NOTES FROM SOUTHLAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1933, 1 September 1888, Page 2

NOTES FROM SOUTHLAND.

(From our own Correspondent.) While you In the north have been visited by Bevere floods we m the far south, have beon enjoyiDg the moat salubrious weather. In fact we have bad a winter alnnnßt without parallel, favorable alike to stock and agrlcaltoral work, and In conßt quenco farmers are well forward wlih their ploughing, and wheat sowing is now going on. Owing to the very low prloe ruling for this cereal the area sown this Beaaon will be rather limited. There will also be a much smaller area of oats sown than m former years. Owing to the very low price given for all contract work, a large number of contractors are taking np land on cropping terms, and for some months past there has been a good enquiry for land suitable toe cropping. I node* that on the Oretl Plains, Gladfield, and other estates, large blocks have already been let on terms that should be satisfactory to the proprietors. In addition to receiving one bushel out of! every seven, the cropper undertakes to drain the land thoroughly. Of course yon must understand that the draining Is not done by hand, but with the drain plough, b? the use of which upwards of 12 mileß of under-draining may be completed In a day, so that the cost to those who have plenty of strength la bnt a mere trifle. There are scores of these very useful implements at wi-rk here, and if anything can give real value to the land it is the drain plough, The cost Is so email that no one with any extant of land requiring draining Bhould bB without one. The Reid and Gray eeema to be the favorite down here. In sever*! districts here some disease has attacked the rabbits, and for several [ months paat they are to be found dead and dying by the score, and where they were a nuisance some time back there Is hardly ooe to be seer now. The small birds are, however, on the increase, and woe betide small farmers next summer, who have sown early patohea of grain. In other parts of the colony I notice that Oounfcy Councils and Road Boards are taking active steps to abate this nolsanoe, bat it would be almost useless to ask for any help from our Councils as a very large proportion of the rates here go to pay County officials and interest on overdraft. I will refer y«u to the Inv t roargUl weeklies of the 17th Instant, where yon will find a report showing that the Southland County Oonnoll have an overdraft of £14,482. The Wallace Count? overdraft ia a little under that amount. Talk about law aDd legal limits after that ! When the Road Boards In the Wallace County were abolished It was thought that the cost of supervising would be muoh less, but It is evident that Buoh is not the case. Under the present syßtem, County Engineers who seem to fancy themselves a little bit are allowed to keep a staff of inspectors or oadets to do the work intended for themselves, and m order to keep certain parties constantly employed a very large proportion of the work is done by day labor or by private contracts at what may be oalled fancy prices. From the report of last meeting held by the Wallace County Council it appearo that the unauthorised expenditure has been simply outrageous. Without a cheok, Is Buch a system fair to the ratepayers and the ordinary working man ! I say It is not. What moral right has the Goyena&ieut and the Local Bodies to keep thousands of men employed, wet »nd dry, from 63 to 9a a day, while thoae who have to take their chance m the outside market have to do twloe the work for oauoh lesa money, saying nothing of the Inßult offered to the unemployed by offerIng them work at 2a 6d a day, while the nojorlty of the latter are m many ways inparior to thoae so highly favored If ill works were submitted to. pablle coai- »'"»»" wqul4 m a gwat measure by ate the necessity of so many unpro- [ laotlYe relief works and soup kitchens d •eing opened. j