LOCAL A. AND P. NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2603, 3 February 1904, Page 16

LOCAL A. AND P. NEWS.

The hay harvest on the Taieri promises to be the most sucees-sTul c-xpearienced for years past, the yield showing very heavy

and, taking it all round, in good condition.

The wheat and oat crops are ripening rather rapidly owing to the continued spell

of dry weather, and consequently an early harvest is expected. The small birds ere much in evidence, playing havoc all over the plain, and especially with tho fields ot the small farmers, some of whom will havo to cut their crops for chaff. Ifc is feared that the early turnip ' cropo are doomed to failure for want of rain, but those who were fortunate to sow lafco will probably far© bettor, a-3 there are indications that rain is not far off. A couple of days of light rain would do a lot of good.

The t harvest is now general in the Shag Valley and the Oamaru district, while at several places along the line crops are in stook. The heavy gale- of Thursday, which was seemingly general all along the coast line, had the effect of shaking standing grain very considerably, and the one day's wind must have lessened the grain yield Ly many thousand bushels.

A thief made a raid on a farm in the North Taieri district recently and got away with about 50 head of poultis'.

Thirty-three tons of Teviot fruit were railed from Lawrence on Wednesday. This (says the Tuapeka Times) is the largest quantity ever despatched from the station in one day. On Tuesday evening one waggon, drawn by 10 horses, brought in a record load of fruit, consisting of 350 cases, estimated at over seven tons weight.

Oats are ripening very rapidly all over Southland, but it is feared that the yield will be by no means as heavy as wac anticipated from the standpoint of earlier appearances. The small birds, rr usual, have made great havoc among the more forward crop 2 , and the loss on this account is probably heavier than at any previous E-eason for many years back. A" prominent Otama farmer expects to commence cutting next week, and already there is a large number of Australian harvest hands in the district looking for work.

It would appcai that the cheese made m Southland factories (cays the Daily News) possoses the flavour of turnips to an extent that materially depreciato its quality. Mr Silingleton, who visited the Bluff last week with a number of representatives of dairy factories, remarked at a meeting held at Invercargil! on the 25th ult. that Canada had lost thousands of dollars through the same defect in their product that was a characteristic of the shipment that was just being ccn J away from Southland, and he said if cheese could not be profitably manufactured without the use of so much turnip fodder it would be better to confine or give more attention to butter making, as the bacterial quality of cheese is more important than that of butter. It was stated by one of those present that some suppliers of milk grazed their cattle on turnips, and the opinion was expressed that if the feeding were carried out on judicious lines the cause of complaint referred to by Mr Singleton would disappeai altogether, or exist in only a very small degree. According tc Mr Singleton, while this fault is perpetuated the Southland product cannot hope to attain that position in the world's markets that they were all striving for.

The Tapanui Courier states that noxious weeds are thick on Crown lands in that district. Railway and river reserves, police camp paddock, etc., are simply nurseries for noxious weeds, and yet the Stock Department expect private individual* to eradicate them. There is c new yellow weed that is spreading all ovei the district ara rapidly as would the germs of smallpox. The weed resembles cowslip in the distance, seldom exceeds a foot high, and grows very densely — like a carpet. It looks like becoming a pest.

Writiaig on the 26th ult. the Wairnate correspondent of the Oamaru Mail says: — ■ The high temperature and bright sunshine of the last two weeks have gre-atly accelerated the maturing of jhe cereal crops in this district, and appearances indicate the necessity of harvest work commencing at the latter part of this week or early next week cm several farms. Some .=mall paddock? of oats have been cut for hay. The crops ar© good, promising more than an average yield. Some farmers are of opinion that the very warm weather if the last few weeks has caused the crops, to advance to maturity a f - too rapid a progress foi the production of a heavy shoaf, but we alwa3"s hear of adverse opinions in this respect, no matter how favourable the weather may be. There is no loubt hat from the latter weeks of spring to the present time there ha' not. for many years, been experienced such a long run of good weather and such a complete exemption from storm, frost, or any other similar drawback. The rather changeable weather from moist to dry which prevailed during the earlier part of the shearing season was highly favourable to the growth of

