North Otago Times. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5. 1882.

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3027, 5 April 1882, Page 2

North Otago Times. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5. 1882.

On CJood Friday and Knstor Monday tho goods sheds on the Dunodiu section of railways will bo closed. As a proof of the fertility of tho Waimate estate, it is i*id that Mr Studholme has made as much as a gross profit of Ll2 por acio from tho area under crop. Tho Canterbury Jockoy Club has cancelled Mr Griffiths' handicap for tho Free Handicap, and a fresh one has been iisued. Mr Griffiths has not beon happy in the task allotted. Many amongst us take exception to denominational divisions in our cemeteries, and it may interest all such to know that nil the burial places in France have been declared open and free to all religions. North, who levanted with " sweop " monoy from Wellington somo time ago, now carries on a barber's shop in Santa Cruz Many confiding colonists have been anxiously waiting for information respecting his whereabouts. Messrs Murray, Roberts, and Co, (Dunedin) hivo received the following cablegram, dated London, March 31 : "Inferior greasy, market declined id ; at close of sales, market declined a shade. Total catalogued in tho sales, 270,000 balos, of whioh 7 percent, was bought in." The third Intercolonial Presbyterian Conforenco of tho Australasian Churohos meets in Sydney on the 18th mat. At tho last meeting of tho Synod of Otago and Southland Dr Stuart and the Roy. A. B. Todd wero appointed deputies to the Conference, but tho Presbyterian learns with regret that these gentlomtn cannot make arrangements for attending tho meetings. On the 21st instant the ratepayers in tho four licensing districts in the boiough of Oamaru will be called upon to decide whethor " tho number of publicans, or New Zealand wino, or accommodation, or bottlo licenses may bo respectively increased in the Liconsing district for which the poll is to be taken." This, tho local option feature of the Licensing Act of last session, enables the ratepayers to lay whether any new licenses shall bo issued in tho respective licensing distriots. One of the largest ventures undertaken by private enterprise in this colony is the conBtruotion of the Wollington-Mamtwatu railway lino. This work will be commenced in a fow days, and whethor tho undertaking will prove a profitable one to tho promoters or not, it at loass shows that they are enterprising enough -considerably more so than the people of Dunodin with the Otago-Cen-tral, Iho latter »ro content to hang on till tho proposed L 5.000.000 loan extricates thorn from the inconvonienco and cost of making the line themselves —whioh we trust no colonial loan will do for the next twenty years at least, if then. The agricultural statistics for Goraldine and Waimate show the area uuder crop in the former county to havo been : Wheat — 37,616 acres, yielding 965,^63 bushols, or 25£ bushels to the aoie ; 0ati— 23,165 acres, yielding 667,317 bushels, or 29J buihola to the »ore ; barley — 2 ■64 aores, yielding 49,756 butheli, or 23 bmhoU to the aore, In

