SHORTAGE OF WATER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19858, 31 January 1928, Page 10

SHORTAGE OF WATER.

POSITION IN OUTER AREAS. PUMPS AND WELLE IN USE. DELIVERY BY MOTOR-LORRY. . TROUBLES OF HOUSEHOLDERS. Community well and village pump havo agjiin come into their own, as a result of ihe shortage of water in outer suburban areas, where there is no water supply laid on. Townships handy to the mairs of other districts aro drawing upon these for their supply. Householders who have been forced to j-elv upon the capacity of their tanks for •water are now in an unhappy position. JVery few have been able to ration their supply to last up to the present and, daily, they have watched the force of -water from their taps grow less and less. jNow the majority aro relying on wells or on the springs which, fortunately, aie jvell scattered through the country. Although in many parts tho search for n really good spring or well has been a serious matter, it all has its lighter side. Old wells, long boarded up and well-nigh forgotten, havo been uncovered and pressed into use for another season, orv-stal-cleur springs, which havo bubbled unheeded through tho years, aro now ibeing raid great attention, their beds Ijeing widened to allow for the dippir.g of tins. is a fortunate owner who lias an inexhaustible supply on his property. Zione realise this more than the Keighfeours who, through his generosity, permitted to "borrow" what thoy pajuire. Several Wells Exhausted. But not all the newly-found supplies a,re Inexhaustible. " Several wells, prized possessions of their owners, have dried up tinder tho strain. An instance of this occurred during the erection of a brick building at Howick. Exhausting one well -which was supposed to have been an everrunning one, workmen on the building -were forced to travel some distance to another. This also give out and a third lad to bo requisitionsd. Up to the present. the .latest supply is proving adequate. At Panmure tho main supply for the residents : .s being drawn frora a spring near the railway deviation. From morning until night the well draws * constant stream of water-carriers. The Mount Wellington Road Board has arranged for a delivery oi water for purely household purposes and many avail themselves of this privilege. Others make personal with all manner of receptacles. Any water •to be used for gardens or lawns has. to be carted by the owner himself. [There are many market gardens in the district and, consequently, the Chinese are frequent visitors to the Epring. In some cases a pump supplies the needs of the township. At Bucklands Beach, a hind pump in the public reserve *>n the beach is being constantly used by juesidents and bach-owners. Water Sold in Glen Eden. The Papatoetoe Town Board has arranged for a temporary supply, coming from the Otahuhu main. A delivery is made to residents by motor lony, a good demand having been maintained since the Itupply was made available a few days ago. A charge of Is a 100 gallons is made, the minimum charge being Is. Glen Eden residents aro not so fortunate as those of Papatoetoe, a charge of 5s a 10i) gallons being made in the -western township. Nevertheless, residents are, buying the water as fast as it can bo delivered. On Saturday, 2400 gallons were delivered, and on Sunday the amount was 2600 gallons. Nino out of every ten houses are forced to depend on this supply. The wa.tor is carted'in tanks en a motor-lorry from tho city main. Yesterday the supply was interrupted owing to one of tho tanks, which are of light galvanised iron, developing a leak. The service was discontinued, tut. it will be resumed again to-day, and the water will again be ready-for pumping into householders' tanks. Poultry farmers and those who keep cows are finding the service very expensive, but the extremely , dry state of the pastures renders it necessary that there should be water in the tanks for fire-fighting purposes. DANDS IN THE WAIKATO. FARMERS CULLING HERDS. GREAT VALUE OF LUCERNE. 9 r—• £BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] HAMILTON, Monday. The prolonged dry spell is detrimentally affecting all parts of the Waikato, although some districts have fared better than others. At Paterangi a number of farmers have grown lucerne, which they are cutting and feeding to the cows. Hundreds of acres of swamp grass lave been destroyed by fire at Kakepuku. Much ©i the grass Lad been recently sown, and the loss is severely felt for many cows; are. rapidly going dry. Even the root crops are looking parched. The supply of water js exceptionally low, but there has been sufficient to keep the windmills going, thus enabling the stock to drink their fill of water. A number of farmers are already culling their cows and sending the rejects to the freezing works to bo killed for beef. An anxious time is being experienced tit To Kowhai, where rough pasture is largely being depended upon. Weaknesses in the practice of heavy stocking have heen revealed during the curtent dry spell. The water supply on all tho farms has to tie constantly watched. It is 17 years since such a dry spell has been experienced at Te Kowhai. The rolling country at Horsham Downs stood the test of dry weather remarkably •well, but the pastures are now quite dry. There are still patches of green to be seen in the gulJies, where there are numerous springs. A good sole of grass still exists on the flat swamp land, and it is here that most of the grazing is now being done. Where the cows aro well furnished with simple water tho rnilk supply is keeping up -well. Ensilage has proved a, great boon to many settlers throughout the district this summer and those wlu> made provision for this class of fodder are counted fortunate. The fodder is being rationed out and has been of incalculable advantage in maintaining ihe mill: yield. DAIRY RETURNS AFFECTED. DECREASE IN PRODUCTION. £.BT TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] HAMILTON, Monday, The full effect of the dry weather conditions in the Waikato was not reflected in the returns of the New Zealand Coop. Herd-testing Association for December, which have just been published . The November figures show that the average production of 67,414 cows was 36.641b butter-fat, while those for December show a decline to .34.671b butter-fat for (>2,224 cows. In the Waiuka where condi-tions-have been particularly serious, the reduction in the yield is more marked. The figures for the- group for the last four months are:— September.—l 747 (owk, 8551b milk per cow; 4.4 test: 37.811b butter-fat per cow. October.—26s6 cows: 8971b milk per Heowj 4.1 test; 36.831b butter-fat per iiMS cow. .—2089 cows; 858J1> milk per st: 36,211b butter-fat per cow. . —cowss 7241b milk per >t j 30.751b bulAer-iat per cow.