First Annual Report of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Auckland.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 27, 21 October 1843, Page 3

First Annual Report of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Auckland.

The committee of management in presenting the report which they were requested to draw up at the general meeting of the society on the 18th of May, have thought it necessary to make some preliminary observations of a general nature, before entering upon subjects of a more specific and 'practical character, and to extend, their report to a greater length than was at first intended, that it may not only serve as a manual to the newly arrived settler, but afford information from authentic sources to intending emigrants ; and place them in possession of facts which may not only decide them in their choice of New Zealand as the most suitable field for emigration, but prepare them for what they may expect on their arrival in the colony. They would therefore, briefly advert to the very great-advantages New Zealand offers to the British farmer in the varieties of its soil, so well adapted to the growth of European grains, roots, and grasses ; in a climate, which is a milder type of the more favoured portions of their own country ; and whose fertilizing showers, and genial sunshine cause a vigour of vegetation that is truly astonishing, and render a return for judiciously conducted labour not a chance, but a certainty. Where artificial grasses flourish throughout the winter, and where the natural herbage affords food for stock during the whole year. Another advantage presents itself in the immense extent of water communication, provided by the numerous estuaries, rivers, and creeks, which pierce as it were the whole Island, by whose means, the transmission of produce, and the reciprocal interchange of commodities, can take place without the intervention of roads ; since the slow progress made in long journies by wheeled carriages, renders agricultural produce in many of our colonies of little value but for the consumption of the grower. The natives too, so different in habits and character from those of our other colonies in this hemisphere, are found most useful in a variety of ways. They are not, as has been very justly observed, " a race of wild and excitable men clad in mats, and armed with tomahawks and spears, but on the contrary, a quiet, joyous, good-natured set of people ; somewhat indisposed to continuous labour, but working stoutly enough when the wages offer'd are high enough to tempt them ; and almost always partially (especially on Sunday) clothed in European apparel, except the shoes." They build houses of native materials for the settler, both commodious and comfortable, they furnish him with cheap labour in assisting him to clear his wild land, and they supply him abundantly, at a moderate rate, with pork, fish, and vegetables. The writer above alluded to, goes on to say, " The money procured by the sale of produce, or by labour, with the purchase money paid for lands bought by Government, is immediately expended on articles of European manufacture, shirts, trowsers, v blankets, &c. The newly acquired tastes which they thus gratify, serve to create anc increase an actual dependance of the Maories upon the British settler, without interfering in anj way with their personal freedom. This circumstance, coupled with their sense of our superior knowledge and resources, gives ample security against the possibility of any outbreak. They are very honest, except those who have mixed with the depraved and profligate of our own population. There is

scarcely a man amongst them (except those who were grown men when the efforts of the Missionaries commenced in these parts) who cannot both read and write. How far they comprehend their new religion, it is hard to say • they certainly- understand it so far as to know it to be inconsistent with the system of violence and rapine that formerly pr The noble forests also, which generally clothe the hills, afford timber of various qualities for the purposes of ship building, and the construction of houses, furniture, and implements of every description. Coal is found in various parts of the colony, with lignite and peat, as well as limestone, and where that is deficient, the extensive banks of shells which abound on the shores of the rivers and creeks, offer an excellent substitute. Strata of brick-earth are deposited in every part of the colony, and clay suited to the manufacture of earthenware of superior quality. New Zealand also presents advantages to the settler, which scarce any newly formed colony ever possessed, in the ease with which stock, grains of every description, and other necessary articles can be imported from the neighbouring settlements in Australia; so that these indispensible requisites, instead of accumulating by the slow progress of natural increase, can be procured to any extent at a moderate cost, and thus enable the farmer at once to commence his operations on any scale his means may permit ; most of the absolute necessaries of life can also be procured from the natives without importing them. This colony further possesses advantages of no small value to the respectable settler in the provision which has been already made for religious instruction under the zealous administration of the Bishop of New Zealand ; so that it may be confidently hoped that in the course of a few years not a settled district in the colony, however remote but will possess its Church and Minister. The same zeal seems to inspire the other denominations of Christians for the erection of places of worship. Thus a foundation has been already laid for institutions which tend more than any other to the true advancement of a country ; for it has ever been found that a religious population are contented and industrious. The difficulty of obtaining education on sound principles has been adduced as a drawback to the emigration of families. This objection has been already met, by the formation of a school at Waimate for the lower branches, and of St. John's College at the same place for the higher branches of education, under the patronage and general superintendance of the Bishop, which is of itself a sufficient guarantee for their efficiency. The new system of colonisation, by which, not only the inhabitants, but the customs and institutions of an old established society are sought to be transplanted, is now about being carried into effect in this colony ; a system calculated to smooth the rugged path of emigration, to soften the breaking asunder of social ties, and render it little more than a change of residence to another hemisphere. To a numerous class in Great Britain, whose delicacy of constitution renders a removal to a milder climate imperative for the preservation of health, New Zealand may be strongly recommended. The extreme equability of its temperature, and genial mildness, have been proved by experience to be most beneficial to persons so circumstanced, and who, instead of wasting their time in unprofitable idleness in foreign countries, might here occupy themselves in employments suitable to their means or inclinations. The committee in concluding these prefatory remarks would strongly impress upon the minds of the settlers the great probability that exists of ■ not only a market being opened for the sale of their produce in the i Australian colonies, where the withdrawal ©f convict labour, and the uncertainty of the climate render the cultivation of grain both expensive and precarious, and often makes them entirely dependant on other countries for the supply of that article, but of a large home consumption in supplying the various e&SblishnftQnts engaged in preparing the native flax f or the European market; the workmen in the mines, which are already opened and are likely to be opened in various parts of the- Island — the numerous parties employed in cutting spars for the royal and commercial niavy — ; and the whaling gangs scattered along- the coasts of both Islands. The mind of the farmer should be feelingly alive to these prospective advantages, and however remote they may appear, they should ever serve a& a beacon to direct him in his course, ■ and animate him to contend with, and finally overcome the difficulties by which Tie must necessarily be surrounded in the arduous task of cultivating a new country, where doubt and uncertainty of ( remuneration are too apt to paralize exertion. ' /

