TOKAORA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 4 January 1924, Page 6

TOKAORA.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

PERSONAL. ' At the last A. and P. Show held in Hawera a farming friend introduced me to one- of his neighbours, giving my name and the norn de plume under which. I write to the Star. These names appeared foreign to him, but a bright thought struck him. "Oh, aye; he's the weather man." That--man, by- studying the rainfall, knew the benefits we in Taranaki enjoy by an evenly divided annual rainfall; in fact, Hawera is built ion our regular precipitation. The rain assists the grass to grow, the cow manufactures the grass into milk and j butter-fat, and then the human eleI naent comes in to convert the product of the grass into coin of the realm, which in due time goes to. build up those fine buildings in Hawera and to clothe the healthy population that live in and patronise your town. Even bank managers are governed by the rainfall. Let a settler try for an advance. A little bell is touched by that august person; an assistant is instructed to ring up the rain man, and if the report is favourable so will your request be favourably considered" or otherwise. If the reader doubts this statement just let him try the experiment. In my last report I predicted .a favourable Christmas Day, eating our dinners in shirt sleeves. I have been twitted that it rained on ChristI mas Day, and so it did in the fore--1 noon. No less than 31 tons of rain fell on every acre of land in Tokaora, and how we dairymen rejoiced to see that rain. It cleared up early, and I still ate my Christmas* pudding in shirt sleeves and contemplated how much more butter-fat extra I would be in a position to spend in Hawera ' 1 Kapai te rain! ' • RAINFALL STATISTICS. j During the month of December. I 1923, 1.30 i inches of rain fell on 12 < ( days, the. heaviest downpour being oil : the "7th with .42 inch, and on the 25th with .31' inch. In December, 1922, 2.42 inches fell on 15 days, the highest fall being .48 inch on the 2nd. For ' the same month in 1921, 4.06 inches fell on 15 days, the highest being 1.84 inches on the 12th. For December, 1920, 1.89 inches fell on nine days, the highest being .84 inch on the loth. In December, 1919, 1.53 inches fell on 11 days, with .37 inch on the 26th. In December, 1918, 3.26 inches fell on 18 days, with .92 inch on the 28th. JTor , the month of December, 1916, .49 inch fell on three days. '• The following January, rain fell on only four days. It may be noted before this long spell of fine,' rainless weather the November record was far above the average, and 4.65 inches fell, 1.08 inches being recorded on November 28 of that year. For the year 44.64 inches fell on 130 days. * , The following shows the annual rain- i fall for six years at Tokaora: 1923, 47.35 inches on 166 days; 1922, 40.18 inches on 159 days; 1921, 44.62 inches on 171 days; 1920, 55.53 inches on 146 days; 1919, 30.80 inches on 168 days; 1918, 44.00 inches on 187 days. The average will run about 43f inches annual rainfall for the past six years, or 43.744 inches while for the first six years of this century the average panned out at 42.15 inches, despite the cry that when the bush was cleared the rainfall would be les- ' sened. True, the water clears off the land much quicker now than when the bush was standing. A REAL DROUGHT. On Sunday last I went to see veteran Mr Wm. Wallace, now retired in Nolantown. We were comparing notes on dry seasons, and he pointed out that 38 years ago we had a record dry season. No rain worth mentioning fell from July to late the following January. Cattle, stores or fats, could not be given away, there being no cold storage available and no feed to keep the stock alive. I can remember the ground with great cracks and crumbling under your boots when walking over paddocks. A few that had ground waiting for rain put in I swedes late in January. They "had a good take, plenty of "tops, small but sound bulbs, and when it did start to ram it just teemed, and that is what is likely to happen. When the depression now north of New Zealand veers southwards then look out for rain squalls and mushrooms, for mushrooms only grow to perfection after a spell of dry weather* followed by mild rains. ACKNOWLEDGMENT. I am indebted to Mr Heathcote Livingston, Ohawe, for the above statistics, and to those records kept for many years by his father, the late Mr James Livingston.