i vegetation. Pastures, though for the moct part heavily stocked with luxuriant growth of grasses, have lately become very dry, and the long grasses wither and become to some extent useless a.? food for stock. Potatoes j look well, with promise of large crops of j good quality. Some, farmers in the district, ; tired of keeping their oals in expectation of 3 a nso in price, are arranging with the busi- ; ', ness agencies, now so plentiful in South T ' Canterbury, for the exportation of their 1 stored oats to London. The Waiho Downs ' | and Waihaorunga farmers have joined in the » j formation of a saleyarde company, and a I I strong and active board of directors has r j been formed to erect a capacious sale- , yards. . j Tho "Waikaka correspondent of the Tapat j nui Courier writes: — Tli© crops are ovoiyj where looking very promising. The turnips * j are- coming away very nicely, bufc are said L to be a bit chewed up by the "fly." Ryok grass cutting is just on. Thero scemn to , I be a fairly promising crop in tho majority (I of cases. It is rather an expensive- job j now to harvest ryegrass, on account of the : j difficulty in securing hand?. Ifc is coming to this: a. lot of farmers rather than be bothered crawlm? aftex men to do harvest work are- gradually going out of cultivation en a purely worlnrig~system of farming. It is not so much, perhaps, that men arc. scarce a? that the men offering are either j too old or they are too incompetent for I the work, and, -along with these- defielences, j most of farm workers are much too inde- I pendent either to be told anything or to learn. It is stated by the Mataura Ensign that tli-' turnip crop in 'the district is likely to j prove anything but a fucccs* this season, j Owing to the prolonged drought and great ' heat, the seed has not come away particu- ! larly well, and the fly also has proved more than usually troublesome. Second ! sow ing has been resorted to in many cases," ! and operations of this description are still j preceding. The Southland County Council recently sold tho flax which is growing on the river chain reserve*, and their action has ' set some adjoining farmers up ni arms. ! Hitherto they have not put up fences a chain back from the stream, contenting themselves with running their dividing fences c he water's edge. They fear that the flax-cutters will break the fences down, and also trespass, on their land t< got flax carted away. A meeting was held at Winton on the 23rd ult., svher> it was de- i cided to petition Parliament, and also oscea-taixi the council's right jO sell the flax, which in places is a- great protection to the land from floods. A point which seemed vague was whether the chain reserve followed the rivers in their diversions. It was stated that in some case* the rivers were 40 -jhains from the courses when surveyed. It was admitted that the council could road these reserves. Small birds are already doing a lot of damage to the ripening crops in the Clutha district. An Inchclutha farmer informs the ' Leader that he has never known them to be so destructive as they are this year. All around this district (writes the- Redcliff correspondent of the North Otago , Times) the crops are looking their bo=t. The heads of both wheat and oats are full and plump, and with a fortnight or, at \ latest, three weeks ot the present ripening - srrashiue we should hear the merry whirr ' of the binder in the cornfields oi Redcliff. ■ Farmers are pleaded with the prcspect of ] a .good harvest, but. on the other hand, 1 there is ' probability of feed becoming ' scarce, on account of the dryness of the < ! past few weeks. At present all stock is '<■ lookir.j w-ell, but a shower is badly needed 1 to freshen up the grass i The, Climton correspondent of the Clutha i Leader reports : —The weather continues far ] too dry for the requirements of the district. 1 The pasture is getting a very withered look, '. while turnips are at a standstill. The oats ( now seem to be fully shot, and will be very t short unless wet comes. One redeeming i result of the dry spell is the saving of grass 1 seed and hay in excellent condition. The £ grass crop, generally a difficult one to work a with, has been easily handled this year, c while those who take the trouble were en- £ abled to save abundance of hay for winter r feed. A notable example of what lime can t do for this crop is to be seen at Mr Hugh y Clark'* farm. Kuriwao Gorge. Mr Clark has 9 saved two big stacks from a very few acres, t and now "the second crop promises *o outdo ]] the first.

The bot fly h more prevalent in the Southland district this season than eve-r before, and many horses, including some used for racing purposes, have became affected by the grub. No doubt the prolonged spell of fine warm weather has favoured the pest. The North Otago Times announce' the death of Mr Donald Simpson, which took place at his residence, Otiake, on the 27th ult. Deceased was a native of Caithness, where he was born in January, 1851, and consequently he had completed his fifty-third year a week or two ago. He came to this colony quite early in life, and in 1879 he settled at Otiake, where he has since resided, working hie farm with care and sagacity, and considerable success. He has for many years been regarded as one of the mo^t use- ; ful men in that district, for he took n ' active intere-t in everything going on at ! ; Otiake. He was one of the promoters >f the ■ North Otago Farmers' 00-operative Assoeia- < tiora, and had been one of itr directors from i the time of its inception. He. leaves a ' widow aiid six children, who will have the i syjaaatliy of a .wide etasle of friends in their ;

