THE LAKES.

Dunstan Times, Issue 619, 27 February 1874, Page 2

THE LAKES.

(from our correspondent. ) Arrowtown, Feb. 17.

The harvesters the most noteworthy subject at present, and if eve)' we are to be thankful fo t a bountiful- yield, the crop* of this season should completely satisfy the most inveterate grumbler. The wheat is in splendid condition owing to the favorable weather for'ripening ami harvesting, and there shou’4. be no losses this season from damp as w as the case last year, while as to oats there is very little risk with them under any circumstances. Labor is pretty plentiful ; at the first of the season fifty shillings per week was the rate for field hands, it has hi wrier gi ue up to sixiyjsince. at which figure wages remain firm. Harvest .hands should make a good rise this summer, as the crops being late in Southland, there will be plenty of employmenflong after they are done here. 1 am afraid the,'farmers themselves will be the worst’off, as for the” grower there exists nothing very promising in the shape of prices. For wheat there is no buyeis I have{”heard that thiee.' shillings per bushel has been offered, but no sales have been made. Storekeepers say they have plenty of flour on hand, and will requiie very Tittle this year,; while, what has hem gristed on speculation for the Cromwell and Dunstan markets has been so at a loss. For my part I cannot see how this statement can be correct, as gristing has been done as low as seven-pence per bushel for speculators, while as a rule, storekeepers purchase their,grain at long tern s of credit,.and then one halfjis in the shape of barter. ■At four shillings per bushel for wneat, and flour at eleven pounds per ton, thore[should remain a veiyfaii pit fit, but some people are never, satisfied, and this can only be accounted for by the fact that the Lakes district has been a sort of storekeepers’preserver for Inch prices and enormous profits. Perhaps some enterprising Cromwell.or Dunsian firms may ate their way clear to step into the wheat market and do bushiest direct v. i r ti the farmers instead of through an intermediate agent. 11 igb prices, for oats are anticipated, but I cannot .see how dm can be the case, as we must be entirely governs 1 by your market, and at ihe present unie they are cheaper with'fyim than with us. however, this query will very soon bo settled as the thrashing mil! comes into operation. This necessary (-adjunct to the farmers’ labor Las already commenced its useful work. Cn Saturday and Mon ;*y last, Mr. John Henderson’s.mdl thiashed out sixteen hundred bushels for Mr. Scheib, of the Deep Creek, Kawarau, and the same machinery is nowin operaiouon the Arrow Flat, so it!will not be long before tbciv arc plenty of oats in the market. In about a fortnight f.om now, 1 !• a n that the'worka of the Shntovtr Tirr.ice Company will be so far advanced ns to 1 1 ready for full operations ; in cuttin. in the tunnel for water supply, some excellent ground has been discovered, and the pn spects of the Company are better than ever. The Arrow Companies do uo‘ seem to exhibit much life, they are perhaps aw aiting the results of the Sh'.tover Com, any fo inspire public confidence iu them so as r.« give them a start. It is rumored that a libel ease is on the tapis, between Mr. J.diN Hutchison, 'he master of the Government School, and the Arrow Observer - the cause of legal warfare is the substance of a meeting of .< 'mn mittee reported in that journal whe ein our local pedagogue finds himself aggrieved.