Country News.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 116, 17 October 1901, Page 3

Country News.

(FEOM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) STUDHOLtifi." Spring at last! Well, after the cold drying winds we have been having, is.it any wonder that we welcome the nice warm days we have bad since Friday ? Feed is now beginning to make a little headway, and none too soon, as it has been very scat 66 this spring. Lamb* are doing well, and I hear of real good percentages, as many as 145 per 100 from a line of 300 ewes, and if we get sufficient rain those breeders of prime Canterbury will have some reason to feel elated at the prospect, and will soon b« on the look out for the fat lamb buyer. Wheat, though not so extensively sown as in previous years, has still many admirers, and some really promising crops are to be seen. I am pleased to note that the farmers of this district recognise the importance cf giving, their land a good cleaning and working before sowing. Oata are about the same in acreage as former years, and those I have seen look very well indeed, A •considerable number of paddooks have been sown, and the showers of a fort ' night ago helped the grass seed wonderfully. Barley is almost neglected ; in fact, I have only seen one small paddook of this cereal. I notice that the farmers here are not going to neglect the most important crop as far as winter feed is i concerned. A considerable quantity of ] land is being put in mangolds, carrots, and parsnips, and other land is being got ready for the turnip crop. The fact that there will be considerable root croops should augur well for wintering the cattle. Potatoes are not going to te neglected either ; in fact, I hear of one fanner who proposes planting eight tons. The early potatoes got a severe nip with the late frost, but so far as I can hear the fruit blossoms escaped any injury, and the trees that have been eatabli-.hei for a few years promise an abundance of fruit. Strawberries also look wwll, and we hive in this district a few r.ici littl« 8 rawb rry farms. I hope the o«ners will have a better season than they did iast. year. M'- Quinn's largi grain store is nearly finished. Everything about this building is very much uo to dut.«, and I am sure when it is finished it will he a credit to anv town. Our storekeeper, Mr Ford, iB also putting up a must commodfous store to meet the growiog demands of trade in the district.

The effect of th l * creamery is also felt in the local cattle market. With Bprinaers up to £lO, tniags id this Una are--looking up. I remember twelve months ago springers brought from £2 10s to £4 17s bd, and to-day the same cl»88 of cattle bring from &\ 17s 6d to £7, and .with the prospect of being dearer as the creamery gets into woikirig form.