THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16147, 27 February 1918, Page 3

THE COUNTRY.

NEWS AND NOTES. I'ilE HA]{VEST. A .strong nor'-west gale blew at Ashburton yesierday, raising ciouds of dust, stripping tree* of brunches, and .shaking off considerable quantities of fruiti from heavily-laden tree*. From tlu» ] grain-grower's point of view the fierce, j scorching wind was a benefit, a.s, though. 1 it intorfered -with threshing, it- "was just what was wanted to dry 1 no sheaves oi! • a very considerable area of grain, which J has been in stook for a lengthened j period, and which had been in many instances soaked through with heavy rains. "While a largo area lias been leftin siook waiting for the threshing-mills, many farmers have got their grain s.ifcj ly in stack, and will be in no hurry to i thresh, mora especially as much of it I was stacked on tho damp side, and it I will be necessary t > allow it to remain in stack some considerable time beforo 1 it will bo jit to thresh. Opinions vary very considerably a> to ■what the average yield per acre for the whole of the A-hbiirton district, is going to be. and really no reliable cstimat* l " can be arrived at till the threshing-mill leturns are available. For instance, Mr Isaac Thompson, of Wakanui, has finished threshing, and his average all through is a highly gratifying one, a lot of his -wheat going as high as -l<> bushels per acre. This, however, is a long way above what the general average for this portion of the Ashburton district will be, ns other yields than those of Mr Thompson's have not reached 30 bushels per acrc. A lot of threshing has now been done on the Long- I beach Estate, but- so far it is not yielding up to early anticipations, though the most promising of the crops have yet to be threshed. JOTTINGS FOR FA KM EES. Alter witnessing the almost .human efforts of sheep dogs in the trials at recent agricultural shows, it is not at all impressing to hear of new feats performed by this olpver class.of dogs..(says the ''Rajigitikei Advocate'.'). Recently our representative had an opportunity of watching tho performance of a slice;* dog owned by Mr James McGregor, of Marton, in "tree-climbing. The dog, which is not twelve months old, climbed a pinus insigni.s tree to a height of about fifteen feet, and then jumped from the boughs to another tree close by, negotiating several trees in this manner. It had evidently learnt the feat by chasing cats up trees, and the cute manner in which it circled tho body of the tree in ascending was a treat to witness. RANGIORA. On Monday evening tue annual meeting of the JiJxcelsioi- Oddfellows Lodge/ or Past Grands was held at the Oddfellows' Hall. Tnero were seventeen members present, and lijo. I>. W. L. Mehrtons, president, was »u the chair. Jiro. T. jSottingham, a past-president, was presented witn a Past-Grand's I jewel. 'the remainder of the evew.-ig was occupied in discussing tlie principal .questions to be dealt with at the Ashley district meeting, and the J3.M.0. to bo held in Wellington at Easier. most attention being given to that, of the payment of sicn. benefit to soldier members. The annual meeting of the Rangiora Domain Board was jield last evening. There were present Messrs J. O. Jos'itig ; (chairman), JdL. Boyd, W. A. Banks, i'• Horrell, and J. W. foster. '1 lie report stated that during the year (wO pinus insignia trees had been planted on tho old racecourse reserve, and protecting fences erected at a total cost of Is 9d. 'J'hc balance-sheet, which was adopted, showed tho income to have been £41 17s Gd, which, with .£3l Ss brought forward, made a total ol : £73 os <xt. The expenditure amounted £36 7s Gd, leaving a credit balance of £30 18s. Mr Josdng was accorded a j vote of thanks tor his service*, as eliaii- j man, and lie was re-elected to the j office. Permission was granted to tho j Hangiora Golf Club to erect a pavilion j on tno racecourse reserve on a aitoj approved by the chairman. . ICAIAPOI. ! A meeting of the Board of Management of the Kaiapoi Technical Classes was held last nigut. Present—Messrs J. H. Blackwell (chairman), W. Doubleday, R. Dunn, T. Douds, and J. Brvden. The secretary reported that he hoped to make arrangements for the commencement of electrical classes, at which tlio j instructor would bo Mr Turner, of j Christchurch. Messrs Douds. Doubleday, I and I>unu were appointed a sub-commit- j tee to arrange for apparatus for an | electrical cookery class, to be conducted by Miss Trent. At- the Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr V. CI. Day, S.M., V illiaui Hartley, charged wan being drunk while in charge of a horse | and cart, was jined 10s and costs, j For procuring liquor during the eurI For procuring liquor during the cur- | rency of their prohibition orders. Nathan L. Thompson, jun., and Hannati Kearns were each convicted and ordered j to pay costs. HALSWELL. A veiy enjoyable concert was given at Hahwell on Saturday by Mr Vincent's concert party in aid of the Halswell branch of the Red Cross funds. AH the items were well received, especially the violin solo by Miss Gladys Vincentand the banjo >010 by Mr Bloy. Miss Lissack amused the audieuce with her ' elocution items, and the duets played by the Misses Grantham were excellent. Giik-spie. as a lady impersonator, was quite a success. Songs were contributed by 3lrs Vincent, the Misses Poundsford and il'iam.>, and Mr Kent and Mr Be:-by. The accompaniments were ably played by Miss Thompson. During tin; second half of tlie programme the lighting gave out in the hall, but members of the committee gotto work on tlie niant and >con had tii» hall light* going again. At the conclusion a hearty vole <>1 t)iati.';s was accorded the performers, who were atter-

