THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16149, 1 March 1918, Page 3

THE COUNTRY.

NEWS AND NOTES

VARIOUS KINDS OF PESTS

(FROM OUR OWN CORHESI'ONDKST-) SYDNEY, February 19

This wide land, with its great range of climates, is necessarily a land ot pests. Some, like the politicians, are always with us; some conic an go ® the latter are generally tho uioit i csting. , The great accumulation of fbeat south-eastern Australia has bied - curious things. Everyone, las}«b heard about the mice the ,i j v millions of tiny rodents ffh ' ( ''V u ™ 0 c V( .; d appeared from nowhere, aul .. j across wide tracts of country like a tie vacating wave. Tho V«ld "'eathe. the inevitable diseases, and the mg 5 of man cut great swathes in ranks, but the pest, although reducu., is still very formidable. . • „ Then came flocks of birds, from mysterious ends of the ou gorge and gorge again on the sp»t grain. Thev wero almost a blessin in that they cleared away the J when they :earned to raid tho a' n ami burrow through good jute s-cks i search of yellow treasure, mi ;^ b d use great quantities of poison an powder. This pest, too was checked, but bv no means removed. And now comes tho weevil, not .. much as a destroyer of wheat—be his debut in that capacity last year but as a plague to mankind. Let i. the story of Goulbourn. Iho aiuno-» ties have accumulated in ..his I )10S I )C . ous town great stacks of wheat, this tho weevils—both the black flj and the flea-liko parasite—ha.'e multiplied to such an extent that they have been forced to seek new pastures. I hey at e spread out over the town by every uinii that blows; they fasten on to the sKin and bite like a sandfly or a tick, the} invade kitchens and get into foodstuits, and thev make life a burden generally. The whole town is suffering ncute > from tho pest. Last AVednesdaj, wind being right, the weevil in countless thousands attended the meeting o tho Goulbourn Racing Club, ■and, as one sporting writer put it, took an the pep out of -the search for sure things. The wcovils made everything on two legs a winning post. Otherwise sport languished." The meeting was not abandoned, but tlie weevil by its activities attracted as much interest and frantic attention as tne closest finish. The weevil appears to have become a real pest in Goulburn, ami lias cansed considerable alarm, but it bas, thus far, appeared elsewhere in only a minor form. j SHEEP DRIVE. j In connexion with the Salvation Ai in> war work appeal, .Messrs L. B. Hart I and J. S. Hawke, Private Hartigan and Private Blair, are visiting tho Cheviot, I Parnassus. Scargill, Omihi, aud j para districts to-day and to-morrow with I the object of organising a Sheep Drive J in aid of the fund. JOTTINGS L'OK FAK3IEKS. The crops on the medium land arc turning out better than a lot on the heavier land. Mr \V. Calder, of WestMelton, has .just threshed a fine crop of * olid straw Tuscan, which has given a yield of 30 bushels per acre, also thiee stacks of Algerian oats, which yielded 1)00 bush(:!s. Another 18 acres of Aij gerians is.estimated to yield 40 tons of chaff, which is wortli £-L ]0s per ton, on trucks, at the present time.' - M I am managing eleven farms,' said a witness before the Militaiy Serbico Appeal Jioaru on Monday at Waikato. "Jileven!" exclaimed the chairman. "Surely this is a rocorti?" "Oil. j well," remarked witness, "doing a litI tie, you know —war' time." He latei explained that they were grazing properties, covering a radius of 40 miles. ''Somebody has said the wheat people i have been making lortunes." remarked j the Prime Minister at a meeting at the | Wellington Town Hall on Tuesday evening. "Let. the man who has produced wheat for twenty years running show me his books, and I will guarantee that that man is not a shilling richer now than when bo started twenty years ago. i have been through tho mill, myself. They are not making a smiling an hour, the Very best of them. Here is the diffioulty; and I hope when we get back to normal times it will be put right. The | shadow that hangs over New Zealand is the fear of dumping from Australia. We shall have to put the New Zealand wheat-grower on a.level with the Australian wheat-grower, so far as Customs duty is concerned, and then bo will bo protected." SHEFFIELD. At a meeting of tho Patriotic Committee, Mr W. J. Jenkins being in the chair, letters were received from tho lied Cross and Lady Liverpool Funds thanking the committee for their generous help. Privates 11. Pearee, W. Telford, H. Thomas, C. Brownie, V. Gumming, -and. E. Lyon wrote acknowledging parcels received. It was decided to welcome home Privates J. Halliday and D. McClintock at a' concert to be hejd shortly. lIANGIORA. j The Rev. Guy and Mr T. J. i Withers, of Rangiora, and the Rev. J' . I Ureenwood and Mr A. Catchpole. of j Woodend, left, on Wednesday for DunI edin, to attend the Metnodist Conference. ! The ladies of the croquet section of i the Rangiora Bowling, Tennis, and j Croquet Club have for several seasons | past provided afternoon tea on Thurs- | days, which all bowlers on the green j have been invited to partake of. In i return, for the compliment the bowlers ! yesterday invited tho ladies to an afteri noon. There was a very largo gathering, ; and afternoon tea was served in the ; pavilion, the room being very tastefully : decorated with flowers, etc. A progres- ; sive croquet tournament was held for ! prizes given by the bowlers the winners , of the first section being Mrs W. McI Kenzie and Miss Josling, and of the I second section Mrs A. Shankland and Mrs Springer. Mrs Josling thanked the bowlers on behalf of the croquet players for having given such a pleasant afternoon. and Mr W. Efford, on behalf of the Bowling Club, suitably responded. SOUTH MALVERN. The nowly-formed Horticultural Society's Show promises to be a great success. The secretary, Mr A. M. Wilson. _ has received about five hundred entries, the sections for vegetables and Jiome produce being specially well filled. The nor'-west gale of the past few days has done considerable damage in the flower gardens, and for this reason this section of the will not be as well patronised by exhibitors as wouid otherwise be tho ease. In connexion with the Show a fete will be held in the Gleutunncl Domain, at which a large crowd of visitors is expected. The South Malvern District Brass Baud, which was in a flourishing condition some few years ago. has been revived. In addition to several of the old members, the Band includes some learners, are promising well. Sneak thieves liavo been in evidence in Glentunnel gardens recently, some particularly impudent and annoying thefts having been committed. Effective and unpleasant surprises are said to be in store, should the practice continue

