WETHERSTONES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2410, 10 May 1900, Page 11

WETHERSTONES.

April 30. — All the farmers and settlers in this district have got their crops in stack. Some of them had the threshing mill at work last week, even though it was wet and rainj\ This will certainly not do the grain or straw any good. But the farmers cannot help themselves — they have to take the mill by turns, and if it comes on wet aad the mill does not thresh it is a heavy tax on the farmer, if his holding is small, to feed all the mill hands, as well as get "coal for the engine. An old mill hand' told me that one night they drew in the mill at a labouring man's place, where there was a crop of about one acre to thresh. The next morning, and for two or three days following, it was too wet to thresh. The unfortunate owner of the small crop had to feed ihe mill hands (about 12 men) all the lime. He had less than ten bags of oats, and given fine weather, the mill could have done it in a little over an hour. Some farmers are cunning enough to let the mill go by them, and slip (heir tivn if it is wet.

Strawberries. — To demonstrate the congenial season we have had, I may mention that Mr R. Tuckey, a resident of Lawrence, has secured a second crop of strawberries from his plants. Mrs Tuckey ' covered as much of the bloom as she could with glass pickle bottles, with the result that they had fine, and very large, strawberries. The plant is an American variety, called Saxon's noble.

Bunny. — There is still a large number of rat>bits being caught and sent away Ironi here. One rabbiter informed -me last Saturday that during the five days of the week before that he made £-1 10s, and that he expected 10s worth of tabbits to be in his traps thpt morning. That is not bad wages for one man — and that though it was fog and rain nearly all the time. Some. time back 60,000 rabbits were sent away in three weeks from Miller's Plat and Roxburgh alone. "Weather. — Each week during the past fortnight hasy been different weather. The first week was like an Indian summer, fine and warm, with a high barometer. Jt registered 29.92 on Friday, the 20th, the highest it has been this year, but lasi week was like an Otago winter — first fog and rain, then rain and fog^i and on the 26th, rain, hail, and snow showers and clear and frosty at night. The same description apialies to Friday and the following day, and it was freezing hard each night. The barometer had fallen to 28.74 by the 25th, when it began to rise. Saturday and Sunday were fine. It commenced raining last night, and it has not stopped yet. The lowest reading of the thermometer was 31deg at 7 a.m. on the 28th, and the highest 7L*eg at noon of the 19th.