FRIGHTFUL DROUGHT

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6382, 30 October 1888, Page 4

FRIGHTFUL DROUGHT

DISASTEOUS EfcSULTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES. [Sbeciai. to Pbess Asbociatioit.l sydney, oct. 29. There are no signs of the drought breaking up. In many parts o£ the Colony the thermometer stands at j 103 in the shade. In the immediate neighbourhood of Howlong the heat is nob quite so bad* but in other parts of the same district the crops are almost beyond hope. At Broken Hill, trains conveying I -water are arriving daily, and their freight is being sold at four shillings per hundred gallons. In the Eden district (towards the coast) heavy rains have fallen, and the country will be able to hold out some time. Nowra district is exceedingly dry, and disastrous bush fires are raging in all directions. On one station alone 20,000 acres of grass have been destroyed. At Gundagai fain has fortunately fallen over the farm areas, but in Argyle many settlers are selling off their stock, fearing the , disastrous results of a dry sea{son. Crops in that quarter are I also suffering greatly, and potato planting has entirely ceased. Near Inverell sheep are dying in large numbers. AtKempaey grass is still abundant. Bash fires are also devastating Namaoi district. Burra Burra Station has been burned out, and several runs in Walgetb and Moree destroyed. [Howlong is about twenty miles West of Albury, and 389 South-we3t of Sydney ; the undulating district being watered by the Murray. The ' Eden township is on the North shore of Twofold Bay, Southwest from Sydney. The Snowy river rush largely augmented the population for a time, but it has since languished. The place forms the natural outlet of the Bega and Honaro country. The district is both agricultural and pastoral, but is better suited for the latter purpose. Nowra is the chief centre of a large district on the southern bank of the Shoalhaven river, 117 miles South of Sydney. The land is devoted- to dairy farming and the growth of cereal crops, potatoes, &c. Gundag&i is on the banks of the Murrumbidgee, 250 miles South-west of Sydney. Inverell, again, is a pastoral and farming district, 380 miles North of Sydney ; the vine also being extensively grown.] . .{JFBOM OTO OWN COBRESFONDENT.] SYDNEY, Oct. 20. Special telegraphic reports from correspondents of the Sydney Morning Herald in regard to the agricultural and pastoral outlook, show that with the exception of a few districts either on the coast or not very far removed from it, the country is suffering from a drought almost unequalled in severity. The rain which fell early in the month did a little good, but it was far ehorfc of what was required. In many places the grass has disappeared, or has lost its nutrition, and stock are consequently in very poor condition. In the agricultural districts the crops are a partial or total failure. A good fall of rain during the next fortnight or so would save many crops, and put a new face upon prospects in the pastoral districts. In some districts everything depends upon a timely downpour; in others, the rain, when itcomes, will come too late to prevent disaster. So far as the Western . district is concerned it appears that the effects of the drought are not yet nearly so much felt within a radius of a hundred miles from Bourke as further South. Outside this area, however, the state of the country is deplorable, and the IMMENSE, LOSSES OF STOCK already sustained are being daily added to. Reports from Biverina stations arc almost equally depressing, but the rainfall of two or three weeks back staved off disaster for a time in a few favoured localities. In nearly all the agricultural districts the crops have either failed or are backward, and promise much less than'the average yield. On the northern table lands the wheat crops are a complete failure. Farmers* prospects generally are very poor indeed. Thegrassisgrowingafterthe recent rains, but has come too late to save large numbers of stock. About Orange and the surrounding districts the wheat crops look well considering the circumstances, but the harvest will be late, and, except in a few cases, below the average. Pastoralists require much more rain to bring feed on and secure them for the summer. Wagga Wagga reports that the prospects for both agriculturists and pastoralists are very gloomy. The grass is very indifferent, and the crops are not likely to be anything like up to the average. Most other southern stations make similar reports, but in some places the feed is in fair condition. Along the coast districts North and South of Sydney the pastures are tolerably good, j but much more rain is needed to satisfy both farmers and graziers. Slight showers fell in some portions of the coastal districts yesterday, but did not extend any distance inland, and the weather is now reported as generally fine and clear, except in the South, where a few scattered clouds are hanging about. A Wilcannia telegram. states that the scrub and bushes, which are the mainstay of stock in times o£ drought, have suffered severely through the devastations of rabbits, which take the bark off the trees for food. A great deal of wool has been brought into town by teams during^ the last few day's to be stored. Horse feed is very scarce, and chaff is being carted to Broken Hill and sold at «£l6 per i ton.