LOCAL AND GENERAL

Horowhenua Chronicle, 1 December 1915, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The story of the English farmer who harvested a wheat crop and refused to thrash it until it reached a certain price has often been told, and is confirmed in the "Field" of 2lst August. A Mr Philip Selby, of Aisby, Lincoinehiro, harvested! 'his wheat 34 years go and declared he wound not sell it 1 II it readied a certain price. Ho died last year without revealing what this price was. His son lias had the »tack threshed, .and the grain wasfouid ;«. ri» in excellent condition. The wheat averaged 24 bushels to the acre, weighed 60 "lbs to the bushel, and sold for 7< (kl per bushel. The purchaser has had some of the wheat made into bread, and it turned: oufc an excellent article. The field contained nine acres, and the stack was thatched about six times.

After a retirement of 31 minutes the jury acquitted! Mire ferry, of Itamarama, of the murder of ner husband. Air Charles Blenkhom has "been elected mayor of Levin, his nomination Deing the only one received up to noon to-day, the hour of closing tho list. A cablegram which has reached tiu--01 overnment states that tho-transports convoying the Bth Reinforcements encountered very bad weather alter leaving New Zealand, but tho conditions are now improved and. the" men are gettu.g their sea legs and recovering irom sea-sickness. Thoro is no illness on uoara. The St. Andrew's Handicap at Feiidiufi yesterday was won by lUaniaroa witJi iSciuare Dual second and imarose third. Egypt accounted for the i'eilding Stages with Nystadi and lino Atua in the second and third place respectively. Tho amount put through the totalisator was £18,521 compared with JLl<,ij-> for the first day last year. From 'Messrs Philip and George Wirth (of "Mirth's Park, Melbourne, Victoria,; The Chronicle has received its iirst. Christmas cards for iifio. The cai'd is characteristic of the circus; hearing, ats it iJoes a piebald horse which has on its back a live seal, which balances on its nose a stick surmounted by a -kerosene lamp. The card concludes with the words: "Never a Christmas morning, never tiho old 1 year ends, but soniubody thinks of somebody: old days, old times, old friends. , '

- 'Iho Prime Minister stated yeestenfi in Wellington that fanners had be< gr-antedi an extension of time for 001 pletion of forms in connection wii the new income tax. The Land ai Lncome Tax Department had infornu liim that the date for return of tl forms had been extended from Decor ber 4th to December 18th. In tl meantime advice and ai being supplied to any landowner \vl: needs assistance in making up the . i quired! returns. "Tho arrangement for supply of cheet to the Imperial authorities us wor-kin well," said the Premier. "1 have jut received communications on the sul ject from factories in all parts ol tii Dominion, and in every case the uci scheme under which one-third of tii total output is to be requisitioned lo Imperial purpose** at a nxed price ha been accepted in good spirit. No ob jection has been raised m any quar tcr. The people connected with tin ehocshe industry have shown a very pa trio bio spirit. A new and novel manner of givi.ij notice to a farmor was exemplified Uj a milker in the_Pihama district the other day. Tho milker "alter emptying the last of the milk into the car demanded his cheque. liio boss r e monstrated with him on the shortnessof the notice, but the milker was obdurate andi obtained the axe, remarking that he wonldi smash ever.y can \-n tho stand if he did not got his cheque, and by way of letting it bo known that he meant it— gave one can a bang wit/i the axe. The boss then made a rush for homo and his cheque book. Tho chock mate, with the axe, quickly lollowod after him.— Opimako Times. A New Zealand soldier writing to Iho Mtham Argus, irom Oairo, say.-.:; The natives are very dirty at cleaning anything. ' A native will start ou for town with a basket oi strawberries and as they get very dursty before lie gets there he has to clean them. To do this he puts them in liis mouth ami licks them and then puts then back in the basket on new leaves. TJiev look very tempting but the only way to be at all safe is to give them :i thorough- washing, if the vegetable js to lji» to go in his mouth he will dip it in any street water he sees ami then [>oHsii it up. The only tsafe way is to buy all fruit at a fair class European restaurant. The women are always Sighting and yelling at one anothor ind they have generally got a-.mass j! flies crawling over the dirt on tneir "ac«s.

The iiistoiy ol the lat Hereford bullock recently sold iu Victoria for what is probably a world's record pnee— £75 Wn —is interesting. Tiiis line animal wan bred and lattened by Mr Moore, of iiusliy Park, Waiiganui, New Zealandi. After competing successfully at Masterton b'how in l'elmiary, 1913, ho was sold by Mr Moore to Mr Jbi-jd Fairoy, ol' Nelson, the well-known intercolonial fat cattle enthusiast, avlio purchased him for £20. Later on Mr l'airey exhibited him at Sydney ltoyal Show, where he secured first in h ; s class as "Best Hereford liiilloeii." He was then acquired by Mr A. E. Bowman, of Bethanga Park, the price being £31. As already stated, thie bullock has since been sold in Victoria fo the astonishing price of X'7G 10s. When killed and dressed he weighed l(J72lbs. In a recent letter Mr Sydney Kidman tlie Cattle King of Australia, remarked that this wan a wonderful sum to get for a single bullock.'