IMPRESSIONS OF NELSON.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 81, 3 April 1873, Page 4

IMPRESSIONS OF NELSON.

A. writer in the Auokland V^ra*?*i. thus deßcri^edrliiß Impressions ;o£vNelißblii:*^fe ; *.'

on Monday, the 1 7th February. Every-* | bodyJhas seen the wonderiul boulder-bank which stretches out horse-shoe shape froai the shore, and forms the haTbor, and everybody knows that it is a natural' idvmation and not an artificial breakwater; but there were three or four of our pas-| sengers who did'nt know it, and they took a good deal of persuasion to induce tbem to believe that it was natural. * - It is curious that at Nelson the tide rises from 12 to 16 feet, whilst on the other side of the Straits, at Wellington, it only rises three or four feet. Nelson is a clean, orderly little place,. where I should think people never do anything very striking, good or bad. It is emphatically slow^ psople walk, talk, drive, and do their business leisurely. No one seems in a hurry. Nor does the regular loafing class appear to find many representatives. I bave said that Nelson is a clean little town and I wish to say so again, for it has a water supply that should put Auck-; land to the blush. Streets are watered, houses supplied, fires extinguished, and drains flushed, in a way that we never appear to think of in Auckland. And then they have public baths where you can revel in an unlimited supply of the ccolest and most limpid water. . The drive to the reservoir is pretty enough. ; It, is alout tbree miles from town along a ravine. You pass two or three little homesteads, but the available land in Bh'is direction is extremely limited. I had a couple of days at my disposal, and on enquiry found that the best way to see the settled portica of the district was to drive out as far as Foxhill, a distance of about 23 miles. It is but fair to remember that there had been little or no rain for four months, but even allowing for thisi the drive disappointed me. The nature* of the soil is very different from anything we have in Auckland, being of a dry gravelly character. Farmers say that it formerly bore very good crops, but now the reverse is the case. The yield of both cereals and potatoes is very light, and if the sysiemVpf continued cropping without manure be persisted in, the result must be that the (armors will find it impossible to live upon the proceeds of their land.: Beyond Richmond, which is about 10 miles from Nelson, a good deal of the land. has been but' little worked, but it is of poor quality- and occupied by poor people—and a large proportion of it is said to be mortgaged. In fact, I felt surprised when I heard that -the! household tax for education worked well in the province, supposing that, aB in the case of Auckland, many struggling settlers

would have difficulty in paying the yearly -amount, hiutJ '[L was;, told* that in spite of considerable ''Vp'pbsitibn at the outset the scheme had been' found Jto work well, and; that tbe educational arrangements throughout the .were very satisfactory. • Foxhill represents the limits of agriculture, beyond it are sheep and cattle runs. The district I have been alluding to is a narrow plain intersected by several very rapid rivers. Around Foxhill the country is pretty heavily, timbered and the window of my room, at the hotel, looked out upon a'clearing* which was being burnt off. It was to my s mind a painful sight to see such a wholesale destruction of fine trees, and a not less. •••? melancholy sound to hear the plaintive notes of the forest birds lamenting the annihilation of tbeir Y time-honored haunts; but I suppose fire is the readiest means of disposing of trees aud the present generation will not feel their want. The time will, however, no doubt come when New Zealand will regret the waste of timber which, is Jnow going on here, as well as in the North, Island. It would be an easy thing to compel easch settler to plant one tree, for, say every fifty destroyed and what a boon it would confer on the3e who are to live half a century hence. Since I last visited Nelson the Dun Mountain MiniDg Company's tramway has been removed, and therefore copper, chrome, &c., which were found in the mountain are not likely, meanwhile, to figure again as exports. Nelson acd Auckland are about on a par in the matter of footpaths, but we are ahead of them iu having gas works, although a site has been procured, and a company formed to supply this much-needed desideratum. Commercial enterprise is by no means dormant ; one Nelson house owns five iron steamers, has appliances for lengthening and refitting them, imports two cargoes of Mauritius sugar yearly, and extends its trade to Taranaki, Wanganui, and even Wellington. The Nelson woollen factory, which sprung from a humble commencement, is now well known throughout the colony. Its proprietors have steadily improved their position, their tweeds and other fabrics are of the , best quality, and considerable additions to the machinery are now on the way from England. Nelson hops and fruit have, a celebrity throughout the colony, and no visitor would think of leaving without first seeing the fine gardens in the vicinity of the Maitai river, where, by the way, he may also see an excellent and well-tended vineyard in full working.