COUNTRY NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8065, 5 October 1887, Page 3

COUNTRY NEWS.

| FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.] Rotorua, Tuesday. Mr. Kelly, M.H.R., left this morning foi: Wellington. A very unanimous movement, both among the Native and European population, is beio,; made in the direction of abolishing or greatly modifying the Thermal Springs Act, which, together with the dilatory action of the Native Land Court in settling the titles, has proved go deadly detrimental to the progress of the Roliorua district. The Natives are sending a delegate to Wellington for the express purpose of assisting the members for the district in this and other matters affecting their interests. The Administration Aot of last year has been praotically inoperative so far as is known to the public, and Native and European sentiment is wholly unfavourable -to its cumbersome and unworkable provisions ; and in the interests of the North Island specially, and the colony generally, the immediate substitution of some real sensible praotical measure on this important subject is required. Mr. Kelly has promised to move 1 in this direction, and he is well acquainted with the wishes of the natives regarding • their position. The Native Land Court reopens here tomorrow to receive the lists of owners at the Tnames for the several divisions made by the Court last month of the Rotomahana-

Parik&rangi block. Mr. Brabant is again the presiding Judge, and tho sitting is likely to end in a few weeks.

Hamilton, Tuesday. A requisition is in course of signature asking Mr. W. A. Graham to allow himself to be nominated for the Mayoralty election in November. In case of his acceptance there would be no contest.

A meeting of the Hamilton Highway District Board was held on Saturday. Present: Messrs Maunders (ohairman), Way, LivingStone, and McPherson. The motion of the Chairman, notice of which had been given at last meeting, that in future the wages given by the Board be reduced to 5s a day, was carried. It was resolved to call for

tenders for works at O'Brien's crossing, Pukete. Dixon's contract for fencing and planting with willows the slopes at Stokes' Calvert was reported as having been well executed, and the amount was passed. The Auckland Freezing Company have prepared a special manure for fruit trees, which will doubtless be as popular and successful as their special manures for roots, grass, potatoes, etc., have proved in this diS' trict. The new fruit manure is more expensive than the others, being £10 per ton, bat to meet the special requirements for the production of fruit and tree growth contains at least one very costly constituent. The following suggestion might be worth the attention of the company, to make a tree manure specially adapted to cope with the woolly aphis or American blight in apple trees. The application of fish as a manure to badly blighted apple trees has not only been proved to promote a new and vigorous growth, but one free from the blight which had previously almost destroyed the trees, and to cause them to be loaded with apples, when, till the fish was applied, they had become nearly barren.

The ohairman of the Waikato County Counoil has written for a return of what the county had. paid to the Auckland Hospital, and what it had received in return, Mo answer has been received. M?. Whyte, the * member for Waikato, has been written to by the ohairman of the Counoil, requesting him to urge upon the Government the desirableness of at once vesting certain oi the secondary education reserves in the county in the Waikato County Council for the purpose of enabling the Counoil to utilise them for the object for which they were net apart—the establishment of a School of Agriculture.

A meeting of the Borough Council was held last night. Present: The Mayor and Messrs. Knox, Salmon, Tippin, Missen, Bell, and Von Sturmer. A letter was read from the Publio Works Office, Wellington, stating that the traffic bridge over the Waikato River was in perfectly sound condition, and recommended • that the wooden sill of the pier on the east side, which was rotten, be removed and replaced with a concrete sill. It was resolved to call for tenders for this work. The report of the Bath Committee, that the West Hamilton bath be extended an additional 25 feet into the stream, and that Other necessary improvements be effected, was read and adopted. The engineer was instructed to call for tenders for the 12th instant, the Bath Committee to be empowered to receive and deal with them. The engineer was also empowered to order the necessary material at once. The consideration of the piping of Vincent's drain was postponed for fourteen days to obtain farther information as to whether a better way of removing the water could not be found. Tenders were ordered to be oalled for widening th outting on the Ohaupo Road, Three tenders were received for work in Selkirkstreet— McPherson (informal), £4 13s 6d ; J. Dixon, £9 7s 6d ; R. Waites £9 (accepted). The pound keeper reported that he had impounded 35 head of cattle wandering at large on the streets during the month of September. The olerk reported that after payment of the accounts now passed the debit balance of the borough would amount to £46. Mr. Knox moved, re publio buildings, "That His Worship the Mayor take the necessary steps to have tenders called for the erestion of the publio buildings as originally intended." The motion was put, and carried unanimously. The Council then adjourned tjll the 17th inst. A meeting of the Domain Board, the same members being present, was held subsequently. One tender only was received for making the drain from the domain lands by the railway across the station road into Crocodile Creek, that of John Dixon, £45 9j ; and it was accepted. Cambridge, Tuesday. Mr. Douglas, the manager in the produce department of the newly-formed Civil Service Co-operative Association', arrived here on Saturday evening from Hamilton, which district he has been canvassing with considerable sucoess during the past week, having placed a considerable number of the Association's shares. The Association will be worked

on a purely cash basis, and settlers who are shareholders, sending their produce for sale, will receive cash returns immediately on & sale being effected. The Native Lands Court opened hers at ten o'clock this morning, before Judge Puckey and Hamiora Mangakahia, Native Assessor, with Mr. Puokuy, junr., as clerk and interpreter. A number of succession cases were heard, but none of them were of any importauce, and the Court adjourned until ten o'clock to-morrow. It is expected the Court will close after the whole of the

succession cases have been heard, and will

not open here again till December 1, when the Pukekara-Puahoe case will be heard

again, . We have been visited to-day with a very heavy hailstorm that will doubtless injure the peaoh blossom, which this season has been very fine. Many old Inhabitants say they never saw the peaoh trees carry so much bloom before in the VVaikato.

Tb awamutc, Tuesday. A change baa been made in the distribution of the police force in Waikato. Constable Ryan has been removed to the South, and his place has been filled by Constable Jones from Alexandra, Constable Lowther from Hamilton taking Constable Jones' place at the former station. „

On Sunday morning Pirongia was capped with snow and for a little way down ifca slopes, and the day was fine.