THE DROUGHT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 122, 15 February 1908, Page 5

THE DROUGHT.

, OLOOMYOUTLOOK' IN THE COUNTRY

'BEPORTS FROM INLAND DIS

TKICTS

INTHE WAIRARAPA,

, (from our special CORRESPONDENTS.) 'v y ...: Jlie:drought in.the Wairarapa, writ<js,_'our i ocrrospondent, has now. lasted for fully threo months.■>. Day. has .followed day, and night - . tho night,: and still no rain. Tho grass is withering, and almost dried up; the leaves ,i of.tho overgreon trees aro greon no longer", ... and...tho -stock, roam helplessly ovor tho parched and yellow pastures -~, , There have, been times in the cool night ■ when tho barometer :has fallen, and tho clouds ihdve como up and-the-peoplo have .stated, "We must havo rain.'' 'Still,' it has never, cotne,' except once, or twice m a< fow tantalising ■ drops, • and now. it appears that everybody -has lost heart, land 13 making up his or her mind for the worst. . ; ■ ; , THE FIRE NIGHTMARE ' 1 .- ; ,; . Above all is tho nightmare 'of tlib-firo,,.the. : , fire- which to-day is . miles, awav, - ; and- tomorrow has' eaten ms up, leaving; behind ;-black areas of chaos and rum, ' Each day the : .fire danger becomes mora and inoro l apparent. The mountains :and- valleys are smoking -for miles, and,only a • wind toiswoop

• the'fires down'upon s the.unfortunate settlers - whose; sleep m* tho • night ■is never-settlei "now. " , A SILVER LINING Wlth. stock.ifalling i;iu- prico, no'feed t( opeak of,. decreasing milk supplies, and t ■i' : !^o.; ; winte r j' t6,' ; forward'.'to, •it woulc appear, that, thero was really no silver lmm[ to the trouble, but thoro is —tho demandant ! • the , prices for land still keep up. Land fealef J <f> *.hic.h, havo ,taken .place in .tho. l Wairai'apa : recently ,show, that there has been praeticallv no fall in .prices. On the other hand, the ■ percentage of increase in value still keeps up. -r ' J 'WHO WILL LOSE? his affected.dairy-farmers .■<:; ; ani] ; no doubt tho,:results' will bo/felt -.for many niohths;;. I, ' Farmers; supplying butter factories will bo severe losers, because, ~. al.thoiigh butter tho'gain ■ iiito':!tho ■ liockots' of'.those' who".contracted,,f ortho: supply. : Tho farmer is faced - -V-,by decreasing, milk returns, so ho loses both ways:;'.,Mr.j-.Windle, manager,of tho Master-' ine that tilings ■~ were v in;i a-,, very .. .bad way.. Tho cows were >, going ,dry, and..tho milk supply was about--33:1-3, per cent, less than it was last year.: - Feed*,up -.in . .tho.'. Bush, districts whero ■ the : ,Nikau»and:.jMangamairo - creameries of the ■ factory,,.were, stationed had been good,-but' ; ,, tho fires iwero now, in ,thoso places,' and the v: - supplies,.from,.thero .had fallen almost SO y per , oent.;Wo aro.now .making fourteon : , boxes of..:buttor;: a ,day,." .said Mr.: Wmdlo, '.'.when at tho. end of March last year wo •',7 .wjere; turning., piit : f _eighteeii, boxes] ;.whilo'. last J;; year; at .this, timo .'we 'were making, twenty- . one.vboxos daily. lV Assuming that wo havo practically..,to,closo our..factory two months >,^^lier^^nUisudj'lour<shdrtago!'^' : probably ; represent /fu11y,,£2500.",' ■!r ',li.

IN DALEFIELD. .-■<Mr.,M.;T. West, manager of tlie Dalefleld : cheese; factory, states that the, prospects for a-good season are poor. The ; milk supply ....- was now about.-800 gallons less than it was . . this timo last year;,-This represented cheese to . tho .valueof £20 -per. ■ clay, and, after . ■■■■•■■ making, duoallowance,tho imauagor, esti- .. mated shortage :,would-'• run: mlo fully iii., ' who sowed.,early,;crops,,aro. fairly, well prepared . , for: ,tho; winter, -but . thoso who have made a practice of ;wintering their ;stock would, bo >11 for,a vqry,'bad;cimo n there wouldvbo;,no,.feed; for,tho cows".' Mr. West •if. istaies;jthat\th6-hdtdry..may!,,close)',down per-1 •■ ■ haps.-.two; weeks, oarlier,..than. ,iq. previous I . years,-but ..no . earhor. , Dalefield land was

