HARVEST HOME.

Otago Witness, Issue 163, 29 July 1854, Page 3

HARVEST HOME.

{Communicated. )

On Friday evening the 14th inst. the settlers resi- i dent in the Half-way Bush district met together in , the commodious barn of Mr. James' Marshall, to celebrate for the first time their Harvest Home. The evening being fine, about 70 persons assembled, and ■ at 6£ o'clock sat down to an excellent and substan- ; tial dinner. The arrangements on the occasion were every way complete, and did great credit to the I young gentlemen who took charge of the entertain- t ment. The apartment was very tastefully decorated > with evergreens, flowers, and flags, the Royal Stan- i dard of Great Britain being displayed at the one ' end of the room and the Union Jack at the other.

Mr. G. Hepburn occupied the Chair, supported by the Rev. ll* Hood and Mr. A. Chalmers. Messrs,. Gillies and Williamson acted as croupiers. After ( the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, which vtere duly honoured and accompanied respectively by the " Queen's Anthem" and " Rule Britannia," (led by ' Mr. James Adam) the Chairman rose to propose the toast of the evening, namely, " The Agiiculturul and Pastoral Interests of Otago, and particularly; \ this District 7 ' — in doing which, he said, the toast j was one which required no recommendation at his ' hands to call forth a unanimous response; it was i one in which every individual in the Province was ' more or less interested, and on which the prosperity ; of each individual was to a certain extent depend- { ent. Whatever be our avocations, and whether we | derived our means from trade or from the soil, we | are all equally interested in it. He had endeavoured \ to collect sundry statistics connected with the sub- ] ject in their own particular district, which he thought would not be. out of place on an occasion j like the present, when they hud met to congratulate j each other on the success which had attended \ their labours. Well, then, we have already under j cultivation in this district no less than 220 acres, ' and about 40 more in preparation for next year's ' crop. Thes>e acres yielded us last year — j 13S0 Bushels Wheat, which, at 10s. gives £690 0 I 1866 do. Oats, at os. 466 2 I 100 do. Grass Seed, at 10s. 50 0 i 73 Tons Potatoes, at £7 511 0 j 24 Acres Turnips, say 30 0 ! £1747 2 This statement he believed to be pretty nearly correct, but at all events considerably within the mark. But this was only one part of the report : there was also the pastoral department, which was also in a most thri\ing condition, the particulars of which, however, he regretted he had not been able to collect ; but were all the horned and hoofed cattle in the district to be estimated at their market value and added to the above sum, it would exhibit a much larger amount of real substance than even we ourselves had any idea of This statement was received with much applause. He then in a humourous manner referred to another department of live stock These, he said, depastured at their own firesides, and were still more valuable, viz., our young men and maidens, " pickaninies " and all, growing up like mushrooms around us, and adding fresh laurels to the grey hairs of some of our number, both our Croupiers having been made Grandpapas since they came amongst us. He begged to couple with this toast the name of Mr. Chalmers, one of the original settlers in the district, who had pioneered for us the way by which we had arrived at our piesent prosperity. The toast was enthusiastically received. Mr. Chalmers briefly but feelingly replied. Mr-. Gillies then gave " The Colonies of Great Britain, especially New Zealand. 1 '

Mr. Williamson then proposed a bumper to " The Prosperity of the Otago Settlement." ■ and coupled' with it " The Health of his Honor the Superintendent," who, he said, had manifested great zeal, and had used untiring efforts for the good of the Settlement ; and he hoped he might be long spared among us to fulfil with effect the arduous duties of his responsible and honourable situation. Mr. Paterson, in a highly humorous and diverting speech, gave "The' Ladies." Mr. D. Hood, in the name of the Ladies, very amusingly replied. ' -

Mr. Williamson, after passing a' well merited eulogium upon the young gentlemen who had gqt up this enter]tainment with w much spirit ..and good taste, proposed their health.

Mr. Cheyrie replied/ The Chairman then gave the health of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall; and begged to thank them in the name of the company for the kind manner they had

granted the use of the barn on this occasion, and the other accommodations with which they had favoured them.

Mr. Marshall acknowledged the toast. Mr. Gillies then gave what he said might justly be called the toastof the evening, viz., " The Rising Generation," as on them depended the ultimate success of all their present labours. Mr., James Smith proposed the health of those gentlemen not resident in the district who had honoured them with their presence. Mr. Langlands replied. He was greatly delighted with the whole festival, so excellently got up. These entertainments were manifestations of spirit on the part, of the settlers, and served very clearly to illustrate the thriving condition of the district, and the settlement at large.

On the suggestion of the Chairman, the company retired to the hou<=e of Mr. Marshall's (where tea was in readiness for the ladies) till the tables should be removed preparatory to dancing, which was kept up with much spirit till an early hour. The utmost good humour ar.d civility prevailed over the whole company, and there cannot be a doubt that this was the finest and best conducted Harvest Home which has yet taken place in Otago. For our own part (and we are sti angers to the district) we retraced our homeward stop* ar a late hour, extremely delighted with ha\in«j enjoyed such a treat, but not a little mortified tint the unpretending inhabitants of the Half-way Bu»h should have so thoroughly eclipsed the honor of our own nnd of other districts, in the important matter of a Harvest festivity.