TRAVELLING NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4029, 16 January 1875, Page 5 (Supplement)

TRAVELLING NOTES.

(by our country reporter.)

The Wakatip Commonage question appears to be a very difficult matter to cleaj with. When the Provincial Government sold the leases of the rnns, thoy reserved a block of 140,000 acres as a farmers' and mineiy' common. But the privilege, instead of being an advantage to the persons intended to be benefited, has actually proved a disadvantage. This commonage area, as 50.0.n. as it was reserved, was seised upon by owners of small flocks of sheep, who at once applied it to their own private uses. They paid nothing to the Government, while they even fed off s,]\ the pasture the farmers a.ud miners required, and to wliiob. by virtue of I their agricultural leases and miners' rights they were entitled. At the present moment the Government are making some feeble efforts to remedy the evil, but people appear to have but ypry little confidence in what \\\\\ hp dono. The whole of this 0,000 acres is 3 of oourse, not adapted for- depasturing great cattle upon, and the people for whose benefit it is intended naturally object that any portion should be taken from them and sold for sheep country, as the difficulty of preserving boundaries between the grazing ground set apart for great anl small cattle is so hard to keep, and they know fully well that the great catfle will be fed off. Could the commo' age be locally dealc with, there exists littl§ but that something satisfactory cou.^l be arrived at, ap,d £^ co^iderAble amount of yeyanua derived. The fawners of th# Wakatip bein,g go far removed from, a marked for iheir grain, the keeping of c&tt}e is essentially necessary to their success, and a return to the. old system of a Board of Wardens, endowed with sufficient administrative powers, appears to be the only ready way out of the difficulty. The shearing season w\U $oan be brought to a close, aj^d, fcoui'wnat I can learn, both \h% dip and the increase are much maw satisfactory than was generally- expected- Of course there are instances where the latter is very small, but these are isolated cases and confined more to the low country th^n to,"the high. In t^e broken, hi% cpuntiy, TOtwUhsia i n,din,g tfs a^Uwle, there is jmore shelter tha,n q& exposed flats and ridges lo.wey down, while [as in the high country the rams are mostly kept with the ewes all the year round, the lambing season is earlier, the sheep suffering leas from the effects of frost, then the cold rains and sleety weatl\ey c£ spring. In a great number of inatanoea the flocks are left to take their chance throughout the winter, and they appear to accommodate themselves freely to circumstances in, the shape of shelter and. foraging fjor- food, many of the gheep coming down from^he high country when the uninitiated woyid declare " t&ey must be a,U stai?ve<i % M are in much be^er condition tjia.n those o» ! flafa. The "Wg&a^p x\\na I^aye not, \

turned out "such a bad speculation after all, notwithstanding what has been said to the contrary. It is astonishing -what' improvements' "have been made by the lessees of runs since that sale to as3isfc them in the management of. their flocks. If ever you meet an intelligent Frenchman permanently located anywhere, you may generally set him down as being twenty years ahead of his neighbours, especially in enterprise and mental culture. Mr Julien Bordeau, of Arthur's Point, is a noteworthy example of this. Mr Bordeau is the lessee of three runs, and the owner of 10,000 sheep, in addition to his business establishments at Skippers'and Arthur's Point, on the Shotover River. Atthe latter place there is a large arid commodious stone shearing shed, fitted in the neatest and most convenient manner, with all the accessories requisite for gathering in the -wool harvest, while surrounding^the shed are paddocks for temporarily grazing the sheep during the process of shearing, also ingeniously contrived sorting yards for separatingor branding. Flocks running on these small runs, as a matter of course, become very much mixed, and oftentimes, for convenience sake, arrangements have to be made between some three or four proprietors in respect 10 their shearing operations. Mr Bordeau's convenient premises, therefore, do duty for a considerably larger number of sheep than are owned by himself. Shearers at this shed were receiving 22s 6d per 100. Prices for shearing mountain sheep rule higher than for performing the same operation lower down country, as the flocks are smaller, and there is always more dirt contained in the fleece, from the effects of travel. The flocks require to be driven to a convenient spot where the wool can be carted away. A a the labour of Europeans is so very scarce, and oftentimes perfectly unmanageable, the services of John Chinaman are being enlisted into almost every description of industry, and it is astonishing how well the disciples of Confucius adapt themselves to their new found employments ; £2 10s per week and find themselves, or from 20s to 30s per week with board and lodging, are the rates of wages paid. John is not a fast worker, still he is steady and sure, and take week for week, he is but little behind his European contemporary, while he possesses the advantages of being docile and obedient. Chinese servants are coming largely into use in the Wakatip. They excel at cooking, young lads perform good service as hostlers and packers, nfcrong adults will clear new ground for the plough, while some oan fenoe well and dig trenches. John is also very good at putting up stone outbuildings at farm houses, and it was only the other day that I came across a highly respectable farmer and his son attending upon a Chinaman, serving him with stone and mortar, while he °built up the walls of a stone cow shed. Of courso, it would be preferable for the interests of the Province to find Europeans employed at both of these descriptions, of rural and domestic labour, but, a.s no one else can be got to do it, th.c necessity is sufficient justificatiqn for. the evil.