, swampy,:: and. grass, oame along vory. quickly, • notwithstanding that a large number of wells were.dry ih'the-.district.- • - .. ~ . !*: " IN 1 BELVEDERE ... , Mr.,.' Williams, .manager: of the Belvedere .■■ chc«se,factory, says that .his sliortagOrthis. seaspn,/will: be fifty/tons, 'represehtv: ing; about .£3OOO worth-of, cheese.- The fac- ; tory was running/at ; 800 gallons a day less -than,last year;,. " Our .worst, trouble,", said .. tno.jnianagoi,,is that havo no water now at the factory. Wo uso about 120' r -,.v gall.ons!of .water a day,.and.this wo get from .'.-the Maungatarera,.which has now gone dry -i.-: in; places. .-.Tho,.water is not: too good, and it is, now:,pioposcd .that -tho dairy-farmers , themselves shall supply the., factory with , - wator.-.ftom their ..wells. .;,.This will mean an , increase ,of labour .to- the:-'suppliers,! hut the burden-will- have to .bo borne. Mr. IWilliams states .that if ram comes in tho next-iourtcen days vthe.i situation may, be saved so far as ,tho, milk; supply is concerned. He remombers, .. ho, says, that; onco, ;eloven years ago, when , ■ thero. was <a, drought,, not so. sovero as now, .but *-.still,- - severe,;;, tho 11 ram came, and the . pastures sprang tip so.much in May that the .; fnctory ; ,had, to work two more extra vats Speaking .with.rofercnco to winter prospects, ''- ;- 'Mr;ijWilliams; thought, that .dairy-farmers in .; his, district-would faro.badly. ■ Hay'.crops'had . ■ not boon-too good, and straw could not now bo bought, , largo, quantities having been cut up into chaff. ■ ■ TOTAL CHEESE SHORTAGE. .... _ So. the.. Wairarapa• is• concerned, tho ,: v £20^ ■■ i n :- c he e so/will possibly,:.amount. to! PAHIATUA. ::: ..Although the ./towrispeopio::and holiday- . ..makers are/enjoynie' tho long-continued dry V: weather, one and all, are looking ''for ■ fain,- as- ... undoubtedly .-the /Want''of 'if is becoming a s e , no «3 ; matter with:numbers in tho' district. Ihero will be very little of a fruit crop this •' y eai V- ? n( l vegetable glowers aro not in a , • much; ' better ; plight," while' it is doubtful' if •1?, 'a '.single>crop of late potatoes .... worth having m tbb district.

' IN THE MANAV/ATU. (BY TBLEGBAni—SPECIAI, CORRESPONDENT.) ,; , . Palmerston North, February 14. The effect of the, continued spell of dry . . . weather was. practically tho 1 only topic 'at the . Feilding sale to-day; From all quarters complaints were , hoard, , and the yards were '''■ largely filled with'' sheep which the owner's were compelled to sell. Although thero has been a considerable drop in the market valuo .still the prices realised to-day were moro than farmers expected. ... ;is. common talk amongst settlers 'that. , . stock—if'woather continues dry for another <. ■ fortnight—will have to bo rushed into the market and sacrificed. . . . oat,, crops still romam unharvested, /. v -,and.the. straw'is very short. ,'■■:■' that ' he" has obsorved several cases whoro stock have been reduced owing to insufficient feed. ■j,.1 he greatest tioublo of.all is the absence of watel- for stock.. The Oroua aud Manawatu Kiveis aie lower than they have been for years. CARTERTON. mi' The . drought still .holds pitiless 1 hough heavy.clouds roll up every evening, •Sir' Ox J? r n }° t r { lln 2 shows unbroken sun again.' ,iho. Naiohino. and . AYainguwa rivers are • now-/stringsof pools connected with "mere " : °. > .0110 can - walk across without getting wet,.,over.'the boot tops, fish.' ore> .lying ..dead .. along the banks—. . smothered by smoke and ashes. - Ono station-owner states that as a result of. drought, and bush .fires he will have to spend-£ISOO, on .grass alone. : ■■j I" ®n interview with a'runliolder I.loarnt that thero is at. present, plenty of dry food, and where thirf is coupled with 'plenty of ■ water stock are doing well, v Should heavy warm rain fall .shortly, there Will; bo abundance. of .winter feed, whilo there is shelter under. the longer herbago for tho young grass,but i should- no rain fall . beforo the : .autumn' the frosts will check tho growth, and the outlook becomo serious. :■'•■■

The :.market for •' stock is : paralysed. Tho pastures can carry their present st-ock, but there j's no overplus of buyers dare not. operate. .Turnip crops are in a precarious position, and there is no rape. Straw and hay, too, will bo scarce and dear« "V