tho county of Waimate : Wheat -22,305 »ore», yielding 589,750 buihols, or 2«i Imshola to tho aoro ; 0at5— 17,340 acres yielding 506,314 bu-hoH. or .12f bushels to the aore. Ah it will be intri < ting to our roadorti we give tho yiolds in Hi' llakaboramoa Valley : Wheit — 1530 ac un, yielding 30,900 buVicli, or 20£ bushols to the ncre; oats — 916 aorei, yielding 32 850 bushels, or 36 bushels to the aoro ; barley — 20 acre*, yielding 400 bushols, or 20 bushels to the aoro. Tho No. 3 Battalion, 0.R.V., will U roprssontcd at the Exhibition opening oeremony by a strength of about 140. Considerably more than 30 of No 1 Company have signified their intontion of going, and about 40 of the Aitillery. These, with about 22 of tho Uiflei Band, and contingents from Hampden and Otepopo, will make up about the abovo number. A fire occurred between one and two o'olook yesterday morning at Mr Millington's farm on the Duntroon road by which a threshing mill belonging to Mr J. Richmond was burned, and also a stack of wheat belonging to Mr Millington. 'I ho mill was insured for L 275 in tho Now Z aland office ; tho wheat was also iniured for I 500. Nothing is known of tho origin of the tiro. A special meeting of tho Borough Council wfia held yesterday afternoon for the purpose of confirming the Is rate. Tho rate was confirmed, and it wns resolved that the ordinary mooting of the Council be postponed until tho 18th inst,, in consequence of the Easter holiday*. Writing to the papers, a Melbourne man says: "I am not bloodthirsty; but if say 500 of the worst specimen* of Melbourne larrikins could have a couple of hours' interview with Mr Wilton's live lions, society would bo greatly benefited." During 1881, 239 persons of 75 years of ago and upwards died in tho oity of Melbourne and suburbs Of this number, 104 were between 75 and 80, 88 botwoen 80 and 85, 32 botweon 85 and 90, and 12 botwecn 90 and 95 ; and threo were aged reipeo tively 96, 99, and 103 years. Of these old pooplo, the majority appear to bo made up of thoso working in tho open air ; as, of the occupations specified, laborors, gardeners, farmers, and hawkers head the Hit. Curiously onough, blacksmiths and miners occupy a prominent place also, whioh shows tint hard work is not unfavorable to longevity. Of tho 239, 119 wero males and 120 fomiles. Tho Wairarapa Dailj in" a recent issue says L 13.000.000 sterling annually goes from England to the Continent fir buttor. Why should not, it has boon pertinently asked, a part of this enormous sum be diverted to New Zealand ? All tho natural advantages exist here, and it only wants an intelligent mode of dairying and the use of proper appliances to add immonsely to the national prosperity. At a farm near Molun experiments wore made recently by M. Pasteur, in tho pro senco of a host of specialists, on the duration of tho notion of anthractio vaccine as applied to sheep. Six months ago M. Pasteur vaccinnsted a number of sheep with anthrax vacoino, tho immediit'o lwaiilt being to proservo all these sheep from anthrax rlnxi, whereas sheep nob .10 vaccinated succumbed within twenty-four hours. Tho question was how long such vaccino would last. Experiments proved that it la'ts six months, and they will be continued from month to month to ascertain its exact duration. Four nnvaccinatcd sheep wore inoculated with anthrax virus, and also four of the sheep vaccinated six months ago. Two of tho unvaccinated shoop expired within twenty-four hours, and I) 0 other two subsequently, whereas tho sheep vaccinated six months as{o losisted tho aotion of the virus. Another curious fact waa ascertained. A lamb, tho offspring of a vaccinated shoon, va% inoculated with tho vlru«. It expired within twenty-four hours, thus proving that the immuuity is not transmitted hereditarily. Tho Seine ot Marne Agricultural Society presented M. Pasteur with a i»old medal, and a binquct was held, at which the great service rendered to agriculture by his disoorery was warmly acknowledged. A Hamilton correspondent of the Auckland Herald writes : "A vory interesting fact in connection with the large swamp of over 20 000 acre*, extending from Hamilton on tho westward t> Ohaupo, and one which has in "onio moiniro led to tho intended largo works conto-nplated for its reclamation, is to bo found in tho result of a certain treatment of tho soil by tho stationmaster at tho Rukuhia station. He hns found tli At by top dressing or over-laying tho swamp ground with ever to thin a coat ing of gravil or soil, it can be mado to grow all kindß nf oropa and grasn in perfection Seeds put into tho reclaimed swamp soil alongsido, however well worked tho ground may bo, start up vigorously, but soon die out. Not so those sown where the original swamp soil has been lightly covered. The plants continue to thiive, and strike deeply into tho swamp subsoil, and some of the finest vegetables and grasses may bo seen growing in the gmlo.i inferred to. This faot is a very important 0110, as once drained, the Hwamp, by tramways from tho hilly ground on the outside, 'could at no very great expense bo reclaimed and rendered fertdo by the spreading of % thin coating of earth upon its surface Tho benefit such a work would be to Hamilton would bo vory great, if what is now an uncultivated waste wero to be rondercd fit for occupation in moderate sizeJ farms."