POMAHAKA DOWNS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2310, 9 June 1898, Page 25

POMAHAKA DOWNS.

June 6 — Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sud. Verily, this is a wondrous iclimate. The week before last we , had winter weather to the3uU — two .falls of snow followed by drenching rain — and no wouder our discontent was great seaingthat stacks .were "being spoiled.and stooks were commencing to rot. Xiast Wednesday 1 saw Messrs CHow and Murray's mill anS >engine on their way to the Tomahaka— diorses all bespattered with tnud, and .a soaking vain falling all the time. Sly heart sank with Borrow ior tyie poor .unfortunate setfler to whom they were going. But on the .afternoon of that day a great change came .over the .scane. ,The vdouds broke, auS a nice drying wind blew -itoni -the, south-west, with a sjplendid jnoon at .night. Up to time of writing tliis summer weather .'has continued. Threshing is going on briskly. Messrs .Trussler at the lower end are .pretty w ell finished, .and I hear of one .paddock down there going .as hjgh as ;.5O bushels to the acre. At the Clinton en"d Messrs Dellow and Murray's mill is busy. I calculate thatxny own crop "has turned out about 37 bushels 'to the acre, but a good .deal of . tbo grain U damp aud discoloured. : Vacant Sections.— l hear .some intending . settlers have baon looking at these sections, and '< no doubt they, will be .taken up. I was rather amused with the remarks of some men whilst threshing here. They had never been on the ■ Tomahaka estate before, "but from all they 'had read and heard thry expected to find a dreadful place, but were agreeably surprised to find that the general appearance did not differ from that.of other places where they had been. The chief drawback is the distance from a railway, but, as I have said liefore, this drawback will be lessened in time, when we liave a branch line running t through Pomahalia and 'Clydevale. ',

Boads. — The roads are in an awful mess, as one jnjght. suppose. The setflers carting to Waipahi have the worst of it, I must say, for there are some terrible places to go through, where they have to doublebank the hordes and the dray is sledged over ; but I hear the new surfaceman for , the Waipahi Riding, Mr David Melrose, will have these bog holes pat dnto a miore -passable condi- \ tion.-as soon as ■possible. There is little or mvuse • •filling up these holes with clay .a'loue .at.ihis time of the year, for it can never haiden, and it just , "makes >it harder work for the horses to pull , through. I JL-em ember whnn this estate was '. opened and the roads -wfiru being made, greafrcom- , 'plaints appeared'in thn papers about the naurow- , nuBS-of the roads, and in wet weather it is JiarcUy nafctti pass some of the cuttings with a heavy , load. The owners of traction 'engines have >been promising aud promising to come up Jiere and .thresh for.sonre time, 'but it strikes meihatin wet s -weather -they .could never get their machines to , stop .on the roads in places, so I ifancy we shall ' Jiave to stick to ( the>pontables— »t any rateiunrtilour , lease runs out, after -winch some aurarrgement ) miglit.be .como to w.ith the Hon. John 3M['£enzie, if he is still in ipower, to have itihe roads <widuiyed at all -these daugerouH .places. I saw a -mill .the. other dayigo .a -little off the centreiof ithe xoad, , when down went the wheels nsxfc tthe side, .and | the -mill 'W^s ail but capsized.