Commercial Report.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 76, 20 January 1872, Page 14

Commercial Report.

Nelson, January 30. The present season has proved the dryest we have experienced since the settlement of Nelson ■was formed, and the absence of rain is felt all over the colony. Light crops are naturally the conMtmence of this, and the bad harvest will fall heavily on farmers, who as a rule are not a wealthy class well able to sustain the loss. Some of the light land will give little more than the Beed, although in more favourable situations the roturn will not after all be so bad. This is particularly the case in the Wairau, where very fair crops of wheat are now being harvested in the lower part of the district, while the barloy, although short in straw is nofc deficient in the ear. Some good crops of oats have been saved. The heat of the weather has been unusually great, the thermometer on some days rising above 80 in the shade, and on Thursday it reached 82. To Bhow the change from day to day, yesterday, •with an overcast sky, the temperature was ten degrees lower, than on the day preceding. Bad as the country wants rain, we trust that when it comes it may be not of Buch duration as to damage the crops remaining in the field. Trade continues in much the same inanimate state as we have reported it for some months past. There is a general looking forward to an increase of business, but the improvement is slow in coming. The revenue of the province, however, for the past year, was satisfactory. The arrival of the Rapido from London, last week, filled up stocks except the article of sugar, a cargo of which from the Mauritius is now due. Prices have undergone no change of importantance. The mining news of the month consists chiefly of accounts from the Inangahua, a district which it is believed will turn out something great. Readers at a distance may wonder at the lon g delay in testing these gold reefs, but if they understood the difficulties which have to be surmounted before crushing machinery can begot to work in mountainous districts remote from the coast, they would cease to wonder at the de- ! lay, and wonder only that the obstacles which j stand in the way could ever be overcome by the j limited moans at command. Nearer home, the first crushing of th c Doran Company, at Wangapeka, has been delayed by an accident to the mining manager, and by some necessary alterations in tho machinery for conveying the stono from the mine to the stamping battery. Crushing is now being proceedod with, and early next week something will be known of the success of a mine in which the welfare of Nelson is intimately bound up. If successful, a great stimulus will be given to mining industry at Wangapeka, while should the expectations formed not bo realized, the effect will be depressing in the highest degree. The Asterope, the first ship of the season from Port Underwood with wool, sailed on the 14th instant, and the Anne Gambles and Chili, ar c now on the berth receiving cargo.