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Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 117, 2 April 1853, Page 9

To the Editor of the Lyttelton Times. Sir,—ln common with many men of my class, I am much obliged to you for publishing the new Land Regulations; unless you had done so, those who, like, myself, cannot get a peep into a Magistrate's Gazette ; would have remained greatly in the dark on the subject, and this would have been very puzzling, because every one you meet seems to hold a different opinion on the subject. One says, the measure will be the salvation of the colony, while another calls its tendency most mischievous; a third rejoices at the prospect of innumerable small farms enlivening the plains ; while a fourth prophecies the ruiri of the sheep-farmers, whom we certainly cannot spare. A. expects all the small capitalists in Great Britain and Australia to • come and settle in New Zealand, while Mr. B. distinctly proves that landjobbers and scrip-holders will be the only parties benefitted.. Most of them, however, agree in two things; viz., that the whole affair is an electioneering dodge on the part

of Sir G. Grey, and that, sooner or later, his regulations will be law in Canterbury.

Now, thanks to colonial wages and my wife's good management, I am beginning to call myself a " small capitalist," and as soon therefore as I had finished reading your paper, I took up my slate to calculate which of the many Express Trains to the Temple of Fortune, said to have been started by this new system, would carry me most quickly to my destination. My first idea was—cheap land will give me cheap produce ! —let me see what I can grow wheat for ? Spreading the first cost of the land over a period of five years, the charge for an acre at 10s. would be 0 2 0 Fencing with ditch and bank, say per acre about 3 0 0 Ploughing 1 15 0 Seed, sowing, and harrowing 0 12 0 Total-cost;. £5 9 0 Now, assuming that my crop yields 50 bushels of wheat, and that the straw pays for reaping, threshing, &c, the cost per bushel would be 2s. 2d. Under the present system, with land in the neighbourhood of Christchurch at about 305., my outlay for the year would have been 4s. more, so that cheap land will enable me to grow wheat nearly one penny a bushel cheaper than dear land. My wife (who must always meddle in these matters) says it is better to have corn for 2s. 3d. a bushel near Christchurch, than for 2s. 2d. at a great distance from it; and she knows I should only get my cheap land a long way off, because^when she was attending Mrs. Solon, she heard Mr. S. declare that all the available land in good situations would immediately be snapped up by great land-jobbers and agents in Wellington, who have bought what they call scrip at 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per acre. There seemed so much truth in all this, that I concluded tillage-farming could not be the Government plan for raising us small capitalists to wealth and prosperity ; and I was confirmed in this idea by my wife, who said, that in a Wellington paper which she had seen at Mr. Solon's, the Government recommended persons of small capital to buy 1 or 2,000 acres of land, and lay them down with artificial grass for freehold sheepruns. This plan pleased me mightily, but as I had never heard of any one in these parts who had tried the experiment, I took up my slate to see what it would cost. (Mr. Longshanks, the old Australian, says that a new beginner forms no conception of the many unforeseen expenses of a sheep station, but I think he is prejudiced.) The price of my 1000 acres should not be more than 55., for I have once been up the country (I don't choose to say for what, but I am sure that gold xoill be found one of these days), and if Colonel Campbell finds any difficulty in certifying that f ths of the Plains are unfit for agricultural purposes, he is not the bright genius people take him for. My slate, therefore, stood as follows :— -> j 1,000 Acres of Land, £250 Fencing the same, at least, 230 Grass-seed, merely scattered over the! j 000 surface, say 10 lbs. per acre, j ' House, Wool-shed, Washing-pens,"j Dipping Apparatus, Sheep Folds, I . 30Q (nearly all as expensive for a large j establishment as a small one), ...J Horses, Dray, &c, 80 500 Sheep, Rams, &c, 700 £2,560 Old hands say that in most cases scattering grass-seed without turning over the ground is of comparatively little use. To do the thing properly I ought to add at least 30s. an acre, (or £1,500), for ploughing, harrowing, &c, and then my land might carry 4,000 sheep. Now I don't know what the Governor calls a small capital, but if I came from the diggings with nuggets to the above amount, I think my

neighbours would smile at seeing me spend it in this wav ; it would pay me ten times as well to buy sheep and send them on thuds to Mr. Longshanks. Sir George Grey's neat advertisement, offerino- " a thousand acres of the richest and most fertile land in the world, in a climate without a parallel, and amid scenery of exquisite and enchanting beauty, combining the attractions of the most 'refined and elegant Society with the steady supply of labour afforded by the presence of natives proverbial for, their obliging, unmtrusive, cleanly and industrious habits, &c, &c, together with numberless other advantages, too important and extensive to admit of description ; all for the paltry sum of £250," may hoax some good folks in England; but so did the land selling scheme of the Canterbury Association which has proved a losing concern to most of those who embarked in it. As for the swarm of successful gold diggers whom these low prices are to allure to New Zealand, I fancy they will be>ept where they are by the Australian coach likewise reducing its fares ; possibly to attract .purchasers from New Zealand, they will offer landi at 2s. 6d. an acre. I admit that £3 an,acre.is.too high a figure, but I think the price should be sufficiently high to prevent persons buying more than they actually want, and intend to cultivate ; and thus save others, arriving in a year or two's time, from the unpleasant discovery that every inch of good and available ground is in the possession of Land speculators. These are the people who seem io me likely to reap a harvest from the new scheme, and not the working classes or small capitalists.' My wife,' however, suggests that-as Sif G. Grey seems now to have so many friends here, perhaps one of them can explain what good these new regulations will do to us, andto the colony generally; and L therefore write .this letter for the purpose of drawing the attention of one or other of these gentlemen to the subject.- I remahij your most obliged servant, . ■"..'''" ' A WOBKING-MAN. ; The Plains, March 28, 1853. P.S.—I should also like some information about the v Scrip ;" T do not quite understand the thing, but it seems to. me very like apian for making the people of Canterbury pay the debts of their friends ur Wellington, Nelson, and New Plymouth.