WAIKATO NOTES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 194, 27 September 1909, Page 5

WAIKATO NOTES.

' (Own Correspondent.) | "Creusa," I Ihink Mr Wragge calls tbc disturbance which reached us during Ihe early part of the week. On Wednesday it drove us to our firesides, the day being almost as cold and wet as on in midwinter. But it passed away next day, and we have since had some beautiful weather. Hamilton has not been doing well this last few months. A number of small businesses have hsd to close up. and the larger trades have felt the pinch too. It would be difficult to find half a dozen shopkeepers who would claim to be doing well just now. But things are taking a turn for the better, and I anticipate October will put the whole business outlook on a better and healthier footing. Meanwhile it is cheering to read what the Mercantile Gazette says on the future trade position: "Already we find the wool market in a healthier state, with prices i showing a strong tendency to advance. The frozen meat market which a few weeks ago appeared to be hopelessly depressed, is now recovering. N»w Zealand hemp is making better money, and most, if not all the mills, have resumed operations for the season. Dairy produce is making good money, although the dealers who were heavy los<-rs last season are not offering as high prices. Agricultural produce is selling well. The timber trade is reviving. and we hear nothing now of the bogrv of Oregon timber. The unemployed difficulty is practically at an end. Money is in ample supply to meet all legitimate demands, and viewed from every standpoint the conditions are distinctly better, amply justifying th<* now oft heard remark: 'Thinjrs are improving!'" Representatives of one of the leading Dairy companies of New South Wales have been visiting New Zealand in the search for supplies of white pine for making butler boxes. It seems that the supply of this indispensible article arc running shorter, and the visitors are looking a long way ahead so that they may not be left in the lurch. The straw boxes, of which so much was heard a few months ago, are a failure They are strong enough and light enough, and probably cheap enough, but they taint the butter, and of course that is fatal. Timber supplies C might mention, are steadily j decreasing, the world over. Wood j pulp, for example, from which newspaper and book paper and other paper is made, has risen something like 25 j per cent, in value these last few months, and is likely to go higher, j We must encourage by all the means j in our power the replanting of decim-1 ated areas, so that the needs of the future may be met. Otherwise a very serious position will face every industry dependent upon thepupply of wood. A Waikato farmer has been discussirg the relative charges for stores of [ various kinds supplied from Auckland I and Wellington, and he shows pretty | conclusively that Auckland is considerably dearer than Wellington. Fertit Users, for instance, costing £7 in Auckland, can be had at £5 15s a ton in Christchurcb. He says the Waikato farmers are being bled in this way. He urges the appointment of a competent analyst, to reside in the distrvict, who would analyse the soils and give advice to the farmers. This, seems sound sense. Such a man, if appointed, coueld save farmers pounds a year, in telling them what to use and what to avoid.

Taingakawa Tc Waharoa, of Mata- t mnta, with his committee, have been ! in Hamilton, where they saw the j Mayor and Mr W. A. Gresham. He | is going to visit parliament in Welling- j ton to endeavour to obtain a settle- • ment of the Native Land Question, j He visits all the chiel Native settle- | ments on the way overland to Welling- j ton and carries a petition to the King, I signed by 28,000 Natives, asking the j Crown to take thr matter in-hand. If j he gets no satisfacton in Wellingotn ; he is determined to go to England to j lay the matter before the King himself. ; There are weddings and rumours of ; weddings astir. I hear that Miss Gra- | bam,daughter of Mr Graham, of Ham- j ilton East, is to marry Mr Fortescue of Te Kuiti; that Mr Hill of the Stock Department in Hamilton is marrying Mips Mabel O'Neill of Hamilton; Mr S. Ferguson, accountant to the Farmers' Co-operative Auctioneering Com- j pany, weds Miss Daphne Ewen, of j Matangi, and one or two others are to enter the ranks of the benedicts. The movement in favour of combined auction sales is not meeting with smooth progress. A counter petition got up by shareholders in the Farmers' I Company, is averse to the idea, pointing out that the yards ar» already overcrowded in certain months, and it 1 would necesutate additional accommo- : dation without increased business. This is certainly a point of view to be : carefully considered. I had a run to the Ruakura State farm in Mr Goodfellow's auto-buggy the other day. The machine carried six of us very comfortably and the roads, holes and all, were negotiated smoothly and swiftly, the couple of miles to the farm being covered in 15 minutes. A pace of twenty miles an hour was easily reached on good stretches. The farm is looking well. The model dairy is really worth a visit. Mr Dibble the manager, informed me that the dairy herd is absolutely free from disease and is regularly tested for, not only tubercular troubles, but mimitis. Eighty cows are being milked by the L.K.G. machines. The milk is sold to a local dealer, who pasteurises it and retails it. This is a boon to those who have children. The risks of infection from milk are reduced to a mintnum under the stringent system adopted.