LAKE COUNTY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2209, 2 July 1896, Page 25

LAKE COUNTY.

June 27.— Although at the. present time of year tho weather matters very little to anybody, it is pleasing to report that we arehaving the fiuest of winter weather imaginable— that is, from -an un-prejucliced'-point of ' View.' 'the sluicers and crushers would like to see plenty of snow, the Molyneux beachcombers the hardest of hard frosts, and to on, everyone accoiding to his own interests and tastes. . , Does Farming Pay?— lt 'is not. so very many year* ago that; a hotly-contested controversy was raging its to the answer to this question. Some laboured to prove by figures that fanning could not possibly pay, and consumers stood aghast at the prcspect of being starved to death. However, the farmer went on ploughing and sowing, crops continued to grow in spite of everything else, and the cry for land led to the " buating-up -Qf-large-estates policy. If further pro'if that fanning does pay be wanting, it is furnished by the returns obtained by Mr Alfred Miller from his farm at Crown Terrace, as chown by the following statements and -computations. Mr Miller harvested and threshed 930 bags of wheat off 85 acres, or ab6ut H bushels to the acre ; 483 bags of oats off 25 acre?, or 80 bushels per acre ; and 108 bags of barley 'off eight ac -es, or 54 bushels per acre. Theso'figureß speak for themselves, and also for the quality of the land from which th? crop's were Eroourcd. In addition, Mr Miller estimates that c has not less than 135 tons of oaten chaff, the crop standing nearly oft high on aD average. As to the quality of the grain, it may be meutioued ' that the wheat was sold .at top prices in the local in.irket to one of our millew, and that Mr Miller refused an advance on current rates for his other crop 3. This crop is perhaps -the boss crop of the •district, but there -were- many other exrellent yields, and that, too, for. unquestionably the worst and mdpt unfavourable sea=ov for grain crops ever known in this district, when \vi:e-acr«s gravely shook their heads and predicted that the crops . would never ripen. lu' point of fact, all the grain sown prospered well, and though late in the year the harvest was an unqualified success throughout. The yield was good, the quality fully up to the Wakatipu. standard, and the weather all that could be desired, not a single cr<sp being lost or garnered in a damaged condition. Bru.nnek Rel"ief Ft/ND.— The collector for Lake County netted a tot*l <f £73 4a 3d. Iv addition Queenstown contributed £58 Oa 4i and Arrowtown £49 17s 6d, whicb.itogether with. the Salva- . tion Army contribution, will" bring up the total to upwards of £200 for Lake County as a whole. On Dit.— According to Dame Rumour, another Richmond is in the field for the next political contest in the person of Mr James George, chairman of the Lake County ' Council, as a supporter of the Govtrnment.