LOCAL A. AND P. NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 20

LOCAL A. AND P. NEWS.

According to reports received by the Taieri Advocate, the crops in the West Taieri district this season are very much below the average, both in quantity and quality. One correspondent states that in the vicinity of Outram on the highest parts the yield will be fairly good, but in the lower parts as low as 16 bushels of wheat, have been, threshed. The average on the best land will be about 35 or 40 bushels. One crop has gone about 60 bushels, but none of the wheat is of good quality, and a considerable quantity is blighted. The best yields of oats will be about SO bushels, but these are exceptions rather than the rule. About 50 will be the average, and 6ome of the lower grounds will not yield half tfiat quantity. The turnip crops on high, dry ground will be fairly good, but the majority of the crops are late, and the yield will be considerably below former years. The potato crops are more or less blighted, and the yields will in some cases be a minus quantity. Tho Up-to-Date variety is not attacked the same way, tho tubers being in most cases perfectly sound. Derwcnts, on the other hand, are pretty well useless, and will hardly pay for the digging. The grass is giving out very quickly, and altogether the outlook for settlers who have not much winter feed is ■very serious. Another correspondent, who has been farming in the Taieri for the last 40 years, states that last season was the worst he lias seen.

Some of the threshing averages on Edendale were 101, 93. and 95 bushels to the acre. The cats are of the Tartar King variety.

Heavy leads of store sheep and lambs are leaving Tapanui branch this week for conversion into '"prune Canterbury." The dry weather of tho past few weeks in tli© * back count ry has completely destroyed the feed. The North Otago Times" is informed that tho country has never looked worse, and stock will have anything bufc a good time. The root crops are making no progress, and in some cases are~*rapidly deteriorating. It is many years since the Upper Waitaki has worn such a burnt-up appearance. The whole of Central Otago is in a similar condition, the moist weather of the coast line having been conspicuous by its absence in the back country of Otago. Feed is also becoming scarce in more favoxircd localities along the coast. Last week there were 6ome large sa.es oi wheat locally— the biggest for a. long time— at full current rates for prime milling. Of the grain sold a fair proportion was Tuscan. The price is pretty steady at 3s.

