ROXBURGH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 39

ROXBURGH.

March 16^— Autumn is showing itself by shading the leaves with golden tints. The summer has been all that could be desired, beautifully dry and warm—almost tropical, fcad we had a little more moisture. Horticulture.—The fruit crops have been good and prices fairly satisfactory. Our local preserving works, run by Messrs Irvine and Stevenson, of Dunedin, has been kept in full swing, and has been a great boon to the district. Mr Brown, the firm's manager, keeps his hands going like clockwork. It is a pleasure to see the regularity and general discipline exercised. About £15 to £20 per week has been paid in wages to the hands, who are mostly boys and girls. The many tons of fruit preserved in various ways, such as for dessert, pie fruit, and pulp, will mean a lot of money to be distributed throughout the district. Much of the fruit would have been lost had it not been utilised on the ground. One or two fruit-growers no doubt lost a large quantity through its ripening too quickly. "This was particularly the case with apricots. There need not Have been any loss if growers had been alive to their own interests, and procured more labour to meet possible exigencies. There was plenty of labour to be /obtained if. it had been arranged for in time. The factory could have dealt with many more tons of ripe fniit in the way of pulp had it been brought in in time. There seems to be a difficulty about the sending of pulp by rail, which the Minister for Railways could remove, and greatly assist the manufacturer in the c"ty and also the grower. It urould also be advantageous to the consumer. The railway charges are the same for fruit pulped as for manufactured goods. Pulped fruit means fruit oiled and put into large tins or barrels, to be sent to the jam manufactory. The fruit so'treated is mostly over-ripe, and it could not he sent to the cities in any other way. The question is asked, Why not make it inio jam in the local factories? The reaeon for not doing so is that to fetch sugar, etc., into the interior would cost the manufacturer from £5 to £6 per ton, which would swallow all chance of profit. The cities are the great distributers of manufactories, therefore jams made at Roxburgh would necessarily have to be sent to the .cities, and the coat of transport of sugar, tins, etc., would have to Be paid for twice over, hence the necessity for pulping ©vcr-rine fruit. If the thing is looked into it will be seen that pulp is really not a manufactured article, but is a process by which the raw material is put up. in a convenient way for conveyance to the manufacturer. It should thereforebe charged for on the- railway as other New Zealand-grown fruit is charged. This would mean that many tons of lower grade fruit that is now wasted would be utilised. Crops.—The grain crops are good, and oats and chaff, which for the past year have 'been at famine prices, have now fallen to a normal price. Ohaff is at £5 &> £3 5s per ton, and oats 2s per ■bushel. A short time ago chaff ranged up to £7 per ton, and oats As 6d to ss. Wheat, which was unprocurable, is now plentiful at reasonable prices. Mining.—There is nothing very exciting to record. The dredges give good returns one week and poor the next, thus mo doubt keeping the Stock Exchange men continually on the gui vive for information. The Molyneux Kohinoor sprung a surprise last week by winning s§oz. The Lady Roxburgh has also been getting good (returns. The Gold King does not- seem so fortunate, etill there must be gold in the unworked part of the claim. There is a. lot of prospecting going on in the ranges this season, and favourable results seem to be foreshadowed. A good many applications for mining privileges have been niade. X predict much grist from that source in the future. Accidents.—Mr Archibald M'Pherson «'islained a heavy loss last week by having three valuable horses killed on the Beaumont Hill. Mr Perrow, the driver in charge, also had a very narrow escape. The waggon, which was loaded with goods, got out of control throuerh a faulty brake, and bounded down- the hill, running over the. polers. Mr Perrow succeeded in pulling into the cutting side of the road, and prevented a much more serious accident. — Mr' John Burnett's fruit team also came to grief at Bdievale. The brake was probably faulty, and the waggon was very jnucn smashed up, the horses cut about, and the lad who was in charge received a shaking. Fortunately the lad got clear in the capsize without much damage.