At the annual meeting of tho Giontunnel Domain Board there wero P re |~ ent: Messrs H. ltollinson (chairman), J. I/ongstaff, C. G. -Marsh. D. Milne, J. G. Vt'eastel. L. I>. King, and A. Silcock. The chairman's report showed that the Domain was in a satisfactory condition, and tbat the balance to the Board's credit was approximately £70. Permission was given to the Fete Committee to held a clay-pigeon match, subject to >ts being under the supervision of a, member of the Hoard. Tho contractors for the new bridge over the Selv.yn at Coalgato almost completed their undertaking. Ihe bridge iias the ajpearance of having been substantially built, but the opinion is often expressed that a concrete structure ought to have been decided on by the authorities. . A-SHBUtIOX. .Miss Treaty, who for the past two years has been headmistress or the Alrord Forest School, leaves at the ertd of the present week. -Yiiss i>. iloUgson. of .Lioburn, will act as temporary mistress for the next few weeks. lUr Donald Melv-enzie, who died suddenly at Alford i'orcst recently, came to i\ew Zealand in 187S, and. for the past 40 years had been a rcsident_ of the Alford Forest district. He followed farming pursuits with much success. tie leaves a wile and seven children. On Wednesday evening, at the termination of the parado ol the 3Uth Company, Senior Cadets, the members presented Lieutenant Erie Friedkuider with a case of pipes. Lieutenant Friedlander, who is a member of the New Zealand Forces, is now on leave, and for some time was officer in charge of the Senior Cadets at Ashburton. On Tuesday evening the stall:' oi the Ashbiuton branch of the :\ T eiv Zealand Farmers' Co-op. entertained Mr H. lioney, grain buyer, who has been transferred to Kangiorn, and presented him with si case oi pipes and a, tobacco pouch. The manager, Air T. J. Hunter, made the presentation. GEHALDLNE. * | 'llio lunietli anniversary oi the local_ I Methodist .Sunday School nas been celeI brated this week. There were special | services on Sunday, the Rev. ,'l. \\ . iioyes, of Palnierston, and the Rev. G. P. Hunt, being the preachers. At the soiree tnere was a good attendance, and tho reports presented at the public meeting were satisfactory as regards the general operations, but several losses through death and 'removal wero referred to. Mr F. W. Stubbs, the longest resident of South Canterbury, lias presented a large collection of curiosities to tho Geraldine Institute, the committee of which is arranging for their housing in the meantime, and intends to establish a local museum alter the war. TH K GKR ALPLN E DISTII I CISShowery and broken weather lias again caused .serious delay in harvesting operations throughout the Geraldine districts, arid though advantage has been taken of every favourable opportunity for stacking, it appears likely tbat the work will continue for several weeks longer. A strong northwesterly wind on Monday atternoon and Tuesday occurred most usefully for the purpose of drying the stooks .vliich have been standing out in the paddocks, and with all hands busy, good progress was made until late on 'luesday evening. Unfortunately the next morning brought another change, with occasional showers, and towards dusk a steady rainfall, which continued in the valley country for several hours. From Geraldine, in the direction of Woodbury and the hilts, a great part of the wheat is yet uncarted, according to one estimate, nearly a half of the crops, and most <>i ; this has received some damage, ranging. from discoloration of the grain-in crops which lnvvo escaped lightest, to cases where the sheaves are mouldy and rotten or grown together in the stooks. The nearer to the hills the worse the barm, apparently i s the