The Ensign. GORE : THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1898. AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 458, 14 July 1898, Page 2

The Ensign. GORE : THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1898. AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

- . . (By a Pbacticai. Fahmeh), Accostomed though they are to the vagaries of a peculiar climate, farmers will perpusD m talking about changes as if they were of any consequence. Snow and slush and dirt and floods are all to be looked for, and so long as they came about the shortest day let them sleet and slush and snow away and get " doon the burn" ; better now than later on. If snow in these parts was snow— good, clean, crisp, powdery snow that you could walk through over the boot tops, and with one kick leave your feet dry — there would be some comfort in the thing, but for my part J would rather do as I have done before, rig up a snpw plough, make a track thruogh sixor eight inches of it, and cart out turnips to my sheep than see them wading to the bellies in mullock. Some stock, poor forjorn devils, have to pick livings in such weather under circumstances as comfortable as the back settlement of a cow farm. Field work is pulled up with a jerk, land is waterlogged, Morses get a holiday, a compulsory one, too, which will need to be made up sooner or later ; but the farmer who even in the worst of weather has absolutely nothing to do is a man I have not yet met. Croppers and contractors are not nappy, and are likely to be worse before they are better, and every man and mother's ;pn in the country has lately been acting on i/ie old wife's advice to the boys, " Aye tak' four coats' -\v'j' i' c on , a yood mornin', and on \, bad un do as ye li^ e -" ?omu>winu hard at tjie heels of the land tax ■ollector, the dog tax .man is doing a prowl ■ound, and receiving on nil ljands as warm a velcome as if he were a Government valuer ; j he stock department is now busy preparing I >oison for rabbits that are mostly on the road o Port Albert docks, but not so busy as to orget to furnish bits of blue paper {o all and undry sheep owners to stump up their two 10b a hundred of sheep tax. Why sheep men hould be had, and cow, pig, and horse ownis get off is more than I can explain, but he partiality seems equal to that of the clerk if the weather, who simultaneously drowns ipe district and burns another. The fun of his sheep tax lies this way : Should you lave 320 sheep, and be fool enough to say so, ou are charged 400, the department being uite unable to calculate odds j if you have 60 you are charged 300. That- is not ,11. Your 300 comes to six shillings, and on are told if you don't pay up "at any loney order post office on or before Ist Sepamben, it can only be received with the addi. ion of three shillings penalty," and a lank is left in the printed form opposite the ■ord " penalty," which looks as if a good lany penalties were expected. Does it not trike a casual reader, even though he may ot own a sheep, that 50 per cent, extra is a ratty fair fine ; but it was wisely so decreed y the John McKenzie Stock Act, 18D3, aud iere it stands, and nobody says a word. At ac time the depart m en ' prevented pqstlasters receiving the tax after Ist September, ie public after that day having to pay the tock Inspector, with the added extra. The lason of this change has not been stated ; robably the Inspectors were too -lenient with 3linquents, and all 0W ed sentiment to interne with business, a thing which never should cist iv well-regulated tax ofiices.

