THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16436, 1 February 1919, Page 3

THE COUNTRY.

NEWS AND NOTES

.SURPLUS WOOL NAVT SCHEME

Mr Edward Newman, M.P., lias received an interesting letter from Lieut.Colonel Norman FitzHerbert, C.M.G.. an old resident and- I'armerot' R-angiti-kei, and now head ot the New Zealand Records Office in London, in winch ho remarks: — . .

"'Thank you for forwarding particulars of your Sailors' /Defendants' Scheme. 1 congratulate you most sincerely for having thought of such, a very praiseworthy and patriotic idea. In juv opinion, nothing has been as fine in this war as the heroic conduct of our. seamen, most particularly tho men or the Merchant Service, wno, undaunted by previous suffering, returned to risk death and disaster over and over again.. 1 always,think of the ship's hoy, who, after being torpedoed, considered himself most fortunate and well-treated by his firm, because they had given him a berth at one:-* on another outgoing ship. Such is the iibre of which our heroic sailor-men an? made. Unfortunately for me, 1 have no surplus wool to give.you. but I shall be only too 1 pleased xo subscribe to your fund, and .1 I navei instructed Marshall and Hutton to | send you a cheque for £'100. . If .possible 1 should like this earmarked lor the benefit of the Merchant, Service, but if not possible, mako u;o of it for tho general fund." ■ j COCKSFOOT HARVEST. The cocksfoot harvest is nearly a month later than usual. The end of January, as a rule, finds the great buik of-tho'seed threshed and safely .bagged. This year many of the'paddocks are. not yet cut. Tlie continued heavy rain —there - have been nearly four days of ' it now—will-still further delay the cutting.- Had las (. weok!« >tnnn nor'-west weather continued,, most of tho crops, exL-optiug ■ that, on tho higher levels, would (have been '.'down"—that is, the small bunches of. ?ut cocksfoot would have been lying well. pressed down on tho stubble, thero t<) : ivaiji r .sonie eight jir Joit da£s.~upiil sufficiently drv".for ■removalvto the -.thrashing 'floor. .From, pll accounts the .this sqa'sqn sh6ul(t easily .exceed , that .of atjy ,of the last' five years,/ The. crtip 'is looking well; ln : favourable •,situations,/ .very' well in- 1 deed. .Labour is fairly, plentiful, and to, expert harvesters 3s per hour is wil-lingly-paid by many farmers when anxious to make the most of tho fine weather. One' Hears of Is and even Is 3d I per lb haying been offered for the seed I as it stands. Given a spell of ' real summer weather the crop should be safely garnered with mucli profit both to tho fanner and the grass-seeder. , JOTTING S FOE FARMERS Mr J. C. Cooper informed a meeting <if farmers in toasterton oh "Weunesday that .prior to the war first grade tallow was selling at £35 per. ton on the English market. The highest price reached during the war was i:7i! per ton. Owing to a shortage of Home snipping, a consignment had been sent by the Wellington Farmers' Meat Company to America, which was sold at £64. The price has now dropped -10 per cent, in America, and when the 17,000 casks held' in New Zealand reached England they' would knock the bottom out of the market thece. HANMEII SPRINGS. January was very changeable, nor'west gales, heavy rauij and speils of cold weather prevailing! during the greater part of the uiontu. Rain fell on ten days, 5.57 in' falling, the heaviest falls being 2.22 in on the 17th, and 2in on the 28th instant. The recent rain was very welcome, as the grass was getting parched, and the grain crops were not filling out well. There were 190 hours 55min of sunlight recorded during the month. The weekly social was hold in the Queen Mary Hospital on Thursday evening, and tho A r arious items were much enjoyed. A duet by Mr and Miss Morgau," and a song by Mr Morgan, were the musical items. Tho dance music was played by Miss Byrne and Private Corley. The ladies provided an excellent supper. BURWOOD. In tho Burwood.Hall on Thursday an enjoyable concert was given by Mr Raphael's concert party in aid of the Burwood Patriotic Society's funds. There was a large attendance. Dtrring an interval Mr H. P.-M. Berry, chairman of the Burwood-Shirley Red Cross, made a statement on Red Cross work- :n the district. The sum of £1665 16s od had been collected, and expended- on material for lted Cross work by "ths ladies Those who contributed items were:"Mr Ronald Wallace, Miss Cicely Audibert. Mr F. W.- Barker, Mr Vere Buchanan, Mr Leslie Cook&on, Miss Tessa Reading, Mr A. A. Scott, Mr F. C. Raphael, Mr H. M«I>: Vincent, Miss Audibert and Miss Lillian Harper The party were motored ont by Mr -r. Kosteven and Mr C. J. Jones. ellesmhre. The weather cleared in the Ellesmere district during Friday, night, and yesterday was a very warm day. A considerable acreage of crop is now about ready and the reapers will be at work again in all directions this afternoon if the weather remains fine. A strong north-west wind would do a good deal of damage after the rain as the gram would shake out very easily. KAIAPOI. The prohibitionists of . the Kaiapoi electorate are commencing the liquor referendum campaign.- pie party has secured the services of Mr -_F. C. Roberts a recent arrival from Canada, as organiser for the electorate.' A ihefitm<r convened to form an electorate council to control operations in the campaign was held at Rangiora on Thursday evening m the Presbyterian Church and was largely attended. Mr W Dobbs general organiser for Canterbury and Westlaud, was present. Mr

