AGRICULTURE IN OTAGO, CANTERRURY AND AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XI, Issue 3915, 30 May 1874, Page 3

AGRICULTURE IN OTAGO, CANTERRURY AND AUCKLAND.

Iγ we contrast the agricultural returns of Auckland with those for Otago aud Canterbury, says the Otago Guardian, we should have an infallible guide to the progress o£ settlement in the respective provinces. Auckland is an older settlement than either of the two other provinces named, and up to the levied when the rush to the Otago golclfielrls set in, the general revenue collected in Auckland averaged one-third of the total revenue for the colony. From that period the tide of prosperity turned and Auckland lost its leading position, while the Southern provinces steadily advanced. First came the Maori war, which did incalculable mischief, and threw back the work of settlement at least 20 years. Next came the removal of the Seat of (Jovermnent, with the consequent depreciation in the value of property. Aud lastly came the periods of speculative inflation anil depression, caused by the opening of the Thames goldiield, which in turn withdrew capital and labour from agricultural pursuits, and stripped the majority of all the money they possessed. Under these circumstances, therefore, we should not look for too much from the Northern province in the way of progress in settlement, but if we should exptet anything like the results already noted in the South, we would simply be disappointed.

There was, however, substantial progress made last year, the area under crop amount: ing to 13,759 acres more than was in cultivation in ] 573. The following are the totals of land broken up but not uuder crop, together with tiic areas under cultivation in the three principal provinces of the colony for 1573-4 :— Ot.i.'i) .. .. .. .. 372/293 acres Aucltluml .. .'. '.'. '.'. 2J:7,550 acres. There is one remarkable circumstance, however, which is worth noticing in this connection. We refer to the number of holdings in the respective provinces. It will be seen that relatively the holdings are much more numerous in Auckland, in proportion to the area in cultivation, than in Otago or Canterbury. This iavt, and the sx'ccial settlements formed and in course of formation in Auckland, though they may not tell in the way of provincial revenue, will ultimately tell in a decided manner by the creation of a numerous yeomanry. The returns for the provinces we have selected for comparison are as under :— Otajo 3,913 holdings Canterbury 3,'J60 " Auckland , 3,700 And whereas the number of holdings increased in the two Southern provinces last year, there was a decrease in Auckland of 4G during the same period. The special settlement near Taitranga, and tire voluntary settlements along the Bay of Plenty farther south than Katikati will, however, tell a different tale next year. In the electoral district of Franklin alone there are 1.1 IS holdings. Agriculture appears to progress most in the Waikato. Coming to the principal grain crops, we find the following results for last season :— Acres. Bushels Otai". wh.-at 50,00S 1,489,711 Cauierlmry, wheat 71,S:>« 1.700,733 A-.sckliui'l, wheat 3,142 55,207 Otago. oats 60,204 2,002.704 Cautdrimrr, oati 35.954 1,033,549 Auckland, cuts 1,520 27,406 barley S.SOO 2G4.007 Cinttrbury/barley 0,200 249,000 Auckland," larley' 220 3,270 This contrast is by no means favourable to the North, and but for the explanation we gave at the outset, would hardly be understood in its true light. The extreme difficulty of communication, except by water, is another drawback, as it costs more to convey wheat a distance of 25 miles to Auckland, from Kaipara, than it does to import it from California or Adelaide. Under these circumstances, it i≤ hardly to be wondered at if the agricultural returns exhibit a muelilargerpropT'rtior.al ars'a Hid down in grass in Auckland cha:i in either- Canterbury or Otago. In the f.ir.n-.T province last year, 214,099 acres were in ;j;ras;s. out of a total area of 227,450 acres uii'lcr crop. This i:\ct tells its own talc. (For o,: : r.n-'.:hn oj nac<s sec Supplement.)

