Tarrabandra News

21 December 1907 The Gundagai Independent and Pastoral, Agricultural and Mining Advocate

The hum of the stripper is again to be heard harvesting the season's grain, and, so far, good results are being obtained, when the unfavorable nature of the season is taken into consideration.

Mr Gordon, of Gocup, garnered 60 bags oats off 6½ acres, all of which he will require for station use.

Mr P. Harlow, Eurobin Creek, stripped one paddock for an average of 40 bushels oats per acre, and one paddock on the river flat, which was irrigated by two low floods, went over 50 bushels per acre. But most of the crops have been cut for hay.

Mr J. Dowell, Brungle, has purchased a new binder and cut the whole of his crop, wheat and oats (100 acres) for hay. 

Mr G. B. Guy has also put a good haystack together, and is not harvesting any grain this year. 

Mr Bob Creasy is busy planting tobacco on Mr E. G. Bridle's estate with an up-to-date Yankee tobacco planter, which requires two horses, a driver and two boys to work.

The latter sit on low seats at the roar, and place the plants in position, and then they are planted and watered by the machine (which carries a cask of water for the purpose) in very quick time. The plants, so far, look well. 

Hi Lung Fat, on the same estate, is planting tobacco (in addition to his maize crop) in the good old style of his forefathers. 

The grasshoppers are moving off in the direction of Tumut. It will be interesting to hear how they like the Snowy river country. Will they double on us as some of our parliament- ary reps. do when their seat is in bad repair?

I have not noticed any very great damage having been done by the pest to growing corn crops, but green grass is plentiful along the river, and they have played it pretty low on fattening paddocks en route. 

It seems that the Junction weir will eventually be built, and a number of old established homes wiped out.

The scheme may be good, or it may be bad; with that question I do not pro- pose to deal, but it seems to me to be a satire on the utterances of some of the political "stump-jumpers" who went round the country during the last election campaign, opposing the Labor party and their policy of Government ownership of land.

'I believe,' said one political 'jumper,' to an enthusiastic audience (who should, and probably did, know better) 'in every man owning his own plot of land ; with your deeds in your pocket you can snap your fingers at the Government.'

Well, I would like to hear how the Tumut river 'cocky' will get on with his deeds and his finger-snapping when the water is rising over what has been his home for 50 years?

My advice is, build an ark, as good old Noah did, and keep possession; don't mind the finger snapping; you'll only waste time.