MASTERTON NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1310, 13 December 1911, Page 7

MASTERTON NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) Masterton, December 12. The fate of the fishponds of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society at Masterton has been determined in a somewhat unexpected manner. The society had been negotiating with the Renall trustees for the purchase of *he sito upon which tho ponds stand, but bad declined to pay the amount asked for it. Meanwhile, the Very Rev. Dean M*Kcnna made an offer for the site, and this has been accepted. The result will be that the society will have to remove its ponds in the course of a few months. It was hoped that arrangements might bo made for establishing the ponds in the Solway showgrounds, but it is thought that there is an insufficiency of water there. An effort will be made, however, to retain the hatcheries'in the Wairarapa. The committee of the Masterton A. and P. Association has recommended that Mr. J. D. Cruickshank, a former president of the association, \rho is now residing in Wellington, bo made a life member.

The Masterton A. and P. Association las 'decided to join the Royal Horticultural Society of England. The secretary has been instructed to forward the fee, and ask for certificates for the next show.

The canvass for special prizes :and.'trophies for the next show of the" Masterton A. and P. Association has met with a splendid, .response. No less a sum than £50 -in. was subscribed in the room at Saturday's meeting of the committee. Eight sheaiers, who had been engaged to shear on Brancepoth Station, near Masterton, refused to work unless they were paid 2s. 6d. per hundred more than the ruling rate. The grounds for the demand were that the sheep were in a dirty condition. The shed manager refused the demand, and the men loft. Other shearers have since beou procured at tho original terms from tho West Coast. The failure of the men to start is held.to have, constituted a' strike, and the matter is being reported to the Labour Department, with n view to prosecution. "

At the inaugural meeting of the WaiTarapa Presbytery, held here to-day, the visitors were entertained at luncheon and welcomed by local ministers.' At a meeting held subsequently, tho Rev. G. K. Stowell (South Wairarapa) was elected modeiator, and the Rev. A. T. Thompson clerk. A garden party was held in tho afternoon, and a large public meeting in the evening. Among those present was the Rev. ,T.' Ross, .who inaugurated tho Masterton Presbyterian Church over forty years ago.