t los 3 , for ISIr Simpson was generally respected. i [ Ac the Iai 3 (, Invercargill wool sales Mr i , Glendinimg, of Messrs Ross and Glendiningv 2> | purchased over 3000 bales of th-e finest andi 3 ' moat expensive- wool=, showing that the local f demand far fine wools is very ke-en. ' ! An extraordinary general meeting of tliej f Goire Dairy Factory Companj 1 - was held in. " ' the secretary's office- on Thursday last. Mir 1 ! John Mac Gibbon presided. It was re-solvedl c ! tha*. the company be wound up voluntarily, s ' and that a special me-eting of the share3 ! holders be convened on February 16 to 1 confirm the abovo resolution. — In Friday's 3 j Southern Standard an interesting account la • given of the history of this company, from which the following extracts are taken :: — ■ - Tho Gore Dairy Factory has had a eomewhafe - chequered career. Tho first meeting to cons sidcr the question of starting a faetoiy iv 1 Gore held on August 6, 1885. To - show the interest taken in the meeting, ' | thero were 75 person* present. The low 7 price of oats at that time induced tho fai- > i mors to look out for something more pro- > i fitable, hence the keen intereSt take-n in f , dahying. The meeting was presided over > j by Mr Thomas Green, and several able andi ' ! interesting speeches on the profitableness 1 |of dairy farming were- made. Several e£ ; ! thewe who attended and took- part in that! * j mesting have crossed tht> G^eat Divide. j Other-?, again, have left the district, whila ' ; a good number still remain in the district. I It was resolved to form a company, with a share capital of £3000, in £1 shares.. ' ... At a subsequent meeting to hear tho sub-committee's lepcrt, it was statodi ■ thai 851 shares had been applied for, and! ' ! the milk of 231 cows promised. Be-fore thei j meeting terminated the abovo figures were/ , increased to 871 and 350 respectively. , . , i Mr S. M. Bobbins, of tho Wyndham fac- ( tory, was instructed to prepare plans andi . | specifications, for the new factory, and after j its erection was appointed manager. . . The faetoiy, when erected, was one of tha most up-to-dato buildings of the kind in the colony at that time. The company^ j met with a set-back almost at the start, ( and that was an unexpected deficiency in, the milk supply. This has been an almost chronic complaint ever since. The, company, originally formed in 1885 went into liquidation in 1896, and a new company was formed unde-r the name of the Gore District; Dairy Factory Company. The new company bought out the old one and increased! ; its capital. Some 29 persons, mostly sup- | pxiere, took an additional 25 shores' £fl,eh and this gave the concern a fresh life "Only 10s per chare of that amount his been call^dl up- Out of the 29 original shareholders II have dropped out, and there ar© now only 18 shareholders in the company. The semifinal act in connection with the company j was enacted yesterday, when a resolution,' wat carried that the company bo voluntarily liquidated. This, of -course, has been precipitated by the directors carrying out the instruction of tho shareholders to effect a * xSncn 16 plant The offer of Mr Warden of £1050 was accepted, and the property will pass to be a private concern in a few weeks time During the last few years the company has leased the factory to Mr George Reeve, the present lessee. The following items of interest app Pa r in last Friday's Winton Record: -Mr Andrew JJindlay, ox Oreti, brought into town this Tn , eam P lea of his rye crop, 7ft high All the crop on this 24-acre paddock has not attained the same height, but ,is very well grown throughout, and is all standing up with vigour -Mr James Paterson, o€ in© Mains, N^aikaka, is experimenting with m5i t tim 5J msm s? rto ? fl ' Om Canad a, called! the Sheffield Standard. This is a fine variety, much like the ordinary Sutherland and therefore specially suitable for milling! It has also the reputation of being particularly immune from emut and rust.— Mr W Ihomson, of Forest Hill, has a fine crop of oats upon his, farm which it > - s refreshing to soe. One paddock of the Tartar kin^ variety stands fully 6ft 6in high, the heada being very weighty, and 9in or loin deep, and the growth i? as smooth and even Is *P°°f mHV 11 * 1 ", OTdh ' ar y conditions tha crop should thresh out 10f bushels to tha acre Adjoining ,6, 6 f fine paddock of sp/irbuT f S ' 11Ot f° Wgh a3 Tartar 2 1 ]; strong and close growth. The yield from the same paddock last year was «U bushels pei acre, and this year indication* pomfc to the crop being not far-be-

The Mataura Ensign reports that* the ciops are ripening rapidly on tho VVaimea Plains and harvesting will probably be commenced by several within a fortnight, rho small birds have been nlaving Havoc with the grain, and owing to "the extremely hot weather, which bas had the effect of forcing the growth, the crops all round will be voiy short. A prominent settlor on tho plains stated iast week that a days rain would be north £100 to him. Visitors to Duntroon y&sterd.iy (says Friday s North Otago Time) were surprised 1 to notice how witheiing have- been th-o past few weeks' dry weatber. On the oa*9 the clfect has been serious, and many crops iait % mouth ago promised well now havo that white ajopearanco which frequently indicates shm elled grain Wheat has etood! the wcathei better, and many fiold.s look a-* though they should thrash out good yields of well-developed, hard-berried gram. Pastures ha^ c suffered very much, and though, there has been ? good growth of gross, the hillsides have a rather thirsty appearance. At the prcse-ut time, it ie almost ita,«

possible to break up lea land, and where ifc has been tried strong teams of horees have been found a necessity. From Oamaru inland farmers are now busy cutting, and on the Maerewhenua settlement most of the crops will be down by the middle cf next week.

