Notes and Comments.

Feilding Star, Volume II, Issue 532, 27 March 1908, Page 2

Notes and Comments.

The Manawatu Times, the editor of which professes to have the keenest regard for the welfare of Feilding, plays the part of the Candid Friend to this district at great length in an editorial article this morning on the question of the rumoured sidetracking of Feilding in connection with the Main Trunk train.. In one sentence the Times raises our hopes that it is an honest advocate of Feilding's claims, and in the next it dashes those hopes to the ground. And in the end it is papable that our friendly enemy is holding a brief for the Railway Department, which has never treated Feilding on its merits. The Premier could not leave Auckland without firing a parting shot at the Leader of the Opposition, in reply to Mr Massey's recent reply to the Premier's previous speech iii the Queen City. And the Head of the Government fired broadsides into the enemy, with diversions in the way of volley/-* of statistics. Who said Coalition? Not I! exclaimed Sir Joseph. Not I ! says Mr Massey. "The line of demarkatio'n," said the Premier, "was clearly defined, and the project, which liad been discussed, need not bo seriously considered." That kills and buries the Coalition Coon. Socialism ? Sir Joseph wore the look of the poet who was "Not Understood." Mr Massey was wiong, for "the Government Socialism had never been revolutionory. It hnd done more for the small farmer than any previous legislation. The Government opposed that revolutionary Socialism which

destroyed individual effort." And it was quito unfair for Mr Massey to pin the tag "Land Nationalises" on the tail of tho Government dog and send it clattering through tho country. "Tho Government was not in favour of land nationalisation or single tax. Land nationalisation meant tho taking of private land by confiscation or otherwise, and voting it to the nation. The Land Act did not nationalise or seek to nationalise land. It aimed at reserving some land already belonging to the people for the people." As to the way Mr Massey was pushing the Government along in the matter of closer settlement, "the Government desired that every section should be thoroughly surveyed and road access provided. The whole survey staff was engaged, and every effort was being made to put all suitablo lands on the market at tlio earliest moment. It was impossible to obtain additional surveyors." And at the end of it all Sir Joseph got the same reward as Mr Massey — a vote of thanks and confidence. Good old, ever faithful, hit or miss t. and c. ! Yet another valuable bulletin comes to us from the Agricultural Department, the latest being on "Poultry and Eggs for Market and Export," by Mr D. D. Hyde, Chief Poultry Expert. This very useful and simply written work has been so much in demand that it is now in its fifth edition. In the preface to this edition Mr Hyde says "poultry-keep-ing is full of details — attend to these, and success will follow." And tho expert has certainly followed his own axiom in compiling his work, for its fifty pages are as full of information as is an egg of meat. The bulletin is -intended as a handy guide for farmers and others in practical methods of poultry-keeping. It is only in recent years that much attention has been given in New Zealand to poultry-rearing on a large scale, and it is not always recognised that a good deal of knowledge^ as well as industry, is required to insure success. With good management, poultry-keep-ing will givo steady cash returns at an early period after embarking in the enterprise, and no other class of stock will give so much profit on the capital invested as poultry will. It should go hand-in-hand with .dairying, also with fruit-growing and bee-culture. In addition to their direct pre fit, poultry arc valuable on the farm in enriching the soil or restoring impoverished soil to a fertile condition; in tho orchard they search for and devour insects of all kinds, and not a grub will escape them. If theso facts impress our readers — send for Mr Hyde's bulletin. In view of the present cosy, "comfy," stay-in-bed weather, not a few Feilding folks will be delighted to learn that the shock of immediate rising in tlio morning may produce insanity, and that a wakeful rest in bed is necessary for one's health before getting up. This great truth has long been recognised by thousands of people, but it remains for Dr. Savary, the scientist, to give it scientific corroboration. The members of tho French Academy of Science nearly ,-inilfd at their sitting last month when Dr. Savary warned them of the grave dangers arising from immodhito rising. 'Die strenuous business man who is called at an early hour, and bolts from his bed to his bath as soon as he opens his oys, renders himself liable to a number of ailments, including madness. According to Dr. .Savary, it is absolutely necessary for every one to rest in bed for .at least twenty minutes, after being called, beforo getting up. "Just another snooze" will now bo the proper tiling — and our clocks will have to Infixed with two alarms! Sleep a !a Savary is just all right. Feilding lias been exceedingly fortunate during the past week in the quality of tlio weather that has happened along tliis way. Auckland, Taranaki, Poverty Bay, Hawke's Bay, the Wairarapa, and Wellington had either very heavy gales or exceptionally heavy falls of rain; atod. as a telegram published in anotlap* column to-day records, Gisborne. hai had no less than eleven inches of wet during this month— and with five more days to go there may be another inch or two to add to the record. Gisborne s ■ average rainfall for March is only four Inches. Feilding farmers are apt to complain that .Jupiter Pluvius pays too much attention to this district, but he has had his wateringcan diverted elsewhere this month. o———29—mm — — B3BM°*l