rule of the present harvest-,' and from the Four Peaks .settlements. Moana, and past Woodside 'through Gapes Valley, the reports ate chiefly of more or less mischief and loss among the crops, ii.nd the agricultural outlook is very far from encourag'll £- , . , In the districts along the south side of the Rangitata and in the vicinity of Belficld. .Arundel. and Cooper's Creek, thi- harvest came in earlier, and the greater part of it was carried in good order to the stacks. Less rain fell hereabouts than closer to the bills, where on one occasion all work ■had been stopped by weather, while stacking proceeded busily throughout the day, both at Rangitata and Clandeboyc. In this locality and about Iviverslea, fair crops were to be seen frequently. for tli6 land is well suited by a season which supplies the hill country with a far too liberal amount of moisture. The drawback is that a wet season in the seaward country igenorally means more trouble with foot-rot among the sheep, but this year it is reported that few flocks in . the lowlands are quite exempt. Also it is reported that a certain great fish j — quinnat suspected, but species not sure—has been taken from the Orari river above the Clandeboye bridge, j and that a three-pronged, hay fork was! the successful bait. i In no recent year has the supply of sheep feed kept as constantly equal to all lequirements. both on the liill runs and in the paddocks, which so far have never appeared in the brown colouring that is usual in summer time. At the present moment, there is a vigorous growth on all the grass lands, and feed in the stubble fields is ankle deep, and the sheep to cat it are correspondingly expensive; and, by the way. the hill country lambs have been bringing in their owners about a pound a head. If there have, been complaints from the hill runs lately, we have not heard them, except that in certain places the rabbits have increased. This has been the case in many parts of South Canterbury, and in a season when feed is everywhere so plentiful, it is feared that the poisoning plan mav fall short of its usual success. The turnip and swede crops generally are in a more forward condition than at this 4 time a year ago, and ore still making excellent progress, and up to 'date there has been little mention of any damage caused by grub or diamond-backed moth. A large number of paddocks have been set apart for the purpose of red clover seed, and apparently these promise well, but it is common report that the bees to fertilise the seed have been noticeably absent. In some localities the potato blight has caused mischief, and the crops have had to be lifted hurriedly in order to save whatever might be left. Elsewhere .it- is expected that the yields will be very heavy, and as a rule it is the earlier sorts which have suffered most. In the gardens everything is yet in steady growth, and most of the orchards contain a fairly satisfactory crop of fruit. - Dr. Herman Roesemeier, a courageous German publicist, and leader of a group of German Republicans in 3Berne, writes that it is indisputable that the Central Powers desire peace, owing to threatened famine and the growing danger of revolution (states a cable message to the Australian papers). Nevertheless, although the sufferings eudured by Austria are far worse than those of Germany, 6he could by renouncing annexations, transferring Galicia to the Kingdom of Poland, and making a concession to Italy, secure peace, which would place her in a more favourable position than in 1914. Dr. Roeseineier concludes emphatically with a warning to the Anglo-Saxon world that Austria and Germany are manoeuvring together to enable Austria to deceive well-inten-tioned in England and America."