NORTH OTAGO FARM NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 24

NORTH OTAGO FARM NOTES.

(From Our Ov,k CoitßE-poxoEyT ) OAMARU, February 13. The chimour for land, now that the OtekaiUo ba-ilot is oxer, is firfding- a new objecd\e Halwiwuamea and " Ilakataramea Downs, extensne estate 1 ? owned by the N / and A. Land Company in the s uth- Ovwf of C'anterburx. are mentioned as highly suitable foi .settlement purposes, and -(ep^ are being taken to bung them under the notice of (ho Go\ ci urneiit. Hakataramon estate co.-npii^ps about 70 000 acies of freehold, besides Cronn land's leased by the <:omjjan,\. If runs a. long distance back and extend- oxer into the Mackenzie C'ountn. Tiie Ilakatarumea Downs, which was acquired about -=>i«ht years airo. and i= now woiked -a* pait of the larger estate, contains some 30.000 acres, its situation being about 30 miles from the Waitaki Rixei. at the head of the Tlakaiaiamca Valley. Both properties, especially ihe fir.st described. hn\e good agricultural land, but the distances are too gieat for the cultivation of wheat. Thoy would, howex er. prox ide a number of splendid sheep farms, and in the natural course of things the produce , of Mich a settlement should mostly come tlirouuh O.ii'ia'-u. A meeting will shortly lie Ik Ul at llnkataramea to discuss the proposal. Ihe pip=cnr season ie advancing in a manner not at all favourable to graziers. 'lheie is a cr-it.iin amount of feed about. the spring rains ha\ing produced a limited prow th. but the niaos is now parched up and the outlook for stock is giving owners no hft'e aiiMCtv. The district is still seiKui-h under-.stocked. the result of last <=oa~on's di ought, and the stock purchased in the latter part of 1907, in the expectation of improxed feed, have receded in values till fat bullocks are now barely worth what was paid for them and dairy cattle have declined £3 to £4 per head. Turnips and potatoes have held on wonderfully, but are now beginning to show the effects of the heat and the absence of rain. Practically all tlie grain north of Hampden is now cut and most of it is poing into stack for a few week-, before thie=hing is attempted, though most of the mills are already buey.