EAST COAST. Sinte the beginning of the month the weather has been very changeable, and occasionally boisterous ; and, as yet, there is little appearance of its taking a settled turn. Our higher mountains are covered with snow, and our rivers are Hooded ; whilst severe southeasterly gales are of almost daily occurrence. Frost, too, has visited us, "and I have been informed that ice, nearly a quarter of an inch thick, was visible on some stagnant pools in tilt' vicinity of the mountains, a few (lays 3fO. Owing to the unpropitiousness of the i°o.ither, our coasting trade has been materially interrupted of late, to the no small inconvenience of the inhabitants. The long-wished-for construction of the bridle track between Waiapu and Hicks's Bav lias not yet been commenced, and travellers are incessantly complaining of the fatigue and inconvenience they have to endure in sojourning in this part of the coast. ] believe the Government are not to be blamed for the delay that has taken place 111 proceeding with this very necessary w«rk, but the natives, who maintain that they ought to receive a certain amount of compensation for allowing a thoroughfare to be made through their lauds. Really this savours of greediness with a vengeance. " It is tantamount to paym" the- Maoris for permission to improve their own land—ajpriiiciple which is contrary ;,i reason, common sense, and custom. A road is an indispensable requisite everywhere, .'.id especially in a sequestered and inacces--liilo part of tile country ks this coast is. It is, therefore, to be hoped that the obstacle

•Jutt has been thus unexpectedly thrown in -.he wav of making the track ::i question •\ ; M he removed shortly, it being an utterly untenable impediment. It is. however, proper to state that only .1 minority of the ■'..itives hold out for compensation, and even Vse will no doubt be yet led to perceive ;::e impropriety of obstructing the march of • ..-iigrt-ss for the sake of a few paltry pounds. ArnuiiMiiL-nts navo been lately made with \.e Mawis to lease to the Government, for a .■riod of twenty-live years, the Waiapu Oil ■M iriiii's, with a block of land containing rive , r si-xTthousand. acres, at the rental of £100 >er annum, with permission to construct a : ad between the springs and Tuparoa, the . arest shipping place. This is one impor- ;. :.t step towards developing tiiis valuable :, juree, aud the next movement ought to be -.':.<: formation of a company to embark in tht* Liitvrprise. Possibly the Poverty Bay PetroCompany might extend their operations :<.. thrfe springs. From what I have been given to understand since the visit of the Commissioners :.ir Lighthouses to this coast, the erection of .1 lighthouse and telegraph station at East Cape has been decided upon, and the work may be expected to be proceeded with as soon as the necessary arrangements are matured. I know not by what route it i≤ intended to introduce the wire to the Cape, but as access to any part of the East Coast, either by land or water, is attended with much inconveuieuce, the best thing the Government could do would be to extend telegraphic communication from Gisborne to Opotiki, along the ;oast, with such intermediate stations as be deemed necessary for the accommodation of the people inhabiting this vast tract of country, who are, as it were, shut out from :he world as regards the facilities of communication. In, ior instance, a caseof sickness requiring prompt medical aid, something like rxo hundred miles or 1::-wards have to be iravdled, with unbridgd: rivers to cross and -:-.rp mountains to ascend and descend, to : r jure such aid, —a journey of four or live :.;ys at least. During this long interval the lutient might die. Other cases of similar ■ --.-eney might be adduce'!. A coast tele- . pli would obviate ai! this. 1 suppose, ■•rever, our member is attending to the airements of his constituents, though lie i≤ not afford very much evidence of his .kef illness. The i-.inyi recently held at Poverty Bay, -.inch was so well represented by natives from the- various localities on the coast, does

nut seem to have been productive of that ; jtace and good feeling which such gatherings . ire supposed to promote amongst the various j :.\bes who attend them, for it is asserted j tiat the testing of land titles and other ■ otters calculated to create differential iiimositifs have been mooted prior to the i •hsjKrrsioa of the assemblage. It is believed, I lowcver, that through tiie mediation of the peacefully disposed portion of the natives, of , ■aiom there- is a large majority, any evil that I nay have been thus meditated will be arrested, and it is to be hoped it will. A fortnight ago a tribal quarrel took place at , Arnanai about a small portion of laud, which ■ disturbance at one time threatened to lead to serious results, but which the Resident Magistrate, with commendable tact and , suavity of manner, succeeded in quell- I ■■32. For some days a light was freely . talked oi, and the natives congregated j :n considerable numbers at the scene ■ v. the commotion in anticipation of a'■ siajiinary conflict, whicii was, happily, j prevented! In a district so noted for loyalty a-1'! tranquillity as ours has been for many

