Notes and Comments.

Feilding Star, Volume II, Issue 513, 26 March 1908, Page 2

Notes and Comments.

L'Skkul pamphlets by experts con- j tinuo to ooinc from the Department of | Agriculture. Bulletin >io. lis just j to hand from the Division of Live i Stock and Agriculture, and is from ! tho pen of Mr J. E. Barrett, horiculturist; of the Waerenga Experimental Station. Mr Barrett's subject is "Shelter Planting, with Special Reference to the Acacia and Eucalyptus Families and their Raising." It is a brief brochure, of ten pages, each of which is packed with practical advice, which impresses the reader as coming from a man who knows. As Mr Barrett says, it is needless to dilate at length upon the importance , of the systematic and scientific provision of shelter-belts on the farm or in the orchard. Every farmer in the district recognises that — but how I few of him act up to the recognition ! Not the least of the advantages of such shelters, apart from practical utility, is the enjoyment that is gained from them. Most people have Celt the difference to the eye conveyed by a well-wooded farm, with i its homestead, paddocks, and orchards ] protected from the inclemency of the ' elements, from that of the wind- \ swept wilderness where the homestead j is comfortless and cheerless, the stock cowering and miserable, and the orchard 01 garden devastated by the prevailing winds. And we will all agree with Mr Barrett that "with the judicious and proper provision of ! belts of trees the whole of the f axni ! may be transformed, the inhabitants enjoy 11 cosier environment, and tho | stock graze peacefully and undistmb- , cd." Our advice to readers of the 1 Stah is: Get Mr Barrett's bulletin, ', and read, mark, learn, and inwardly \ digest its contents — then go out and j plant the trees. There does not seem to be any falling ! away in the interest likely to be j taken in football in this district his season, judging from the tone- of last j night's meeting of the Feilding Football Club. There are no retirements of prominent members. Two or I three of last year's players have left . the district, but tho vacancies in the j senior team will most likely be filled ! by the promotion of junior players. , The movement to obtain a gymnasium i for training is a sensible one, and must have a beneficial influence on the physique of the members as well as upon the results of the matches tliey will be engaged in. The old ; saw that a sovmd body conduces to a sound mind is particularly applic- ; able to such a strenuous game as foot- j ball, so that the growing youth of the district cannot be said to be han- ; dicapped in the race for life by being better fitted for the strenuous con- j tests on the football field. There are j fewer games where there is so much ■ necessity for self-restraint than in ' that of football, and the best player is tlio oiui who learns on the field the lesson of life — that ho who desires to succeed must leani to control himself. We lioartily wish the local players a full measure of success in their contests during the coming season. j There could be no greater demonstration of the power and influence of the press than is recorded in our cablegrams to-day. Although they appeared to bo in the wrong by interrupting a speaker in the Reich- , stag, the whole of the members of the German Parliamentary Press Gal- . lery withdrew when Herr Groeher called tho . interrupters "piggish louts," and they refused to return and report the proceedings again until the offending deputy withdrew his offensive words. As there were 32 pressmen in this unique strike, the affair assumed some importance. To add to that importance, it happened that the great Chancellor of the Fatherland, Prince Von Buelow, had prepared a big policy speech — but what was the use of firing off his big gun when the agents of publicity were absent? So Deputy Groeber climbed down, apologised — and there j is peace and publicity in parliamen- ■ try circles in Germany once more. j