OKAIAWA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 7 October 1913, Page 6

OKAIAWA.

(From Otjr Own Correspondent.)

The exceptionally mild, quiet, and dry spring which we are enjoying has *een the subject of general comment throughout the district and is quite the opposite to what we were promised .some months back, when a prophecy appeared in the papers to the effect that we were to have an exceptionally wet spring and early summer. The almost entire absence of the usual boisterous winds has been a pleasant change, although there has at times been rather too little wind for those •who depend upon it to draw water for their stock. The, country everywhere is in great fettle, and the season is fully a month ahead of last yaer. A week ago I travelled up the Manaia road as far as the Opunake-Stratford road, and never have i seen the country up that way looking so well. All classes of stock are in keeping with the season, and are in snlendid condition. /The cows are milking heavily, ■ although, as is to be expected, the tests are on the low side. Suppliers, as a rule,- growl when, their tests go down, hut it has been proved that the factory tests are pretty reliable, bev«ral settlers in this district who were not satisfied took samples of their milk and had them tested elsewhere, the results being identical with those obtained at the factory. . •A striking example of the good _iesults from the expenditure of >a little elbow-grease is to be seen in. a paadock near Kapuni. This paddock - for many years grew nothing but rushes. ' Some little time back the rushes were spaded off and burnt, the paddock ploughed up and laid down in grass, and it is now one of the best paddocks to be seen in the district. 1 Fruit trees have been, and are still, a magnificent sighf with their wealth of blossom. Blossoming. time is one of the most critical periods m truit culture, and as the- season, has. been so favorable, orchardists were looking forward to an extra bountiful crop this Tear. So far as the plum trees are Concerned, however, this hope will be rudely dispelled if all the trees are In the same condition as .-those which have come under my notice. Although the trees blossomed remarkably well under exceptionally favorable conditions, for some inexplicable reason the fruit has not set at all well, and some trees will be practically bare of fruit. Kb is to be hoped that the other vaneties of fruit trees will not show the -same deficiency. . , Speaking of flowers, there is a flowering shrub which is not seen in many gardens —the Japanese flowering ciierrv This is one of the most lovely flowering shrubs which I have ever seen I am the fortunate possesor: of one. It is now coming into flower, and will be at its best during the present week, and I have much pleasure in inviting any lovers of flowers to come along to see it. It is worth coins; a long way to see. On Saturday evening it is customary for a number of settlers to gather at tHe local stores and' exchange experiences and chat over old times, although it is noticeable that they now watch the hands of the cloeU a little more attentively than they did a couple ot months back, and the township is practically deserted by 9 o'clock. -lour Own was among one of these gatherings a week or two back, when one of the number produced an old photograph of the first building erected upon the site of the present butter factory. The staff consisted of a manager and first assistant, the owner of the photograph occupying the latter position. "This gentleman had many interesting anecdotes to tell of the early experiences in factory work, of the tricks resorted to by some of the suppliers, and of prices and wages, he himself receiving the handsome salary of "fifteen bob a week," and considering himself lucky to get it. And yet many of the factory workers of the present time are not satisfied with three times that amount.

I have just recieved my annual communication from the W aim ate County Council, asking for my share towards the upkeep of the roads and bridges. The effect of the recent valuations is to be seen therein, and my rates amount to just upon four shillings per acre. Together with land and other taxes and toll-gate charges, I think that Waimate ratepayers have to dip their hands fairly deep into their pockets, and we are now paying in rates and taxes an amount just about equal to what we at one time paid in rent. In" asking us to contribute to the cost of the upkeep of their roads, I don't think our Hawera friends have looked at the position at all fairly. Hawera has a railway, and the cost of getting goods to ana from the station amounts to a mere bagatelle in comparison to what we have to pay. The sooner the railway comes to Manaia —and I have it on the best of authority that it will come to Manaia —the better for the settlers who live on the westward side of the tollgates. The bank manager was leaving the district, and a number of clients assembled in the "sweating-room" to bid him farewell and present him with a little memento in recognition of his •courteous consideration. "When it was all over and the gathering had left the building one of them remarked: "I never turned a hair, and it is the first time I have ever been in that .room without doing so."