LAKE COUNTY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2524, 30 July 1902, Page 31

LAKE COUNTY.

July 19. — Snow was the order of farmers and filiiicers, and the order has been filled in a partial manner. As is Ul2 case every winter, there is a good deal of controversy going on about the quantity of tho snow iir-on th<> hills. The signs of a good coat ci' snow are when tlie contour of thf mountains apr^m lo be comnletoh changed ; when there sue few b'.ick cropping out through the snow, and when the lower edges of the depofe'* are niaikcd by bharp lines If one of these sujrs being at pre«ent apparent it may safely be concluded that there is no great quantity stored up on the lulls at the present. Last night, more snow fell. Dreceded by lain showers and mut.li wine. The buow was lollowcd by a vbtv keen m.st, liarJeuui^ it uifo ice, so that it i-> not hi *iy to cauiu flood-., •Ulilp«s the weathT turns vrrv warm

Does Farming in Otago Ppv '— -'Ihe -cencs at ihe Otamita railway station repioduced la the Otago Witness of the 16th inst. are a speaking assertion that it dop=. In the face of these stacks of grain, who is there that would assert ihat farming did Tiot ar.d cculd never be m?de to pay in Otago. md ihat Otago could never j^row her own food supplies ' Yet there was a. -time, not so maony years ago, when the attempt vas made to make us believe such a statement. The chief trouble then Tva= eorrel, forsooth ' ■Sorrel overspread all newly-ploughed land, pre■ventmg everything- else from growing, and hence ihe disaster. Not only is sorrel not yet exterminated, but the so-called Scottish thistle came hand-in-hand with the California^ thistle to finish oE for good grain-growing at least. Then another straw was added to break the camel's back, m the shape of the rabbit, to do ior settlement completely , and now the small ■bird pest helps to drive the agriculturist crazy. Still, farming dee& not only survive them all, but comes up smiling to the front, as if nothing in particular was the matter However, there is much to be said against the smal'-hird pest. Sorrel and the thistle have had their day as spooks, and are no longer a terror to anybody , the rabbit has brought with him a. large amount of compensating pood , but the small birds are — with few exceptions — an unmitigated nuisance. The evil is growing with every year, and that at quite an alarming rate. Furtive and intermittent attempts, by poison and putling a. price on the birds' beads, have made no kxther impression that a reduction in Lake County finance, without any corresponding reduction in the number of the birds. But this Unify be owing to the wavering manner in which Ahe extermination oi the birds was followed up. Had the council continued buying eggs and tieads, some good might have been done, but ■when they closed their money bags (if any), and gave the birds another start, all went awry again. There can be no doubt but that this, 4ao last pest, will make itself more and more felt as time moves on. The subject is one that the Farmers' Association may well take up in all earnest. Election Talk. — It is now uuderstood that Mr

Horn, of Bannockburn, is n«t going to contest the coming general election. This leaves 3till two Government candidates in the fie'd — Mr R. B. Rcss and Mi James Kelly, both of whom declare positively that they will go to the poll. Mr Kelly is the gentleman who last general election astonished the natives by his oratory and knowledge of public affairs and politics m general. — It appears quite a number of gentlemen from different parts of the Wakatipu Licensing District are ready to offer themselves as candidates for the Licensing Committee.

Entertainment. — A very enjoyable evening's entertainment was provided last Saturday evening at! tho Airow Athenaeum, in aid of St. John's Organ Fund. The entertainment took the form of a magic lantern lecture, the subject bpmg the record leign of Queen Victoria. Rev. D. Hea". Fisher took the lctiurer's pait, whi'^t Mr Allen worked the lantc-n, «howi;ig a series of really splendid pictures Mi=s King, an ever-welcome favourite with tho public, and Mr W. S'evenson, who has a very winning tfiior voice gave several songs during the evening.