LAKE COUNTY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 11 March 1882, Page 13

LAKE COUNTY.

> ' i'FROM OUR OWN 'CORRESPONDENT. • I ! . i." el ■«•' ' - 'March6th. Land sales .haye.been rather frequent, of late,' and although it is anything but a pleasant feature to contemplate fco m'any'of the oldest settlers preparing to /leave the district,;, the fact -that there s are always others ready to invest large fortunes in farming 'properties Is' reassuring: One. of the 'largest estates in thVcbuuty, namely,' that of MrW. Marshall,' of 650 acres Of arablolatod, 1 was broughtunder the ham,•mer. last' weekj.Mr Butement being . tho I purchaser .at the price of £8 per, acre; iThe.farmis beautifully situated on, the banks of Lake Hayes, and .is, unsurpassed'for quality of soil. Live stock and farming implements also' brought highly satisfactory prices. •Several smaller sales' have also taken place, and tho amounts realised 1 show that land- islrising in- estimation dnd .value. V.With these facts in view it .is 1 rather •surprising to hear the cry that farming iB npjb paying "so fretnwntly,and persistently repeated. Surely those who hold to' this statement "must have some reason Wits 'continued assertion, and if, 1 perhiips.a little •tote attention 1 were 'psiid to the reasons the'complaint ■might possibly disappear. < . ■•• - I!'■ • ■ <■'■'!'■' '■• '■<<> Another sign 'that our farmers are.stillrtootfelloff iß,show,n by, the : independent jmanner, ( in thpy 'foll6w, their. pursuit. ( Agitation for an MTOtyMwg 1 has niore than once been'sit da foot, bdt 'of it." Market' fairs 'Wh'aW,' Been ►aUarfed^ a'nd ! feiled' from' the'ttpathy displayed bythe; ttennerß.vfFrom »U tbio Mo thin^appeMi^jßither the] .(arnierßareMndependeht of tsuoftaidg, obtainjng safntifactory prices, in ready, inarkelSuOritheyfare sluggish -Tand careless "set olimen, with no ambition to rise '■ftbbve'a'&Jn'ditlon dhlyjfl little removed from abaofute l 'iWnt mt 'It is likely that a change will be wrotight "-wKeri'money W ailarge lextenft'iS' invested infarmirig oa\id l <jodpetttionl enters the marketsmow open to draiti • off the; surplus Qfigrainjovei? and, abov.e' what is,re1 cmired for local, .consumptipni » ,One,day our farmere may awake ancTflnd that a change has come over the themselves with their.shorteightedness, for the warn ing voice has not.been'dlent.ff ««fEo be forewarned if to be forearmed.^;! *> * ;| V ™ X The rabbit and Bmall-bird pe^ts have now assumec ""rnich oroDortions. and so ' effectually 'defied the" by n< Ss?n^brfderable'aiitem^ts i 'a't.theli'iu#i lesßionl esßion that even the more callous'are forced to look upoi these dangers with some degree of apprehension. Th< irstageithesennuisanoesihave -renched.-is such that s iimpeedyahd ,«fieotual/cure can only,be ( expected fron i«cSncerted action amongst the afflicted, and the soone V/theiehe(ik,iß applied. the, better. j All- this, points t< . -the of ■ the teßtabliehment , of . » , Farmer' n Agricultural, Association, r .•*« ■ ■ «... 1 , I, i.i ■•I ./The cheap, exbursiom trains are .bringing a.goodl; number of visitors fromall'parts of.OtagoandjCantei bury to the shores- of Lake Wakatipu, and it is to b - hoped) ithat: the isystem will be extendedj'SO that a '•liWtfflfone'fixcuraion traini per monthwiU ,be arrangei

