STATISTICS' OF NELSON, 1847.

. (Taken by order of OOTernmenb] -' i WHITE POPULATION. "Town Of Nelson :— ltalei. Females. Total. Adults . . .257 273 530 Children . . .274 289 563 Total in Town . 531 562 1,093 Rural Districts .— Adults ... 490 359 855 Children . . . 477 442 919 Total in Country . 973 801 1,774 Total White Population . . 2,867 This is an increase of 14 over last year; but in addition to this, there is a coast population to the number of perhaps 80, so that the whole number of Europeans in the district may be estimated at 2,950. Births:— Town of Nelson .18 22 40 Rural Districts . 35 46 81 Total Births . 53 68 121 Marriages 16 Deaths 12 Of the Deaths 6 were accidental. Native Population. Males ....... 335 Females' 280 Total Native Population . . .615 This does not include the Natives residing on the eastern side of the bay above Wakapuaka, nor those on the southern side of the Straits. Education. No. Boyi. Girls. Total. 9 Day Schools . . . 156 124 280 7 Sunday Schools . .178 160 348 Places or Worship. No. Churches 4 Methodist Chapels ..... 2 Roman Catholic Chapel .... 1 German Lutheran . . . . .1 Total Places of Worship . . 8 Divine service is also performed in several school-rooms by lay preachers. Judicial. ■ - .- Supreme Court — Criminal cases 6 Court of Requests — Cases decided 20 Magistrate's CourtSummary convictions . . 36 Lire Stock. Horned Cattle .... 2,106 Sheep 20,450 Horses 132 Mules 11 Goats 2,180 Pigs 3,236 Head of Poultry . . . 6,350 This does not include 11 horses the property of Natives, the stock owned by persons residing on the coast, nor the herd of cattle in the neighbourhood of the Pelorus. It includes 4,000 sheep running sear the Wairau, the property of Mr. Clifford. The increase since last year has been considerable. The numbers then returned were, cattle 1,591, sheep 10,022, horses 107, goats 1,029, pigs 2,866, poultry 5,934. The importation during the year has been, cattle 99, sheep 1,473, and horses 28. Number of Building s. Brick. Wood. Mud. Town of Nelson . . 37 146 50 Rural Districts . . 17 165 . 146 . Total . . .54 311 196 Gross Total Number of Buldings . 546. Aqb.icui.turk. Acres. Land fenced . . ... . 4,0434 Land cultivated .... 3,508 Land cropped : — Wheat 1,551 Barley 1,0885 Oats 156* Potatoes 230| Turnips 62 Grasses ..... 106. Tares 21 Other crops . . . .141 Total under Crop . 3,456* In addition to the above, the Natives residing in the bay have 340 acres of wheat, 300 acres of potatoes, 80 of maize, and 50 of other crops. The average yield of the general crop has been estimated, for wheat 31 bushels to the acre, oats 30 bushels, barley 28 bushels, potatoes 8 tons. Manufactories, Minis, Sec. Malthouse and Brewery, the property of Messrs. Hooper and Co., at which 750 hogsheads of ale was brewed during the year. Ditto, the property of Mr. Smith. Two hundred hogsheads of ale brewed. Ditto at Waimea West, Jhe property of Mr. Redwood. One hundred hogsheads of ale brewed. Two Brick Kilns in the town Qf Nelson, at which 340,000 bricks have been made during the year. In the rural districts, bricks have been made on the spots where required. Shipwrights' Yard, the property of Mr. Strong. Two small vessels and four boats launched during the year. Ditto, Che property of Mr. Freeman. Three small vessels and several boats launched. Saw Mill at Motueka, the property of the executors of the late Captain Thorns, at present not worked.

Saw Mill at GlenM/ the property of Mr. Baigent. , One circular and/six vertical saws. Ditto; in Waimea wttt, the property of Mr. H. Martin. / MourMillifrfohtfbilp'o pai* of stones, water power, ground ipwoushels of wheat. Messrs. Campbell and Jenkins. Ditto in Waimea South, one pair of stones, water power. Mr. W. Herrick. Ditto at Gleniti, water power, the property of Mr. Baigent. Flax Mill and Rope Walk, in Suburban North, the property of Mr. M'Glashen. Rope Walk, in Waimea Road, belonging to Mr. Gardiner. Four tons of flax worked up during the year. Tanyard and Curriery, the property of Mr. G. Lightband ; 830 skins prepared in the year. Hand-loom for Woollen Cloths, the property of Mr. Blick ; 250 yards of cloth produced. Hand-loom, for Stockings, jthe property of Mr. Gibson. Hand-loom, for Sacking, from flax, the property of Mr. Devaney ; 2,080 yards made in the year. Coal Mine, at Massacre Bay. A large quantity has been worked during the year, and shipped for Wellington and Nelson. Lime Kiln, in the Haven Road, the property of Mr. Strong. The stone burnt is magnesian limestone, brought from Massacre Bay. Lime Kiln, in Suburban South. Vbssels Rboistxbed. Ton*. Karorina 9 Triton 9 Catherine 10 Supply 15 Emergency 26 Lucinda 21 Total number of Tons' . 90 Revenue and Expenditure. je 1. d. Expenditure . . . 1,995 6 1 Revenue . . . 1,903 0 2 Excess of Expenditure . £92 511 The expenditure for the last month of the year is not included here, and as this is upwards of £200, the excess of expenditure over the revenue for the year, is actually about £300. Imports and Exports. 4 #. d. Value of Imports from Great Britain 4,341 0 0 Ditto from the Colonies . . . 6,225 15 0 Total value of Imports . £10,566 15 0 Exports to Great Britain and the Colonies :— Bacon, 45 packages . . 26 0 0 Butter, 34 kegs . . 80 0 0 Curiosities, 1 case . . . 5 0 0 Flax, IS ton . . . 24 0 0 Oil — black, 2 casks . . . 14 0 0 Oil of Annis, 1 case . . 20 0 0 Rope, 87 coils . . . . 123 0 0 I Skins—sheep, 200 . . 20 0 0 seal, 40 . . . 40 0 0 Spars, 119 . . . . 37 10 0 Timber— sawn, 332,850 feet . 976 0 0 logs, 12 . . 12 0 0 Wool, 196 bales . . . 1,878 0 0 Value of Nelson produce . 3,255 10 0 Ditto of other goods . 320 14 0 Total value of Exports . £3,576 4 0 Nelson produce, sent Coastwise — Bacon, 10 cwt., 1 package Barley, 301 bushels, 2 barrels Beer, 67 hogsheads, 122 barrels, 4 kegs Ditto bottled, 19 cases Bread, 10 cwt., 27 bags, 3 casks Bricks, 8 tons Butter, 61 kegs, 1 case, 3 cwt. Cheese, 5 casks Coals, 82 tons Curiositiei, 1 bundle Eggs, 7 boxes, 400 dozen Flour, 43 tons Hides, 3 packages Sheep, 100 Maize, 40 bushels ' Oats, 60 bushels Oil (sperm), 2 casks Peas, 1 bag Pork, 2 barrels Potatoes, 194 tons Timber, 82,000 feet sawn, 643 logs Vinegar, 3 hogsheads, 1 keg. The value of the above produce of the settlement cannot be correctly ascertained, as it is not customary to declare to that effect on the goods sent coastwise. For the same reason we cannot give the value of the British and Colonial goods j similarly shipped.

Wheat.— -Throughout the various Sooth American and Mediterranean countries, with similar hot and dry climates to Australia, the wheat universally cultivated is the bearded variety ; and as the latter is coarser than the beardless, there must be some reason for this preference. In the' south of England, the bearded wheat is sown for a spring crop, as it comes quicker to perfection, and stands the heat and drought better than the beardless, the beard sheltering the ear from the sun's and wind's action, and the same time attracting the atmospheric moisture toward the plant. In the experiments made at Jamaica and the Bahamas, by sowing at the same time the English white and red beardless varieties, and the bearded Vittoria wheat, it was invariably found, that at the time a fine crop of the latter was-fit for the sickle, not a plant of the first had come above the ground, and only a few half-grown plants of the second. Nothing, in short, could be more decisive of the superiority of the bearded wheat over the beardless, in withstanding heat and drought, and hence the introduction of the Vittoria wheat into the Cape and Australia seems doomed to work a most beneficial effect in preventing those extensive failures of bread corn which have' injured those colonies so much. — Cmmmghcm't Hints to Australian Emigrants.