Writing on the 28th ult., a Brighton correspondent of the Taieri Advocate reporte: — The Brighton district is at present looking exceedingly well. The crops are fairly good, and are already tinting up, showing that harvest i? Xt hand. A kng spell of very dry weather is perhaps responsible for the coiou* coming >n so quickly. The drought is beginning to make itself felt rather unpleasantly, and a good ehower of rain would be very welcome. Some very heavy crops of hsy have beeai gathered in, the season being particukir-y favourable to this kind of winter feed. A mile or two beyond the township a flaxanill is in full swing. It is owned by Mr John jKeppel, who is keeping things somewhat lively a* that particular spot. He employs upwards of 30 men, who work two shifts from 8 a.m. till 2 a.m. The mill ■has been erected for the purpose of turning the flax into hemp. This hemp is done up in bales, carted to Dunedin, and from there shipped direct to America and England. Though the quantity sent away is very great, it is not nearly equal to the demand. There is also a creamery in the district run by the Taieri and Peninsula Milk SLvpply Company. Though not doing a very large business it is wonderful the quantity of milk put through. About 700 gallons are dealt with daily, brought in •by 25 suppliers.

The Head of the Lake correspondent of the Wakatipu Mail writes: — Tho crops are looking very well and are in a very advanced condition; indeed, there are few crops of oats on the line between her© and Dunedin which can give any points to spme of ours up here, a circumstance which is very unusual. The shearing season opened 'badly. Scarcely had it begun, early in December, when the weather, which had been very fine, broke up, and for the next fortnight it rained more or less every day. Since then, however, the weather has been almost perfect as far as the work is concerned, though probably a few degrees too •hot from the workers'' standpoint. The work has gone ahead splendidly, and nearly all the sheds will be cut out in a few days. Until the straggling muster is finished it will not be possible to tell exactly the loss during the winter, but as fa' as >an be told approximate!? , the loss on the whole appears to tie little in excess of the usual average and justifies the confidence which was felt in tho comoarativ© safety of the runs at the Head. The lambing appears to be very satisfactory. The most noticeable effect of the winter is seen, perhaps, in the wool itself, which has an unusual amount of dried yoke in it.

Tho aunual meeting of members of the Strath-Taieri Agricultural Society was held on the 23rd ult., when Mr Wm. Moynihan was elected preside.nt for the third time. Mr R. Walker was appointed secretary, and Mr G. MTJonald treasurer, with a •working committee of 25 energetic and 1 capable members. The 3ate of show was discussed, 'and it was agreed to stick to the original date — viz.. Easter Monday, April 4.

We (Tuap-eka Times) have v&rv s;ood authority for stating that Greenfield Estate, though, as far as we know, not literally im the market, is for eale, and the owners ■would not be indisposed to treat with the Government for its -purchase. But whether the Government will undertake the purchase of the property must entirely depend eia the price at which the owners are prepared to sell. Some time since :n being approached by the Land Purchase Poarcl they stated their celling price to be £5 ID? an acre. But a& at that time the Messrs Smith objected tc sell the estate and strongly resented the interference of the Government an what they regarded as their private eights, the figure they demanded may have teen, only a "scare" price, something asked ito keep the Government at bay and frighten ■people suffering from the disease known ac land hunger from appealing to the Government on the subject. WpII, if that was their obiect, they succeeded ■nrobnbly beyond their expectations. The. Premier, very ■wisely we must admit, on Hie recom-p-ipnda-fion, of course, of the Land Purchase Board, l-efuiW to entertain the offer for a moment. The consequence, was that a ffood many people lookinsr for lam--] to settle on were deprived of the opportunity of doing so. Of course ft die? not then suit Messrp Smith to sell, Trnt ft does now it seems, and the questim therefore is, doe* it suit the Government to buy. oi intending settlers and the trubl'c ffenerallv to push for a purchaseuntil it sui+s thp-m to do «o? Warmer waited -o long, they w. wait a little longer, or ■until such time as a more reasonable price* is a=ked for the property. Land seftlp*n°nt is a v.~ry good thing for the country, but it aniisi ha nrofitable fiJad nrnanenana land

settlement, otherwire it is better it should (never have been undertaken. We hope that if any attempt should be made to purchase Greenfield Estate, the interests of intending ettlers will be carefully safeguarded.