Hawkes Bay Notes

Southern Cross, Volume 8, Issue 34, 15 December 1900, Page 2

Hawkes Bay Notes

Contrary to all expectations, we are getting very wet and unsettled weather for the shearing. Some of the sheds put it off for some time, but even then they did not get better weather for the waiting, and if it does not clear up before long there will be a lot of bidee-bids in the wool, which will affect the price of all kinds.

Sales of fat wethers off the shears at 12s to 12s 6d have been concluded some mouths ago, and I hear that some buyers from the South are disgusted to find nearly all the stock sold for future delivery. This is the custom here, but it there is a certainty of Southern men buying here, then all this would soon change, and the man with the most money get the stock. ] H|

The kafcipo spiders are plentiful here. They are not large, but are very pretty, with a red stripe on the back. Of course they are poisonous, and for that reason are respected. They are found principally amongst old timbers near the coast.

Strikes amongst shearers are not at all rare this season, the chief cause being wet sheep (sometimes imaginrry.) Australian shearers are the most noted. The rate for shearing is 17s 6d per 100 for sheep and 15s per 100 for lambs. Sutton’s Lincolns are well spoken of here ; one that came from Mr J. B. Sutton's two years ago shore 22flbs this season, and he did not see a turnip since leaving Fairview. I think that the English Leicester will soon make some headway up here, as it will blend well with the Lincoln for crossing purposes. There is a great mortality amongst hoggets, and it is hard to know what to do with them. Shifting often on to clean short feed seems to suit them best.

Speculation in land is very rife. Some get a section just to make a few p' nods by holding it for a time.