/;Mr)Fenn,i who > has- made, Ms temporary ( .home oji - 'Paradise Flat, 1 near Diamond > Lake,, at the ,head qf : iiLakai Wakatipui met' with 'a 'aevere loss the other • week.' Afire, • which i was not discovered until.it Jhajl 'i a Btrong hold on the cottage/ completely destroyed it in an incredibly short time. Besides a comfortable dwelling-house Mr Fenn, who is of a studious turn of mind, loses a very, .valuable-library and a quantity Of scientific apparatus, all^whieh, 1 believo, was uijinßured. '

! His Lordship ithe Bishop of Dvmediri has lately paftl a visit' tp this district and delivered', sermons at • J Oiieenstowri and.'Arrqwttfwn respectively, which \Vero "" numerously attended; , At a meeting of members of the Episcopalian Church, at ,which his Lordship" pre,- , sided, the, desirability of filling the vacant charge was ' earnestly considered, and it is likely that'an airangel</ merit will be effected which is calculated to give tHo most general satisfaction.' It would be preniafjurc ■' go into 'details at thel present juncture, but it is quife ' safe to say that were the movement atpresertt on thm 1 tapis barried out, it would put local Church of Eniland matters upon a Bounder footing than' they have occupied in ,the paßt. , ; The nomination ' of Licensing Commissioners in ' 'this district was a tame affair, in the majority 6f ' ' ' caseS the requisite number only being nominated ; ■ and! so far,'as,iß known, there will be only one or t^o 1 elections necessary for the whole of the ridings and 'boroughs in this county „' ' '' ■ There is a superabundance of fruit iri, this district, which is, being. sent to Dunedin arid Invercargillin i laige quantities. The local prices fbr.quantities rule ' from Sd upwards. ' As 'it is' likely that the fruit w}ll increase in quantity as time progresses, even if no ' new orchards are planted, the growers would find it to their advantage to convert the large quantities of ' stone fruit into brandy and liqueurs, as it is somewhat precarious to transport. Apples and pears, which are hardier, stand the transport better, and could be sent ■ anywhere without much risk of deterioration. The information laid by a Chinaman against two creditably-known young men for assault and robbery, ' has been dismissed on account of 'the rambling statje- • ments made by the accuser, who appears to have been frightened out olhis wits by an ill-advised joke. Diarrhoea of ail aggravated form is very-prevalent v at ; present in A rrowtown. The water supplied by the new waterworks 'ls "blamed as the reason j' and it 'is certainly time that the water be analysed, in order to < ascertain with what kind of fluid the residents . attempt to cleanse their internal economy. • j , '''," , A beautifully-illuminated testimonial, presonted.to '' MrJl A. Chapman, 1 late malinger of ''the Homeward- ' • Boiind' Company, Macctown, has 'been Humorously ' 'signed by the employees and directors of 'the compaiiy, ' arid by a number of gentlemen and friends of Mr, Ohapman. " j The weather for the pnsf; fortnight has liccn evej-y-1., thing that could, be desired, hot i and flue. Harvest operations aro now making ({pod progress and nettling , their completion. No au< ho'ntic accounts are as yet to hand as to tha y fold, but' many of the fields pro1 mise a very high return, whilo others will Boa'rcely'bo up to the average. ' Major Atkinson, accompanied by Messrs Reynolds, Olliver, and Driver, M.H. X.'s, paid a visit to Queenst« v "i aHd Arrowtown on Friday last, and wore .luly ' d< [Mitationised. Several matters of local interest ' ' wo c brought under their notice, amongst which ' the Jlacetown dray-road received its share of consideration. A number of the shareholders in the Macetown reefs waited upon Major Atkinson and his party, with the view of bringing this subject under their special consideration. Without promising anything, Major Atkinson pointed out a way by which, if adopted, the General Government were bound to furnish three-fourths of the amount 1 necessary for the construction of a dray-roaa to Mace. town ; we jremftinin&fourth. would have to bo pro-

vided by'liocal' bbdies.~ "Under" such 'circumstances thoro is a nW glimmor of hope infused into those interested of havnig a dray-road to tho reefs 'completed within a reasonably short time.