TARANAKI AND WEST COAST NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3215, 27 October 1915, Page 13

TARANAKI AND WEST COAST NOTES.

(From Ocr Own Correspondent.) RATA DAIRY COMPANY. The Bata Dairy Company operating near Martpn paid out the sum of £2542 15s Id for butter fat received in September, compared with £lßsl 15s 7d for the corresponding period last year. The amount of butter manufactured was 56,0951 b, as against 47,4501 b last September. The present daily make is 60 boxes of butter, as against 45 boxes last year. The s.s. Rimutaka. which sailed from Wellington last week, took 683 boxes of Rata butter. At a meeting ol the directors on Saturday it was decided to pay Is Id for October butter fat. FARMERS AND TAXATION. The Taranaki Executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union held its monthly meeting at Ilawcra. and the following interesting letter from Sir Joseph Ward was read in reply. to the executive’s resolution regarding the return laid on the table of the House on the question of taxation as between town and country “I have to state that the return did not attempt to establish any relation between the business man’s land and his income. It merely showed that while farmer and business man abko paid land tax. the business man, in addition, nvrd an income tax which tho farmer did not pay. There is nothing misleading about this. It is a fact, and I cannot admit that there are any misleading comparisons between town and country taxation. I think, however, that soma critics of the return did misunderstand it and did draw wrong deductions.” TARANAKI BUTTER AND CHEESE. Taranaki’s cheese and butter shipments for the new season are already growing big, and this week the Corinna took away from New Plymouth for transhipment at Wellington, another valuable cargo, which, consisted of 11,013 boxes of butter, and 4012 crates of cheese. It is expected that the butter will realise £3 10s a box, making it of the value of £38,558 10s; while tho cheese should hrmg £4 a crate, or a total of £16,048. This brings the aggregate* value of ths shipment up to £54.586 10s. This week’s shipment makes tho third for the new season, and combined with th® other two, the shipment of butter and cheese represents a value of £129.491 10s. IN THE ELTHAM DISTRICT. In the Eltham district tho total amount of cheese manufactured by the Eltham Dairy Oornpanv was 4652 801 b cheeses. Payment at the rate of Is per lb of butter fat is £6980 18s 4d. The payments for butte* making at lid per lb total £224. For the corresponding period last year the amounf paid for cheese was £5288, and £142 £o» butter. HEAVY' HAILSTORMS. The past week has been noted for heavy hailstorms, the weather being a vast change to that of tho previous week. The wh -'■* coast has been visited, and potato and ot r crops seriously damaged. So much rain baa also caused blight to spread among the potatoes. PRESERVING NATIVE BUSH. The Raetihi A. and P. Association have recently been confronted with a problem. On their show grounds they have some beautiful native bush, which includes a large quantity of first-class milling timber. They had a good price offered for It, and the temptation to sell was very strong. However, a meeting of the association turned the proposition down, and decided on tho motion of Mr R. W. Smith, to preserve tho bush by retaining it. A ROVING QUEEN BEE. In the Taranaki district an apiarist, who keeps nearly 100 hives, states that tho queen leaves th-j hive on five days all through the scae*ii. This statement i'

exceedingly interesting, and if it can be proved to bo true it will upset opinions hold by bcc-Jceepersu