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Southland Times, Issue 1208, 11 February 1870, Page 3

" The late severe weather lias had a very withering effect upon the grasses," observes the Economist, "and running fires have been more frequent than agreeable. The dairymen are loud in their complaints, the cows having fallen off in their produce most materially, The imports of butter and chee3e, however, are fully up to the average, and Sydney butter i 3 invoiced at from 3d. to 4^d. To this may be added freight, clearance, and other due 3, besides Id. duty and com- ! mission. Surely our , home producers ought to be able to compete with any of the sister colonies under such circumstances. We are at a loss to imagine why, with such a cool and suitable dairying temperature, with occasional exceptions (but to which New South "Wales is more subject) our cowkeepers contend that butter won't pay them under 6d. Labour is about the same, so are rents, and the only reason presenting j itself to us is in the quality of the pasture. The white clover of Ulawarra, the lucerne of the Sydney district, and rich artificial pastures of the Hunter, afford treble the feed over and above those paddocks upon which half of our own cattle are supposed to live. If our dairymen will do as we have often advised them, get rid of half their cattle, and feed the remainder as dairy cows ought to be fed, they would find the returns twice as heavy, and the produce from such feed infinitely more valuable in our markets. Even now it is only those who have wretched natural grass paddocks who are complaining of a scarcity of feed, and no sympathy can be expressed for them, for until our lands are well and deeply tilled, laid down with artificial grasses, and properly attended to afterwards, our purveyors of dairy produce will never be able to compete with New South Wales." The Victorian Meat Preserving Company gave a luncheon, consisting of dishes made from their preserved meats, on the 29th ult., at the restaurant of E. TJ. Miller, Collins-street west. The object of the luncheon was to show the class of dinner now given in London for the low sum of Id. The table was plentifully supplied. The joints consisted of braized beef, boiled mutton and caper sauce, and boiled beef and carrots. The braized beef was excellent, and the boiled mutton, which had been preserved for one month, had all the qualities of the freshly killed article. The entrees consisted of potato pie, which was piquant in the extreme ; curried mutton, haricot mutton, minced meat, forced meat balls, and dry hash. The pie was of exquisite flavor. The forced meat balls were voted exceedingly good, while the minced. meats were pronounced by connoisseurs to be admirable. The dry hash, which is the favorite dish at Norton Colgate, gave universal satisfaction. About thirty guests sat down to the luncheon, and each and all were unanimous in a favorable opinion upon the excellence of Australian preserved meat. At times Collins-street presents a remarkable appearance (says the Herald). Birds, beasts, and fishes may be bought from those who deal in live stock on the pave in our chief city thoroughfare. | Sometimes the flagging is occupied with a row of birdcages, these containing | parrots, magpies, jackasses, and canaries. At another time monkeys, native bears, opossums, and such like, are to be found exhibited for sale. On the 29 bh the scene was varied by a collection of ferrets, bred in this colony, and which were offered for sale. The seller seemed to do well, for various parties were met walking away from the spot with ferrets in their hands. The mining operations going on under the Main-road, Ballarat, for some time past, have at length culminated in a rather serious, although unexpected, manner says the Courier. Early 'yesterday morning (25th) the pathway of the bridge in the Main-street, near Mr Eowe's premises, gave way, while the bed and banks of the channel subsided, and an old house used as a kind of store by Peter Jansen, the once persistent street preacher, toppled over into the creek. Fortunately no one was injured, but the cost of putting the channel and the bridge into repair will | cost the Borough Council something con- i siderable. , ! The enormous price for hair has led to the adoption of substitutes, the most popular of which is jute, a species of temp. This is largely used in the manufacture of waterfalls and chignons, and when properly dressed looks very well. But jute, though cheaper than hair, is still a high-priced article, and hence Yankee ingenuity has been set to work to find another substitute. This was discovered lately by an enterprising man (Connecticut born, of course) in the bark of a species of basswood, which, when dried, combed' out, and oiled, makes a very pretty article. — New York Times.