COUNTRY NEWS.

Colonist, Volume LIII, Issue 13064, 25 March 1911, Page 4

COUNTRY NEWS.

TAKAKA

(Ftoih Oiir G>ivii G6rr6BJfbndeiii) I

Like a lot of other parts of New Zealand, wo hava had a long spell of hot, dry weather, and tha feed liad gone off tremendously. Certainly there have been a few light shower's during the- past week, but hardly enough to )a,y thodusti The milk supply at tlie factory has gtihe dow.u to half. The hop crop, which is a very light on£ this year, is nearly all iii now— about a week's mfite vjiokinjjj should see' tho end of it. This industry, at one time a big thing hare, has dwindled down tha last fow years to almost nothing. There are .now only about half a dozen growers in the whole of the valley. The- crop, though light this year, in boing got in under very favourable conditions, ami tho growers are looking for a fair jirice. The market lias hot opened so far, but Is Gel per pound is mentioned as a likely figure. Even at this them will not be much in it for the growers, owing to the great shortage in weight. As showing the state of the feed in other parts, a mob of 700 sheep, purchased at Tapawera, was driven through Takaka last Saturday on tlieii way to the Karamea, via Collingwood, and in spite of the long and expensive drive the man in charge reckoned they would be landed at their destination costing 8s per head all paid, which gives ono an idea of what they were bought for in Tapawera. They were a fair lot of sound-mouthed sheep, too. The old Lady Barkly has apparently go.no from amongst us at last, and that without a semblance of a farewell. Tin. Waihi has quietly assumed her place, we presume pormanently. She is certainly somewhat better than the old Barkly, but most of us expected when tho inevitable change came that we would have, a more classy boat than the Waihi. Tlie new butter factory is fast nearing completion, and the contractor, Mr Galbraith, has made the most of tho long spoil of fine weather to jjiikls along with the work. The big falling off in the milk supply, and the. equally big drop in the price of factory butter ill England must bo causing tho directors some concern in view of the present big outlay the new building involves. Mr J. W. Moulder, undamped by his previous ill-luck with shop building, is now having a commodious-, shop front, witJi two large rooms, put on the front of his present dwelling. The result should prove quite an improvement to tho appearance of the main street. The new bank promises shortly to be erected will be exactly opposite Mr Moulder's shop. Mr Hudson, contractor and cement worker, who has been busy in and about Takaka for some time now, lias just secured two substantial jobs at

his trade. One is the laying down of an asphalt cycle track on the Recreation .Ground ; to tho order" erf iM lakaka Athletic Club, and tho other' is-frir-two asphalt tennis courts to lj# laid down to the. n«w ground latdy secured fry theloeal Bowling Club, tho courts to be leased to the Hiawatha lonnis,Club when completed. Thewant of reliable courts ncftr the centre of the town has been a great drawback to tennis, and next year should gee a groat boom in the game. ■The racing mare Bridesmaid, which recently raced in Nelson, met with & .nasty accident last week, getting badly staked. It is very improbable1 thai f !-° w' il , eVfT race again. From the" t-orv start this marc lias been unluc'kv Just when she was beginning to win races ami shaping really well she had two bad falls while racing on the West Ooast, and sh o has never been quito the same marc since. Her last acciBvrno mUR t * T^, bUw to Me«"* bought the horse from Mr W Beird more, under whose name sha has' atways raced hitherto. There has boon trouble somewhere at sea among the Black fish appareWtl v. 1 hear hundreds of them have been washed ashore along Collingwood way, and last week four or five came ashore ~«st outside Waitapu, and two or throe are lying along the beach near Poliara. They wore, in an a ," yanced state of decomposition wlie« they arrived here, and have, evidently been dead some tun*. A drive past Ui the leeward of them makes one <'hd tnore are not more of them.