in November, but, generally speaking, the. district appears to have escaped much better than other parts. One or two splendid crops, however, were completely ruined- Earlier in the season at least one large paddock of wheat had to he ploughed in owing to the depredations of the grub, but en the whole this pest does not seem to have been prevalent.

Tho outlook for oat. crops is decidedly bad, though the area sown is Mot largo. Late crops arc to short as to bo hardly Avorth cutting. Earlier-sown paddocks arc better, but arc ripening very early, and naturally attract tho attentions of the small bird pest, Owing to this, some of the best crops in tho district Aviil have to be cut at once for chaff. Birds arc said to be avoi-su than ever, and apparently too much reliance is being placed on poisoned jirain as a means of getting rid of them. Grass ha« held out fairly well so far, but is ranidly going off, A heavy rainfall Avithm tne. next few days would probably not be too late to save the eituation and assure a fair average return ; without it. harvesting trill be general by tho end of tho month, and the Aicld will ho verv light.

SPRINGFIELD. On Friday evening an entertainment in connexion Avith tlic TnAvera I'atriytic t Association tool; pluco in the Town Hall, Springfield. Mr O'Shaughnessy, chairman ol tho committee, presided. Stirring patriotic addresses Avero delivered by the Mayor of Chmtcjiurch and Mr G. T. Booth. Musical x iterns were given by Miss Hannam (2), Naismith, and Edna Atkinson and Mr Parry and Master Greaves. The entertainI racnb concluded with a farce bv tho | Springfield Dramatic Club. The "funds lot the Association benefited to tho .imounl of' !M3. | MET! I VEX. j On Saturday The Bristol Concert j Party motored to Methven and gaA'o a j concert in aid of tho Formers' yueen. There Ava» a splendid attendance, and a flag sold realised the sum of JCB-3. 'nils, in addition to the proceeds of the concert, Avill benefit tho Patriotic Fund to the extent of £100. Those assisting at the concert Avcre Misses Lulu and Doris Hankinson, MeMlames Hugh Hobos and IX. A. Home, and Messrs Hugh Hoblw, Walter Cooper, Charles Joil. A. Ji. .sntton, and Jf. A. Home.

ASHBURTON. On Tuesday evening Mr F. Jeary was tendered a i'arewell social by the choir of the Church of Christ, and presented with a wristlet watch. Mr Jeory left last night for Trenthani. Mr Charles Morrison (Asliburlon county engineer), has received'cabled advice that his son. Corporal Duncan Morrison, of the Wellington Mounted Rifles, i s in iiospital at Alexandria, wounded in the head. This is the second time Corporal Morrison has been wounded in tho head. The Ashburton Patriotic Troubadours gave a performance at Lyndhnrst on Tuesday evening in Messrs Friedlander Brothers' grain store. There was a large attendance. Durinc the evening a flag presented by Mrs W. J. Dickie was offered by auction. The proceeds from the sale of the flag, and several ciishjons and a mirror, amounted to Ti-na' t5, , P f fl *S ,)p;,1 « responsible for Lioo. Mr J. R. Brown gave a patriotic address.