Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 23 January 1907, page 15


ROUND THE COUNTRY.

A. PROFITABIiE VEWTUItEl. . I

The Eugowra portion of the Lachlan promises to become a flourishing dairying centre. About Íweive mónths ago Mr¿ Wellford, says the

>eak Hill "Express," of the Eugowra Station, . started dairying, and is now milking 80 cows,

bred on the estate. He intends to increase . his heard to 150" head, The butter from his . farm is coached to Forbes, and. thence taken,

to Sydney by train. Mr. Wellford is confident that in the nôar future hó will be clearing fully £1000 a year. from dairying. He esti" mates that, each cow returns him a profit of

£9 â year. There aro also,other settlers in: the Eugowra district engaged in dairying. 4 .. . ' ' * . . * ' ''-*;**;'

HEAVY TEAM TRAFFIC. '

; ''Team trame to the Geurie' railway station is

very heavy at present. Last weok'1192 bags

-cafaré trucked, all consigned to Darling Harbor.

.A.'la'rge quantity of wheat is being stacked in "/.fha: lo.cal railway station yard. One of the , rloca- ¿rain sheds'. contains about .10,000! bags

, ' at present. .

* * *

PROTECTION OF GAME.

?A meeting'of the Bathurst Game Protection , Society, presided over by Mr. R. W. Peacock

(president), was held recently/ The rules . drafted by the special sub-committee were sub

mitted and adopted.' In connection with tho matter of appointing a. secretary in succession ? to Mr. A.; H. Newsham (resigned), it was de

cided that the president and treasurer should interview' Mr. A. Sambrook and ask him to abpept the position. Dr. Machattie and Messrs. Rr. . L. Gilmour, J. J. Sullivan, and, W. Scott were elected vice-presidents; Dr. Hurst and ? Messrs. P. Bowler and J. Ahearn were added

to tho committee. (

» »' '"'.'. ?.. * A CHRISTENING RELIC.

There was a christening in Mudgee one day last week. The fact of a new baby was not the least import-nt feature, but the robo with which the little thing was covered was an heirloom. It first did duty in the family in

the English home 100 years ago, and a good !

many little colonials have been swaddled in this same oxquisite and much-valued family relic. By-and-bye it is intended to-be handöd over to one member of the family whose recordin the birth-rate business tops the score.

' # * * *

A TAMWORTH-NUNDLE RAILWAY.

At the last meeting of the Bowling Alley Point Progress Association (says the "Tamworth

News") the secretary was instructed to write to I

Mr. Levien, member for Tamworth,, asking him 1

.to urge upon the Minister for Works that tho. time had arrived for a railway to be constructed

from Tamworth to Nundle, especially in view j

of the proposed resumption of the Peel River'

.Company's estate .for closer settlement. Be-.!

tween the two places the railway would serve .

the inhabitants- of Nemingha, Dungowan, Woo-j

lomin, Duncan's Creek, and Bowling Alley Point.

. . * ? * . WILD DUCK PEST.

We have heard of many kinds of animal

pests, but never until now have we heard of ;

the lusolous wild duck being placed In . that j category (says the "Lachlander," Condobó- j

lin). Truly enough, we are Informed,* this bird has become quite a nuisance at Borambil Station since the irrigation pump has been started recently, and countless flocks swarm over the lucerne plot devouring the soft green stalks as they appear above the ground. Mr. Cameron, the station manager, is in the awkward position that the game laws forbid him at present shooting the destructive animals, and he must look on and soe his lucerne demolished before his eyes. To get over the difficulty, we learn Mr. Cameron is laying his case before the authorities; and applying for permission to shoot under the special circumstances of the case. Should this permission be granted, it Is safe to say that the manager would readily find all the assistance he wants in ridding himself of the pest, and that without payment or oven supplying tho

necessary ammunition.

' * * ' * * BUNARBA BORE.

The bore which is being put down by the owner of Bunarba Station has now been sunk 1500ft (says the Mungindi "News"), and it is expected that water will be struck now at any time, though not in sufficient volume to warrant a cessation of boring operations. It is anticipated that the bore will have to be sunk to a depth of about 3000ft before the supply proper will be tapped, and as the pro' clous fluid is required for the purposes of pro

viding water for stock, operations will not b,e suspended until an adequate flow ls running over the casing.

* * * *

»NARES ALONG THE MURRAY.