After all the fus3 and bDther about building Immigration Barracks at Queenstown, and supplying bedding and other necessaries for the comfort and maintenance of the " new chums," and not a single one having arrived, everybody feels disgusted. The farmer that wanted a ploughman considers himself "sold," while his thrifty better half, who desired gome female help to assist her in her household duties, or- as a nurse for ilia children, or perhaps a helpmate in the duties of the dairy, no longer possesses confidence in the promises of Provincial Governments, and vows to use her influence a.t future elections to support anj- measure Mr Vogel may b: ing forward for their abolition. Sundry minera, stalwart in bone and sinew, and, although perhaps a little rough exteriorly, nevertheless possessing kindly dispositions, and having their hearts set in the right pUce, a.nd quite able to fight thpiy. way through the world under any eiiccurastances, have been grievously disappointed, as they fully calculated upon selecting wives from out of the number of comely young women ■fchey were led to believe the Government would sendnpto Queen.siawn.Twa iflstance^came under my notice where bachelor miners had built comfortable huts and furnished them with siuuh'y little matters necessary to make a pigeon pair comfortable, and who feel now mo:e keenly than ever their loneliness, after contrasting it with the happy state of connubial bliss Darby and Joan were to fin;} within the bright new dwelling. After all this, I certainly think His Hunonr the Superintendent should do something to relievo the disappointed hopes of so m.any good inientioaed people, and which have been so unnecessarily ?aiaeel.

The hatching of the trout ova at the I Arrow has been a most unqualified success. Out of the 500 ova sent only three were found dead 5 and, with the exception of some Beven of the fish that died frovn a sort of bladder forming upon the umbilical sac, the whole have thriven amazingly. The mill-race at Messrs Butel's, at Hayes Creek, formed the very best of hatching pJaees, while a breeding pond, with a clear stream of water falling into it, waß easily formed alongside, and into which the young trout were consigned after leaving the hatching boxes. They have been since distributed in various parts of the creek, b,ofch above and below the "falls," while a few still remain in the race ant] pond, where they may auy day bs seen disporting themselves, ' Some of the young fish are four inches long, and as stout as a raw's middle finger. They rise readily to the grass seeds as they shed qi\t af the herbage which lines the b&ufei of the race and pond, and young fish apparently ma^e a desperate "grab" at the little eookabullas that cross their path. The cockabullas, however, manage to keep clear from the jawa of the new corners, but whether they will be able to do ao by and bye is a question to. be solved. Out of the 1500 ova se^t to. Queenstown it is said that n,o.s w,ore than 500 were successfully hatched, owing to unfoisjer difficulties at the first selected hatching place. After shifting the process to, Mr Bo well's garden, everything wtn.t onryogperously, and, with the exception of about a score of fish in. the breeding pond, the rest have been, distributed at suitable localities about kak.e Wakatip. Some of the fruit gardens in the neighbourhood of Arrowtown and Queenstown are in a very nourishing condition, and worthy of special mention. Mr Samuel Galdstone, of Arrowtown, owns two acres of an orchard, to which use he has devoted a block of town sections, Jt is planted with 800 fruit tye^s, a.nd. 1000 gooseberry and. cv,V¥ani hushes, besides beds of strawberries and raspberries. This garden waa at one time laid with grass and clover, but as the trees did not thrive sufficiently well Mr Goldstone caused \t ta b,e destroyed and vegetables cultivated between them instead. Tv effeot this object thoroughly 'Mr Galdstoue leased the or«lv»?d ta a Chinaman named Ah Wha, at a very- nominal rent, and who appears to make considerable progress with his undertaking. Under the new system the fruit trees have iaiproved wonderfully, and Mr Ah Wha has undoubtedly made an excellent speculation, no better crops of fruit w vegetables could possibly bo desived to reward the patient ploddinc labour of a "heathen Chinee." °