now, and whether it keeps up will depend principally on the Home and Australian markets. — Oamaru Mail. It is stated by the Orepuki Advocate that farmers and householders who go in for breeding^ poultry are complaining of the devastating havoc wrought by ferrets. The latter aro becoming very numerous on thii sice of the Longwood, and something will reqairo fco be done to stay their depredations if the poultry industry ie to thrive. The Milton Mirror of the 16th inst.. writes:— The hum of the threshing mill is over the land to-day, despite the holiday time, for millowners and farmea-s so to no sports when the weather is fine enough for this c!«£s of work. The effect of the prolonged wet weather is that the average yield on the plain will fall to about 30 bushels an acre. Very little wheat-thresh-ing has been done. <tnd this cereal cannot now be threshed until the spring on account of the grain being so soft. Iv the opinion of a local mill owner, the season ha.- never been so backward. All the pessimistio presentiments of a failure in the harvest have vanished witb tho sur.shine of the last few days (saye the Otautau Standard of the 17th inst.), and even farmers seem almcet to have forgotten the we-eks of rain and bad weather in the warmth of the present. Cutting and leading-in are in full blast all over the district, and with a- continuance for another v/eek, very little, other than exceptionally late-sown crops, will be standing. Even wiih all the drawbacks, there are talks ci some big yields, and as of yore Southland promises to maintain its reputation as a fairly good representation of the old land <-f Goshen. The Otama Dairy Factory has again change-d hands, having been re-purchased from Mr Reeve by Mr J. Dumbleton, who took it over originally from Mr Wayte. Mr Dumbleton was formerly manager of ti.e Mataura Dairy Factory, for which he did really good service, as the last year he was there he took the grading prize for Southland, which was valued at i}2s. Mr Dunxbleton (remarks the Maiaura Ensign) will i.ndoubtedly maintain the reputation of the factory he has again become the owner of. The* following district notes are^ contributed by correspondents of the Taieri Advocate: — Lee Stream: Since I wrote lsst the weather has been very - changeable. Scms of the farmers have managed to £>-t tiiciT oats cut and stooked, but if the bad weather continues, a lot of the standing crops will bo flattened down- with the prevailing elements. The runholders and far mers have finished with their sheep dipping, and have sold their surplus stock at very fair prices. Bunny has had rathei , a rough time of it for the past few months with dogs and poisoned pollard. There are not many left, and in "consequence there is no rabbit cart running in the district so far. — Momona : The weather' has been very unsettled for the past fortnight, and throshing operations have been hindered thereby. It" is the exception rather than the rule to hear a threshing mill in the district this season, as it is only on the high ground that there is any crop worth speaking about. Tho result of " the season's threshing all over tho district is: On the high ground, from 50 to 60 bushels of wheat and from 60 to 70 bushels of oats to the acre ; while on the land affected by the water the average yield is somewhere between 10 and 15 bushels to the acre, to say nothinsr of large areas of the- ground where there is no crop at all— except weeds. Speaking to a farmer on a largo scale, he assured me tha(^ whilo the yield on his higher ground compared favourably with its yield in former years, his threshing lasted only on© week this year as compared with a fortnight in former years, chiefly from a decrease in yield in the land affected by water A special g-eneral meeting of the members of >he North Otago A and P. Association was held on Wednesday last, to consider proposed alterations in the rules of the association, and a motion of which Mr T. Reid had given notice. The president (Mr W. Milne) was in the chair, and there was a fairly numerous attendance of mombers. The Chairman said that a committee had been set up to revise the rules, and their only suggestion affected the v-om-position of the committee and the procedure to bo followed in its nomination. The committee had threshed out the matter fully and had given all the alterations <iie matures* consideration. The Chairman moved that the amendments suggested by the committee be adopted. Mr Jackson moved— "That the propospd alterations be taken seriatim." The amendment was lost. Mr Frew said that several members had come in to discuss the- alteration in the rules and the discussion had been burked at tho outset. Mr W. Gardiner, jun., 6aid that it was not necessary to make any fuss about the matter. The alterations would bring the rules into line with those of the majority of other societies. The motion for the adopton of the report was carried— The Chairman then introduced Air Re-id's niot;on, which is as follows. — "That the incoming committee be instructed to 6ecure. if possible, a euita-b!© site for a new show ground on the railway line, and that the present ground be sold to the best advantage of the association." The Chairman thought that it was -lot advisable to gpU. tho ground, without procuring another. Mr Reid said that his idea in proposing tho motion wa6 to allow of an opportunty of discussing the advisability of moving the ground. He movad in terms of his motion. Mr Livinqstane caid that the first duty of the meeting was to affirm the desirability of a move He moved as an amendment— ''That it be a recommendation to Ihc incoming committee to consider the ability of procuring a new ground.' Mr Brcwnlee proposed a further amendment — "That a committee be set up to report at the forthcoming general meeting upon a suitable site for a new show ground on the railway line." Mr Reid withdrew his motion in favour of Mr Brownlee's amendment. Mr Livingstone's amendment was carried, and the motion also was put and carried without a single dissentient. The committee was appointed as follows— Messrs W. Gardiner, jun., (j. Livingstone, D. Borrie, T. Reid, C W. Reid, J. B. Taylor, J. Mfuopherson, M.H.R., J. Macpherson (Totara), W. Cowan. Jas. Holmes, R. O. Campbell, J. F. Reid. T. Little, W. Gardiner, sen J. Mitchell. J. O'Brien, Jas. Reid, ai d H. ft Orbell ; eight to form a quorum. The committee met subsequently, and decided to advertise for offers of suitable sites, to bo in by the 26th inst. The committee will meet again on Friday, 27th, and will report to the annual general meeting on May The Tetua correspondent of the South- J land Times reports that the potato crop is not quite up to former years, and most of the crops are more or less affected by blight. Record prices have boen obtained by some growers, as high as £12 per ton being given, a price before unheard of at

