A ROUND MILTON.

Bruce Herald, Volume XII, Issue XII, 17 October 1879, Page 1

A ROUND MILTON.

• THE DISTRICT EOA.DS. (By our Special Beporter.) & week or two ago I set out to make a tour up ■"^"strict Road towards the Gorge Hill and and other pleasant and thriving along that route. Still the gorse in gorgeous array, and in spite of a . ..:_; --„ ictiling inthe air, the weather was far preferable to an English winter North Easter or a six Week's frost. It was very pleasant walking where a hard working Road Board had' not provided nine inche^of nice cool mud, for a lost pedestrian to paddle in, and I was in such a light-hearted frame of mind that I could have almost laughted over a joke by the funny man of a certain obscure country paper, had I had time to discover the point of it. After a short tramp I arrived at the farm of Mr Parker, who being on the point of smarting on a journey could not rind time to show me over his place, but he informed me that he has about 200 acres of land, half of which has been broken up for cropping this season. Some beautiful sloping paddocks, stretching away to the foot of the hilla on the right, and the Church of Eugland parsouagp, a five comfortable house surrounded with gum trees, make a very pretty picture of rural life just here. Fere and there a bit of autumn- sown grain was ju&t putting forth a tender green sprout, ami brightening up the face of Nature, and the cattle and horses feeding comfortably inside the hedges and up the sloping sides of the hills, conferred a general look of well-to-to Euglish farming. The soil has a rich loam surface, with a capital subsoil of good workable clay. Presently I passed a little quiet cemetery, in which, onn or two oi' those happy released who have crossed that bourne from which no man returncth, lay quietly waiting for the trumpet to sound. This cad lonely little spot recalled the lines of Tennyson — At ere the beetle boometh Athwart the thicket lone, At midnijrht the moon cometh And looketh down alone. And the dreary night wind sig-heth, And the hollow grot repheth, Where (Jlaribell low lieth. A little further a pleasant little creek runs down the vale from, the hills as bright and beautiful as the z'elreat of a chaste water goddess of the old poetic fancy. A lot of fine swamp hens and a bra.cc of wild ducks that fluttered out oi; the banks as I passed, made me think more of the good chances a man with a gun would have during a morning's walk abnut here than of poetry. A small otic-sided bricige spans the creek, and here evidently amorous and broken-hearted chaw-bacons are wont to assemble and inscribe their initials upon the rail, with sighs and looks of love. Oae gentleman had gone in for a bit of sublime, and written with a blunt pencil, Oh, Heminer Jane, I ham in pane. He was evidently badly hit, poor fellow. On the right lay a picturesque looking shady residence, buried in a grove of solemn, gum trees, affording every attraction for a lover of the beauties of New Zealand scenery. I just looked in and noticed the large square hall, with the broad staircase leading out of it, in true old English style ; there were the tastefully furnished sitting-rooms on each side, and I thought that the proprietor of so much to appeal to the eye and the heart cannot fail to know what the true erijoyrneiit of life must be. Jstlfc I was told in a low voice that the unfortunate gentleman was a bedridden invalid, and bad been for years. I could only wish him more power of enjoying the good things of this world, before his eyes close on them for ever, lie is not, however, altogether condemned to an endurance of unceasing pain, but has his mind pleasantly occupied with various studies, and is prepared to calmly await God's good time. Passing but of the gate, and nearly opposite, I arrived at the farm of Mr Forsyth. Bere there is a nice house of four bed-rooms, kitchen and scullery, the place being burronuded by a belt < f fine gums and pines ofallsiz:s, with fruit trees flourishing about the garden and orchard. Mr For.-yth is an old settler, having bought the property sixteen years ago for the long price of £).i per acre. la these comparatively few years some cf the quick growing gums have reached a height of seventy feet, aud othera are coming on from one inch in height upwards. The orchard is filled with five apples, pears, pcs chee, plums, and cherries, and the rest c f the charming varieties of fruit. The farm consists only of 50 acres of freehold, besides 50 acres leased. Mr Forsyfch has another estate of 500 acres iv partnership with kis brother, iv the Canada district, which they are thinking of bringing into cultivation. The farm first alluded to i 3 all broken up, and is managed on the system known ia the farming world as the five shift system, of which Mr F. thinks very highly. Bafore he began it tlse : land only produced on an average 'So busluls !of oats, but has since grown 50 bushels of wheat, and as much as from CO to SO bushels of oats. Mr Forsyth has sjil.6 wellbred cattle, a few sheep, horses, pigs, and poultry, according to the good old school of farming, which thought pigs, poultry, and the dairy the farmers' main chance. The soil, as usual about here, is a rich loam with a sub - soil of gravel or clay: a strong workable soil, capable cf growing everything to perfection, some of the turnips in particular being worthy ot mention. ]S r ear here is an extremely pretty place belonging to Mr Thomas Dall, conspicuous for the comfortable red brick dwelling with which it is ornamented ; a rather unusual addition to au estate in this country till within the last few years. This estate comprises