WAIKATO DISTRICT NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7269, 6 March 1885, Page 6

WAIKATO DISTRICT NEWS.

[FROM. DUB OWU'.OOKRKarOHDitUTS.] ..,!":.■■••.? ! ', ~: Hawi/tox, Thursday. :; There are; two questions to be settled at the sugar-beet meeting to-morrow, both of which stand in the way of the farmers guaranteeing the growth of the roots. The one is the percentage of sonar obtainable, the other the uncertainty of the cost of cultivation. Though 16« has been the price fixed for the roots at the faotory, it will only be given for roots yielding 12 per oent. of sugar, aud a proportionate lower price will be given for a lower yield. Now, it is well known just as in analyses of golden stone, that where a greater yield per ten tone is got by crouhing a few pounds of stone, and treating it carefully to the retort than can be got by crushing a ton at the battery) that small experiments give different results to practical working. The analyses of Mr. Pond on beetroots have been made chemically, in the laboratory, and it is necessary for practical purposes that an experiment on one or two tons of beetroots should be made, so as to arrive at the probable yield of sugar in the mill. Mr. Pond has offered to make such a test provided the apparatus, which will cost some £50 or £60, is supplied to him, and the meeting to-morrow will ask the Government to grant the Bum required for this purpose, and have the experiment carried out so that the result may be authoritative, and free from all cavilling at. The public will then know what percentage of sugar may be looked for from roots treated at the mills. The other question requiring solution is the cost per acre of growing the crop, and it is proposed to plant next year at the joint expense of those desirous of solving the problem, a piece of land, say ten, twenty, or twenty-five acres, or more, with sugar beets, patting it under the management of an experienced person and keeping a correct tally of the cost. It is generally felt that it would be unwise either for capitalists or farmers to take a leap in the dark—that a year's extra delay will be an advantage ratber than otherwise, as at the present price of sugar it can be bought cheaper than it can be grown, and if next y«;ar a crop of say twenty acres is grown, as above described, and found to be a profitable one, farmers will then be able to go heartily into the scheme, which they very excusably refuse to do upon present uncertain data.

MoEBiNSViLLE, Thursday. The tender of Mr. O Donoghue, £30 Is 4d, for work between Waiwera and Waitoa Rivers, has been accepted by the Waitoa Highway Board ; and that of Mr. Thomas, £37 10s, and gravel 3s 6d per ton, for the road between this township and the Piako bridge. The tender of Jackson and McCabe, £25, was accepted for the Cuesens road contract. Cambridge, Thursday. A considerable amount ot rain has fallen on Tuesday night and yesterday throughout the district, and, except to the potato crop, will do an immense amount of good. The grass had become exceedingly scarce in many parts of the district. Of course we shall hear of damage to grain in unthatched stacks, but the owners will have none to thank but themselves for leaving their corn-stacks in such state, especially with thatch-making machines in the district. A home farmer has his thatch ready before his grain is cat, keeping hand-threshed wheat straw carefully over from the previous year's crop, so that hie stacks of the next season can be thatched as they are built. Your Hamilton correspondent drew attention lately to the action of the Government in replacing the telegraph posts between here and Hamilton with jarrtih timber instead of totara or kauri. From a conversation with the Inspector of Telegraphs lately in the district, [ find that for the whole of the Waikato Valley jarrah is more snitable than totara, the latter not lasting well in light or sandy soil, and that where totara may be expected to last only twenty years, as here, jarrah will last fully double that time. The jarrah timber, too, unites strength with durability in a remarkable degree. The Rev. Mr. Swan, appointed only a month ago to the curacy of St. Andrew's, leaves to-morrow en route for Adelaide, where he has been appointed to an incumbency. The rev. gentleman will be much missed, as he was both an eloquent preacher and a zealous worker. Kihikihi, Thursday. The success of the excursion trip to Hamilton must have been gratifying to the railway authorities, aid prohUbletco. .Such excursions should pay at least monthly in the summer season, and another excellent opportunity presents itself on the 17 th, but more than sixteen carriages would be required. Tickets should be issued both for li amilton or Te Awamutu, and people could cake their passage far either place, those attracted by the flower and fruit bhow to Hamilton, and those wishing to attend the Kihikihi races to Te Awamutu. Probably 800 or 1000 persona will take advantage of the trip. Tenders are being anxiously looked for for the constrdction of the traffic bridge over the Puoiu River at Kihikihi, both by Euro peans and natives.