WAIRERE NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 7245, 28 August 1902, Page 2

WAIRERE NOTES.

(From Oar Own Correspondent)

Monday and Wednesday were gloomy, showery and cold —ill suited to the growth of .some newly-born lambs, who showed their disapproval of such unsuitable weather by resigning the life they had held so briefly. It is a matter of conjecture whether tho hawk is not responsible for the death of more lambs than is generally supposed, and their numbers ought to be curtailed more than they arc if only on the score of humanity. They even assail a full-grown sheep before life is extinct if they find them in a weak and helpless condition, so that a newly-born lamb must be perfectly helpless against that voracious bird. The eyes arc generally selected as a preliminary to the after-feast, heedless whether their victim is alive or dead. As a natural enemy to the rabbit the hawk is, of course, useful, but that is uo reason why tho defenceless lamb should not be protected more than is usually the case.

There is a strong feeling among many leaseholders of Crown lands that the freehold tenure should be granted, and as a sign of the times one writes as follows ;—" Some of these M.P.'s think they know more about land than the poor struggling farmer who has the real practical knowledge, Whilst the settler is slogging all the winter at the bush, the other is comfortably ensconced in his easy chair in tho " Big TalkingHouse " in Wellington. 1 should like to bundle the lot of them to New Guinea and let them try their land policy there. The chief incentive to excessive toil or hard labour—perhaps for years — on a few acres of rough laud is the hope that your reward will eventually be au indisputable title to it, perfectly free from nuy chance of future interference by socialistic fads, or meddlesome Liberal legislation, and anything to the contrary will never be acceptable to the would-be freeholder.

If there ia any actual progrossivcness here it is not in tho mattor of frequent baptisms which, I regret to say, are fashionably slow because the infants arc not there. However, one occurred hero the other day and created a slight stir on the score of its novelty, and, I hope, a pleasurable variety or change 'in tho duties of our parson.