LIKE WANAKA

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

LIKE WANAKA

Alberto'vi:, Ju'v 3". — I iirticd lately that Mr "VVaWh, of Hampden, had a leiter in the Witn^fs in reference to irrigratio i and "Agricola'' then made a few further icm.iik<= on the ■.ame subject. Some years aso I made tho statement in the Witness that many of our nicvitam streams are flowing aw.iy to wa^te, and if some of the water in them virra arre-sWI sn-1 earned over th- day a-id parched lands in the interior the accumulation cf much wealth would lesult Sundry irrigation schemes in this district have abundantly verified the co.rectness of this statement. In fact, m the futur-e, irrigation, water co.;servi'ig, lrugntion water races, laws relating thereto, ar.d loajis in connection wit'i them will be burning questions in Parliament, and pttrhare^ntary candidates will adopt irrigation ? v s a leac'i"g line in th-eir parliamentary p.ddresaes. Professor Black complained that the bones of the frozen meat contained large quantities of phosphorus and other rnanurial substance", which tended to impoverish the ground. "With irrigation, when u=ed in growing clovers and glasses to be eaten off by stock, it appears that the land increases in fertility all the time, owing to the quantity of silt deposited on the land by the water. Even if there is no silt n the water, there aie minerals and other substances held in folution which help to keep up the laud. Irrigation ni-ea-ns raising more stock, which axe capier managed thn-n o;iain-{>! owing, and 18 a solution to -a certain .extent of the scarcity of labour, and a check to a certain extent on the Labour laws. Yihich have a tendency to crush out th-e employer of labour. The inauguration of a new and profitable ju'lu'trv m a d:strict means the circulatio i of a lot of wealth, which soon passes through scveru! hands, creating Imppiness and increased woildiy comforts as it goes along. At Lowburn Mr Chas. PerTiam acquired a farm some years ago, a portion of which was cohered with very fir.c gravel, which would require several acres to keep v sheep all the year round. Mr Pernarn ; r rigated it with water from the Five-mile Creek, which was heavily charged with yellowish silt from the claims, and the result was very gratifying. The clover and grass sown on jt grew amazingly. At Luggate, Messrs Bruce. Trevathen, and M'Loughmi brought m a race holding six heads of waier, to be divided equal!}' between them. Mr Ihoinap Anderson, miKi-r, Luggate, }i«is a- most valuable property a.-- the result of urigation, which he finds so profitable that he lately acquired au area of over 10U0 acres, exte?iding from tho boundary fence between th« Wanaka and Pi&a luns to the Luggate Greek. Mr George R. Pearce has a farm below Stone Yards, aud irrigates a portion of it. -Miessrs Robert Siudhoim and Sons lately constructed a water race seven miles leD_g. to hold o\er two heads of water, from Timber Gully to their farms at (he foot of Mount Roy. Their neighbour, Mr C«orgo Miller, the manager of the Wanaka station, has lately let the contract lor a water race to water the hou.c-stettd and paddocks at Dog Match. 'Ihoro will b" ji lot (if fluming aloag a gravel b.ink and across a httlo •valley. In the latter case, when flaming js built it is best to ha\ c live poplar trees for a. f< un-datioii. as they grcm »rd die everlasting, and are cheap. On the south bide of Quartz Creek, on tlie Forks, Mr Ewen Cumeioii (formerly of Matnkituki) has acquired a valuable property -a nth piece of "bottom" land. He waters at the rate of 20 acres pc day, and r-ach watering lasts about a fortnight, and the grass grows amazingly. Tho latest race is one taker, out of the Cardrona River by Mr Richard Norman, to water his farm at Mount Barker. Ihe quantity of v.-at^r required will be about eight heads, and ns the ground ab^rbs the v.-ater rapidly R supply will require to h: maintained. In tlis present case rabbits are rcther plentiful at tinitß. and this waUr will '=con change all that. Thi-i is only a. short sketch of the progress of irrigation in the Wanaka district In fact. I purpose giving details shortly, frc_n which it will be =ecn that irrigat;oi 'has long since passed out of the experimental stage Details of the construction of races will br. given, •which is a very amportanl. item, and there is a considerable amount of difficulty on this head, because experienced racomnkers are very scarce i-o that =cn--etime- the o-vr.er has to study thn matter himself. It misht be said in the meantime tha! if a -hep r-.irs throuph pi.vate property, ailJ t'.iC o\M.cr cannot decide as to the price he is In reci'i'. c for the conception, the warden iia-3 S',f(' ..cutly extci,<;i\t powers to deal with the matter, li is i.ccevsArj to apply to the County Council for permission to cross the roadwpys, and it is always n-eccssary to build culverts over them.

Change —During the past \e«r the district has suffered quite a diminution vn the population. Messrs Robert Young and Charles Cater —^ho hj\c been in the district for perhaps 20 years past, who are married and luue large families, and who lived in the Cardrona. latterly—have left for the TaranaJti district, in the North Is!an3. The men are working at a eawmill, and their wives and families are i uniting dairy farni3. They buy them on tlie usual terms---viz., the owner supplies them with cows and fsnus, iiiid he keeps half the milk and they keep t"_i? other hah", out of which they "run" the farm and pay [or it. Mr George Bovett, fanner, of Mount Barker, is seriously considering the idea of following in the same lines. As Messrs Cater and Young were always known as honest, industrious men, everyone hopes their efforts will be crowned with success. Mr and Mrs Thomas Cameron, who have lived heTC for upwards of 35 years past and have raised a family of 14, End who w-ere often the mainstay of our school, lately sold their house and effects, and are now living outside Invercargill. Before leavmg, the residents hastily got up a ball in Pembroke to bid them farewell, and many told them that they ought to remain in th? district where they are so well known and respected. Being interviewed last week m InveTcargill by a Wanaka resident, they expressed the hope that they vould be able to get back to the Wanate after all Their daughter — Mrs Frank Williams, of Nelson Creek — lately lost her youngest child, notwithstanding th» care and &d?jee oi Dr M'Brearty, of Greymouth Thr sad event wps the occasion of a couple of feeling paragraphs in the Greymouth newspapeis. The last to lea\e the distnct was Captain Hedd'tch's wife and family. For pome years past Mit-s Ida Hcddrtch played the organ foi the Presbyterians on Sunday e\emngs. rrid when the Church of England became established played thi organ for that body <,v Sunday mornings In eevering her connection with the churches Hiss Hedditch wm made the recipient of a

handsome volume of Church Praise, suitably inscribed, bj the Presbyterians: and the Aiighcai. Church Committee, on behalf of that body, presented her with a handsome Bible and prayer book, and a sum of money was handed to Mrs Hedditch to buy a present in memory of her connection with the body. The clerk of the Church Committee (Mr Richard Gorman) also wiote to Miss Hpdchtch. expressing its sorrow at her departure, with the hope that, her future would l^e happy and pro=p<.-i-oua. and stating that she took away the committee's best wishes. Captain Hedditch exprr.^ed much gratified surprise at tlie various kind expressions of goodwill extended to them. Any help they had extended to th,e church was done without any thought of anything in return, and they were g.aA to do anything they ccu'd to help the church. The family has entered into the dairying industry at Wangami!, 3m t Mr Hedditch and one of the boys lem-ain behind for a few months yet.