LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3134, 11 September 1922, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The attention of intending tenderers for mail services are re minded that tenders close at the Chief Post Office, Dunedin, at noon on the Ilth inst. Pathe Gazette, "The Rent Collector" (Comedy), and "Good References," is the programme at Hull's Pictures on Thursday night. This is a fascinating comedy, in which saucy Connie Talmadge plays the demon of mischief. A Larry Semon Comedy adds great attraction to the programme. The annual Ball of the Matakanui Football Club takes place in the Peace Hall on Wednesday night of this week. A local farmer with nearly halt a century's experience behind him says the past winter has been the easiest on stock in his experience. The dryness and exemption from piercingly cold winds has been as great a factor as the plentiful supply of feed, with the result mortality has been at an extremely low point, and stock are at the end of winter in A I condition, with \n mos{ instances supplementary feed to waste- Otautau Standard. A meeting of the Clyde Football Club is called for Friday night at S o'clock.

No lime is being lost by the Co operative Fruitgrowers of Otago,. in putting to use its new purchase, known as the Peir Hotel property, fronting Jetty,. Bond, and Crawford Streets. Plans are being prepared for the erection of a modern two-storied building of reinforced concrete th it will cover the whole area. The lighting is to be a specialty. Provision will be made for adding another story later on. Anscombe and Associates are to be the Architects In connection with the export "of apples and pears last season, the Govt, guaranteed growers a penny par lb up to ioo 000 boxes. Taking into ; ecount all expenses, this made a total by the Govt guarantee of between ibs 6d and 17s per box. The Home market proved variable. Full particulars as to prices realised are not available yet; but (says an Association telegram) it is certain that considerable claims on the guarantee will have to be met. The Govt, has given careful consideration to the position of the growers in the matter of next season's export, and realising that soma guarantee is practically necessary to enable exporters to tide over the long period between the despatch of the fruit and receipt of the account sales, has decided to guarantee the actual expenses incurred, not including anything for the fruit hself, and not exceeding us box. The guarantee is limited to 100,000 boxes, and will be confined to apples only. Reports as to Central Otago apples are to the eflect that supplies of sturrriers are up to the ordinary quantity and that these apples are keeping well, whilst there is excellent promise as to the Democrats and Rokewoods that are to follow. It is expected that these Central Otago apples will last until the American apples arrive in November, Of Otago pears there are only a few left. Otago does not produce pears to the same extent as Canterbury does. Not much planting is going on in the Otago orchards this year. The orders to the nurseries are mostly for replacings or filling in odd corners that are to be brought under cultivation. What is known as upsetting the balance of Nature is indicated in a rsmarkable manner by the introduction "of trout into the streams of t\ T ew Zealand (says the 'Argus'). For thousands of years tne aquatic life in these streams had not been molested by anything so voracious as trout, andthe fish, in a few years oi acclimatisation, have almost completely cleared the waters of natural food. To restore the balance and save the trout from starvation, an interestiug experiment is being conducted in the importation of tresh-water shrimps to New Zealand from the Victorian Fisheries and Game Dept. Mr F. Lewis, chief inspector of the Victorian Dept. stated that the first consignment of shrimps sent to Dunedin a few months ago had met with disaster, the severe winter having frozen them. The experiment had been repeated with a consignment of about i.ooo shrimps taken from the Yarra near Studley Park. These shrimps breed, like all crustaceans, verv rapidly and it was the intention of the New Zealand Dept. to liberate them in breeding ponds to obtain a regular source of supply for feeding trout throughout the dominion. There was every reason to believe, JVIr Lewis said, that the Victorian shrimp would take kindly to New Zealand waters, and save the finest of all sporting fishes from dying out. The much maligned Californian thistle has at least one good use (says the Taranaki Daily News). Hr H. W. Giling, Govt, apairy inspector, in an informal chat at New Plymouth, said that despite the poor crop of honey last season, he had found one man in the ■Taihape district who said he a record production last year, and en investigation he found that this was due to a large patch of Californian thistle in the vicinity. Though not so full * flavoured as the best quality article, still the honey obtained was quite good. "Trainee! What a word—half English, hall French—a hybrid that's what it is," stated Mr Wyvern Wiison, S. M., to a Territorial officer in the Magistrate's Court at Christchurch (reports the 'Sun'). "There is a better name. The person being trained is a unit. I suppose you call yourself a trainer. I hope I won't hear trainee in connection with defence prosecutions in the future." A Sure Investment. To the Farmer a Car is essential as it saves time and money in many ways, if the Doctor is wanted urgently, if the Binder breaks, For going to Sales, For a Holiday Trip, the Car is always ready. The Ford is the cheapest to buy and run. Todd Bros. Ltd. Agents. William Henry Terry, liquidator of the Gisborne Farmers Co-operative Company pleaded guilty to the conversion to his own use of £1,656, and was committed for sentence, reports a Gisborne telegram, Mr W. A. Scott; who has recently returned from a tour of New Zealand, says that whilst in the North Island ha made inquiries as to the methods of bowl-testing, and found that there was a tendency to adopt the table test instead of the green test, the reason apparently being, that the table test can be made at any season of the year. But he ventures to predict, from what he has heard and seen, that in a short time the northern men will come back to the green test, which he says is the more satisfactory as ensuring accuracy. Amongst the curios sold at Messrs Steven's Convent Garden Auction rooms last week (says the Wellington London correspondent, writing on jfty 27th). was a rather good specimen of a smoked Maori head. It was » that of a young man, and was in an exceptionally fine state of preservation. To the expert eye, however, it was evident that some of the tattoo markings had beep added after the owner of the head had been killed. For this reason, therefore, it changed hands afe the comparatively low price of £jo.