digging time, and no doubt due to the appearance of. the blight. One- grower I heard estimates hi 6 loss at one^Jhird *of his crop. The famous Northern Star potatoes (says last" week's Mount Ida Chronicle) are evidently giving to establish better records in this district than they did last year. We were shown this week a couple that weighed over lib 14oz each, while a third was very littl« lighter. They were grown at Kyeburn Diggings' by Mr Ed. Parker, who got , the splendid return of 2351b from '211b of ! seeds. We- have been having rather backward weather for harvest during the last month (reports the Matau correspondent of the Clutha Leader), but" most of the crops are now cut, and a good deal of leading-in has been done during the last few good days. The crops have been got together in very good condition so far. Although the weather foi the last week or two has been very showery there has been a good deal of cold winds, which keep it from taking much hurt. Tho crops, on the whole, ere • not up to the usual. The turnip and potato crops are also disappointing. 1 The Southern Standard of the 20th inst. writes : —The weather throughout the holidays was beautifully fine, and served to dry the crop in stook in the neighbouring districts to such an. extent that stacking was carried on vigorously. In some districts threshing out of the stook was earned on within a couple of days of the heavy rain that prevailed in the middle of last week. The intervention of the Sunday did not delay the lecding-in operations on many farms, fullest advantage, and excusably so, it muse be admitted, being taken of the fine weather J that prevailed last Sunday to gather the i crops in. One strictly conscientious Sabba- | tarian in the Waikaia district could not j bring himself to do this, but he made a happy compromise between his religious J scruples and the stern law of necessity by , lending his binder to an unfortunate neigh- , bour whose crop was still sfending in a 1 perilous state of ripeness. I The following items are taken from TTri- , day's Winton Record: — One of the longest, if not the longest stack of oats in Southland, is to be seen on Messrs Crengle's ,' fai-m near Waianiwa. It must be at least • 70 yards long, and will contain some of the , finest oats harvested this 3-ear, the crop > being secured prior to the burst of bad j weather before Easter. — Easter passed away [ very quietly in Winton, th«ro b«ing no at- j . traction whatever in the township. Mcsfc of > . the people took the train, and either spent j • a day in Invercargill at the Axemen's Car- ' nival oi journeyed round to the River ton . races. Farmers, however, did not consdier the attractions, but made the best of their time in the fields, and all along the lino they could be seen getting the sheaves into stack as quickly as possible, as this has been the only chance they have had of setting to work to clear their paddocks for «, considerable time past, and towards the closo of Monday evening stacks could ' be seen in most cf the fields. The following further communication, bearing on the Southland cheese trophy, to be competed for at the forthcoming winter show as Inwrcargili. has baon received by Mr James M'Lauchlan, of Wyndharn, from Mr Walter Kennaway, private secretary to Hon. W. P. Reeves, High Commissioner for New Zealand, dated London, 17th March, 1906: — "In continuation of my letter of 2nd inst. I am desired by the High Commissioner to state that he has accepted the design of the .Army and Navy Cooperative Society for the trophy due at Southland winter show. The High Commissioner has 'assumed that you would prefer to have a somewhat smaller flagon, well ornamented, rather than a larger one of a plain character. The ornamentations are •to be of Maori design : one side of the » flagon with bear an appropriate dairying, scene, with the inscription on the other side. It has also been arranged to have the fktgon photographed, and an ' electro ' will be forwarded to you as soon as it can bo made, so that you will be in a position to have it placed in the illustrated" papers of . the colony. The flagon should reach you about the middle of May or early June." — ! Wyndham Farmer. Several of the directors and the manager of the Taieri and Peninsula Company were lin the district yesterday (says Saturday's i North Otago Times) in connection with a. 1 request for tho establishment of a creamery !at Enfield. They have discussed the ques- ; tion with the settlers both of that locality and Windsor, more particularly, we believe, , as to the fepsibiluy of removing the Windsor \ creamery to a site central between the two 1 places, so as to avoid the cost of a second building and of management. We have not j learned tho result of the conferences, but this will probably be made known shortly. The following notes appear in Saturday's Oamaru Mail:— The welcome drenching rain of yesterday afternoon and last night j was pretty general throughout this district, extending even to the Upper Waitaki, and was very welcome. The moisture is just in time to give farmers a chance to , plough for winter wheat, and root crops ■ will receive a fresh start. Feed, it is feared, is going to be very short, as tho rain did not come in time, and frosts have already played havoc with the pasture. Altogether, stock seems to be in for a hard winter, as root crops do not promise to bo very good.— Potatoes are getting firmer locally, and the price— £9 per ton— promises to increase, judging by present indications. The supply is not by any means large at present, and all good sorts arc taken eagerly , at the figure quoted. The future of the potato market is not too rosy from the consumer's point of view, and the rise in prices is steady, being influenced in this case wholly by the law of legitimate supi ply and demand. There does not seem to ! have been any gambling in the tubers in j this part of the world lately to artificially : influence the market. i Writing on the 16th inst. the Fairfax j fcorrespondent of the We-ftern Star re.j ports: — To-day is such an ideal harvest day that we are inclined to let -by-gones be } by-gones, and forgive and forget all tho exceptionally bad weather we have bad. Sunday leading-in is quite the order, and justly co, although there 'are many who will argue the reverse. The Almighty bestowed on them good crops, and. in a climate such i as wo have, being so far south, every day ' and .every hour should be embraced to save i the crops. I norice some Melbourne buyers '' in the district picking up colts and brood I marcs of quality and size ; and as the . Western District is the chosen of Now Zealand for suoh stock price will be no , object. There is no better sign than to see J the same buyex9 returning so often — good evidence of superior prices being got on tho other sulo for superior stock. All the crop that is out will be pretty well out of danger, as the stooks can be 6een vanishing wholesale. There is yet a great acreage fiot quite re.&4y. for the, kip-fat* but I thinjj

