CHATTON.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 11, Issue 821, 2 November 1888, Page 6

CHATTON.

(Prom ouf own Correspondent), Subjeot : Weather — quality : beastly. Such is a fair description of what we are having at present and what for 1 the want o£ any more suitable nomen we shortly denominate weather, r -Che season opened fair and moat promising, but alas, too soon, we cried. 'What fine spring weather we are having/ The change has come, and that with ■ a fine subtle vengeance, tijae honpres and well recognised as worthy of o,ur faip island home, We can have too much rain, b#t at the same time I doubt not that with all our ram we are wiles before the Australian folk ia $he patter of pliniate, Farmers are well on with all the season's work. t The oats and wheat are out in braird and looking fairly healthy. A considerable area is again sown in the staple production of the district — oats. Grass sowing will now receive some attention. Most of our farmers believe in sowing out grass in the two following months, believing, and rightly so, that earlier sowing, in case of a sudden . change to oold wet weather, tends in the majority of cases to kill the small seeds before they are properly rooted in the soil. Some farmers may not be aware that small seeds* such as timothy, white and red clover, alayke, cow grass, and nuiner? ous other varieties Irequire little if any rain, providing the soil is moist to germinate and start them on the successful path of plant life. Kain in large quantities, or even a superabundance of moisture, too suddenly expands the enclosing capsule of the seed, which bursts before the eleyjeat*

of life principle within fcaa titoe to appreciate the altered condition of its situation, and so the strange, unrecognisable germ of life perishes, even before it sees the light of the great luminary. This is a ftcb worthy of attention by agriculiuiists on account of the large qu -mimes of seed practica'ly wasttd by being sown annually uatU'.r the above circumstances. The lambing season is well on and a fair per c ntage is the result, but we cannot come within miles of, 1 think, your Longridge correspondent with his 219 per cent. Just fancy, oh ye gods, wh • t such a return represents—prosperity to all. Our people, at least the draught playing portion, are busy preparing for another drubbing:. They will get ib sure enough from the Gordon team, which is in active practice and is withal a strong combination.