PIRONGIA.

Waikato Times, Volume 104, Issue 17586, 15 December 1928, Page 5

PIRONGIA.

a A Country Girl."

On Wednesday evening Pirongia was favoured with a first-class entertainment by the Otorohanga Amateur Operatic Society in "A Country Girl." Swimming. As an indication of the value of the swimming lessons given to the school children by our schoolmaster through-

out the summer the following inciden, is of interest. The children were bathing in the river, when a plucky rescue was effected by : Sarah Turner. It seemed that one of the little learners got beyond the wire barrier erected as a safety line, beyond which the children arc instructed not to go. Little Rangi Turner got into the current and was being carried out into the river when Sarah, without saying anything went to the rescue, and after a struggle the two children drifted into shallow water. They were assisted ashore by the others. No ill-effects, I understand, have followed, and I think the incident points to the virtue of practising the art of swimming, as the quiet confidence of Sarah was undoubtedly begotten of much practice. Weeds. Should the hopes of Pirongia in general be realised In connection with the disposal of ownerless lands here it is permissible to suppose that war will be declared on the weeds which abound in such profusion on much of the abandoned land. Just how long this land has remained infested is uncertain. Old residents relate how gorse was brought out from Home to be sown for fodder and as a hedge plant, and there are instances where land was actually laid down with gorse and an effort made to crop it, but beyond providing a rather ragged hedge growth, an indifferent firewood when matured, and a fairly effective cover for bunny and other rodent pests, its uses are negligible. As to blackberry, it has flourished exceedingly, so much so that it has the greatest price on its head ever offered in this country for the extermination of a weed—£lo,ooo. Judging by the amount of work necessary to keep it down, blackberry must be reckoned as one of our worst weeds. Those who acquire the waste lands of Pirongia will have to reckon with almost every weed in the. calendar. They have been seeding and rooting for half a century. Intelligent treatment may eradicate these weeds. H is safe to say, however, that it will take at least a decade to do so. ' Personal. Mrs Richardson will visit Auckland on Saturday to wish her mother and sisters bon voyage when they leave for Sydney. Miss Muriel Dixon has returned from an extended visit to Northern Wairoa.