LAKE WANAKA

Otago Witness, Issue 2437, 28 November 1900, Page 33

LAKE WANAKA

Albertown, November 21. — The weather has "been very unusual for the time of the year — anore like autumn than spring. A large amount of cold rain has fallen, with snow on the iills. On one occasion there was a severe frost. The crops are looking backward in some instances, and there is every indication that the iarvest will be a month later than usual. There are frequently cold and bleak winds. As the rains are of such frequent occurrence, jpollard poison for rabbits will not be so' successful as usual, as the wet weather will spoil the baits. I paid a short visil to the Crown j Terrace about the end of October, and was surprised to see only one green farm -there, while ■at that time the crops at Wanaka and Hawea •were well above the ground. Many of the farmers there had not sown all their grain, being j delayed by the wet weather. The more the I ground, is worked, the longer it takes' to get dry after rain. A lot of the farms at Wakatipu were quite black. As showing how costly farm machinery depreciates in value after being used, Mr Geo. O'Fee showed me a very good M'Cormick reaper and binder for sale for £5 — which is probably a gift — and this is not an isolated case by any'rne.ans. Talking of binders reminds me that at the Paris Exhibition the <verdict of the New Zealand' farmers is no-•where,-as the two favourites were placed last, • while one that was always regarded as worthless ."was placed second on the list— viz., Osborne, Adriance, Deering, M'Cormick, Massey. Mr ..Win. M'Kibbin, who has a big farm, has lately added a drilling machine, with a large supply ■of- steel drills, making his -blacksmith's shop as complete as*, any tradesmen's up-country. -Mr Alf." Miller, the last f aariner to come on the terrace, nas built a -large .barn, and I noticed .that he had a lot of last season's ' stacks on liand. Anyone desirous ot picking up a few good farming wrinkles canno.t do better than come to the Crown Terrace, and I regretted that my stay was limited to a few hours. P. O. Matters. — A change has lately been made in the post office at Pembroke. Miss G-ough, who has had charge there for over four years and a-half, was lately transferred to JPapanui, near Christ-church, which came as a negretful surprise to the district. Miss Gough lias always given a helping hand to church bazaars, school concerts, etc., and has identiiied herself with the district in every way. Miss Gough' s notice of removal was so sudden that she was away before many of the people outside the immediate neighbourhood of Pembroke were aware of it. There was no time to get up any entertainment by way of a valedictory leave-taking, so that a purse of sovereigns was hastily gathered and presented to her, together with the best wishes of the people. Mr Eobt. M'Dougall forwarded $o Miss "■Gough a farewell letter with an enclosure expressing many good wishes for her future welfare. Latterly there has been a large increase «f business at the Pembroke Post Office in co'njiection with the dredging industry, which kept Miss oGugh busy. It had become the custom to post letters — on Sundays especially — with a request that postal notes or orders be en--closea m them, or that stamps be affixed, pay r Inent to be made for them during the- week, till at , last a notice had to be •posted up asking patrons to discon•tinne this practice. Coming into Pembroke '■during daylight is quite an item of interest fo many of th.c people in the surrounding district, -who spend their lives in a round of patient, ■ceaseless and tireless industry, from the proverbial morn till dewy eve, and to these Miss ■Gough always extended the privileges of the post office after office hours, and on Sundays, and doubtless they will always cherish the memories of these many kindnesses. At present Mr D. Graham, from Arrow, is in charge -of the office, but he has no idea of the future arrangements of the department in this direction. Californiaii Thistle. — Mr Wm. Monteith, at IPembroke, became the possessor of one of the sections at Tuohys — the one, in fact, that the Xiands department placed at the highest value, with the corresponding highest rent. After taking possession lie found that there was a patch of about an acre badly infested with the Californian thistle. I can remember this patch some 14 years ago, when it was only a few yards square. The thistles wer© perhaps 18m high, and there would be,-^xrobably one to every •square yard; but there was a large network of loots between, just ready to send tip new plantsto the surface. Mr Monteith, being desirous of thoroughly eradicating them, employed a man to dig them out, with instructions to spare 310 time, and do it thoroughly. The instructions .were faithfuly carried out, as I can testify, for I visited the ground two or three times during the progress of the work. After some weeks of energetic work with a potato fork, the ground was declared clean, the man laving taken out no end of roots. When the • spring came roimd again, it was found that the thistles were as thick as ever, and farther showed that eveiy little bit, even 'an inch or two long, which would escape any •digger, had thrown up another vigorous plant, and the thistles are as thick as ever they were, - and Mr Monteith has his trouble to face over again. My plan woxild have been to thiow tip a, small embankment round .this patch, and bring into it an adjacent stream of water, and rot! them out The cost of doing this wo.uld 7 ne small — perhaps a couple of days' work with the plough would do the lot — and the cure ' -would be certain. For some years past I havo noticed what I believed was the Californian thistle Tound Cromwell and Bannockburn, and aieo on Ihe *hoiea of Juojce Wa.lr.at.irm: but I

am assured that it was not the real Californian thistle, as it never sent up new shoots from the roots. However, there is not the slightest doubt that Mr Monteith encountered the real Simon Pure, and accordingly would hage good grounds for applying for a reduction of rent. Another kind of thistle has established itself at many places on Criffel and. on the banks of the Clutha. It grows sometimes 6ft high, and so dense that a. horse cai'nol force his way through. The original Scotch thistle has almost disappeared, especially as it seldom has a chance to seed. The horses being very fond of the blossom, &rake it a practice to eat everyone in sight. "Agiicola" bewails the fact that sorrel is a great pest, and haid to eradicate. Up here we simply plough it down in the hottest days of summer, and then grub it out with the Massey-Harris cultivator.