THE DROUGHT IN THE COUNTRY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 123, 17 February 1908, Page 6

THE DROUGHT IN THE COUNTRY.

RAIN AT WAIROA. . (BT TELEGBAPH—PEESS ASSOCIATION.) ~ : ' Wairoa, February 16. ■ Further good rains have removed anxiety for the pastures, and for newly-sown' l grass country. > DRIZZLE AT MASTERTON. ■ / (iT.OJI OUB SrECIAL-CORRESPONDENT.) Mastorton, February 15. < Thei weather ' is overcast, and a slight drizzling rain has set in. FEATHERBTON. The continued dry weather is having a serious effect in this district. -' 11l mail/instances stock are being disposed of at what price they Will fetch. ■ ' This . has boeu rendered necessary, as the-majority Zof farlnors arc short of feed, and. many: have.lost through fires. Should a good - rain' fall within - the next few hours -it would considerably brighten .the prospect. of winter feed. - ■ Tho milk supply at the various factories has - decreased, and the staffs are 'conssquently 'being reduced. Indications point to its beiug a hard winter .for. the majority of tho small farmors. ' CREYTOWN. The continued dry weather is causing i serious loss to the farmers 111 this district The feed naturally is ■ very scal-ce,' and 'as a result the - Greytowu 'cheese : factory will close down at least a month earlier than usual. . .' ■ . • • ■ . The crops generally are small. Horse and cattle feed dear this' winter. Farmers who caii-aje holding on to their corn 1 , etc.-, for-a rise lateri' Cocksfoot-grass seed is in good demand for those who have had fires, whether intentionally '.or accidentally, and this will tend to increase the price later. : At'preserit it is being sold at 7d. a pound. A large farmer hero has pressed all his hay, and stored it for later sale, anticipating the rise. OTAKI. ■ /.I ■' .The long spell of dry weather is having a disastrous effect on the feedin this district/ and the usually verdant country is now a scene _of desolation, and right throughout grass is as dry as tinder. - Cows that were giving large supplies of milk at the beginning of the season,'and which still should be doing well, have'been dried off, in consequence of the shortage of. fodder, and thus the farmers are experiencing heavy losses;' In ; many places the streams, are just trickling over the stones, while: the Ohau River appears as a creek of small dimensions, and for many miles can be' steppod across, Tho Otaki River, is also low. 1

■, In • many -households iii' the town-there is an absence of water, and should a fire break out a serious conflagration must result as residents would be powerless. There, is' no water supply, and no means oven of coping with a small fire. ■