J- •Blackwell, Mayor of Kaiapoi. was voted to tho chair. The following; council was electodPresident, J. Blackwell: vice-presidents, Messrs * • B. .Lane (Rangiora), R. Evans (Kaiar?\i ,n' r Worrell (Horrelville). R. /vtr (® x^or< 3), and Thomas Wilson (Waikuko); secretarv, Mr F. C. Roberts; assistant-secretary. Pastor L. A. Ih»y: treasurer, Mr R. J Corbett: committee, the Rey. "Mr Avery liJhoka). the Rev. Mr Ournow (Belfast), the Rev. W. H. Howes and Mr C. W. Bell (Rangiora), c ; Pateman (Woodend). J. T. Withers (Southbrook), H. A. Bennett (Ctet) yret ° nK and Charles Forbes AKAEOA. , k® SoM medal, presented annuallv 17 the Akaroa High School Board to niaking most progress in the .secondary department, has been awarded,!°,iUnf C 0 Loeto for the year 1918. „f*+K ™ ineeting of the executive r he Peninsula Patriotic Association there wero present: Messrs Geo.-Arm-(Va chair >' J - c - Say, T- ' J ;J > - Bruce > and J. S. Dodds. On the motion of the chairman, a vote sj" m was passed to the family of tho late Mr. Jas. Donovan, a memJ" e ,® S6 f rn tivxj, who had fallen a victim to the influenza epidemic. Mr Lewitt reported that a partv of returned soldiers visiting Akaroa on January 10th, Jiad been suitably entertained. Iho Port lx>vy Maori Jjady Liverpool branch applied for assistance in providing comforts and other help tor tne Maoris on active service. Consideration deferred pending receipt or certain information from the War ; ,* u respect to the appeal of the Cliristchureh Returned Soldiers' Association; it- was decided to reply that the executive had no power to voto money for memorial purposes. On tho motion of Mr Bruce, a grant of £500 was voted uo the -Vivy League (Christchurch branch) The secretary stated that the quarterly report forwarded to the Department showed a credit balance of £2-10 12s. It was arranged to hold tho annual meeting on the:, first Thursday in March. Mr Shadbolt, of French Farm, \vas empowered to arrange with tho residents for the appointment of one of their number to tie vacancy on tho executive caused by the death of Mr Donovan. I ASHBURTO-W The vital statistics for the Ashburton registration district for the month of January are-as follows: Births 25, deaths ,715, marriages 2. The figures for January,' 1918, . wore: Births 27, deaths 11, marriages If. Tlie_ rainfall taken at the Ashburton Domain weather station at 9 a.m. yesterday, was 32 points, bringing the total fall from Monday up to 4,<j inches. ! The weather eioared during Thursday - nighv, and the sun' shone brightly I throughout yesterday. . WAIMATE. The funeral of Mr Charles McCrossan took place yesterday, and was largely attended. Tho first account of his death was not correct. The true version is .as follows: —Mr McCrossan was leaning against the door post of the guard's van while the train was standing at G-1 enavy station. A severo jolt during shunting operations sent the door rolling, and it shut. Mr McCrossan's fcftad was caught between the door and cLnorpost and crushed. The inquest will be resumed at "Waimato on Tuesday.