Untitled

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1664, 20 January 1904, Page 10 (Supplement)

According to advices received from the various tourist resorts in the colony, the present season has been a record one for visitors, who have been attracted to New Zealand from all portions of the globe. Visitors from Australia have been particularly numerous, and a pleasing feature has been the number of fresh faces amongst the . annual list of holiday-seekers. Of the excursionists by the steamer Waikare, leaving Dunedin for Milford Sound on the 16th instant. sixty have up to the present intimated their intention of walking from the. Sounds overland to Lake Te Anau. From Rotorua comes news that accommodation there has been at a premium, whilst Waikaremoana, a resort only recently brought into the prominence that it merits, cannot accommodate all those desirous of spending a holiday in that charming locality.

Mr George Fowlds, M.H.R. for Grey Lynn, is expected to reach Christchurch on January 28th. He will address meetings throughout the Canteibur\ ui-tnet on the land question, and will also risk Otago. He will probably be accompanied in his campaign by Messrs G. Laurenson and T. E. Tavlur.

The “ Grey Star”-says: —Boring for oil at Ivotuku, which has been suspended since November last, has been again started, and will be continued throughout the year, and the one bore-hole now clown 772 ft is to> be proceeded' with. The chill: to be used' in future is one patented by Mr Smith, wdio is in charge of the work! This bore admits of a continuous pipe being put down that; does not require to be drawn, ;and, therefore, there is no danger of the bore choking Tip when the pipe,, as formerly, was hauled through loose broken strata, It is likely that Air Cooper, who is the moving spirit in the company, will shortly proceed to America to personally investigate the oil-fields there, and apply knowledge gained to further development in Now Zealand. The Gisborne Borough Council has been advised by the Treasury Department that the loan of £4OOO for abattoirs is now available. Tenders are to- be' called for .the work at once.

Speaking to an expert connected with a well-known firm of seedsmen at Palmerston North, who recentlv visited the South Island, a “ Times ” representative , (gleaned some information relative to the condition of the oat crops in both islands. In Nelson and Marlborough the whole of the fields are more or less affected by rust, which lias seriously injured many of the crops in the colony. The early fields appear to have suffered heavier 'than those sown later in the season. In many of the fields the growth is not’ more than a. foot high, without leaves, and with two or three withered oats hanging to the stalk. Some of the corn is apparently affected by a blight which eats its way into the roots, and causes the stalks to wither and fall. In South Canterbury and down to Oarnaru the prospects are, on the contrary, particularly bright, and a heavy yield is anticipated. Practically the whole of the crops on the West Coast of the North Island and in the Waikato are affected by rust. The cause is generally believed to be in recent violent climatic changes, though the risk of outbreaks of this nature are increased by sowing seed of the same kind year after year. Crops of Algerian, a comparatively new seed, have not been affected in any way b.y nl!S t, Bo this as it may. from the communications asking for advice that ha\ e born addressed to the Government Biologist, the question of rust and how to prevent it is of great importance to tbe farming community at present.