In the town the water poured down the face of the hill, and adjacent householders had an anxious time diverting the flood waters from their homes. The main street was soon transformed into a lake, and it was some time before the waters receded. The reservoir creek overflowed its banks, but fortunately did no damage. Outside the borough towards Coal Creek much damage was done. At least three houses were flooded, and in some of the orchards the water off the hills rushed through with torrential force, depositing a considerable amount of soil on the main road. Strawberry beds suffered more or less, and in some places drills of mangels were washed away. The downpour was the heaviest experienced in the district for many years. At Millers Flat there was 4ft of water on the road, and the mail coach had to go through with water up to the engine. Two cars were stranded.
• A farmer in the Willowbridge district has earmarked 140 per cent of lambs from 270 ewes, writes a correspondent of the Oamaru Mail. The ewes (Romney cross) are a particularly good line, and have had an abundance of feed all the year. This is considered very good, as the majority of the lots earmarked so far have been from 0- to 100 per cent.
• The auxiliary brigantine Rachael Cohen, owned by the Southern Isles Exploration Company, returned to Bluff last week with 75 tons of sea-elephant oil from the Macquaries, and 500 sealskins from the Auckland Islands. Parties were left on the islands last May, and the oil and skins are the result of their labours in those inhospitable regions during the winter months. The Auckland Islands party expected to obtain more than 500 skins, but had the misfortune to lose their launch in a heavy sea, thus curtailing their operations. The members of the other party fared better. They secured the 75 tons of oil which the Rachael Cohen brought to the Bluff, and about the same quantity is now awaiting shipment at the island.
• Very few people outside those engaged in the industry appear to realise the nature and the amount of work that has to be done in an orchard. Not infrequently, visitors to the Roxburgh district have expressed surprise at the vast amount of work entailed in the way of pruning, spraying, and cultivation, the ground having to be almost continuously worked up, perhaps five or six times in the year, in order to give the roots of the fruit trees the nourishment they require. A few days ago a stranger expressed himself as being amazed at the large quantity of green fruit that was at present being pulled off the trees and allowed to rot on the ground, not thinking for a moment that thinning was essential if the grower wished to produce peaches and apricots of any size and quality. But greater was his surprise when he was informed that generally three-fourths of the crop was stripped off, this being done in order to give the fruit left on the tree room to expand and grow to full size. It is stated that an average from two thousand up to three thousand peaches and apricots are taken from single trees when thinning, and in this respect Mr J. B. Gilmour has established something in the nature of a record. Last week, when engaged in this operation in his orchard, he pulled 7800 apricots from one tree, which, despite this fact, will yield a prolific crop of first-class fruit. — ODT, 18.11.1916.
• COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ
