THE MAORI MESSENGER. Akarana, Tihema 4, 1851.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 3, Issue 77, 4 December 1851, Page 2

THE MAORI MESSENGER. Akarana, Tihema 4, 1851.

Since the appearance of the last number of the "Maori Messenger," we have had arrivals from Sydney, Hobart Town and Honolulu; all of which convey intelligence of more or less interes: to the agriuilturists of New Zca'aud. In New South Wales anil in Victoria, g"ld continues to be gathered abundantly ; and there is a continent report tiiat tlie same precious ore b:fs also been discovered ill Van Dieinen's I.nnd. Since go'd-digging li'st drew its volaticjj t-i t'it* shores of Austra ia, we have striven to iuculca'e the prudence and propriety of cultivating largely, in order to mi el tlii-' enhanced demand which is certain to arise lor corn and other produce. Our native farmers are not ignorant of the great and sudden rise which recently occurred ill the price ot wheat, flour, maize, oats, har'ev, and other articles, seeing that many of them largely participated in tlie benefit of that advance. And, that they might be prepared to profit by the demand which an cjitensive title of immigration setting in strongly towards Australia cannot fni' to create, we have incessantly urged continued and extended lu'tivatioii. Of the general advantage to be derived from such indu-try there cannot exist a doubt; lior, we fed firmly persuaded, whatever temporary depression of price inay take place in the provision market, can there a question at the eventual profit which will be likely to reward the larmers toil. At this moment, the Sydney Corn Market is not i-nly in a depressed but in a very uncertain stale flour being quoted at tlie numiual price ofi£l()and £l2. a ton, whilst wheat is nearly unsaleable at from 3s. 9d. to 4s. (3d. a bushel. This may not seem to promise well for an advance in price during the eiiMiin"- vcar, with the Austrian harvest at band ami that or Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand rapidly approaching. But it must l-e remembered that the harvests of t"'e two former countries have been hitli rto regarded »s of doubtful promise; »nd that even sltou'd they prove excellent, they will only be gathered in at such u price as shall tenipt the diggers f»r a while to give up their search of golf'. When w e ure given to understand That the cost of sheep shearing this season is estimated «t nearly double the pi ice paid during former years, it may easily bo imagined what the demands are likely to be f>r reaping, stacking, and thrashing of corn.

"When we first began to urge upon tlie New Zealand farni<-r (lie propriety of extended ('iil'iv'iition* « - e explained that suuli ft course was poliiin because of our own local necessities, well as because of the demand likely to arise Irom all influx of population into Australia. We have, we are happy to r«y, ottered 11 ' injudicious ndvice; ami. at tne time we first tendered it, not only was tlrre an a!ni\n expressed for a scarcity of food in Australia, l ut many here entertained a like apprehension- The knowledge of tlie abundance of Australian gol|l !llu ' l ' lc scantiness of Australian corn had travelled together, and by tlie ships which are p.uiring in men by hundreds upon the cargoes <if tlie superabundant and unsaleable stocks which had long glutted the markets of Cn'ifornia and Hit: .Sandwich Islands are being emptied into the ports of Sydney and Melbourne, Ship after ship is Uniting its way thither laden with ''orn. flour, rice, and other provisions—These are now pouring in, in advance of the la*.ge stream of population which may ere long h e expected. Tlmy have been lent un ter the impression of an existing famine, and under the confident hope of obtaining exorbitant prices: —Those exorbitant prices, however, were only to be bail at the moment of alarm, aud those prices fell to the lot of the New Zealand farmers, because of their continuity to the markets which required the supplies. The same cause which for a liiue occasioned a ruinous overstocking of tlie California Markets, may, also for a time, produse the aame ellVct upon those of Australia; but the glut will be productive of such heavy eventual losses, that it wid prevent the repetition ot future shipments, and induce the mercantile speculators of Chili, to inquire into the

agricultural character and capabilities of the New Zea'and islands, ere they rashlv meJdle with a trade for which the fertility of tld's soil : lid the indu-try of its inhabitants have so especially qualified tliem. Wc have considered it incumbent to offer thi se remarks to our native ivnders. because we would neither have them remit nnv portion of their activity, nor yet be dlscournged by the temporary depression of the Sydney Market. That depression inny be of longer or shorter dtt ration: but "it must not be forgotten if neither n bushel of whentnor even n l-ng of flour were sold out of New Z a'nnd, that if New Zenland shall have raised sufficient to feed her own population, the money thus retained, and ivliich would otherwise have been paid for loreign Nlcur, will be a vast Bivi»g and n great gain to the people of New Zenlnnd. livery selfemeiit of New Zealand, as well ns every port of A ustraliai cannot fail, in the course of ti>e ensuing year, to receive ft large accession to their respective populations. Hence, whatever temporary glut in the neighbouring markets may prevail, many months will not, ill a'l probability, elapse ere a fair mid rcmuiie rating price will again be obtained. Wc once moiv, therefore, continue to urge extended cultivation as the especial duly of the New Zealand farmer. It is from such a source alone that individual aggrandisement and the superior prosperity of N'-w Zealand can alone be derived.