THE SIX COLONIES OF NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 38, 7 February 1852, Page 4

THE SIX COLONIES OF NEW ZEALAND.

(From the New Zealand Journal, July 26. )

Mr. Fox's pamphlet, under the above title, we are disposed to regard as the most valuable publication on the subject of New Zealand that has appeared.

"•Mr. Fox's career has singularly qualified him to speak with authority on the subject of his adopted country. Mr. Fo'^ was for five years the resident agent of the New Zealand Comparry. at Nelson, and for three years their principal agent in the colony. He thus became officially and minutely acquainted with the affairs of all the southern settlements ; he also visited Auckland, and explored several parts of the country, thereby acquiring a personal acquaintance with it, such as is possessed by few, if any, of the settlers. In 1848 Mr. Fox was appointed Attorney-General of the Southern Province, on a distinct understanding that selfgovernment would be immediately conferred upon it ; an office which he resigned as soon as he found that the promise was not to be kept. Immediately before he left the colony he was appointed Political Agent for Wellington.

A perusal of Mr. Fox's unambitious, yet lucid and elegant narrative, will show that these opportunities of observation have been enjoyed by one whose remarkably candid and dispassionate turn of mind, united to great shrewdness of judgment and fearless integrity and love of truth, has enabled him to turn them to the best account. He writes in no partisan spirit ; he carefully eschews all exaggeration ; he, in short, expresses his opinions and sentiments in a manner that carries home to the conviction of his readers the impression that they have a thoroughly reliable and trustworthy man to deal with.

The publication is as well-timed as it is valuable. The stir occasioned in New Zealand by the colonising operations at Canterbury has been felt through all the New Zealand settlements, and even as far as Sydney, Hobart Town, and Melbourne. The work of settlement and reclaiming lands from the waste, which, under years of discouragement, had begun to abate in energy, has been revived in its pristine vigour in the colony itself. A similar effect has been witnessed throughout the rural districts of this country. The simultaneous movements of Mr. Adderly and Mr. Hawes. in the House of Commons, warrant a hope that the session will not be closed without at least some marked expression of opinion respecting New Zealand being elicited from the Legislature, upon which some legislative superstructure may hereafter be reared. Precisely at the moment when public attention to New Zealand is reviving in England, Mr. Fox comes forward with new, valuable, and authentic information respecting it.

We promise ourselves the pleasure of returning hereafter to this interesting publication, to point attention to the enterprises it is fitted to suggest and guide, and to canvass freely, though respectfully, the opinions of the author. Our present object is, by presenting our readers with specimens of the information contained in its pages, and the attractive style in which it is conveyed, to induce them to consult the book itself.

In the first section of the first chapter, which is devoted to a general dessription of the islands, we find the following notice of ' thenadaptation to breeding and grazing pursuits :—: —

The whole of the eastern portion of the middle island, and some extensive plains on the northern shore of Cook's Strait, extending as far as Wanganui and Hawke's Bay, are clothed with most excellent natural pasture. To the north of this, scarcely any indigenous grass is to be found. The grazing operations of the colony will consequently be confined to that portion of it which lies south of a line drawn from Cape Egmont to Hawke's Bay — in other words, to the southern province. The fiortions of the island north of that line present no facilities for grazing, and can never become a field for pastoral enterprise. For though artificial grasses grow there to great perfection, it would be a losing speculation in a new country to lay down any quantity of land with grass for mere grazing purposes. It is extremely difficult to form any estimate of the quantity 6f stock which the grazing districts of New Zealand will carry. All that can be said with certainty is, that the natural pasture is as good as any in the •world, and that there are millions of acres of it, comprising various grasses, equally fitted for cattle and sheep. The former will succeed best on the level ground, where the herbage is heavier and more rank ; the latter will chiefly occupy the

hills and undulating ground, than which no/ finer 'runs' can probably be found anywhere. There are, perhaps, portions of the country, where a sheep could be kept to every acre, even in its present condition, all the year round ; but, generally speaking, two or even threeacres per sheep would be requisite to maintain a flock, allowing sufficient space for its properdivision and management. An experienced grazier from New South Wales, who had, however, only seen a portion of the grazing country of New Zealand, estimated that the middle island and Cook'sy Strait would, in its present state, carry six or seven millions of sheep. There is no doubt that as the country is occupied with flocks, the quality and quantity of the pasture will both greatly improve, as they have always done hitherto wherever tried. The climate and country in the southern province are both admirably adapted for shee]). The average annual increase on a breeding flock, supposing it to be in fair condition, and on good keep, is not less than 90 per cent. ; and a flock of merinoes will clip four pounds of wool all round, exclusive of lambs, and the tallow of such surplus as he may sell or boil down, will amount to nearly as much more. The expenses will depend on the distance of his run from a port, the amount of his personal superintendence and skill, the rate of wages in the colony for the time being, and other circumstances.

Dairy farming will also, probably, be found to pay well. Independently of the local consumption, there is always a great demand for butter and cheese in New South "Wales, and that which has already been sent thither from New Zealand has met with a ready sale at a good price; and for some years to come, youngstock will probably find a sale in the colony to new comers.

New Zealand will be essentially a horsebreeding country also. The vast plains and open country invite the gallop, and a taste for racing has already exhibited itself in all the settlements. The pursuits of a colonist necessitate his being much on horseback; a horse is easily kept, and, in a few years, almost everybody will own one. In New South Wales there is one horse to about every two souls of the population.

All kinds of live stock are imported from New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, at very moderate prices. But though a good useful animal, of every sort, is imported by persons who make it a trade, if the colonist wishes to procure a really superior breed, he will be wise in selecting them himself in those colonies. First-rate animals can be obtained in either, but are not generally exported on speculation. If the colonist makes his purchases personally in the Australian colonies, the risk of the voyage will fall on himself, but if advantage be taken of the summer season, and personal superintendence exercised, there is not much danger. The transport of stock should never be left to others, if they are to be at the risk of the purchaser during the voyage. There are very few diseases among live stock in New Zealand. From the most fatal one of New South Wales, the catarrh, which sometimes sweeps off tens of thousands of sheep in a_ few days, it is entirely free ; and as that disease appears to be the result of drought, it will probably remain so. Scab, among sheep, is common and troublesome, but can be eradicated by the usual remedies. The rot, I believe, does not exist, nor the foot rot, unless in an isolated case where a sheep may have got into wet ground.