THE COUNTRY.

Thames Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 10346, 20 April 1911, Page 2

THE COUNTRY.

COUNTRY JOTTINGS.

(From O'uir Own Correfcipondent.)

—Piicka of Land. —•

The pride 01 land arioundi here seems to ctoiiitinulally appreciate and all recent sales are at record prices. Mr T. Dynes, of Mafcaitoke Road, has just sold his fine little farm ther'o, ait) JJ2S per acre, tilie purchaser being Mr Smith, who has for some time farmed a neighbouring 1 place and should therefore pretty well 'know the I values., and in falcifc the general verdict is thatl even a.t £.25 the place mis a bargain. At Hikutaia,, a. portion of Messrs»Alley Bros.' farm changed ' hands at £-28 per actre, without outbuilding's', the purchaser being- a Tar- , a.naki man who recently sold his 1 place there at £45 par acre. He therefore considered Hikutiaia at £28 ' easy money. —The Dairying Season — : has not been so satisfactory as was > anticipated early in the year and - when the balancing up is done I sun s afraid that' there will he few record • returns from the cows. The spring ; and. early summer was splendid, but l fi/oia the New Year onward! the want i of rain was severely felt, finally e-ul-i minating in what was unpleasantly - nea.r enough for a drought. Chir sun- ? liiakted paictures gave a quidk and ready response: to thci generous showers that favoured usi late in March ? and the early part of the present f month, and had it not been that the ; whole tfoumtiry was a crawling —Mass of Crickets — abundant, feed would have been the j resulti, but as it is although the country is gT'een again, there is not much feed to spare. Experienced farmery here doclarei that this, pest eatte and destroys as much grass as woiild feed their dairy herds, and in very dry seasons) they not only des- | troy the hexfoagie 'touit atludk the (roots of the grasses. The writer of this had aj patch of Yorkshire fog about two acres, absolutely killed; outright last) year l>v them., and as they apparently are going to "be ni> annual trouible, ai strong effort; should be made to oomibatt them. Something like united action is wanted and' must 'be taken, or a serious handio'ap. to dairying 1 will have toi be faoed. A farm cannot keep hundreds, of millions of these obnoxiousi vei-min and do justice to a. dair'v .herd. Now listen tio me, brotheir farmers, a cheap and efficiaciouls remedy for the ciriciket pest is within easy reach of all. Why i& it that although ten chains away from your doors, the merry oriciketei disport them seller-:! ibv th© tlioiisa-nd. yet round about the hpmraite'adi, the &ricds, and the near paddocks;, there are only odd ones. Why? betdause the poultry swallow them up as swoin as 1 they appear. They tr'aiiisfonni them into the eggsl that garnish the morning rashers'. Now, do as it not strike you that as easily asi they clean up the teli acres oi< more rlound the homestead, so coiuild they, if you have enough of tibem, clean up the farm, andi they atfe 1 easily raised and a good profit can Ibla made ouit of them, especially aa in this case the food costs) nothing. Tlie only expense would Ibla ai few movable houses for the' fowlsi to roost in. I would suggest that they Ijie kept, in flociks of fifty or sixty and' shifted rvery week. If this plan were generally adopted a few 1 years would sJeio thei crtokbts 1 disappear a-mll in the mmntimu a. handsome pr'< fit could be mudo oaat. of what is now a : curse. —Our J.P.— I oongratuilato Mir J. Moylc, of P'uriri, on his appointment to the Commission of thci Pea.eta. Mr Moyle is perhaps the moot popular'resident of the township and should! worthily fill the position.