Original Correspondence.

Bruce Herald, Volume V, Issue 214, 3 June 1868, Page 5

Original Correspondence.

{To the Editor of the Bruce Herald) Sin, — On reading your acconnt of the Tokomairiro Annual Grain and Seed Show, I was surprised to see that there had not been great interest taken in the matter by the land occupiers of the Plain and other parts of Otago. You may depend I would have had a look at you if I possibly could have gone to Milton. I never attended an exhibition of the kind without much pleasure and instruction ; and I fully expected that you would have been able to state that very great interest had been taken in your Annual Show. You will perhaps be amused when you discover that a very trifling matter has induced me to write you a few lines. Well, it so happens that I am partial to Blue Gums. .Do you know I think there's something veryhomely in them In your account of the Show, I learnt that some seed had been gathered at Waihola ; faith ! I thought if I had only known that the Gum Trees were flowering this season as well as the Flax, I would have gone a few milea to see if the honey bees were at work; Again, I wondered how '

old was tie tree ? Had any birds been in the shelter of its branches gathering honey I Had its roots starved out Tutu or anything else ? Quite likely ! Well, perhaps the reference to the Blue Gum Seed interested only myself. lam partial to cockatoo castles, but I would have been equally pleased to have learnt that Acorns, &c, &c, the produce of Ofcago had been exhibited. It would have indicated a degree of intarest in tree and forest culture which the circumstances of the country requires. If I am rightly informed, much has been done of late in different parts of the Province in the matter. I allude to what has been done by a few ox the wealthy landholders, but it would be well if the subject met with more general attention. I have oft thought that waste slopes now covered with tutu or fern, might be burnt off, say in the month of August, and sown with seed of the Blue Gum. and other tree seeds according to nature '< of the soil. In about four or five years there would be timber- fie for fuel and other purj poses, and the growth of the trees would materially aid the efforts of the Acclimatisation Society. I am, «fcc--, FOR TREES. (To ihe Editor of the Bruce Herald.) Sir, — In reading over the ' Herald ' of the 20th ult., I observe a letter signed "James Smith. Wetherst nes." in which the writer seeni3 sorely annoyed at the appearance of a competitor in the mutton trade in his district- I cannot, for the life of me, conceive how any man possessed of his natural reason can hold himself up to public contempt, as J. S. has done, by resorting to such abortive means to establish his claims to the patronage of the people, thereby not only making himself supremely ridiculous, but also unveiling io the public his intriguing design. I must agree with your correspondent, that " fair play is bonny play," but he has not acted on that maxim, when he condemns a man for pursuing the same avocation as* he does himseif. But, thanks to the " Hawking Butcher" (as it has been Mr Smith.a pleasure to characterise him so), we can buy mutton cheaper now in any butcher's shop we go into, than we could before his late appearance amongst us. I say, late appearance, as he supplied U3 with meat for a considerable time on a former occasion, by which he proved that we could have no distrust in hia mode of dealing. Let me inform J. S. and the public, that as I have patronised the Hawking Butcher, I was wise enough (not adopting J. S.s suggestion) to weigh my purchase, and found it did not cost si> pence per lb, nor yet -firepence, and, strange to say, it did not cost 4£d. per lb. in full ; it is also untrue that a customer shall take a whole side from the new butcher ; he can have a side or a quarter, whichever best suits his wants. I must, therefore, recommend J. S. in future not to assume to himself that mighty idea of selfimpovtance and integrity, that justice is only to be found in his own scales and weights ; ! and reserve for some more worthy occasion that uncalled-for vituperative abuse which he ao basely and unsparingly casts on his compeer. I only hope the public will see the necessity of supporting the new butcher, in order to bring one of the chief necessaries of life within the reach of the working man, and treat J. S.s flam with due merit, for such reprehensible practices as he resorts to are to be condemned by all right-thinking men. In conclusion, I only hope some more of our tradesmen will step in, and enable us to exercise that domestic economy in our daily wants which the exigencies of the times demand. Apologising for my intrusion on your valuable space. I am, &c , BLUE SPUR MlffEß. May 25th, IS6B.