PUERUA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2303, 21 April 1898, Page 25

PUERUA.

April 15. — The weather here lately has not been, much to complain of. There have been a good number of fine days suitable for harvest, while some sharp downfalls of rain have been of benefit to the turnips and pasture grass. The Crops.— lt seems to have been the preva- ] lent opinion here that the oat crop would be light i this year, but in the absence of very high winds I to shake the crop, and with high prices j —if they keeps up— l do not think the j farmers will have much to complain of. Whether i or not the oat crop will be up to the average remains to be seen. A large portion of the crop is now stacked, and threshing will soon \ be in full fling. Turnips on flat land, in conse- j quence of wet, cold weather, do not seem so gcod, i but on the hill slopes they are looking remarkably J well, there baing some very fine patches. Com- j plaints are made in some parts of Ecarcifcy of j pasture grass, but as far as my experience goes : pasture seems to be fair for this time < of the year. | Rabbits. — Bunny seems to hold his own much J as usual, but if there be any difference, I think j he is rather scarcer. I think there is no doubt the j buying of rabbits for freezing and exportation I will have a considerable effect in reducing the number of rabbits. Prices for a pair of rabbits j seem to be now from 5d to 6d, and carts are goiug j round collecting rabbits from the settlers. Of > I course, poisoning at the proper period cannot be ' | dispensed with, for no means must be neglected , of combating the pe3t, and anything like farming i rabbits for the sake of trade must be strictly pro- I hibited and avoided. ; Obituary.— l am very sorry to have to j record the death of Miss Euphernia Christie, j eldest daughter of Sir Robert Christie — j a fine, good, amiable, and very industrious girl, and an experienced dairymaid. Her death is a grievous loss to her parents. The funeral was one of the largest ever attended in the district.— l am also sorry to have to record the death of Mr Geo. Scott, late of Waitutu, Port Molyneux. at the age of 66 years. On the morning of the 7th of this month, feeling unwell, he seems to have been about to retire to his bedroom to lie down, when he fell down at the door of the room, dying from heart disease.' j Mr Scott was a well-known man among i the flockowners. I suppose there is hardly a man in this southers hemisphere who has a better knowledge of sheep than had Mr George Scott, and he was for years one of the judges of sheep at the Clutha Agricultural Show. Mr Scott seemt to have been able almost inßtantly to spot the primest ram of a flock of rams when drafted, and through hia capacity in this respect some years since he selected a ram which has been the progenitor of a very fine breed of cheep both here and in Australia. Mr Scott . I was a pleaiant man to converse with, having j ' mwh. acatsaegs. £ H d, jafceliiaessf. JjjuL a !"££&

amount of prastical knowledge, with good Ideas on various subjects. He was liberal if noi exactly radical, and his sympathy seems ever tc have been with the labouring classes. His ten* perament was sanguine, and he seems to have been rather deficient in caution, or Scotch "canniness." His father had a large farm or the borders of England and Scotland- —in Northumberland, I think, near Alnwick Castle, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland— and in early life he was employed as a clerk in large mining works, of which his uncle was rranager. This uncle and another one aeem to have been well-known men at Home in scientific circles. The fact of his having, on account of financial difficulties, to leave his beautiful farm at Waitutu nearly broke his heart, though su! sequently he settled with his wife and family at Port Molyneux, »nd, renting the town reserve, seems to have been tolerably cheerful. Mr Scott took no prominent part in politics. Had he done so I think his services would have been valuable to the colony. He was a thoroughly staunch, upright man, with no " gammon " about him, and I think a really religious and God-fear-ing man, though he did not make much outward show of his religion.