OAKURA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 11021, 11 September 1897, Page 3 (Supplement)

OAKURA.

[FROM OTJB OWN COBRESTONDENt]. 3 All sorry my correspondence failed to reach you last week, but batter late than never. Oakura still keeps moving as there are improvement s to be seen around. Mr J. Looney has had an addition to his house, and Mr Morris has cut down the pines in front of his dwelling house and erected a picket fence, which is a great improvement, as it. shows out the house and grounds to advantage, which is a very pretty place. I had an invitation Mr to Outfield's farm ,to see Massty Harris's steel spring grubber and plough at work as a trial, and I must say it did its work splendidly, and I shou.d think it is a very useful implement to have on a farm, but the opinion expressed was that the holdings here are mostly too small for the farmers to get one of the grubbers, as the outlay is too great for the work they would have to do. But a fanner with 500 or 600 acres should never bo without one, or if three or four small farmers want in for a grabber it would pay for itself in a short time. The plough is very good for rough ground: in pig-rooty and humpy ground it will do better than Howard's or Hornsby's, but the majority there were in favor of the two latter, as the mould board sometimes broke the ground as it turned it over and did not pack it as nice, bat it did what Horsdby'a would not; it turned a furrow 5} incheß deep by 16 inches wide splendidly, and the shortness of the beam makes it good for rough ground, very easy to hold and draught light. Their travelling agent explained everything in a very satisfactory manner to all present, and there were a goodly number of farmers present. The machine was shown at work sowing oats, and it did the work splendidly.