PROGRESS OF NEW ZEALAND.

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

PROGRESS OF NEW ZEALAND.

{From the Mzthom-ne Argus.) It may be fairly doubted whether the progress of any British Colony S fhe ksb tan years has been more^apS f hau that of New.Zealand. It population haa 295,946 ; its exports, the produce of the country, have increased in value from £3,342 891 to £6,461,687, and its reve nu ™ from £1266,908 to £2,753,181. The land under cultivation, including what has been laid down with artificial grasses has nearly quadrupled during the decade and the exports of wool have been more than trebled According to the agricultural statistics which were made up in the month of March last, the pastures of New Zealand carry nearly 400,000 mora aheep than those of Victoria do, the census for the former Colony giving a 11,d2d,080. As might be expected, the. vital stahstics of those islands bear striking testimony to their general salubrity, and go to prove how congenial the chmate is to the British race. In England nearly 16 per cent, of the children bom die before they attain the a«e of one year ; but in New Zealand the proportion is 10 81; while m Victoria, l a st year, it was 11.3 ; so that this Colony does not suffer much by comparison with o»» whioh is proverbially healthy, and which enjoys, like all islands, a more temperate climate than the neighbouring Continent, lhe deaths from phthisis in New Zealand, m 1&<8 constituted no more than 5 65 per cent, of the total mortality, as against 10.02 per cent, in England ; but, ts the. Kegistrar-Geneial points out, a comparatively large number of persons arrive itt that Colony afflicted with diseases of the respiratory system ; so that no correct I conclusions can be drawn as to the ! normal death-rate from phthisis in New Zealand. There are 1125 squatting runs S l at, ft G°lony ' with a total area o* 14,622,594 acres ; while in Victoria there are 594, comprising 25,830,641 acres. The area of-land under cultivation in £ e73? land is 1.«»,552, as against 964,996 in our own Colony ; and the relative produce of the soil in the two Colonies may be estimated from the following figures :—

Acres Sown. Estimated Produce. Victoria. X SS A

in <><,» o, n „>. Bushels. Bushels. JJljeat .. 349,976 132,425 4,752,289 3,591,Cf.3 Oats .. 110,991 209,472 1,74^ 3 2 92 SOS Barley .. 25,333 22,123 502,606 6061482 Tons. Tons. 51,757 109,822

Potatoes .. 33,349 11,014