MINING NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1120, 29 February 1872, Page 2

MINING NEWS.

GREY VALLEY DIGGINGS. THE NEW RUSHES TO TEVIOT, NELSON CREEK, INANGAHUA, &c. (from our own correspondent 1 .) Ahaura, Feb. 28. The finding the gold in another claim at the Teviot rush has caused some excitement in the Half-Ounce and Duffer Creek districts. Thomas Fagan and party, or rather Mr Fagan himself, is entitled to the credit of the new discovery. The fancy line, when the ground was rushed at first, ran in a north-east and southwesterly direction, but those who sunk shafts on this line all bottomed either shallow or were duffered out. The place was all but abandoned, . especially by the knowing ones, and without good reason, for the ground did not get a fair trial. But there area certain class of miners whose experience should teach them to know better; -who^wKen a discovery of this kind takes place, make up their minds as to the extent and direction of the auriferous ground, and if the results do not tally with their foregone conclusions, they at once pronounce the place a duffer. Such has been the case in this instance. During last week it would not be good for a personal health to inquire at Half-Ounce about the progress of tho Teviot lead. It was only a " dab" on the side of the range. The prospectors had it all. There was nobody left but Fagan and a few more monomaniacs. Such were the remarks made last week, but matters are altered now. Fagan, instead of being a visionary enthusiast about terrace leads, now turns out to have good sound ideas about them. It is said that Fagan worked for some time as a hatter at the claim in which this rich ground has been. found before he could prevail on anyone to help him tojbottom the shaft. A re-action has now set in, and there is danger of the place being over-rushed.

the Inangah^Th^ridT^inS'Mtet by Jenkins, the "Jinks" of recent track explorations, is situated on the course of a direct line from the Murray Creek reefs to Boatman's rush. The exact locality is bstween the head of Painkiller andFlowera Creeks, both tributaries of tho left-hand fork of the Inangahua. The other rush has taken place to what may b 9 correctly described the Upper Little Grey district, or between the the Little and Brown Grey Rivers. Rich specimens were found in this locality more than twelve months' ago by John Black, formerly of the Junction Ferry. His discovery was at the head of the Big River, and a rather extensive rush took place there. A considerable amount of wopk w?,s 4ono during the last winter by the brothers Murray, Me3srs Robert Young, Phelps, and others, but although good indications were constantly met with, nothing likely to be of permanent value was found. This place bears about the same relation to the Murray Creek reefs on the south that the Boatman and Larry Creek discoveries do oh the north, with the exception that the Inangahua River intervenes on the southern side. The scene of the present rush is not precisely where Black fcund the gold, but is in the vicinity. Aubther rush is going on to the Lefthand Branch of Nelson Creek. This is spoken of as likely to become important shortly. The sinking is shallow and on terraces, with great scarcity of water. There is scarcely a limit to the area of payable ground in the upper parts of Nelson Creek if water could t be obtained in abundance. The Mosquito lead at Napoleon is in full work again. All the claims are now on gold and paying well, especially those on the eastern fall. The harvest is getting on fine,- and the farmers are making rapid progress 'with their work. It is fortunate after all tha"the season is late. In the ordinaiy course the harvest work would be in full'Bwing when the late flood and bad weather took place, and under such circumstances the loss would have been irreparable. There was very little produce cat down and left unstacked during the wet weather, and consequently there was little totally damaged. It is «.ratifyiug to observe that our agriculturists are not behind the times in the matter of procuring the newest and best labor-saving machinery, and in effecting important improvements to the machines already in use. Mr R. M'NeJU, of Totara Flat, has imported a Melbourne»manufactnrpd reaping and mowing-machine, made on Robinson's patent self-delivery principle. It may be seen at work any tine day on Mr M'Neil's farmland it is a pleasure to watch the beautifully regular manner in which it performs its work. There is no time or labor lost, and no waste. Every sheaf of corn is deposited in its proper place, and the arm's or. gleaners of. the machinery perform their functions in a startlingly human-like, and . methodical manner. Under reasonably favorable circumstances •twenty acres a day can be cut down by this machine, and from the peculiar manner in which tho com is delivered, one man can do the work of three* in binding and stacking the crop. At Mr David Donald's a new, and what may turn out to be a highly important, invention has been utilised to perfect tha ordinary chaff-cutting machine. Mr Donald,

in common with others, observed the gradually increasing yearly depreciation in the value of the pat and similar crops, caused by the presence of sorrel and other noxious .weeds in the land. These weeds* were of necessity gathered with the crops, and up to this it has been found impossible to separate these in j urious in gredients from the produce sent to market. The produce was consequently objectionable for feeding purposes, and this is the principal reason why Tasmanian and Victorian grown oats and chaff have held their place in" this market in preference to native raised produce. Mr Donald being of an inquiring and inventive turn, set to work to devise a remedy for this evil, and he has succeeded admirably and beyond his expectations. Seeing that.it was not practicable to separate the sorrel and other summer pests from the crops while olanding, it struck him that they might be separated afterwards. By the application of a very simple, contrivance to the ordinary machine he has perfected it, so that every particle of foreign matter is eliminated, and the feed is consequently largely increased in value. As it would be unfair to the inventor of this wonderfully efficient improvement to describe in detail the m<>ans by which it is effected, it is sufficient to say that the great value of the new contrivance lays in its simplicity and the ease with which it can be adapted to the machine at present in use. Besides improving the quality of the horse-feed, the land will be incalculably benefited by this invention. Out of every ton of hay cut by Mr Donald this season he has extracted, on an average, one hundredweight of sorrel and other seeds, and deliteripus matter. This would, therefore, find its way on to the land again/ for everyone knows that the old proverb about ill weeds growing apace, is peculiarly applicable to the sorrel pest which now infests Totara Flat, and it is wellknown in what manner these parasites are generated and spread about. The birds disseminate the seeds, they are scattered about ia manure and by other means. The extraordinary vitality contained in the germs of these weeds is practically indestructable except by the agency of fire, and this can now be brought to bear on them. Mr Donald has discovered that these seeds, when boiled and steamed, make excellent food for pigs. They swell and burst in the boiling, arid when properly prepared they closely, resemble sago in appearance. Pigs ;eat it ravenously, and fatten on it wonderfully. So that the results from this invention of Mr Donald's are likely to become important, for the sorrel is effectually and beneficially cleared from the land.