LAKE COUNTY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1987, 24 March 1892, Page 20

LAKE COUNTY.

MXJiCH 19*— The weather and the crops are the all-absorbing subjects in all agricultural districts, so that .Lake County is affected by it as well as the rest. Although the greater portion of the crop in thit* neighbourhood is secured, and a good deal of it bagged and sold, there is a large quantity of froth oats and wheat still uncut, comprising some of tho heaviest and best crops we have this season. This is, of course, owing to location, as there &ro amongst our hills many shaded portions, la;te reached and early left by the sun when the days' have once begun to shorteu perceptibly, though during the summer months these parts are all tlfat could be desired. Then again, some of the best land in Otago, perhaps, is elevated 1000 ft above tht\ average level of the district, and on that account i» rather late. However, in the general run of seasons we can reckon on fair harvest weather vi» til the end of April, and it is about that time* when our harvest finishes. So, everything considered, the rain that fell last Thursday will not affe ct progress much, though it lasted all day ; and th ere is now every promise of fine weather. Good vOropa are more frequently heard of as threshing a'-dvances ; and as prices compared with former year.'S are keeping well up, our farmers, with those of N she rest of Otago, are having their innings. Journalistic Amenities.— l did not see your Gore correspondent's assertion that that place was the best represented in your columns of the whole of Otago, and it would have slipped my noticehad it not been for your Pembroke correspoiMlent's par in your issue of the 10th inst. — a los* that would have been irreparable. It is nothing; short of surprising that your Gore, Lake Wanakft, and Lake County " ponfabulists " should be of the unanimous opinion that their respective districts are the best represented in your colum.os. I wonder whether there are any more of your correspondents who are of the same opinion— viz., that their place is the best represented. Generally when they agree upon the stage their unanimityis wonderful. Indeed, if the truth must be told, I went a little farther, and thought that Lake County, considering its size— for which, lam not accountable of course— was the best represented in " the colony." One thing is certain, there are not a few who think it is too well represented, and they have a quiet, inward wish that the wight who does it ought to be hanged or drowned, and would probably give willing assistance in improving him off the face of tho earth. Howeverall this may be, the country" correspondence < is a feature in . the 'Witness, and is read' by a wide circle of readers with interest, and has of late years been imitated by the Melbourne Age, the correspondence of which so far as I have noticed is certainly not superior to that of the Witness. It is indeed in point of value considerably below our local product. But to return to "the best represented i places," it would not be a bad idea 1 to' give prizes j for the best "pars" on the weather, obituary 1 notices, big gooseberries, the latest baby, or any of the other of the odds and ends with which, country j correspondents have to deal. i

A Disappointment.— We have been sc overrushed with professional entertainers thatwecannot accommodate them all, and some had t©> pass on because the available public halls were engaged in advance. Thus it happens that Mr Kelly crauld not show his phonograph at Arrowtown, the Athenreum Hall being engaged for Mr Tennyson Smith's show, and the Airowites will lose tfia chance of hearing and seeing one of the wondersof their generation, which many of them very greatly regret. Small Mercies. — Mr M'Kerrow, railway commissioner, is now on a visit to Queenstown, and! the Wakatip Mail suggests that he should be approached with a prayer for more speed between Gore and Kingston, a journey in which an hour's time may easily be saved, as the Mail suggests. This would be a small mercy highly appreciated by all travellers.