IDA VALLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2170, 26 September 1895, Page 23

IDA VALLEY.

Skptkmbeu IG.— After a long and wearisome winter, spring bas again returned. Yes, loog and wearisome—the longest, I believe, on record, and wearis'ime on account of the continuous snowfalls, the second of which lay on the ground for upward* of six weeks. Certainly plenty of suowballiug could be indulged in, but that did not nikke it any the morn piuas^nt for stockowiicra, especially as ou nli Hides ntock were ptmvinj,' The death rate iv sh^ep will be very high, and those I that do get through cannot »boßr much. Ploughing wus started lust week, but the ground is btHl too wet in a good mauy paddocks. This will throw the work back considerably, ac the la^t of the grain crop 3is generally sown before the 1-jt of October. The thaw, which was a quirk and sudden one, had the effect of raising tue I'oMburu and other email crtck-j to a con-,idfiulJe height, each litile creek having the apLjearuiico of a lnige rivur. It was only with great risk that tbe l'liolburn could be forded. Our mailins«.n io d sei vinj; of a word of praise for his promptness in delivering the m»il«, for on more than one occasion he had to stand erect iv his sulky while the horse gwatu thePoolburn, and this waa at comiderable risk to his own life. Rk.>t Agitation. — I ob=crve that very much needed bteps are being tak^n by !/ro«u trinnti in Central Ot»RO to have some ronii-s on uiii'l-i iu+h-i rents of their holdings. lam quite in ac.-ord with the inovi-nidi.t, and after a rmdence of a number of ye^ibin Cential Otago 1 only wonder that this reduction was not urged long ago. Necessity is the mother of invention, and the settlers thr ugh the extremity of the past winter are compelled to take this course. By the bye, I was conversing "with a small eheepfarrner the other evening when he told me caudidly that he estimated his loss at d£sso, and that this was only the monetary value he had paid in cish for the sheep he had skinned this winter. The request of the settlers, if acceded to by the Government, will no dmibt tide over the presenjt s=»aion, but the rents are at least one-third too high ou all Crown litr.rk Central Otago will never be a procperous settlement under the present circumstance*, m which all the income made on the land is disbursed in rent 3 and expenses of woiking. Vint is the settler to improve with? Must he live foi ever for & scanty snbflirften. c ? I think a better course to adopt w ould be to collect the present yoat 8 j rent in question in instalments extending over three or four yearn, wi'h interest aaded at the rate of 4or 5 per ccufc. per annum. The Govern-

ment would not then be a direct los.^r, and many a man would pay rather than bother with interest, while the extension would be of material benefit to nniallur settlers. The board would of course hold improvements as secinity, which they do in any case. At the bamc tune a general reduction of at least cue-third of the rentals, of ull Grown lands khall be made. If thu were dune, no mui'ti would be heard about reinissiot-m of rents. I notice your li-»ld Hill Flat correspondent wrote on this subject some few weeks bro. Evidently be J3 not a man of the world, or his want of experience leadß him astray. He wonders at farmerd agitating for concessions when rabbiter3 and miners are not doing an. I presume the miners in his district are all right. It is well to be a miner with plenty of gold comiug in— difT-iient to fanning here, for high rents inuct.be p i'l -<ix montlw in advance, lie (juotea chaff at £5 iU-i p-r ton ; -the pity is there is n"t some to sell at that I iaay bay lam uot a farmer, as I do not h»l(l an acre of laud, but having had experience I pride myself on being able to look at a thin; in a fairer light than does the writer in question. I would ask him to try his hand at farming, and I am satisfied he would alter his opinion. Roads.— The roads have been very wet and foft lately, but tfie surf act man, with extra assistance, is hard at it, .and we uhall &oon see them in better order.