LOCAL A. AND P. NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2849, 21 October 1908, Page 20

LOCAL A. AND P. NEWS.

At & meeting of the Otago and Southland Sheep-owners' Industrial Union of Employers, held in Dunedin on the 12th, tb« question of the prices for shearing for the en6uing season was discussed at some length. A great deal of correspondence waa received from tha fheep-owncrs throughout tho industrial district, the majority of whom were opposed io any increase in the shearing rates this year owing to the low prices of wool ar.d 4thir causes. It ivob ultimately decided to rr.&ko rjo rccomnißiidatJon in connection with the matter. Tho result of this decision is that the prioea will be governed by the exist.ir.g: award— U., 16s 8d per 100, with rA+ior*, fur. hand <>:, machine shoa-raig.

- An Oamaru-matliematician estimates (says the North Otago Times) that the Government will make about £5000 a year under the new dairy regulations out of the fees levied on thcea who own dairies. Some small birds in a plantation of firs at Otautau got a scare one night last -week when a couple of the small-eared owls which have been liberated. -further north appeared on the scene. That they are multiplying and spreading is evidenced (says the Otautau Standard) from the presence of the two 6een in Otautau by a resident, v.ho watched the pair for 15 or 20 minutes, during which time they accounted for a couple of dozen soarrows. The Southland A. and P. Society s prize schedule for the forty-second annual show is to hand. The gathering is to be held on the Bth and "9th December. The prizelist is on much the usual linjSs. There is a long list of special prizes, including gold anedels, for most pomta for Bord-er and .English Leicester sheep, Romneys, Linoolns, shorthorn, Hereford, polled Angus, and Ayrshire cattle, pigs, and draught and thoroughbred horses. Mr Brace, of "the Stcck Department, who is accompanied by Mi Dobson, C.E., is making good progress with the work of inspecting the land in Central Otago with o. view to reporting to the Government v^e area of land likely to be materially benefited by irrigation. Mr Bruce is not content- with a mere .hurried examination, but seeks to obtain information on many points. Their joint rsporfc and accompanying maps should prove of great value. "The Msniototo A. and !*• Association's Summei Show will be held on Decemter 17- ' The Lake County A. and P. Association's Smnra-T Show will bo held on December 9. not on the 10th, as is stated in the list, of shew dates on another page.