There and Back

Feilding Star, Volume IX, Issue 94, 26 January 1888, Page 3

There and Back

On Friday morning, about half-past £v«, I started for the Feilding Small Farm Association Block. My number oo.e thought was about ttie lung time it takes' to uiau or horse so used to early rising as not to feel it iucouveiiiept; y«»u would .think .the latter had the. advantage , iv not hay r Ing to wash and dress, but the ingenuity he displayed ia finding thiugs to ehy at, aud his readiness at all favorable opportunities to turn round* was a piaiu indication thai the early call o duty was tar "from palatable to his ■aorseship. However, a gentle reUiiuder from the bteel persuasives told him just as plainly that there was no help for it, go h6 must. My first surprise (1 always look for surprises when by myself) was thie number of hares 1 saw iv and near the town. Ouly iour of those lively creatures were disporting themselves in a group alongside Mr Breunau's feuce .on the Kimbolton road, and they were to be «een frequently all the . way to Birmingham township: That clearing off the bush is going on rapidly is shown by the good view of the Makino highlands, to be;had from Kimbolton road, which' could not be seen a year or two ago Two or three miles out of town, the long straight road ; of the, district rbegius. I don't like long straight roads— they are so - inonotonOUB lifi«is T reHiiadecl how wisely our lives are arranged, that we can't see far . into the "future, as then we should anticipate-' the sweets but of ; all the pleasure^ and the 'troubles i would be borne a dozen tim.es^ b^ef ore w© wached them. provided for the day, I called at an Accomraodatidn Hous&on the waj- f or a satisfied and got it a venfgeance. TheJbWker^ of that i bread must have given the atomacfc credit for possessing the digestive powers oLa hrickmaking machine/ lam sure' jour Borough bak:^ "■-.: «ra had nothing tojdp, with it. (^A.few.' miles from town convinced me that. l' was approaching &. . that will alwayai.be^'remarkable for grassland gooseberries respectively^ suggestive of success iv farming arid gaidemng. While- tKe Kiwi tea farmer keeps his fences-good with . his own .hands,, and his grassf eaten down by^his own cattle aud sjtfe^p ,' , he -ctinnot go w.rong. ' I wouldL>Bt|ggest to the Epad . Boards coucei^^d- the desirability of letting their ample road in' sections, for tfav^ «lling dairy farms. The beautiful ': streams that muimfir so sweetly during the' ; other seasons of the year, are all silent^ now . J suppose the little burns are gone to that great "bourne from which, &c." Steady ! lam such 4 poor joker or punster I feel like the ricotchuiau who, when he discovered' he had pei pi etrated a j oke\ by accident, complacently rubbed himself down, saying " very gude" Pheas- ; and potatoes were also pleHtiful on tha jrffy. The blossoms of the latter would Just set au 1 t-isixmau'ts heart " with patriotic joy. A happy ■" thought— The G.O.Af . should import some of them in a glass case, and exhibit them free of charge to hid colleagues, Messrs Parnell and Co., thus causing emigration for this couuthiy that could produce such fine praties as -would soon settle the Irish *■ question. Birmingham has its main thoroughf ate metalled at ■ last, w hich allows the residents tq look forward ta another winter with good humor. I suppose they will soon be coveting the dig uity to Boroughs. It they -only know what a grand opportunity it gives for the development of local; talent, they would go for it in earnest. Myself and four-footed compauion have now reached the celebrated track that turns off to the Feilding Block, about a mile beyoud the hotel. . I suppose it is called a bridle track because that is about all a horfta^canjearry comfortably in the winter. The first part is a perfect and extreme specimen of the zig zag principle, the profound idea that generated in - the surveyor's brain-pan,; and which he successfully carried out was, .doubtless, to cram the longest road possible into the- shortest distances ; Although it is fairly passable now, thereV are many signs of the mortal afcrugele hetween~ man and mud, during? the. last winter's campaign. . -At the bottom; of the hill -the track takes a sharp bend in an upriver direction for about a mile,; then* another sharp turn direct for the Oroua^ r-Tihe doecentto theSiver bedis down a Tery steep «rid high 1 'cliff at " least two-hundred f eetr^perpendicular;" The effed^pdTOed^y'tallireesof iall sorts, ferns, ice', kway J d6wn belo^ ! is r very sfrifcing'and^picturesque: The ; track dfewnthif cliff is, only about two H| feet wi3«°i^.th<l most d^ngerims parts, and r^q'u'iresP some nerve' to astride".. „ % thought pi, dismounting, but as'ih^r.e wCTe no companions to blame my temerity,,. I remained up to enjoy the peculiar sensation of doing a dangerous thing. J- noticed during the descent how iuatinctively the bridle hand putted -ott the rein tfext the safe H side. 6f' the :i^oK; will ; <bep H come quite impaeeable in the' winter unless considerably widened, as it will be constantly ■slipping away. . here are indications of plenty of metal for roadmaking in the locality. The traveller now finds himself in the country of pigs and pigeons. The ay metrical *hape of the former may be seen impressed in the soft parts of the track, and the lat:er may be seen ever and anon winging its graceful flight from tree to tree, quite indifferent tothe presence of their future enemy, as if they had studied the Game Protection Act. While passing through Birmingham I paw no signs of it receiving any of the welcpnte rain.that fell over most of the district the night beforJ J^ttforil-— it is not an unmixed good to be bo high in the world. The trade fbrougii the- Palmerston Block is already well settled on, and burning ■ off h^^«om«*»Bced- Every time I visit tb« Feilding Block I am more jjitpTwH •flrttt the procfc6B of settlement way of fng¥e»B r and egress was H applied by tee, powers that be. I

j don't see how the' cjan \ expect any terms of settlement to be ; complied with in the absence of roads". .: Perhaps they intend, to start a series of balloons from; BirmiDghara,, or, , a v. wire and cage communication across , the Oroua ? The would-be settlers do ; expect that our local M.H.E.s will i use their combined influence topro- , vide a road to the block. The river ( has to be crossed thirteen times at ( I present to reach the boundary of the block, and if the road was opened as i. intended, one crossing would suflbe. The grass sown last season is nearly i shoulder high, and only useful for seedi on account of the difficulty of getting stock on to it. — I am, &c, , I ; , Nomadic, ,