It is only a couple of weeks since the Christ- ' church Agricultural Conference finished its deliberations, and till these 40 delegates met and resolutioned it could never have dawned , upon any mortal that New Zealand was in 5 such need of agricultural legislation. Laws, t it seems, are wanted to fix dates for sheep dipping, for better earmarking, for stock inspectors to possess veterinary experience, - for each district having a resident V.S. - employed or subsidised by Government for dehorning cattle while young, compensation I for cattl^condemned by Stock Inspectors, conj cetsions on railaae of animals for stud pm: t poses, ditto for show exhibits, formation of a > roll of competent judges for shows, oppointl ment of teachers in principal centres to lecture and instruct fanners as to the best and i most up-to-date methods of carrying on their t operations, a rabbit-proof fence to be made a legal fence, each owner to contribute to erec- > tion and maintenance, re-introduction of i Noxious Weeds Bill, dealing particularly with 3 Cahfornian thistle with stringent regulations i for preventing the sale of seeds not guaranteed pure and clean, N.Z. hawks to be . gazetted native game, amendment of Rabbit . Act, which is too arbitrary, frozen meat trade 5 to be under better regulation and paid i advisory boards in London and the colony to be appointed, Minister of Railways to be E asked to prevent fires being caused by railway ! engines, and cany artificial manures cheap, and so on and so on. The above-mentioned ; form only part of the hundred and one sub- , jects talked of, and bar those in italics not [ one of the batch is at all likely to be heard of i I till the Conference meets again in 1900, and . nobody will be soriy. I _ Farmers' Clubs and A. and P. Associations have for years past been in communication I with the Government urging consideration , and concessions on the above italicised sub- ; jects ; result nil. In addition to these points ; Farmers' Clubs and A. and P. Associations 1 have touched up the Department on subjects quietly ignored, viz., carriage of lime I frozen meat, grain railage, correct weighing of grain carried ; result, nil. Fanners' Clubs , and A. and P. Associations will not be such fools as to ask for stock inspectors to be qualified vets., for an Agricultural Department . roll of qualified show judges, for lecturers to teach cookies their trade, for rabbit-proof - legal fences, or for another Noxious Weeds ) Bill either. What in thunder are all our modern seed-dressing machines used for? I Neither will fanners ask that hawks should . have their status raised to that of game. The t sportsman who kills his game generally cooks it and enjoys it — ergo, the killer of hawks as , game should be compelled to cook and eat the 3 whole bag. I don't want to dine with him that day. Hawk stewed? Roast hawk? None for me thanks, not even though the dish - was hawk devilled, which I should like the last of the generation to be, j . While there are subjects badly wanting attention in the Interests of fair play to the a producing interest, such as the increased Customs duties, the increasing Charitable t Aid rate, increased rates from increased value ations, as well as excessive railway freights, c all tending, as taxation always does, to s increase the cost of production, it seems the ... height of puerility on the part of these Conferences to waste time with such a lot of nothings. The discreet old woman Auckland assemblage lately was its only parallel in >. modern times. Among the subjects above particularly noted, the amendment of the c Rabbit Act is one which, for various reasons, d will probably come up for early considera,s tion, and no fairer conclusion could be if arrived at than that proposed by the late Mr ,s Bell, of Wantwood, which was agreed to by i- the Gore Farmers' Club, adopted by the then 0 existing Farmers' Union, and forwarded to the Hon. J. McKenzie, viz., that the Act be n altered to allow all complaints by inspectors g to be tried on their merits, the- Inspector to d support his case by witnesses, and the landit owner to defend himself and produce wit>f nesses as well, Other italicised points rea ferred to will come up soon enough as c occasion arises. iv -^-^ — -, Following the example of oats, wheat and chaff, horses have turned their heads down >- hill, and land must go next. The few lucky men of favored spots in Otago and Southit land with good crops, sold at the proper nick, g were suddenly seized with the hurry, and >r had it so bad for a time that land must be ie bought at prices quite unwarranted by the •s ordinary laws of average, No njan can aver g that there is any scarcity of farms in the i, market now for sale or lease, but everybody it can see that the buyer is a scarcer commodity, 1, At Timarn the other day the Assets Board cl offered 14 farms and got ne'er a bid ; pity they couldn't shift them down South, and our „ keen men would go in baldheaded. We are the people to handicap ourselves, Landlords may handicap us with queer conditions, but a' that is not enough. It is only a way they <■> have. The Gore big carrot lost because it d wasn't loaded sufficiently ; no fear of the Gore - Tapanui - Riversdale land buyer not ■ getting himself loaded to the muzzle, so he is as safe to lose as was Mark Twain's jumping frog of famous memory. 