NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 217, 7 May 1932, Page 4

NEAR AND FAR

Unprofitable Market. Market gardeners in Otago are getting but small returns for their labour and outlay, says an exchange. It is difficult to see how they can be making anything when sacks of cauliflowers are fetching only ls 6d ,and 2s wholesale. Nearly all green vegetables are in over-supply. Presumahly the depression is j;orcing people to grow for their own use. One Otago grower in a large way who- tried the Wellington market witha big shipment had to face a debit note as the result of his enterprise. Gold-producing Country. "The West Coast has always heen a good gold-producing country, and there is no doubt that gold in large quantities still awaits the application of more gold to bring it to the light of day," said Mr. F. W. Payne, an English mining engineer, in an interview in Christchurch. Mr. Payne has returned to New Zealand on tour after an ahsence of about 30 years, and he has heen visiting the West Coast. He predicted that large dredging operations would he undertaken on the coast in the near future, also making the suggestion that money spent in improving the harbour at Okarito would he well repaid in the saving on the transport of mining machinery. Good Return From eight acres in permanent ryegrass a Hawlce's Bay farmer has harvested £178 worth of seed. This is a gross return of over £22 per acre, and he still has 16 tons of threshed hay, which will go a good way toward paying the harvesting expenses. Accepted for Flock House. The application ?f one Dunedin hoy for admission to Flock House, the facilities of which for farm training have been extended to include the sons of deceased and returned soldiers, has been accepted, and he will proceed to the North Island in the next few weeks. The local committee formed in Dunedin in connection with the scheme has two more applications in hand. Cost of Living. The surprise of the week to provision dealers of all ranks, from the merchant to the housewife, is the rise in the price of oatmeal, says an exchange, the Canterbury and Otago millers having put it up from £22 to £25 per ton. Allied lines, the product of oats, are correspondingly advanced. It is assumed that the main reason for the increase in price is the shortage caused hy the drought in Canterbury and North Otago. The advance is in force from Timaru to Gore and perhaps over a wider area. Magpies a Menace. Magpies have increased rapidly in Wanganui and district, and at the last meeting of the Acclimatisation Society it was stated that these birds had been known to attack homer pigeons returning fatigued after long flights. It was stated that magpies were also a menace to game, and several members admitted that their attitude towards these birds was decidedly hostile. I