“Gazette" District News

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4391, 17 March 1922, Page 4

“Gazette" District News

HIKUTAIA. SHEEP WORRYING. There was recently a very bad case of sheep worrying at Hikutaia, some 5, 30 ewes, 10 wethers, and a number of lambs on the property of Messrs Robinson Bros being worried-, many destroyed. The ewes belonged to Air W. H. Alley, he having bought them about a week prior to the worrying. PATETONGA. FOOTBALL NOTES. Witji the approach of the winter 1 months the raqquet will soon be laid aside and the footballers will be donning their shorts and. jerseys on a Saturday afternoon. The Patetpnga Football Club will soon be making a start, and the annual meeting is to be held -shortly. As a preliminary “flutter,” and as an endeavour to instil interest into the local blood, a fancy dress football match is being arranged. The contestants will be the married men versus the single men., . ' HALL FUNDS'. The Patetonga Hall Committee is making commendable efforts to reduce the hall debt, and every conceivable means of raising money is being given a trial. A euchre party and dance was held recently. About 50 guests attended, and the hall funds will benefit to the extent of about' &!• 10s. The euchre prizes were won by Mrs Heineman and Mr Frank Costello. Good music was supplied for the dancing, and Messrs J. Christie ami H. V. Maukes were M’s.C. Another effort worthy of note is r.ather a unique one. The Hall Committee recently canvassed the district and received gifts of all classes of stock —bullocksj, pigs, and fowls. The stock will later be killed and retailed the proceeds to augment the hall fund. MAUKORO DEVIATION. Contractors are working 'on the proposed Maukoro deviation. The i work was commenced at the Pate- | tonga end. ! PERSONAL. . i Mr and 'Mrs W. Dalzeil, whose wedding took place in Wellington last week, -have returned to Patetonga;, which will be the happy couple’s future residence. KAIHERE. THE DOMAIN BOARD. At the annual meeting of the Kaihere Domain Board Mr K. Morrison presiding. Mr J. Senior was elected treasurer and Mr Morrison chairman for the ensuing year, The balance- , sheet showed that the board had •spent £BO and had assets to the extent of £B5. The Kaihere Domain is over three acres in area, and is all fenced and in grass. Tennis courts are practically completed, and a match between Mangatarata and Kaihere is to be played this week. NGATEA. STOCK SALE. There was a good yarding of cattle atr the Farmers’ Co-op. Auctioneering Company’s stock sale at Ngatca on Monday. Bidding was not very brisk, there being no demand for beef. The following prices were realised : Beef steers, £4 to £6 ; fat cows £2 10s to £3 17s. Store steers (best condition) £3 5s to £4 ; yearling steers £.l to £1

I 10s. Store cows 10s to £1 5s ; bulls 5s to £1 ss. | THE SCHOOL. I The roll of the Ngatca-school has i increased to 88. There have been i - about 20 fresh admissions this year. ' The largest attendance for any one day is 83. This total was reached last Tuesday. THE MAIZE CROPS. It has been stated that Ngatea’s maize crops have been too numerous this year, and the yield heavier than expected, so that all of it cannot be , used for- immediate feeding out purposes. Many farmers are therefore stacking its for ensilage. One of Mr T. McClean’s crops which suffered from an attack of catterpillars has not been totally destroyed. The head is still untouched. The crop when attacked about a month ago stood about 12ft or 13ft high. ** 4n ex-Bay of Plenty farmer has complimented Mr W. J. Clare on his fine crop of maize, which stands between 13ft and 14ft high. The stalks are good, healthy ones, and are b.y no means sparsely distributed throughout, the 8-acre plott The land, which was rough swamp land, was swamp harrowed once, disc ploughed once, and disc harrowed twice. The seed was then sown broadcast and disc harrowed twice again. No manure was used. Mr Clare has also a small plot of cob maize, the cobs, in the estimation of the ex-Bay pf Plenty man, being as good as any he had seen in the Bay of Plenty. Though Mr Si McWatters’ crop is only a small one -of 2%acres, it! ably j demonstrates the productivity of the > soil. Two acres of ninety-day maize, sown on October 29, is in some cases over 14ft 6in high, having an average height of about 13ft 9in. Threequarters of an acre of Hickory King, sown on November 30, averages about 13ft 4in. This crop is a very j heavy one. A capable authority has , stated that this crop, though small, I is equal to any 'he has seen in Aus,- | tralasia. There was no other soil, i excepting on the Rangataiki Plains, Bay of Plenty, ■which was capable of producing such a heavj’ yield. The abovementioned crops are only a few of the fine ones in the dis-

trict, and there are several other good yields. Several agriculturalists who have visited the Plains have said that its enormous productivity will not be fully realised till the settlers go in for systematic and extensive cultivation. KEREPEEHI. PERSONAL. Mr E. Jamieson left for Auckland on Tuesday pn business in connection with a new milking machine he is perfecting. Kerepeehi is unfortunate at present in having several members of its community away in hospital. Mrs E. Taylor, Messrs A. Chatfield, A. Fisher, and E. Purdie .are all inmates of the Thames Hospital. It is thought that Mr Chatfield is dangerously ill.