LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 55, Issue 3934, 2 August 1937, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Te Awamutu District High School Committee holds its monthly meeting to-morrow evening. The annual meeting of the Te Awamutu Boy Scouts Group is to be held to-morrow evening, and it is hoped all interested will, make a point of attending. Ratepayers in the Otorohanga County should notice that an additional ten per cent, will be added to nil rates for the current year remaining unpaid on Wednesday, September Ist. A reminder is given of the. Amateur Athletic .Club’s grand dance on Wed nesday evening, for which big preparations are being made by a band of enthusiasts. Patrons should enjoy themselves. The first of the series of yacht races for the America Cup, sailed at Newport, Rhode Island, on Saturday, resulted in a win for the defender, Ranger, which crossed the winning line 17 minutes ahead of Mr T. 0. M. Sop with’s challenger, Endeavour 11. The race was over a course of 30 miles, and the time taken was 4 hours 39 minutes 30 seconds—the slowest since the contests of 1929. “Evidence that the Government’s guaranteed price policy is supported by the great majority of the farmers concerned is overwhelmingly conclusive," said the Hon. Peter Fraser in the course of an interview at Wellington. on Saturday. “That is natural," lie added, “because guaranteed prices, plus readjustment of farm finance, have brought them security and a sense of future safety.” “Denmark got nowhere until she adopted a policy that the New Zealand Pig Marketing Association is now trying to introduce into this Dominion,” obesrved Mr C. H. M. Sorensen, of Taranaki, in commenting on Friday on the association’s scheme ci having a levy made on all pigs for the purpose of paying a premium for top quality baconers. With a view to making it easier for pig farmers to provide proper accommodation for their animals, it was decided at the New Zealand Pig Marketing Association’s conference in Hamilton to urge upon the Government the advisability of securing a reduction in the price of cement to as icw a level as possible. “Some pig yards are a disgrace,” said one delegate in supporting the proposal. ‘Scientific breeding is not much use ■when the pigs are living in the mud.” A very rare species of totara, which turns golden in the winter and re sunies its green coat again in the spring, was discovered in the bush on his property at Aotearoa, 18 miles from Te Awamutu, by Mr James fates. The specimen was taken from its native habitat and planted in a suitable spot about six years ago. It has now reached a height of 12ft, and its bright golden appearance in the winter period has excited much interest and admiration among lovers of New Zealand flora. Cabinet has decided to pay Is a head for wild pigs destroyed in specified parts of the North Island during August, September, October and November, in accordance with a scheme formulated to relieve settlers in outlying districts from the ravages of these animals. The counties in which the subsidy will be paid include Kawhia, Otorohanga, Waitomo and Taumarunui. The subsidy is regarded as a palliative solely and investigations are being made with a view to comprehensive action later.

Claiming that the suppliers to cheese factories were considerably worse off under the guaranteed price than they would have been if on the open market during the past season, the chairman of the Bruntwood Cooperative Dairy Company, Ltd., Mr W. N. Perry, at the annual meeting of suppliers in Cambridge on Friday issued a warning to the Government that unless a fairer price were fixed next season many cheese suppliers would be turning to the butter factories. In his opinion the position was acute for the cheese industry.

The opinion that New Zealand pig producers were faced with a serious problem in the shortage of suitable pedigree stock for breeding purposes was expressed by a member at the annual meeting cf the New Zealand Co-operative Pig Marketing Association in Hamilton on Friday. He contended, further, that until pedigree strains were graded upon the results of the killing shed no great progress could be made toward supplying the British market with a product which could compete favourably with that ot other countries where more serious attention was being paid to the evolution of suitable strains for marketing.

One of the best known settlers of the Matamata district, Mr Percival Barugh, was found dead in a plantation on his farm at Turangoamoana on Thursday morning. There was a Ghotgun beside the body. Mr Barugh, us was his custom, had gone to collect milk from his sharemilkers at about 7 o’clock, and he stated when he returned home that he had seen twe pheasants and he was going out to shoot them. When he did not return for some time fears were entertained for his safety, and his brothers were summoned from a neighbouring farm. They made a search and found the oead man at the foot of a steep bank near the plantation. Mr Barugh, who was 41, lived with his mother and sister. His father was a pioneer settler of the district.

“If we had been on the open market this season,” said Mr W. N. Perry, chairman of directors at the annual meeting of the Bruntwood Co-opera-tive Dairy Company, “we would have been able to pay out about Is 6d per lb and therefore we are not getting the value of our produce." Continuing, Mr Perry said, “We have the overseas cheese market-practically to ourselves and if we have not enough produce to supply that market England will look somewhere else, and New Zealand will be left out altogether. If the position occurs that cheese suppliers turn to the butter factories we will have the overseas butter market flooded while the cheese market is starved and the whole industry will crash.”

Rainfall recorded by Mr W. Jeffery during July showed a total of 2.1-5 inches for the month. Tlain was recorded on 21 days. For July las! year the total was 6.24 inches. In connection with the forthcoming Grand National race meeting at. Riccarton, the Ohaupo owned racehorse Irish Comet was railed south on Friday night, en route to Christchurch to fulfil his engagements. He w'as acconv panied by the pacer, King’s Play. The annual meeting of the congregation of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church is to be held on Wednesday evening, when reports of the past year’s work in various department!? will be presented, and there will also be the election of managers for the new term. Some members of the Pirongia Women’s Institute joined the Te Pahu institute members last week in a trip to the Old Men’s Home at the Waikato Hospital, where they treated the inmates to a tasty afternoon tea and some vocal items. All was much enjoyed and altogether a happy time spent. It was indeed pleasing to the Pirongia members, as it was their first visit of this nature, to see the inmates so appreciative of the after' noon's entertainment. “It will take a great deal of persuasion to make me go in for wintei dairying,” said Mr W. N. Perry, chair man of directors, at the annual meet ing of the Bruntwood Co-operative Dairy Co. Ltd., discussing proposals made by Professor W. Riddet, direc tor of the Dairy Research Institute at Levin, last week. Mr Perry considered that New Zealand conditions were not suitable for dairying in June and July. “The farmers and the cows both well deserve a rest in those months," he added.