TE AWAMUTU.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2417, 7 January 1888, Page 2

TE AWAMUTU.

Prevalence oh Sickness.—Owing to the late warm weather a good deal of sickness has been prevalent in the district, many people suffering from "dengue" fever, or what is more commonly known as " dandy" fever. It has not been [;eculiar to this distriot only, as it has baen common on the West Coast of this island. A sad death occurred here last week. Mr William Stiirratt, a fine promising young man of 19, succumbed to malarial fever, contracted up the railway line. No danger was apprehondsd on Thursday, but ho died on Saturday morning. Ho had a splendid physique, and one would naturally suppose his good constitution would have enabled him to pull through, but " the oak breaks, while the sapling bends." Much sympathy is felt for his parents in their bereavement.

Bcsinkss Changes.—Some changes in business have taken place here lately. Mr Bridgman sold his grocery and ironmongery business to Mr Pratt, and Mr Gibson has sold his butchering business to Mr James Cunninghain,. Mr ,'Gibson was a Rood business" map, and was very popular on account of his obliging disposition. His successor is also a good man of business, and his well-known civil and obliging nature will make him as popular as his predecessor. Tm? Canawan Thistle,— This worst of all wepds is getting a hold in various parts of the district. Some of the people on whose {arms it has made its appearance, can hardly realise what a pest it is or they would take every means to stamp it out. It has been on some farms for years, and has only been kept from spreading by the energetic efforts of the farmers. In some cases nothing appears to be dolie to knep it down; when too late peopln will see the folly i;f letting it alone. The following is an instance of its extraordinary vitality, and also shows the best way of fighting it. It nude its appearance on a fsirin near here, and the farmer set a man to dig it up. He pulled up every thistle there was to be seen, but the following year it grew even, more vigorously. The farmer then went out to work himself, and. as it was oiily a small patch he spent two weeks in digging up every root he could find, he oven went so far as to riddle the earth, and burned every root and fibre so found, but the next year there it was again in full vigour. He then cut it down to the ground, and as often as the leaves showed themselves, he cut them down, and continued to do so, the result was that it checked it more than any digging of the foots would have done, and If it pas not Had t'h'e effect of killing it, it has at leastpreventeditseedingor spreading. Such a course if persisted in, must eventually kill it, as nothing can live if the leaves are kopt

constantly cut back. There are holes four or five feet deep, where the roots were found at that depth fr«m the surface. In some districts in Canada farmers have been compelled to leave their f.nin, owing to the thistle. If men will not take the trouble to protect themselves, tfie law should compel them to do so. Special legislation in this direction is necessary. There is a Rabbit Act, but there is no law for the thistle, which, if not kept down, will prove a much greater nuisance than the rabbits. The latter can be kept down in thickly populated districts, but if the former once gets a firm hold it will never be got rid of. It would be well for settlers to beware of buying grain or hay off any farm where the Canadian thistle is allowed to go to seed. There is also the danger of the seed being carried from those places by the threshing machines. "To be forewarned i< to be fo -canned."