Mr Alexander lanes, the Mayor of Arrowtown, owns a precisely similar property, hut the garden is much older, and the trees consequently larger. In the culture of the grape vine Mr Innes has been very successful, some small vines ijrellised round the verandah and sunny side of the house have borne largely during the last two seasons, while for the present they promise a still more abundant yield. Some of Mr Innes's orna-msj-tal trees are very fine, his five-year-

old Welhngtonia gigantea is 10ft. high, and 6m. through at the base. He alao possesses some splendid specimens of tho Sinus Insignis, Cupressus inacrocarpa, Arbor Vttae, Chilian pines, and Scotch nrs, besides numerous other rare and interesting . trees and plants, including some very fine apricots, plums, and rhododendrons. Cherries flourish exceedingly well with Mr Innea. I may say that the climate of the Arrow suit 3 the cherry admirably, and the trees yield a large crop. Messrs Butel Brothers, at the ArrowFlour Mills, Hayes Creek, possess a very fine garden, and everything is kept m the greatest possible order. The Messrs Butel are old residents of the Arrow. They are natives of Guernsey, and are really very ingenious people. Almost everything about the place is the work of their own hands, and they are equally at home in repairing a/watch or a clock as erecting and running a flour-mill. They own a very nice orchard, and they grow and propagate a large number of trees. AH around the mill race and dam is thickly set with willows. Floating on the dam, is a little sailing boat, where visitora so inclined may disport themselves under the overhanging branches of the trees. The Messrs Butel are exactly the right sort of colonists to settle a new country. Next comes the garden of Mr Cope at the head of Lake Hayes. This is also a very pleasant spot, and contains many trees of very large growth—some of the poplars and willows being 20ft high; there are also some very large sycamores, locusfc trees, and Californian pines, exclusive of fruit trees. Mr Cope informs me that the system of fallowing ground one year; and sowing it the next with a grain crop answers splendidly, as the land can be very economically worked, and one crop under this treatment will yield almost as much as two by the ordinary system. At an almost adjoining farm, when the same process was tried, the result is equally as satisfactory TLjs primi^e of treating land should recommend itself in localities where labour is scarce and dear and the market for produce not usually high and brisk. Mi- Cope has a large number of hazel trees, bearing heavy crops of nuts • Mr Lewis Miller, of Miller's Flat, owns a very fine garden, the oldest in the Arrow district This garden has long been celebrated for its prolific yield of fruit, the miners in the mountain raucea of the Upper Shotover coming here for supplies. Some of the apple and plum trees last season yielded .upwards of two. hundredweight of fruit each. Mr Bendix Hallenstein'a estate, Thlrlby Domain, at Speargrass Flat, excels everything eke in the Wakatip district in fagt, nothing bears comparison with it save the homestead of Messrs Boyes Bros' at Kawarau Falls, which I hope shortly to visit on my way to Southland. The Thirlby Domain consists of something near one thousand acres, and is in a high atate of cultivation ; the grass paddaaks are now feeding 600 sheep, while thero are alao a considerable number of large cattle depastured. All of the improvements are of the first order an£ in keeping with the, position of the owner. Mr Hallenatoin has leased the estate fora short term, his Diinedin business demanding his presence. The garden in this. i M , stance is wholly of the ornamental character, and is well worth a visit, the variety and collection of trees 5 plants, and shrubs, harmonising with th© magnificent proportions of the othe? auxiliaries or tha estate. The hospitable proprietor haa been laid up £oy three months past, suffering from a broken leg, the etf*>t of a buggy- accident at Lake Hayes. Mr Ha\Jenstein is but very slowly recovering. The Lake View Gardens, Queenstown the property of Mr Joseph Rowell are well worthy of a visit. They are very pleasantly- situated on a terrace overlooking Lake Wakatip, but are well sheltered from the cold winds. Many of the trees are of very large growth, the plantation having been made during the early daya of Queenstown, The garden coniama some very fine and well-grown English, oan-s and other familiar forest trees, also fruit treea in abundance ; but ao. part of the^ Wakatip district appetwa to produce fruit so abundantly, or where it can be grown to such perfection, as the flat country in the neighbourhood of the Arrow.

Taking into consideration that it is but slightly over twelve years since the gold miner first disturbed the almost impenetrable solitudes of the Wakatip } and, that only some seven years have elapsed since he was permitted to ocoupy the land for other than mining purposes, the progress made has been extraordinary And, although something must be allowed for the advantages of soil and elhoato, still, a. very considerable proportion of tl\e success must be attributed vo the fact *hat out of the population settling themselves down here, a large number were of the right stamp, oy, as a stump okAoc would say, to aubdue the wilderness, and make it blossom like the rose.