April will see it all "happet and thackett";l and now that prices are cheering, farmers will be inclined to forget and seek forgiveness for all the hasty remarks passed on the weather.

Reporting on the 20th inst. the Balfour correspondent of the Mataura* Ensign supplies the following notes:—Harvesting operations in this part are again at a standstill. A large quantity of the crops are yet in stook, and in a few instances not jet reaped 1 . The weather this autumn is the worst ever yet experienced) in the district. This morning it is pouring with rain, and hns no appearance- of stopping. coiiy real" good harvest weather was during the Ea-ster holidays, and excellent use of the time was made by the farmers. In some instances settlers commenced on Friday mornings and worked right through Friday night to Saturday night, and a good many took advantage of Sunday, and who can say there was anything "wrong in that? Tuesday morning it rained again, and en Wednesday end Thursday there was no •daying, so practically all this week is idle time to the far« mers, and the outlook at this time of 'year,' when the nights are so long, is a very bad one indeed. A few small lots of oats and wheat are threshed, but in a good many instances the farmers will have to get tho crops together the best way possible, and; thresh them in the spring, as they will be too soft for immediate threshing. On. the river fiat some heavy crops have been threshed, wheat going- as. much as -75 bushels to th? acre. On Wednesday tho monthly stock sale was held. This was tho one which is named the sale of tho year, there being a yarding of some 3000 sheep. The sale was porluins the most satisfactory ever held in Bsifour. Fat sheep and lambs are being trucked from here, and: good drafts are going to both Mataura., and Ocean Beach. Messrs Wright, Stephenson. and Co. are the principal buyers, and it is understood that the best lambs received at Ocean Beach are from Balfour. although noi'hcw are lambs as good this year as in previous seasons. The turnip crops, b*»ing late sawn, were not expected; to come to much, but made a good appearance until just lately, and now they ar« not bulbing out at all.