Although a good number of snakes have boen killed around Albury, they are not quite so numerous as was anticipated at the beginning of the season (says an Albury paper). Plonio parties and others who visit the river bank fishing, etc., are, however, obliged to keep a sharp look-out, as a number of moro or less exalting experiences with the reptiles have been reported. At aoine of the twns lower down the river lt is stated that snakes aro very numerous. At a house'at Crossonvale (In the Eohuoa district), Whioh was flooded by the overflow of the Campaspe In September, no fewer than five tiger snakes have been dispatched during the past-ll days. One of tho reptiles was making friendly, overtures to a «baby, much to tho Infant's amusement, when the child's mother appeared on the scene, snatohod up the child, summoned help, ana had the snake dispatched without delay. A large number of young snakes were unearthed in the locality during road-making operations earlier .in the year.

? *. * *

FLOUR MILL WANTED. !

Gilgandra offers tho boat opportunity of any town in the State for the establishment of a flour mill (says a Gilgandra contemporary). Within the polloe patrel, whloh ls equal to a radius of about 1? miles, about 36,000 acres aro

under wheat, and this area will be increased to about 50,000 acres during next season. The wheat from around Collie way, to a distance of 30 miles, also beyond the police patrol in other directions, comes to Gilgandra for transhipment, so that the actual wheat supply . over which a local mill would have control would be considerably greater than the. above figures indicate. The wheat yield for the present season would be sufficient to keep four mills of ordinary capacity going all the year round. '

' . , ?':" '. .' * . REDUCTION OF BONUSES.

Tho Bathurst- Pastures Protection Board has decided to reduce the bonuses on scalps of noxious animals as follows, to take effect from February I:-Native dogs, full grown, from Xl to 10s; half grown, from 10s to 5s; foxes, from 5s to ls 6d. The bonus oh crows is to remain at 6d. ^

* * * :' * SHORTAGE OF TRUCKS.

Considerable inconvenience is being experienced locally through the shortage of trucks (says a Gilgandra exchange). Trucks ordered for the past ten days are not yet delivered. Large quantities of wheat are lying in the railway yard awaiting transhipment. In consequence of the inability of the department to cope with tho wheat traffic, farmers are compelled to stack the wheat in their paddocks. Surely the experience on the railways a few years ago should have awakened the management to the necessity for constructing sufficient trucks to meet the demands of a good

season.

PROPOSED WYALONG-CUDGELLICO RAIL

WAY.

At a large and representative meeting of landholders of the Bygaloree district, held at Milga Plains recently (says the Wyalong "Star"), to consider the position with regard to the desired railway extension from Wyalong, a largely signed petition was presented to the Minister for Works by a local deputation from all the centres along the proposed route, last August, and the Minister then promised to obtain reports from various departments with a view to ordering a trial survey. The Settlers in the districts concerned are feeling rather im patient with the apparent delay in definite action being taken by the department, and at the meeting last week the following resolution was unanimously carried:-"That the Minister for Works be urged to expedite, the

trial survey of the proposed Wyalong-UngarieCudgellico railway, with a view to the early

reference of the project to the Public Works

Committee." It was also decided , to forward copies of the resolution to the Cudgellico and

Bona-Wamboyne Farmers and Settlers' Associations, and the- Bena Progress Committee, with a request for similar action.

....

RABBIT EXTERMINATION.

A now method of rabbit extermination (says an exchange) is reported-a system that is simplicity in itself. All that is required is a little tar and a stone. The smell of tar ls ob

jectionable to rabbits, and therein lies its sue- 1 cess. All that need be done is to take a stone, smear it over with tar, and place it at the mouth of a burrow. No rabbit where this is done will pass over lt, either to gain its warren or desert it. The hunted rodent will turn away to seek refuge elsewhere, while those in the burrow will die of starvation rather than risk crossing it for thoir liberty. One drum of tar is sufficient to treat 80 to 100 burrowa, and if thereube no waste that number might be exceeded. When the cost of a drum of tar is taken into consideration as compared with the cost of a fumigator, fumigating materials, etc., and the former proves as effectual, there will be no hesitancy as to which system will be adopted. A stone and a pot of tar can be taken whore it would be impossible to take a poison .cart. A Victorian landholder who supplies this information was at first inclined to treat the matter as a huge joke, but after giving the novel system a fair trial, ls now constrained to regard lt as the cheapest, oleanest, safest, simplest, and most effective method of extermination yet advanced. Those who are sceptical are urged to try the method for their

own satisfaction.