DRUMMOND.

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

DRUMMOND.

J cjke 2 — We have .of late experienced lather cold, squally weather, but still upon the whole it is very seasonable, and we must not complain.

Agricultural.— It st ems a great pity, however, to see so much grain still out in the district,. and with. seemingly little prospect of getting at in in a good state. Of course the cases where it is out yet are exceptional, .and the harvest in .general here was little behind most places ; only what makes .niatters worse is that the stuff out is not confined to small patches, one farmer in the neighbourhood having as much as .70 acres in the stook yet. Oats which were stacked a fortnight ago had in a good many cases to betaken ;down asrain and turned, as they were quite hot and likely to go on fire by spontaneous combustion, if there b such a thinp, which, notwithstanding all the mysterious stack fires which occur, is still a disputed point. Under these circumstances my advice to farmers with ■even a few acres out would 'be to make ensilage of ■it, so that in the event of a snow storm or a scarcity of feed 'from any cause it could be given to stock eicher this winter or next.

Social.— A welcome social to the Rev. J. Burrows, the new Wesleyan miuister, was held in the school on Monday cevening, 23yd tilt. JLt took the form of a concert, with an 'interval of half an hour for tea. There was a large attendance, the sdhoo'lroom being packed With the exception of Miss Bailey irom Rivertori, the performers were .ill local, and included Misse3 Macintosh (2>, Brown, M'llwrick, M'Lelsh, and Button, and fi'i essv<s Ditke, Officer, andlßucking- ' iiam. The school, which had been .tastefully decorated by Mxa Sutton and otters -for .a harvest thanksgiving service held on the previous Sunday, looked very nice, .although the , display 6"f flswers, fruit, and vegetables, ' was far behind that of last year. Mr Burrows, who occupied -the chair, ap >lQgised for several t •friends -from a distance, who, frornthe inclemency ' of the weather, ihad been 'prevented 'from being ' with -them,; and also -for the Rev R. Ewen, Pres- j byterian minister, who regretted being unable to | be present. Mr Merrifield proposed a vote of I thanks to the performers and all those who had \ helped to malre the entertainment a success, after winch the National Anthem 'was sung, the Benediction pronounced, and the meeting broke up at . 1039—a early hour for Drum- ; 'moncl. ] Ploughing Match. — The annual meeting of 'the Diumißond Ploughing 'Match Association was held at Perry's Hotel. on the evening of the '24th ' nit. ; J'h»rev/as a good attendance, aud Mr John Walkfr was voted 'to the chair. The secretary., ■Mr William Sbormont, submitted the annual report and balance sheeit, which showed a tat sfac- ' lory -credit balance with which to start .this year's operations. The jeport and balance sheet were ' adopted It was decided to hold a ploughing 'match ihis year, the<date to "be some'tsme in^July. 'Land 'was ikindly -placed ■&*"; the disposal of 'the ' coainriittee iby Messrs "K. Baird, J. Ewan, 'and ' Alsxandor Hamilton. Messrs John Brown, W. Hamilton, .and John Walker were appointed a field committee, to inspect the ground and sjeport to a future meeting. The price of members' ' ft'ekets was fixed at 10^ ; ;and after a vote of , thanks to the'ehair the meeting adjourned.