THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16161, 15 March 1918, Page 3

THE COUNTRY.

NEWS AND NOTES. DAK FIELD. The second Flo wo 1; and, Sliou- under the ot -L)Horticultural Society will bo 'H l '"" 1 t; - tho member f»r l he distfif - - Witty. Five hundred jnllnhibits by received. besides spocial cMessrs T. W Adams and • er Luncheon. afternoon tea. and will be supplied the tnct. The process are to ih. to patriotic purposes. CAItKW. Owing to the the roo; crops anil grJM, l J - lu . n j. looking very well, and thc, T harvest, ance of for stoc! n-ood ns taking it all round was not so g d last vear. Some iarm?rs lost « call; > ll ; through having crops " n^^ ret c ins the heavy rams last month. middleton.

\ verv oniovable evening; was spent, at the residence of Mr H Mewart, Middloton, oil Tuesday, when M rs * tL art and daughters organi-sod tainment in aid of tin 1" „:l ' 4 ; nnq Triangle Day. bongs, recitations dancing, and other items were contributed by Misses McDonald IWsfonL and Doris Trice, b. Smith, anil Moßsr-s N. Down, McDonUd, J. \\. Watson, D. Swanson, and AV. Pi'ctMr W. lrtinn played the accompaniments. The sum of £32 10s was raised for tho "Red Triangle- , Fum [; H!? contributors bemu; 1. Tosehemakor ,ss, A. Muir £2 2s, E Svvauston £2 2s, D. Swanston £2 2s, H. 2sowton air and Mrs J. H. V Edwards £1 Is, 1. Sheehan £1 Is, J. Watson £1 Is, F. C*. Muir £1 3s, W. Lunn £1 Is, A\ Blake. £1 Is, W. Baker £1 _ls, G. Mangells £1 Is, Mrs Newton £5, Mrs and Miss Muir 10s Gd, S. Smith 2s (3d, Mrs Dyson and Dolan <s t>d, Doris Price 2s Gd Mrs White 2s od Miss Pounsford 2s Gd, Miss Down 2s Gd, Miss McDonald 2s -6d, —'Wyatt 2s Gd, Miss Mav McDonald 2s Gd. H. Stewart £2 2s, Mrs Dohrman £1, W. Haynes £1 Is, miscellaneous £2.

SPRINGSTON. At a meeting of the Ethelbort Lodge, U.A.O.D.j on Tuesday evening, an othci.il visit was paid by the officers and brothers of the .Star of Anglesea Lodge. The retiring district president installed the newlv-elected 3>.P., Bro. Mutton, to that office. P.A. Bro. Restajl. on behalf of No. 3 District, presented tho retiring D.P., Bro. Grcavos. with a P.D.P. collar, and congratulated him on the able manner in which lie had carried out his duties. A Itoll of Honour containing the names of 15 members was unveiled by P.G.P. Bro. Bartram.

HORNBY-ISLINGTON. Tli© anniversary services in connexion with the Hornby Presbyterian Sunday school -\vero continued on Monday evening, in the Druids' Hall, when a concert "was given by tho Christchurch Scottish Society. The hall was packed. The Rev. C. Murray presided, and Mr F R. Charman, the retiring missionary, and Mr J. Sinclair, the incoming missionary, were also on the platform. During the evening Mr Sinclair was introduced as the minister in charge. The programme consisted of songs, recitations, Highland dancing, and bagpipe music, by the following: Misses lluist(2), Turner (2), Mrs A. L. Scott, Messrs Dickie and McLean, and Piper S. R. Smith. Mrs E. A. Smith acted as accompanist. A presentation of a handsome roller-top writing desk "was made to Mr Charman, who has recently been transferred to Spreydon. Tho presentation was liiiido by the churcli secretary, Mr F. Ross, on behalf of the Hornby portion of tho Hornby-West Melton circuitr—the West Melton people having proviouslv presented Mr Charman with a Morris chair. Refreshments were handed round at the conclusion of tho musical programme.

THE GERALDINE [DISTRICTS. The fine autumn weather was broken by some dull, misty days at the beginning of tho week, when rain fell steadily for several hours in the hill country, but at present the ground is drier than it has been during the past year,-ana the rainfall was not unwelcome. I ll ® season has favoured the winter feed crops, and almost everywhere the swede and turnip .fields are looking better than tliey have done foe several years; the swedes especially. Tho paddocks and grass lands arc all covered with an bundant growth, and nowadays, . "i----stead of a difficulty in finding feed for tho stock, it is a question of obtaining sufficient sheep to keep down the supply of feed. Rather curiously in a year when one would have, expected to see an extraordinary quantity ol muiUirooms, there have been very tew or thorn, so far, even in places where last year it was possible to collect them a barrowful at a time. Some of the potato crops are now being lifted, and generally the yields are good, but elsewhere there is rather serious news of the damage caused by disease, from which tho second-early sorts appear to have suffered badly. In an experimental patch where about a dozen varieties wero being tried, the kinds that had received least harm of all were Sutton's Prolific and Maori Chief. Orchard crops are comiug in rapidly, and-fair yields of apples and pears are reported from most places, but they must be gathered at the earliest opportunity, for the thrushes, blackbirds. and silver-eves wero never so plentiful or active in their mischief. The gardens are bearing particularly good crops in the present season, ancl up to date the aphis and diamond-backed moth pests have been notably absent. With the exception of a few late outlying crops, tlie work of harvesting in tho Geraldine districts, and in the country about Orari, Woodbury, ltangitata, and Kakahu is now finished, and' it is possible to form a fair general estimate of tho whole. After a spring outlook which seldom was more promising, it is most disappointing to find that several causes, such as the heavy late-summer rains, rust, and the blackhead blight, combined in an effect of general damage, and, in consequence, the harvest of 1918 must be written down as another bad one; and farmers in tlie foothill country class it as worse than that of a year ago. The earliest crops were stacked in good older, and in the districts north of Geraldine and along the line of the Rangitata, there is less reason for complaint, but in the block of country including Woodbury, the Four Peaks Settlements, Pleasant Valley, and Gapes Valley, the losses are very serious. Heavy rains lodged many of the crops, and the delays from bad weather seemed endless. In these parts the oats were generally a poor or medium crop, and the wheat samples are more or less damaged. Apparently much doubt exists about the acreage to be sown in wheat for- next harvest, and many of the farmers, and especially those in a smaller way, arc becoming shy of a crop'so easily spoilt. As a cheering exception among so many damaged crops, one may be noted in the \\ oodburv district, where the wheat went down flat under heavy rain, and looked utterly ruined, but energetic saving operations resulted in a yield of thirty-six bushels to tho acre. Elsewhere there were fair crops, and even very good ones, but it is to be feared that these are .not sufficient to make up a satisfactory average. \ Reports from the hill stations tell of a generally successful state of affairs, and wherever one may go the stock appears in good condition, and much fitter against winter than at this time in any *«oent year.