;.\-ars past, it is painful to hear of any irrup- ''■•■:;, however insignificant, amongst the —:: ,- es, a3 such invariably produce sores j "•Mch are not easily healed. It is only j proper to state, however, that the Arwanui :a!l-ont is not likely to be long remembered, &s the parties immediately concerned in it Mi. I understand, disposed to submit the carter in dispute to the proper tribunal for adjudication—the wisest course for them to adopt It is said tuat there are—what Toiudbe called in Australia—" bush lawyers" a the coast who advise the Maoris on fitters of importance, but whose advice it *ould be much better for them not to take. Major Pitt, Mr. Cartwright Brown, and jM or two other gentleman, who have leased ~m in the vicinity of the East Cape, within '■ae past three or four months, are stocking titir possessions with sheep with as much expedition as they can command. In this the services of the Pretty Jane .has keen called into requisition, she being the 'jflly steamer plying between Xapier and Auckland that lays herself out for carrying =tock. Thus the Coast is receiving small accessions to its European population, in shepherds and stockmen ; and were two or three established thereon —say one *t Te Komaru, one at Waiapu, and one at Hicks's Bay—the accessions would augment m numbers as well as ino/ease in frequency, « compared to what they have been hitherto. f-ic want of stores where European families • juM be supplied with such goods as they sight require, at reasonable prices, forms all fl 't an insuperable barrier to the settlement ■'■ the extensive territory between Poverty iiy and the Bay of Plenty at prestut, as it - with the utmost reluctance that people wate themselves where even the common fr.c-ssarics of life are unprocurable. Here we tare to send to Poverty Bay or Auckland '..r nearly everything we v.ant, and it need "freely be added that this is an inconvenience •viich is difficult to bear. A year or two <■-"> it was proposed to settle St-ewart's Island "flth -immigrants from the Shetland Isles —a popossi which the Government fully approved of, until it was represented to them 'tat that island being heavily timbered, and "-he inhabitants of Shetland being totally un-i-'cnstoffied to forest clearing, it would be ■"judicious to assign to them a wooded wilderness which they could not cultivate to jidvantage, when the project was abandoned. It lias since repeatedly occurred to me that this district—which bears some resemblance to Shetland—must suit th e people of that part of the mother j Wintry admirably well. They are a healthy, [ aru y, and industrious race of islanders of wandinavian origin, and make excellent "vonists. They cultivate the soil with great and possess a gcod knowledge of ™ management of small farms, stocked with ajiaiiied number of eattle and sheep, and 'rom .tutir fishing propensities they prefer felling near the sea to residing inland. *1 £ y. moreover, like to form themselves "™ separate settlements, as the Scandido in this colony, A hundred fami-

lies of these thrifty nor'landers would be a boon to us. ' * I am informed that a gentleman of the medical profession at Auckland, has signified his willingness to become a resident of one of the localities of this coast, south of Cape Runaway, and as Gisborne is the nearest place where medical aid can be procured, the settlement of such a personage amongst us should be encouraged as much as possible. Accidents and sudden illness require medical attendance with more or less promptitude, ami when this is not available within anything like a reasonable distance serious consequences may ensue. There is some talk of opening a bridle track communication between the upper part of the Waiapu Valley and Poverty Bay, by a short cut through an uninhabited tract of back country, for the purpose of shorteniug the distance between these places. By the Coast route a journey from \\ aiapu to G isborue or rke Cfjva occupies three days, whereas it could be accomplished in a day and a-half by the new path spoken of, with which the Maoris are well acquainted. A vigorous attempt is being made by the natives against wild pigs, with whieli the district is overrun. One man shot no less than twelve grunters in a few hours, whilst another destroyed live with one shot. Amongst the latter were three of the finest sows ever seen in this quarter. The runholders are desirous of exterminating these animals, as well as the large herds of useless goats that roam about from place to place. Few and small as our lagoons are, the black swans—with which the Hrger lakes of the North Island teem—have discovered them, about a dozen of these line birds having been lately seen in the district, and are said to bo still liere, so that in all probability they will remain with us, and largely multiply as they do elsewhere. They are of the ordinary size, and appear to be somewhat tame. The Resident Magistrate has given strict orders to the natives not to shoot any of them, and they are not likely t« violate the injunction. —[Own Correspondent, May IS.]