'c • We have again to apologise to our country 'f subscribers for the non-delivery of the Ension Lt to-day at the usual time ; also to our town c readers for the reproduction of a quantity of reading matter published in Tuesday's town edition. The cause of the whole difficulty, was another of those unforeseen misfortunes ■ which the old proverb decrees shall not come singly. Just as we were going to press for our country edition thismorningtheformeof type, - containing the pnge of reading matter upon which this notification appears, slipped from the grasp "of" the' Hercules of the staff, and in falling to the ground became hdpelessly pied, necessitating the' whole of the matter being set up agijin. We are indeed having a full and orimining over share of misfortune, and are awajiin'g in fear arid trembling the next s blow Providence may lja've in store for us. Very special bargains are now being offered ■ at W, Lewis and Co.'s great jyinter sale. ' Don't miss seeing our window 4'Snlay of trimmed millinery, all marked jn plain . figures, Diess-making at reduced prices for a few weeks only j ladies' costumes jn black ' and navy serges, and other dregs materials, j 30s; ladies' beaver cloth capes In latest style, 1 with fur collar, made to order, 13s, Prior to , stocktaking unparalled bargains in alldepait- , ments. — (Advt.) " ; At Wellington, on Tuesday, a deputation r waited on the Mayor relative to the cable 7 tram it is proposed to construct from Lambj ton Quay to the Hills above tbe town at the , Botanical Gardens. They explained that • the line would mostly run through private . property, with several stations,*)! route, which [ would serve the tpriapgs on the hillside. The i height attained would be about 400 feet from i which practically the level road to the Karori ; me would be of great use, enabling the • people to reaoh the public cemetery. The • promoters prbposed to take 20,000 ordinary • shares themselves and offer the public 10,000 preference shines. The Mayor said he would i bring the matter before the Council immediately. He saw no objection himself, and the proposal would evidently be of great public benefit. There would have to be a defined basis on which the city could acquire the line ii It w 'shed, as the line would go through the corner of Aei!:" me la rk; which >s on the town belt, and special ieg'!l'." ••">». n'OlUd be necessary. Mr H. p. Canjeron, the New Zealand Government jnsnjj.ctqr- of Produce, in a report to the Agent-Generui, 'states that thys conditions under which iambs are going in Ib'consujnpjtion now are quite different from those pertaining to last year. Then there were large stocks held in cold store, and the requirements of the market were only supplied with sufficient numbers to fill existing demands. This season there is no stock of lambs whatever held in store. All coming-forward were put on the market as they were received, and consequently, to consume these enormous numbers low prices have to be acceptedt The lowness of the price, has, however, been so great an jndiicem'.erit tQ rstajf.ers to stoefc. and sell New jgeojarid hunbs ithat outlets nreviorisl'y closed against tlioiv salt Kiiyg tjeen opened to them. This will have the effeet'oil oai^iu'y iij coming seasons a continued eutended demand for N«,w Zealand lamb- Mr' Cameron states that the Health officer has seized many cases of rabbits on tlie grountj that tjjoy were unfit for food, and for that reason the pio^pjscts £«f the season ntq not ju-Qinising;' He "reports that the quality of our cht-ese lias improygi}, but there is considerable- room fop ill}- i provement in the paelfing. The quality of ; the butter has also impioved, but until there ' is regularity in the shipments top prices cam not be realised. As a protest against the action of Mr A. A. i George, one of the members who recently ' published an article which was held to reflect on a female teacher, the whole of the members of the Hastings School Committee ex- i cepting the chairman (Captain Russell, who j was absent) and Mr George himself, have i tendered their resignation. 1

The recent Anglican social at the Gore. Town Hall, which proved so enjoyable to the large number attending, was equally profitable to the promoters, a sum of £14 being netted. At the usual meeting of the Otama Debating Society on Tuesday evening, criticisms were given on Mr R. Dodds' paper on " White Slavery." A paper on " Marriage " by Mr Gavin Dickson received a fair share of debate. There was just about the usual attendance. Messrs Geo. Johnson and J. McFetridge, J's.P., presided at the Lumsden court on Monday, the only case disposed of being K. Crosbie v. T. Baldwin— a claim of £7 9s, ■board and lodging. Judgment was given for plaintiff, with costs 10s. A man named Edward Druiff was discovered on Tuesday morning in the Dunedin museum reserve with a bullet wound in his head and died in the evening. Druiff was 25 years of age, and had been in the colony about nine months. .He had been employed by a firm but was out of work for some time, and had been in a very despondent state. The Dr Hubert Biss who attended the late Mr Gladstone in his last illness, and whose