NORTH OTAGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3877, 3 July 1928, Page 50

NORTH OTAGO.

news FROM THE DISTRICT. , CHANGES OF PROPERTY. A larger number of property changes have taken place in Oamaru in the last few months than for several, years past. The latest announcement is that the United Friendly Societies’ Dispensary has acquired the premises now occupied. by Mrs Frame (fruiterer). FARMERS’ UNION. - A meeting of the North Otago branch of the women’s division of the Farmers’ Union was held on Tuesday in the Star and Garter tea rooms; present—Mesdames Meek (president), Marshall (vicepresident), Ballantyne, Corlett, M'Lay, and P, MTvor. ■

Mrs Hamilton wrote regarding the Plunket and rest room, but the matter was held over until next month.

Mrs Meek was appointed as the representative of the/North Otago branch at the forthcoming conference in Wellington.

It was decided to hold the meetings on the fourth. Tuesday of the month. The president read a paper on her impressions of the annual meeting of the Otago Centre held during Winter Show Week. PERSONAL. •; Constable J. I. Melville, who has been in charge the Kurow police district for many years, has been transferred to North Invercargill. He is being succeeded by Constable Devine, of Masterton. OAMARU GARDENS. Mr. R. Rhodes, of .Oamaru, when recently in the North Island, was introiduced to a specialist in iris growing—Mr Alexander Wilson (town clerk of Otaki) — and the local public gardens have now been enriched by a dozen of these beautiful flowering plants. Mr Barnett (the curator) is also an enthusiast in the growing of this particular flower, and has made a special plot _ for the roots just received, which are iris germanica, or flag iris, and with the exception of two seedlings all are named, There are already over 130 different plants in the gardens, but most of those just received are new to Oamaru. THE HIGH COUNTRY. Settlers in the high country to the west of Oamaru state that the present season has been one of the best experienced for the last 20 years. The snow has fallen on the tops of the hills, but has scarcely yet reached the lower hills. Sheep have, therefore, been afforded ample opportunity of retiring to the lower lands, and are not likely to be caught in snow drifts. The sheep generally are wintering remarkably well. A COLD WEEK. Although, the weather experienced in North Otago has been very cold during the past week, rain has not been much in evidence, and farming operations have proceeded apace. Most of the threshing is over, and a majority of the mills has pulled m for the winter. In some parts of the district the winter sowing of cereals has taken place, but the majority of those farmers who missed the autumn is preferring to wait for the early spring. As the freezing season will last tor only a few days longer, fairly large drafts are now being hurried into the works.- Small quantities of cream continue to reach the local dairy factories, but the major portion of the cows have now been turned out. and in not a few cases are being rugged. The pastures are still holding out well, although the heavy frosts of the past week have had a bad effect. A DRY JUNE. The month of June has been comparatively dry in North Otago. The rainfall registered in Oamaru has been little more than an inch, which is the lowest record for June for quite a number of yeats. A WHEAT SURPLUS. Jt is-now an accepted fact that there Will be a fairly substantial surplus of Wheat in New Zealand this year. Some North Otago millers venture the opinion that the surplus will reach 1,500,000 bushels. As there is still a considerable quantity of wheat in the stack in Canterbury, any estimate of the surplus can only be of a speculative character. What is to becoine of the surplus, and at what price, it is to be sold, have apparently not yet been determined. RUGBY FOOTBALL. a , the Shield matches played on Saturday the competitions have now reached. a most interesting stage. Athletic, who have been low down on the ladder for several years, have made a wonderful recovery, and by defeating Old Boys on Saturday they eliminated last years winners of the shield and brought themselves into such a position that if they, defeat. Maheno next Saturday, as many people expect them to do, they will secure the championship. The position of the teams is now as follows:— Maheno 14 po i n t a . Athlehc . . .. 13 points. Old Boys .. . .. 11 points. Excelsior .. ~' 2 points." , results of the two matches played on. baturaay m fine weather were as follow:— . Athletic, 21 points; Old Boys, 3 points. Maheno, 5 points; Excelsior, nil. Maheno, 30 points; Excelsior, nil. Mr S. Lee was referee. " —Junior Grade.— Excelsior, 6 points; Old Boys, nil School, 16 points; Athletic, nil. —Third Grade.— Redcastle, 11 points; Pirates, ,3 points. ; —fourth Grade.—. t Old Boys, 3 .points; School, 3 points. - —Waitaki Sub union.— ■«? n V le Waitaki Sub-union' matches 'onSaturday, Tokarahi defeated Duntrbon by ® , pointsto 3, and Georgetown beat - Omarama by 7 points, to 4,

... A VIOLENT GALB. .. A: violent'gale' passed-over Nofth-Otagd on. Friday night, the velocity of the wind being greater than has been known for some years. In the country districts several stacks were toppled over, and in the town a" number of small buildings and fences Was wrecked. . CUSTOMS RETURNS. The following are the Customs returns for the port of’Oamaru for June, the figures for the same month last year being given in parentheses:—Customs revenue, £2BO 19s 8d (£361 ss); marine, £l7 6s- 4d (£199 Us 7d); meat levy, nil (£22 8s 7d);- passports (3), £1 10s (£1 10s};—total, £299 14s (£584 15s 2d). For.the quarter the returns are as follow:—Customs revenue, £1478 10s 3d (£1458 5s 8d); marine, £72 Is 5d (£7B 9s 3d); meat levy, £4ll 7s 4d (£324 13s sd);', passports, £44 (£l9 Us);—total, £1966 3s•(£1880 19s 4d). A GRANARY WRECKED. The large granary that is being erected near the Glenavy railway, station for Mr H. Ruddenklau was completely ■wrecked by the force of the gale on Friday night. The contractors will be heavy losers. GOLF. A bogey match was played by the North Otago Golf Club on Saturday. The best cards handed -in-were as follows:—rG. Henry (9), 3 up; L. Wright (11), 1 down; MEwan (12), 1 down; Clark (15), 1 down; L. Sumpter (4), 2 down; Marshall (6), 2 down; E. Grenfell (18), 2 down. THE RAINFALL. Mr W. Forrester reports that the rainfall registered in Oamaru for the month Of June was as follows:—June 6, 7 points; 7th, 11 points; Bth,, 5 points; 17th, 48 points; 18th, 14 points; 20th, 12 points; 26th, 3 points; 28th, 10 points; 30th, 4 points;—total, 114 points. For June, 1927, the registration was 306 points. For the first six months of this year 10.91 inches have been recorded, compared with 9.79 inches for the same period last year.