The Central District. The Central District of the North Island, which extends from Kaipara to the Lake of Taupo, seems to present a more eligible field for agricultural operations than any other part of the colony, for not only does it include the two great basins of the Waiho jand the Waikato, which are occupied by | plains of vast extent, but it offers a most extraordinary facility for internal communication by means of the harbours, estuaries i and rivers which radiate from Auckland, the Capital, as a centre, and all of which may ibe navigated either by boats or canoes to near their sources, and between most of which very short portages intervene, over which from time immemorial the natives have dragged their canoes without difficulty. I The Waiho or Thames, whose mouth is about 40 miles distant from Auckland, conlmunicates with it by means of the Gulf of Houraki or Frith of the Thames, it is navigable by boats of some size for 70 miles, as it winds through the great plain, nearly to the native settlement of Mata Mata. The Peako is somewhat nearer, arid runs through the same plain nearly parallel to the former, and can be ascended to within a short distance of the same place. The Waikato can be reached through the medium of two short portages on either side of the harbour or estuary of Manukau, which bounds the south side of the peninsula on which Auckland stands, its extreme navigable point and that of its tributary, the Waipa, which traverses a succession of plains of very rich soil, may be about 150 miles from Auckland. The estuary of Kaipara lies to the north, and one of its rivers, the Kaipara, extends for 50 miles to within 14 miles of the head of the Waitemata, on the southern bank of which Auckland is situated, both of which points can be reached by boats of some size. The Wairoa, its chief tributary, can be navigated by vessels of 300 tons for 60 or 70 miles, and boats can ascend for 50 miles farther. The Otamatea in like manner for 30 miles, and the Oruawaro for 12 miles, both can carry boats a considerable distance higher. This slight sketch will show what advantages accrue to the settler from this easy and extensive water communication, by which he can transmit his produce either to the central dep6t at Auckland, or to any part of the circumjacent country, and with the same ease receive his necessary supplies, fer there can be little doubt, as the country becomes peopled, that British enterprise and capital will cover these portages with rail roads, for which they are naturally adapted, being either very level, or sloping in inclined planes. District of Auckland. The conntry in the district of Auckland is of that undulating character which marks the lower series of secondary sandstone formations, with table lands and corresponding vallies, so that the sections formed by the shores of the estuaries and rivers which indent it, — the Waitemata, the Manukau, the Tamaki, and part of the Gulf of Houraki, — present a succession of argillaceous sandstone cliffs of different heights, with intervening bays receding inland — the country lying between these great estuaries varying in breadth from 15 to 3, and at the portage of the Tamajd only f of a mile, affords over its surface flats of considerable extent and declivities practicable for agriculture, the bottoms being always occupied by a small stream, — generally bare of wood or covered with patches of small sized trees suitabe for fuel or fencing, — and rising in gentle elevations to the mountain ranges to the west and south, which are of a different geological formation, and are universally covered with forests of gigantic trees. In various parts of the above described tract, hills shoot up in the form of truncated cones of various elevations, the highest about 500 feet, which are the remains of extinct vulcanoes, each having a well defined crater, and a base to some extent covered with loose fragments of vesicular lava and scoria, or immense masses of more compact lava "cropping out" at various points, the interstices however permitting the growth of a variety of shrnbs and trees. The whole of the above-mentioned country, with the exception of the vulcanic land, is well watered by natural streams, and water can be procured at all times in abundance by means of wells. The amount of land available for agriculture in this district is about 120,000 acres, of which 36,000 have been surveyed and laid out in country sections of 100 acres, aa yet only 4,096 acres have been sold, one part lying between the Waitemata and the left bank of the Tamaki, but the greater portion extending into the large plain, bounded to the north by the right bank of the abovementioned river, to the west by the Manukao, and to the east by the gulf of Houraki, the hills lying along the basin of the Waikato form the southern boundary, to this thore is convenient access from Auckland