portrait appears in the illustrated papers just to hand, according to the ' Post ' is an Otago boy. and a son of Dr C. Y. Biss, who for many years was a resident in Dunedin. Dr H. Biss started his education in Dunedin, and is a cousin of the Auck- . land and Wellington families of the same name. On Tuesday two lads, aged 16 and 12, sons of Mr Thos. McDonald, manager of Corriedale estate, were drowned in a waterhole on the Waiareka Creek (Oamaru), which flowed close to the house. They were out in a flatbottom boat pulling about when it capsized and both sank in about 20ft of water. The disaster was witnessed by two young ladies whose cries brought assistance in about 10 minutes, but the water was dirty and it was impossible . to do anything in the way of rescue. The bodies remained in the water three hours, grappling irons having to be sent for to Ngapara. It is supposed the coldness of the water paralysed the lads as both could swim. A significant sign of the times was displayed (says the Melbourne ' Argus ') at St. Andrew's Church of England Klondyke Fair, Clifton Hill. A party of the leading laymen of St. John's Roman Catholic congregation paid a visit to the Albert Hall, where the fair is being held, and were entertained at supper by the committee. The vicar of the parish (the Rev. E. A. Thomas) occupied the chair. The Danevirke water supply scheme has cost up to date within a shade of £10,000. When one comes to consider (writes a correspondent) what a many-sided boon the expenditure of this money has conferred on the tewn, the general verdict must be that the scheme is worth every penny of the expenditure. Coupled with the £350 for fife brigade plant, this amount must be looked upon as some of the wisest expenditure ever indulged in by the Borough - Council and Danevirke people. As was anticipated, Mr Gilfedder's question regarding the manner in which the Chief Stock Inspector for Southland ■ discharged his duties proved a 'Jiasco. Replying to the question in the' House yesterday, the Minister said the Government were not aware that the provisions of the Rabbit Nuisance Act were not fairly enforced in respect to squatters and, station-owners in Southland, but would act on adequate evidence to that effect. The Gore Rifles paraded for Government inspection by Lieutenant-Colonel Webb and Captain Hawkins last night, the parade state being as follows : — 2 lieutenants, 4 sergeants, 1 bugler, and 37 rank and file — total 44. In the absence of Captain Boyne, Lieut. Domigan was in command. Lieutenant-Colonel Webb expressed himself as highly satisfied with the state of the corps and counselled individual effort to do even better in the future. He stated his intention of sending the drill instructor (Brgt.Meade) to Gore for a week for the purpose of working up the recruits. Truth stranger than fiction 1 At the inquest at Adelaide on Gomez, otherwise Isaacs, tbe circus hand whose neck Hannston's tiger broke with a bite, " Robert Love, manager of the circus, stated that 'The Duke,' the tiger which killed Gomez, had six trainers, and had attacked three of them. At Rangoon, 18SI6, a man named Streiff sustained some bites or claw marks at the back of his neck. The tiger also attacked a Chinaman, but did not hurt him, although he got the Chinaman's head in his mouth. When the Chinaman called out ' What for?' the tiger let him go, and walked to the other end of the cage," In the Dunedin Supreme Court on Tuesday Louis Julius Harrison, late Rabbi in Dunedin, was defendant in two aotiong, one at the instance of the Bank of New South' Wales for £308, the amount of an overdraft promised to be provided for when defendant left the colony, ostensibly on a holiday — in July last ; in the other, by the National Bank, for £838, as guarantor of Aaron Ernest Roseman. In each case judgment went by default. The defendant is in England. By mutual consent on account of advancing* age and other considerations, the members of the local civil service and press have agreed that football matches provide exercise which is ail-too vigorous for those reared in the lap of luxury and delicately nurtured ; therefore that once popular fixture, Civil Service v. Press football match, has been relegated to the limbo of things of glorious memory, and in its place a contest demanding less physical exertion and more effort of intelligence instituted. ' This is to fake the form of a card match (c'ribbage and eiicjive) which will in all probability be decided oh Tuesdayevenjngnext. We need hardly say that the press representatives are confident of victory, and are pleased to have, the opportunity of asserting the mightiness of the pen at the cost to their opponents of no qlack eyes and brokpn ribs, which we regret tq say . the mjnions of the Government sustained in the last encounter with the exponents of light, liberty, truth, and superior scjeneej Milk cow for sale, , Claims in the estate of Brewer, Trembath and Co, to be sent in by 21st, Tenders wanted for N.Z. Co-operative and Agency Co.'s assets. . Notice to electric light consumers. A. Storrie, Invercargill, has Planet cultivators for sale. Bargains at Simon's Boot Store. J. A. Mitchell and Co.sell horses at Gore on : 27th inst. Funeral of the late Mrs D. Lamb at Waikaka on Sunday.