NORTH CANTERBURY.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18921, 9 February 1927, Page 3

NORTH CANTERBURY.

RANGIORA. A meeting of tho committee appointed to receive nominations for tho position of ni/iid of honour to tho farmers' queen at tho forthcoming Queen Carnival in connexion with tho military tattoo was held at tho Northern A. and P. Association hall yesterday cwiiooii. .Mr J. Stevenson presided. Mr G. G. Denniston, secretary of the Canterbury A. and P. Association, attended anil reported progress in other districts. Owing to farmers being very busy with thir harvest, there was not a largo attendance. The chairman reported that tho meeting called, in Kaiapoi to nominate n maid of honour had lapsed and no information had been received from Oxford. Mrs H. Little had been nominated, however, for tho Hurunui electorate. Miss Marjorie Carpenter, older daughter of Mr A. M. Carpenter, Pernside, was unanimously elected maid of honour for tho Kaiapoi electorate. Mr H. Scott and Mrs Scott, of Wellington, are visiting friends in liangiora.

LEITHFIELD. The celebrations in connexion with the Leithficld Amateur Swimming Club's annual inter-club carnival wero continued on Saturday evening, when it dance) was held in the Odeifcllows' Hall. There was a largo attendance of elanccrs from far and near, including several from Christchurch, Sumner, Wnipara, Sefton, Aniberlcy, Balcairn, and Duncdin. Tho success of the evening was largclv due to tho music supiicd bv Mrs'F. Traill (Leithficld), .Miss I. Hymcs (Sumner), Messrs J. L. White and H. Coulter, of Christchurch, and H. G. Traill, of Leithfield, as well as to the untiring efforts of the M.C.'s, Messrs. J. W. Sarich and H. May, who kept tho dances following in quick succession. During the evening .Miss Agassis, of Christchurch, contributed two songs to an appreciative audience. The weather for the past week has l>ccn extremely hot, and pasture lands have a very* dricel-up appearance, while the danger of fire is great. Monday, however, was not so trying, the temperature being consielcrably lower with a cool easterly breeze blowing in from the sea. A steady rainfall would bo beneficial. Most of the cereal crops are cither in stook or stacked, and some threshing has been done.

LADBROOfiS. The weather during the last three weeks has been all that could be desired for harvesting, which is in full swing, and the reapers and binders and threshing mills aro kept going from daylight till dark The average yield in the district up to the present is: wheat 3.1 bushel* ami oats .*>o bushels to the acre. The wheat tields have been very disappointing up to the present. The number of oatensheaf stacks is a record. Owinu to the very dry weather the potato crops are. in a great many cases, showing n second growth, which, i:nle>* rai.'i soon comes, will I>e serious. The country is bearing a very parched and brown appearance, and the outlook for winter feed is causing the dairyfarmer considerable anxiety. During the last week large quantities of barley have been sent forward, alto several small lines of oats and wheat. Mr and Mrs Lowden and family, who have been paying n visit to Mr and Mrs Yates, returned home to Bnlclutha vesterdav. .Mrs Cunningham (Pur.cdin) is at present on a visit to Mr and Mrs w. Turner (Ladbrooks).

BELFAST. Tho annual meeting of householders in the district of Belfast, was held on Monday evening for the purpose of receiving tho report and balance-sheet. The report showed that during the past year tho Town Hall and Library nad been thoroughly renovated at a cost of £29G, and the building was now in splendid order. Tho balance-sheet showed a credit balance of over £6O, although the receipts for the past year had fallen some £l4 compared with the previous year. Mr E. J. Wotton was voted to the chair for the public meeting, and votes of thanks were carried tj the auditor, Mr R. Hall, and tj the members of the outgoing com- . tee. Mr Wotton, who has been a member of the committee for the past twenty-five years, declined nomination on this occasion. During his long term, Mr Wotton had been chairman for the greater part of tho time, and it was largely due to his efforts that the finances of the hall wero in such a sound position. The election of a committee resulted as follows:—Messrs J. Baker. G. Brown, C. Brice. J. P. Campbell, R. Halligan, J. Halligan, T. Morton, B. Richards, and P. Thomas. At a subsequent meeting of the committee. Mr 'J. Halligan was elected chairman, and Mr G. Brown deputy chairman and treasurer.

On Monday, the children attending the Belfast Schools held their annual picnic at Little River. This everpopular outing with the children met with a greater measure of success than ever, there being a record attendance. The catering for the children's amusement left nothing to" be desired, and thanks to Mr J. Don, the secretary> and an enthusiastic committee, every one had a good time.

HORORATA. Farmers have been very busy early and late during the past few days, endeavouring to get all their crops harvested while the fine weather lasts. The bulk of the oat crop in the district is now cut. A fair amount of wheat has already been cut, and it 'is. predicted that this season's yields will be very satisfactory. Threshing mills are busy stook threshing in the neighbourhood, and some good yields have been reported. The very'fine weather with several exceptionally hot days has dried the pastures considerably, and green feed is not plentiful. Consequently dairy cows are not as profitable as they were a few weeks ago. Mr Lewis, of Lecston, and an ex-post-al official at Hororata, has been visiting Hororata. Mr J. Judge has returned, after an extended holiday, spent at New Brighton..

During tho week-end the Hororata tennis team visited Lake Coleridge to plav a friendly game of tennis, which resulted in a win for Hororata. Several residents of the district are commenting on the thousands of fish which arc dying in the Sehvyn river, owing to the dry weather drying up the watt in the holes.

LEESTON. A meeting of the Leeston School Committee was held on Monday evening, Mr 1). H. Keid presiding. Mr D. Jones, M.P.. forwarded a copy of a telegram received from the Minister for Education stating that the matter tf additions to the school was not sufficiently high on the Canterbury Education" Board's list of works to receive consideration for the present. He had nothing more favourable to state at the time. The committee considered the time opportune to make strong representations to hurry .matters .forward,

as it had been waiting for years for the remodelling to be commenced. With regard to tho consolidation of schools in the Ellesmcre district, the Minister wrote that the correct proceduro was for the committee to place the request for consolidation before the Education Board, to be considered by tho Board, and then referred to tho Department, together with the Board's recommendations. It was stated that the people of Lakeside favoured consolidation, and that possibly other schools, including Killinchy, would also support it. On the proposal of Mr P. Townshend, it was agreed to invito tho committees of the Lakeside, Doyleston, Killinchy, and Brookside schools, to meet tho Leeston Committee on February 25th to discuss the subject. Until the wishes of other schoolß with regard to consolidation were known, it was agreed to delay for a short" time, tho sending of a deputation to the Education Board regarding remodelling. Hegardjng the finances of thß combined picnic, in which the school participated, it was stated that there was a small debit, which would bo divided by the contributing committees for payment. A final settlement of accounts had not yet been made.