TROUBLES OF VICTORIAN FARMERS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1437, 21 December 1886, Page 3

TROUBLES OF VICTORIAN FARMERS

An immense fl'ght of & ’sts passed over Svndhnr t, V c’oria, Deo 15dt, and cause 1 great damage Every Vfs’igo of greo iu mny gardens and shrubberies was eiten, and iu some instan'ea it was with difficulty they worn prevented taking ent.ro possession if the interior of the houses. Sad accounts eriv- as ti too destructii u to the crops by th-se pea's In 3OIHO c.uo3 tho c j o,j3 or;! comp e*‘*ly eaten up iini of wheat, a £o v > promised fairly, have since had the sheep turned Into them Mr Richard*, fi-mer, of W«1 at-io, says that al ng hia log fer.c i buihela of thsm could be fihovoi'od up, and hie prospect of a crop i hia s 'a*.ni ure c mple'ely destroyed. U Mr Mitchell’s a alii-n great damage ha* also been done by a spee'es of croen oaterpi Dr that hi* mule its appearance in myriads at bit Peter's, and other v’neyarda in the Western distiict. They attack leaves, which they devour with grout rapidity, and, unless a stop can bn pa . to this pea’, greet d islruction will be done ti vineyards in the whole distiict. Reports from all the surrounding districts are to the same effect. They appear to be travelling south and eastward. —Times correspondent.