by wheel carriages for more than sixteen miles. A large extent of level country, but partially explored, lies to the south-west, watered by fine fresh water streams. There is also a considerable tract about being laid out on the north, shores of the Waitemata. Nature of the Soil. About one half of this district, consisting of undulating ground, is covered with fern and various shrubs, chiefly the Tupaki, and possesses a soil of a rich yellow clay, mixed with sand and charred vegetable matter, owing to the frequent burning of the fern, which, when broken up and exposed to the air, soon pulverizes into a fine rich loam, varying in depth from one to^two feet, easily laboured, but, from the excellency of the subsoil, it may be cultivated to any depth required. The subsoil consists of a red and yellow clay, mixed with ferruginous sand. The substratum is formed of a soft blue and yellow argillaceous sandstone. One-fourth of the district presents a more level surface, being covered with dwarf manuka, fern, and a variety of small shrubs and tufts of grass. Its soil consists of a whitish clay mixed with sand, more adhesive I than the former, yet, when broken up and ! exposed, soon pulverizes ; the subsoil, white clay and red ferruginous sand ; substratum, the same as the former. It is not so rich as the first mentioned soil. The remaining fourth may be considered different from either of the former, being generally situated near the vulcanic hills of a varied surface, the hilly portion being covered with fern and grass. The soil consisting of a dry red volcanic formation to a great [ depth, the greater part covered with scoria, | and where it is only on the surface, the soil |is a rich red loam, very fertile ; another ! portion covered with trees and shrubs, shows i a rich mould of a volcanic nature to a depth of several feet, mixed with red sand and small calcined stones, resting upon a sub- [ stratum of concrete. Another small portion I lying along the banks of fresh water creeks, covered with ever-greens and tree-ferns, affords a rich friable clay, mixed with ferru1 ginous sand, resting on a substratum of a soft yellow and red ferruginous sand-stone. i It is thus seen what a variety of soils are ! offered to the agriculturist, each adapted to I some particular production, and favourable | to some peculiar mode of agriculture. i The Climate. The climate, never subject to any great or sudden vicissitudes of temperature, permits the growth of every European grain | and grass, which, exempted from scorching winds and chilling frosts, flourish in a most luxuriant manner. The winter season offers no check to vegetation, as -the artificial grasses and clovers grow throughout the year, and the genial and gradually advancing spring just pushes on grain-crops of European origin sufficiently to be ripened about mid-summer, when six or eight weeks dry weather can be assured to complete the harvest. Maize is gathered later, but is generally safely secured. Hay can be cut and stacked with equal certainty in the early summer, as this district is never visited by those heavy thunder sturms which do so much damage in Europe. Climate favourable to Health. From what has been said of the climate as regards the productions of the soil, and its equal temperature, it may be readily imagined that it is favourable to the health of its inhabitants ; the heat never enervates, nor does the cold chill so as to affect the human frame, and although at some periods there is much moisture in the atmosphere, yet it is unaccompanied by cold, and in no part of the world can individuals of temperate habits, using common precautions,! enjoy greater bodily vigour. Diseases of the Climate. There may be said to be no endemic diseases, intermittents, and billious remittents are unknown, and common continued fevers are of rare occurrence. Of course diseases common to Europe occur here, but they are of a mild type, and readily yield to appropriate remedies ; and although there is no immunity from the fatal effects of true phtisis to persons arriving in the colony in an advanced stage of the^disease, yet experience has proved that a tendency to- it may be checked, if not wholly eradicated by a residence in this part of New Zealand. It may be safely asserted, that i& noae of our Colonies- have so many persons been congregated together, as in Auckland and its vicinity, partaking more or less of the hardships incident to settling in a new country, and have suffered so little from disease. In corroboration of this, it may be stated, that out of about 700 immigrants who have landed here since October last,, a period of ten months, only two adults and five infants have died, all of whom were in a week state of health on their arrival. ( To he continued.)