South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Saturday 19 September 1874, page 7


MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

BOOBOROWIE, September 15.

The petition fora District Council, as published in the Gazette, asks for tke spelling of Booboorowie to be altered to the native pronunciation—' Boobor' lanre. and ' Owie' water.

The aborigines are fast dying out, and would it not be amiss to ask numerous correspondents and others to get for record the meaning of the native names of places? The following are some of them: — Minlac-owie, Ter-owie, Yarrowie is a shake of the r; Yarc-owie, Yer-r-owie, Can-owie— ' Can' is small; Bimbo wrie, probably the English corruption of Bimber-owie. The whole might form a key to the native language. Cold rainy days have been frequent for three months, and the enjoyable ones were August 19, 20, 31, September 11 and 12. In 1870 14 floods occurred, one of which would about equal the total quantity of rain of the last two months. We can produce last year's almond leaves green from among the young one growing in a situation exposed to the north-west wind, which is the bleakest. The almond leaf is very sensitive to cold, but the coldest night yet noticed produced ice the thickness of a new pennypiece on a small pool, whereas 160 miles further north a bucket of water became ice in one night. 'When travelling it is pleasing to notice the progress in arboriculture. A few years ago people were laughed at who merely mentioned the possibility of farmers growing their firewood, or that an acre of forest fast-growing native timber a few years old would supply abundant firing for the year, but thanks to the Adelaide Observer solid thinking has altered things, and now tiny trees with two seed leaves are shown in many places. They with care aud attention wfll weigh as many tons in four years as they are old; in other instances purchasers show trees a year old. Such in a few years will give an air of comfort to this treeless neighbourhood. Nature has supplied ingredients for the growth of trees, but only inside Goyder's line is there sufficient annual moisture for the growth of better timber than mallee. The latter thrives without rain, but gums, pines, etc, are stunted, and useless without 30 inches of rain annually. Legislators should be aware of this, and Clare trees are too squatty, but Charlton timber is very fine. Farmers will requite little firewood if they sow maize-seed now on their fallow ground. The cobs make a strong fire in the stove when started with the stalks; but maize needs a barn to store it in bulk safe from the wet. About nineteen-twentieths of the mass of roots being derived from the air and rotting in tho ground will supply a good source of carbonic acid as manure to feed the future wheat crop. If the housewife will save the ashes, and scatter them where the plants grew, no substanco will then be lost from the farm. The Rochester correspondent sees great traffic on that road; but if he lived at Mount Bryant and saw the traffic there, he would hear and say the same words as he has done. If, however, he lived here between the two, and inspected the wheat statistic of Farrell's Flat, and noticed the traffic, he would sweep off the two by sayins: the centre line will suit the most settlers, and would not need a No. 2 Hamley Bridge over the Brcughton River, because it would head it on a plain requiring only sleepers and rails to be laid, without the Yacka cuttings for a long length of railway. If from Davieston a line could be made, without purchase, the whole length northward, and form a main trunk, which before many years must be a double line to Beltana from thence to Palmerston, Thompson's road steamers would do, if we use felt in the place of indiarubber for the tires, because indiarubber spoils by heat.