ward* regaled with light refreshments. l >ro >''<?, e( l by the lady members of the Red C ros> Committee. At a meeting of the School Commit(w on Monday night, it was decided to hold the annual picnic at Sumner to- | morrow, it i« to he Imped that the , •weather will be propuiou- and that all j j will turn out to make the day enjoyable I • for the children. The pupil* of the i Roman Catholic school will, as hithorto. be invited to join the party. : sprixgstox. I On Sunday morning, in the Ellcs-1 mere Church, the Rev. Albert C. La wry ; conducted a memorial service to the late , Mr William Chamberlain, taking for his j text Romans 14, *7. "Xo man dietli unto himself The preacher stated, that during the "J4 years he had known j the deceased, his chief aim was to work j for the kingdom of God. Il was due j to Mr Chamberlain that the beautiful ; church at Kile-more had been built, so ' as to enable the people to have a place where thev might worship. At the - close "The Dead March" was played by Mr Donbleday, who presided at the : organ. ' AKAROA. 'Jhc lurinightly meeting of the I.oval i Good Intent Lodge was held on Mon-1 day. Urn. Fred. Davis (aeting-X.G.) ' presiding. The secretary tor the dis- j trict forwarded the order paper for the I annual meeting, to be hold in Lyttel- ! ton on March 14th. The various re- j rnits were discussed. Bros. Ilobt. . Bruce and Fred. Davis were appointed to net as the Lodge's and ! were ;>.!-n recommended to receive the ; Purple. Degree or Oddtellowship. Sick : pay was passed on hehnlf of two mem- ■ lteiv. i i Though at t'nc end of the summer j months the stream of vi>iuu\s to Aka- ; | roa steadily continues. Several of the t ! ncconimochuiou places report almost full : i houses, and that the bookings run well ! beyond Faster. \ j Saturday. Sunday, and Monday were ■ S throe of the wannest days we have had j ! litis season. The baths wer» well pat-; j ionised morning, noon, and night. The j ' dressing conveniences are severely over- ! ■ taxed in the hot weather. The Council ; j has provided scarce a dozen small rooms j jat the public baths. The Education | ; Board, it is stated, has been asked more I j than once to allow the outbuildings oil : the old school site to be turned' into ; dressing-sheds for the school children. | ! For reasons be.si known to thai august i j body, the request has each time been I ! lurued down. I ! The Rev. A. H. Julius. vicar of Aka- 1 i roa, returned home lust Friday alter :ui ! j extended stay in the -North Island, i | whither he had gone to reeuoeraie. lie ! !is vci'v niucli improved in health. ■ j j '