Need assistance before the fire season really starts to heat up? | Rural Notebook

AIDER'S phone number is (02) 8741 4955.

For a resident who is caught in the line of a bushfire and has guttering that may be clogged with leaves, put a tennis ball on the hole at the top of downpipes and fill the guttering with water from a garden hose.

Thanks to Greg Standen for this information.

RECENT discussions about introducing some form of water restrictions for users of Bathurst's town water supply are important for us all.

Our city has continued to grow rapidly and commonsense tells us that we are relying on Chifley Dam for almost all of our potable water supply.

In our very dry continent, we must value every drop of rain that falls, just as our ancestors did.

Bathurst Regional Council deserves our support if it acts to help preserve our water supply.

RECENT RURAL NOTEBOOK COLUMNS:

A LOOK around our district shows the excellent spring growth that is happening after application of bio-solids.

This technology has gradually evolved since the early 1990s and has had some drawbacks over the years, but has now reached a stage where its results are showing in many situations.

Artificial fertilisers are still the popular choice for most farmers, but bio-solids certainly have their place in future plans.

A STOCK and station agent from Barraba, NSW was interviewed on ABC Rural Radio last week and he made a couple of very relevant statements on the state of our industry at present.

His district has had about 20 millimetres of rain recently and he guessed that another couple of 15mm falls would turn their season and steady the rush of dry lambs and unfinished cattle to saleyards.

The predictions in early September of a fierce El Nino through summer have caused panic selling, with a "sell now and regret, but sell anyhow" mentality.

Cooler heads have acted slowly, looked around our district and seen short green everywhere, cattle feed in areas to the south of Rockley/Newbridge and little need to feed sheep.

Our friend at Barraba shows us how to hope and be positive.

SINCERE sympathy to the family of Winston Dolbel of Rockley who died in recent weeks.

Winston was always ready to assist in community matters and was a great workmate in busy wool-handling days many years ago.

He will be greatly missed by his many friends.

MY cousins, twins Brian and Ray Seaman, celebrated a milestone birthday in mid-September.

They have both been involved in country activities all their lives and were very handy cricketers in Jack Howard's Eglinton teams when we were all a bit younger.

Happy birthday, gentlemen, and many more to come.

BECAUSE sheep and wool have been my industry for a lifetime, I think these notes may be of interest:

THERE was a national offering of 37,159 bales for week 14 and nearly 93 per cent of the offering was sold to the trade.

The 19.5 micron and finer were cheaper as the US dollar/Australian dollar rate moved around wildly for the week.

It ranged from 0.6305 to 0.6458, which obviously puts some uncertainty into the market.

There was some buying on the better types by Italian firms, however, the dominant buying that we saw last year from them has at this stage not occurred this year.

Trading houses were once again keen, while the two Chinese topmakers picked away.

One big positive is the rise of the crossbred wools, which has seen the 28-micron indicator lift nearly 80ac/kg clean in the past four months.

Let's hope this continues as it's been a long time coming.

Week 15 has an early estimated offering of 40,266 bales Australia-wide.

TWO young sheep cockies in a city bar said "hi" to two pretty girls and one said "nine" to her friend.

"Did you hear that bird rated me a nine?" our young man said.

"They were speakin' German," his mate said.

***

THREE months after the wedding, he stopped wearing his new wedding ring and told his wife that it was cutting off his circulation.

"Well, that's what it's supposed to do," she said.