IN THE COUNTRY DISTRICTS. (1906)
Grass is very abundant in the Wilmot district, which is helping to send in such a good supply of cream to the local buttter factory. One supplier realised 30s per cow for six weeks' cream during October.
Our Lebrina correspondent writes:
Travellers from Lebrina to the Lower Piper always notice and admire the snug and pretty homestead of Mr. James O'Rourke. After passing through some miles of gravelly and barren country it, together with Mr. John Shipton's flourishing selection, looks quite an oasis. Mr. O'Rourke commenced clearing eight years ago, and now, thanks to his hard-working sons and his wife's and his own good management, he is in a prosperous way. His outbuildings are such as would do credit to any farm, and one of the secrets of his success is at once seen in the care he takes of his farming implements. His favourite reaper and binder is as well housed as a show machine in a Launceston warehouse; all the parts are oiled and fit, and the concern ready to begin cutting at a minute's notice. How different this to the state of the binder whose most important and permanent duty appears to be the filling of a gap in a post and rail fence!
Mr. O'Rourke has the finest crop of Algerian oats in this district. It is in full ear and stands up to a man's neck. The oat seed was pickled before sowing. The pickle was the old-fashioned one of 1lb. bluestone to 5 gallons water. Not a sign of smut can be seen in all the five-acre paddock. The crop was sown in May.
Mr. James Wardlaw, of Glencoe, Falmouth, has been unfortunate in losing about 200 sheep through the heavy rain. They had just been shorn. A downpour of a phenomenal character took place last week (reports our St. Mary's correspondent), as much as ten inches of rain being recorded in 48 hours. The creeks and rivers ran bankers, and much damage was done to fences, etc. The lower flats were in undated, and covered with timber. Many culverts and small bridges were carried away, the accumulation of timber mak ing the flood waters irresistible.
On Wednesday the rain fell steadily from daylight to dark, consequently the ploughmen and farm labouers had a day off. "Show me your farmer on a wet day, and I will soon tell you what he is made of." The man who sits by the fire because ithe weather is bad often goes short of something, but the man who has an eye on to-morrow keeps the odd jobs - repairs and such like - for the wet day. He's the man who doesn't work on bills, and who pays 20s in the pound. Besides, a wet day is good for a man now and then. It gives him a change, and a change of work is as good as a rest. Give me the man who's busy in the sheds on a wet day. It is strange what a good farmer can find to do when the weather is too bad to go in the paddocks, in the shape of overhauling harness and iimplements, oiling, mending, altering, cleaning, etc., which causes a pleasant relaxation; and makes an other wise dull time pass profitably.
A resident of the Oaks who was in the city yesterday, reported that the district was having too much rain. He says if the weather does not soon take up, the wheat crops will greatly suffer from rust.
Pastures in the Table Cape district are now full of feed, and splendid yields are being obtained from the dairy herds, the milk also having more butter-fat than is usual at this stage of the season.
The heavy rain of the past week will suit the potato and barley crops, writes our Hagley correspondent; but farmers would now like to see a few weeks' fine weather. The early-sown Algerian oats are doing remarkably. well. Some fields will average up to three tons per acre, while wheat will be well up to the average.
IN THE COUNTRY DISTRICTS. (1906, December 4). Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), p. 3 (DAILY.). Retrieved March 7, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38116068