NOTES FROM SOUTHLAND

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1481, 12 February 1887, Page 2

NOTES FROM SOUTHLAND

(PROM Oi U OWN UOuUKKP NOENT )

Now that tl IFI h \hUjb «re >ver people have 6ettled down into their old groov es I <._am, htta thing* m general aio *8 qiA>t yd fts dull Hb bafoio. I'he Wddthe* lur-ag las., month has >>aen every hin i •:>v. Could be \U*i c J nardly -,\ week v t >ir ,-asi. WJrh>U. » gowj. BM'Vvev Of rajs, ■ ,il-wi«:' ny ivrtim unuy (Uy-i j«i < n + suit ilie c: ,a .-.re doin* iem,; ka <;y .v«u, *»os>. uf ihe ryugii.BB Heed mm naok, having bion well saved, and the early sown oats are now ripe, an d tne aoucd of the reaper to to be heard on all aides. Should the present favorable weather ooninue, the harvest will be over fully a monih earlier than last ya;»r. ! and the yield is expected to be far above the average. Turnip sowing is now over, and with but few exceptions, through the ravages of some destructive insect, this crop Is also doing very well. The Insect mentioned ia working more mischief m and about R-verton than m any part of the Western rliatri «t. Last «- e «k 1 went, there 1 1 ace if I could got a few cabbnge pla >tn, out was tuld by all the gardeuerd that every cabbage iv ih* plnca waa destroyed The gra&a on our pastures is still grow ing luxuriantly, and both sheep anrl oatile are rolling fat everywhere, and I caa venture to aay that w« have at the present time upwards of 40,000 she^p fit f.:r freezing, which number could well be '■ated, bin owing t-> the number of BhipH provided for the .xpo>t of th» colnnv ■>eing trtnlly inadt quate to fie detuni'i, I understand that tlu« Sou hlaad F vexing >mpaoy d^» m F t intetd *>ommoi owig oporati.njß before the monUi of Juiy next^ .it which tiaie there is ecm* hope of spaoo beinsj; provided from some souroe or other. Dary faofcoHes aeom to be the order of the day here just now, and there : s hardly a week p»B<ung but what one heara of one ornwenew on en being erected. Tb/Be already m work are f<lly nnppUed with milk, the price paid baini^ 4i per gallon This price seeiua hi^h, but co long a-i the firmer haß to pay 8 per cent. Interest for his money he will have to get 4d for hia m Ik. In ref«r"ence to some of the dairy fao ories m Omterburr which soon came to grief, it, wan a» one time said that the expenses m connection with the working of the affair were partly the cause of thnir non-success, but m the event of our fact, ries not turning out euocenaiully that resnU could not very well be attributed to this 'ause, aa there ig but one man, who ia assisted by a boy, employed to attend to from five to eight hundred gallons per day. In soma instances the whay Ja disposed of by taking m pigs at tronv3i lo 5d a week each, which pric aeeras reasonable enough for a full-grown animal. With refmmce to our several goldfields, notwitlistan iing tho efforts made by the Hro-pecting Association for the promotion of this industry, I am sorry to sny that the amount of gold nnearthed is after all but very limited, nnd mos'.ly all that is got is got by the " N-j savee" race. The Big Bay expedition, fitted out some time ago, which was composed of 150 men, liave nearly all returned, but without tho Goldon Fleece fl s for tho £500 lately graned by Government for cutti >c: tracks through the Lougwood Forest, it may be said tlwt a very large proportion of the amount might have been more judiciously spent, suy, m extending the Hearnstead water race, which ia destined to become a great boon to tho residents at Round Hill, as well as a source of great wealth to the colony at largo. A short history of this race would, perhaps, not lie out of place here. The late Mr Bearnstead, who was a practical digger, saw that a good thing could be made out of the Round Hill diggings if a good supp'y of water were brought m Be consequently commenced operations, staring m the vi< inity of tho goldfield, and thence from stream to stream along tho hill side, increasing the volume at every source until several heads of wa'er were obtained This water is now leased to the diggers at a high fig re, and. judging from the success already obtained, I Imve every reuson for saying thnt there is a bona fide opening here for the investment of «ay, £2600, which amount would be sufficient to carry out the original idea. A few tracks through the bush were, no doubt, greatly needed, but to cut upwards of 100 mil. s at one time is to my min^ much m advance of the tim e a, and reflects but little credit on those at thejiuad of affair b Fop the Bako of comparing notes, I may say that at the time of my writing, raturday, rebruary sth, Southland waw visited by a terrific eale from the north-west, doing 'mmeiißO darange to ripe crop* It Wouid be interesting to know whivt kind of weather you had m /\Bhr<nrton on that date. Southland, sth Keb.