NOTES FROM SOUTHLAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1291, 17 July 1886, Page 2

NOTES FROM SOUTHLAND.

[from A O.tRBESPOIi tiESTT.] W 0 are iowin th > depth of winter, and

or some weeks po-t the mountains have

been draped with snow horn crown to base, nece-sitat ng the removal of stock to the lowi't li ’ds ful y a month sooner

than is usually the case We have also had floods, unprec den’ed in heaviness ; one, which took place on April 28 and 29, did immense datnave to prope r ty Every river in Southland overflowed its banks.

The daimge was especially great in the western dis riot, where sever >1 miles of

the railway line were more or less damaged. At Otautau, the wate • was up to the window sill of the stationmoster’a house ; and at Thornhury the stationmaster fared nearly as badly. Llow places on lower level i fared may be easily imagined ; it was no uncommon occurrence here when the flood was at its height to see stacks of grain submerged to such an extent that only the tops showed above the wahr. In the vicinity of Dipton several se tiers w« ; re flooded out, and almost every house in the township was invaded by the rushing water, which formed a c ntinuous she-'t, over a mile wide, carrying away everything moveable. Ever since the township has presented a sad appearance, the wreck and min on every side bearing witness to the devastating nature ->f the visitation it had received. Fortunately no lives were lost, though one or two very narrow escapes were recorded.

What appears to me a strange circumstance is that our spells of good and bad weather follow the similar spells experienced in Canterbury When thera is a flood in Canterbury we here may look for one ; so with regard to wind. On June 24 and 25 we were visited by a heavy fall of mow. which covered the low lands to a depth of 10 inches, but, contrary to expectations it melted without causing any disastrous floods. This was the heaviest snow fall I have ever seen in Southland. Altogether the weather daring the last five weeks has been most unfavorable for the agriculturist, and little or no ploughing has been done for next season’s crop. iMany farmers, too, are put to great ex penae and it o mve imee in consequenceof the threshing mills not having been, able to work. For several weeks past they have had to feed all the mill bands who, as a rule, look for something above the common. You will, of course, understand that out custom diff-rs from that obtaining in Canterbury. Here we hive to provide food and lodging for all i hose working with the mill, besides feeding - from sixteen to twenty-four bullocks that are kept fay the mill owner for pulling the mill about from p!a e to p ace However, lam ah;d to s»v that the weather has now imirovad, and most of ths mi’ls are now steaming away, but our oamatahed ;o.dsJ.re in a fearful state.

Many of the farmers ara n w busy draini-ig their land, having coma to the 0 inclusion that drainage is an important part < f farming, and with the improved drain plough the work, which in. olden days was reckoned by the chain, may now be uodert keo by the mi!e When I say that with this implement two men and ten or tweive ho sea are capable of completing upwards of ten miles a day of under-chaining to a depth of two feet, the wtole o >st not exceeding 41 per chain, yonr readers will be able tofoim sn Idea of be value and caparilites, of this wonderful plough. A nd I feel sure that the cost will in the course of time be considerably lessened. Our dairy increasing in numberi very rapidly, and ho general success that has been attained by them is encouraging to those who took part in their introduction. The history of a few of the factories up North,, it is true, has not been edifying cr encouraging, bat that hfa cot the least checked onr progress down here. We attribute their lack of success to bad management, and not to any evil inherent to the system. A writer in she N.Z Industrial Gazette states that “many factories have been started by assistance from others than those with cows, and as these men have not h'therto reaped much advantage from tbei enterprise and capital, they are beginning everywhere to withdraw tboir support." The same writer strongly advises those about to establish dairy factories to do so, as far as possible, on a 1 purely co-operative prb ciple, making the i I farmer ah ne the support of such inatitnl tions. The idea is good, and its carrying into effect should be aimed at by all interested in the starting of oai.y factories. Notwithslaudingitho fact of oar harbor being some time ag ■ condemned tor ever, the refrigerating works are progressing s ; .tis r actorily The company have now on band upwards of 8000 carcases of mutton, and as soon as another thousand is obtained the|who!e will be shipped at the Bluff. If this can bo suooeassully oarr ed out it will be a great convenience to the owners of stock in Southland, as it will do away with the present system of sending everything away by train to Dunediu, Land nationalisation and Cheap money seem to ba the order of the day here just now. With regard to the latter a very successful start has been made by the Invercargill Boroush Council, which has just borrowed £70,000 at per cent. Land nationalism n may be very go >d in theory, but nothing stimulates ilia industrial energy of man like the p 'ssaesaion of his own freehold. £ach freeholder feels that he has a stake in the country, and in *hs very act of doing the bast b r himself by increasing his own wealth, he increases the wealth of the community. A great mistake has no donbt been made in the past by onr land law makers, of whom it may be said that they have absolutely squandered the public erta'e, not particularly because the land was parted wi'h but owing to tbe fact that they did not came the lame tobebenficia.ly occupied. Moses said the land was in< tended to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, and there can be no question thit 10,000 ecrea in the han.a of a hundred families would give employment to more, feed more, and give real comfort to more than 10,000 acres In the hands of one man. However, if the time has come, that necessity compels the resumption of our land by the state, it should be honestly done by compensation, but in what way the owner Is to be compensated remain's yet to be shown, as it is a well known fact that a very large proportion of the freehold land in New Zealand is mortgaged much above its value. The whole argument therefore must sooner or later end in smoke.

Southland July 2, 1886.