NORTH OTAGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3864, 3 April 1928, Page 30

NORTH OTAGO.

NEWS FROM THE DISTRICT. FURTHER HARVEST; RETURNS Our representative has secured additional cereal returns for North Otago In the Kakanui district Mr W. Wilson threshed 664 bushels of oats from 12 acres, and Mr W. S. Barnett 339 bushels from seven acres. The former represents 56 bushels to the acre, and the latter 48. Mr A. M'Donald. of Tatars '" hi, secured 1912 bushels of Dreadnought wheat from 32 acres, averaging 59 bushels to the acre. He also threshed 831 bushels of oats from 14 acres, securing 59 bushels of this cereal to the acre. Mr G. Bruce, c • the same district, had .a return of 1043 bushels "of Dreadnought wheat from 20 acres, which ■works out at 52 bushels to the acre, and Mr J. L. Ballantyne threshed 996 bushels of the same variety of dieat from 19 acres, giving the same average of 52 bushels. At Alma, Mr F. Wharton obtained 461 bushels of Velvet wheat from 10 acres, or 46 bushels to the Jiere. Mr T. Beck, sen., of Duntrooh, threshed 3152 bushels, chiefly of Hunter’s wheat,- from 90 acres, and Mr T. Beck, iun., 2481 bushels from 65 acres. The former , represents 35 bushels, and the latter 38 bushels to ’ the acre. Mr Joe Mitchell, of Weston, secured 2223 bushels of Hunter’s and Dreadnought wheat from 59 acres, or an average of 38 bushels to the acre. The some owner obtained the excellent yield of 810 bushels of Garton oats from nine acres, which is 90 bushels to the . acre. Mr W. Harvey, of Weston, had a return of 1946 bushels of Hunter’s and Dreadnought wheat from 39 acres, or 50 bushels to the acre. ’ At Kauroo Hill Messrs French Bros, threshed 1568 bushels of oats from 40 acres, or 39 busheis to the acre. At Hilderthorpe and Pukeuri the yields have been fairly satisfactory Mr J. Kane, of Pukeuri, threshed 1482 bushels of wheat (chiefly Hunter s > from 30 acres, securing an average ot 49 bushels to the acre. The same twner obtained 49 bushels to the acre of cats from 35 acres. At Hilderthcrpe, Mr P. Connelly’s return from 45 acres,of Hunter’s wheat was 1120 bushels, whicr. represents 25 bushels to the acre’ Mr Connelly was more successful with his oats as he secured 1606 bushels from 3£ acres, or 5? bushels to the acre. Mr Geddes, of Georgetown, threshed 49 bushels of Tuscan vvhcat to the acre from 16 acres. He also secured 772 bushels of oats from 12 acres, or. 64 bushels to the acre. The—average yield of Dreadnought wheat from four farms in the Georgetown and Duntroon district, dealt with by. one mill, was 56 bushels to the acre, being 5379 bushels from 96 acres.

ELECTRIC WIREMEN’S ACT. An interesting case under the Electrical Wiremen’s Registration Act, 1925, was board in the Magistrate’s Court at Oamaru on Wednesday, when Thomas J. Banks, electrician, was charged with a breach of section 18 of the Act, which reads: No person other than a registered electrical Wireman or the holder of a provisional license, with or without the assistance of apprentices in any case shall be engaged in the work of wiring any premises for electric lighting, heating, or power purposes.” Mr A. G. Creagh appeared for the prosecution. The defendant pleaded guilty. Mr Creagh stated that the matter was of importance to the public. It was the first case of its ktnd brought south of Christchurch, and the department desired to bring the provisions of the Act under the notice of those concerned. Section 25 ot the Act read as follows:—“ Every person commits an offence and is liable on sum mar v conviction to a fine of £2O, who knowinglv employs or permits any person to do any- electrical wiring work contrary to the provisions of this Act or any regulations thereunder.” Mr Creagh stated that the defendant had taken a contract for wiring When the inspector called, tbe r e were only rpprentices on the job. The licensed contractor was not present. His Worship: I presume the case is brought on account of the danger involved Mr Creagh replied that that was so Cases had occurred elsewhere in which the danger had been brought home. As this was the first case of the kind in the district, the department did not desire the imposition of a severe penalty. .The Defendant stated that the apprentices were doing only preliminary work m' e was a fourfh-year apprentice The connections were not to be made un less a imirnevman was present. JTis Worship inflicted a nenalty of 10s, with court, costs and counsel’s fee (£3 3s). PERSONAL. Mr Alexander Wallace, who is leaving for the West Coast, was farewelled bv his fellow-members of the staff of the Wattaki Electric Power Board. Mr I. Dalmer, who presided, expressed the wish of ’.he whole staff that Mr Wallace would have a successful future. Mr A. Mahan made a presentation on behalf of those present of an electric iron, an electric kettle, and a Doulton jug. Mr Wallace suitably acknowledged the gifts and the kind wishes. WEEK ON THE FARM. The past week hns been a good one for farming in North Otago, the weather for the most part being bright and fine. Threshing operations have been actively pursued, and the major portion of the, crops in stook have now been dealt with The wheat in stack will shortly be threshed,, after which oats will be put through. The average yields are continuing high, though a good deal of the wheat is on the soft side. Lambs are being fattened on rape and turips, and heavy drafts are reaching the freezing works. The weights are now exceptionally good. A good area of land has been fallowed, and some of it has been sown down for •winter feed. Dairying operations are gradually drawing to a close, and in a few weeks’ time the supply of cream to the factories will have reached the minimum All things considered, the dairy season has been a satisfactory one. THE SHOOTING SEASON. Advice has been received by the secretary of the Waitaki Acclimatisation bociety that the shooting season for native game will be from May 1 till July 31 for Krey duck and black swan, and that

pukeko may be shot from May 1 to May 7 . in .the Omarama and Roxburgh Downs districts only. The number of game that may be’taken or killed by any person in any one day must not exceed 25 head in all of grgy duck, black swan, and pukeko, provided that not more than six head of pukeko may br .shot in any .one day, A close season ha's been proclaimed for paradise duck, which were last year shot op the upper reaches of the Waitaki River. PRICE OF LAMB. The price of lamb for export is to be advanced another farthing per lb as from yesterday. Prime lamb up to 361 b will now be 10£d per lb, from 371 b to 421 b 9fd, and overweights 9d. PUKEURI WORKS. The Pukeuri Freezing Works had a busy . time last week.. On one day no fewer than 3792 lambs were put; through which constitutes a record for the work The number of lambs put through for the season is well ahead of last year. TIMARU RAM FAIR. "" Mr G. P. Johnston, of Alma, sold a ", n< ; of one-shear Border Leicester rams at the limaru ram fair last week at prices ranging from 7ign s to 81gns. The prices wel '3 °n a par with the top price realised at the fair for rams of this class. A three-shear Border Leicester! stud ram. ottered by Mi Johnston, realised 16gns. THE RAINFALL. ' rainfall registered in Oamaru by Mr W Forrrester for the month of March was 2.4 m. Rain fell on - eight days as follows:—March 7, 98 points; Bth 76 points; Uth. 2 points; 12th. 2 pomts; 16 -1 5 L P° ints 5. 20th, 2 points; 25th, 5 pomts; UJth, 4 points. The registration for March last year was 1.56 in, For the three months of the present v ear the re cord has been 4.47 in, compared with 4.30 in tor the same period last year.