GOOD GREEN FEED.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 960, 29 October 1910, Page 8

GOOD GREEN FEED.

. IN MANGAONE VALLEY. (From Our Travelling Correspondent.) So far as my -wanderings indicate, the best place for grass is in the Mangaono Valley, .somo. seven or. eight miles irom Pahiatua. It was quite a nice change-to see paddocks with some feed in them. The flush..of grass bad tho usual; effect, sheep being very dirty; in fact,'it seemed as if a good . many had not been crutched. This is. surely ii mistake on the part of the owner, as.li-3 not only loses a certain amount of . wool, but his sheep are in a much worse condition towards shearing time,'. Ewes . with lambs- are specially bad when .they- have not been crutclied. I. often seo lambs with their heads in a solid black mass, of dirt.. It is bad farming to. sajr..tKe.;'lea&.:pf:it. . There were soine good turnip crops in the. Mangaone Valley, last season. Mr. Hodgins had one of. the best .which has been seen' for . yoars. • Also,- Mr. .Mark Caselberg had a crop 'which -many another'farmer would- have been glad of. This .gentleman has a : farm"of some 2000 acres,-g6od hills, .with limestone in them,, and" a considerable area' of f flats along the road. ' ; '

There was a scenic reserve in the valley, which has gone the way ; .of most s'cefiic reserves.' It had a .fire, through' ■it; though'in'this case .it was not merely accidental. It .'was becoming: full of weeds arid rubbish of all sorts,--and a harbour for' rabbits,-so one of.>the settlers obtained a.lease of it, lie set fire to the fern and, 1 rubbish,' and has sowed . the ground in' grass.;. It. certainly had .no claims to scenic beauty under its former state, but now it will, certainly prove to be of some use," even', if its'' ornamentation has departed. . . ,1 seo a good ' many of these so-called scenic' reserves which" should " never. 1 have, been set, aside, ,as s'oorie-v or; later a good many of them are ..destroyed by fire, accidentally or. other.wise. \Tlie .greatest objection; .which farmers have to them is that they, become .a breeding ground for. all sorts of noxious "weeds. There is no authority to keep the weeds down, they spread-to all the -'adjoining sections, and in , time can only .be called a menace to all;the settlers near by; Then, if it is'a Tabbit country, f the rabbits breed in the reserves. .'No doubt'some of the reserves are all;iight,-.biit in' many;cases they'are just the opposite.'