COUNTRY NEWS

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 23, Issue 6, 23 January 1912, Page 4

COUNTRY NEWS

(From our Correspondent). MAHAKIPAWA. The petition to overthrow the return of Mr R. McCallum came :is,a surprise, and is causing no little excitement. The more excitable of Mr McCallum’s supporters give their hats a bad time and cause no little ; amusement with their antics and facial contortions, to say nothing*'of sundry “big,' big, D’s.” Mr Duncan’s supporters are interested in»the manner in which the cat jumps and where it, is likely to land ; they are puzzled as to how the thing got in motion, but compose themselves as well 'as they can, awaiting the result; To one who has'travelled the road occasionally for a long number of years the developement of the Kaituna is very interesting. From forest to hayfield is a big stride. ' Crops are looking exceedingly good where cut, and the same might be said of what, still remains to be cut. The pasture lands that 1 are laid down, after being cropped are looking well, and so are the stock running thereon. The hay fields have apparently produced a good share. The trouble has of course been the weather. The writer was asked on his return from a'trip to England some 6 or 7 years ago how thegnethods here compared with the Home methods, but was unable to say, as conditions were , so different. My trip from here to the Wairau has convinced me that in the matter of haymakingand stacking we have mpchto learn from Old England ; more particularly'do I refer to a “catchy” season like the present. We cut down too large an area to. begin with, and if it comes on to rain we have no machinery —we have no swathe turner, tedding machine-nothing but the very costly fork to turn it with, or the handrake. Our way of stacking is exceedingly rough—even the finished stack is a mere heap of hay, or, as one man man put it, “ It looks like a mangle cave,” he said. Such heaps of hay would not do had the farmers to depend on, say, the Aldershot market. The buyers for Aldershot would not take' the top truss nor the bottom, not being prime hay, and what else would be in our hay stacks ? The only thing that surprised me was that I saw no boys playing leapfrog on the top of them. In England the stack builder shakes the forkfulls oyer his stack, and an allowance ,is made for the diying. In connection with the carting and building, here the forkfulls are thrown on to the stacks, and the stackbuilder contents himself with, at most, pitching the same to some other spot or giving it two or three smacks with the back of his fork, and there it lays. A stack so built would tumble to pieces if made any size, whilst to cut it into trusses of decent shape or size -would be out of the question. So that is one thing Old England at least can give us many points Upon, The little time I was away I heard many complaints of the dearth of labourers. The pea harvest was on and the rain was giving much trouble; as the peas had to be turned to dry the haulm and in such large quantities it would be sure to make large labour bills.