EDENDALe. (from our own correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 1598, 8 July 1882, Page 13

EDENDALe. (from our own correspondent.)

July 4th.

Since the appearance of my last letter we have hid th« ground thoroughly saturated with rain, and evorv plucoon tho flat laud where tbero ia a little traffic it almost impassable, and'ona is often sit a loss (Jo Had his way through without getting auk o-deop in tho ftluiih. Under the circumstances, outside operations are anything but a pleasant tluty, although it has tended in some measure to make the ploughing of lea ground feasible, rendering the ground more friable, and rondeiing the work much lighter on hordes. The sowing of winter wheat id, I may say, now finished, and the area allotted to this cereal is much greater khan what it has been for thq_ last few yeara ft now remains to be seen whether the soil is adapted for such a crop. A number of people have conceived the ide i that wheat sown south of Gore cannot be raised with oven a fair amount of success. It is tald that j climatic influences, or some other unaccountable' cause, reta-dft its progress ; but from the foot bf some information f possoss, I cannot adopt such statements until they are moio fully demonstrated. Whatever doubts exist as to the capabilities of the soil in producing some crops, it la quite manifest that its properties have been proverbial for grass. I had not an opportunity of seeing it at iti best, but to judge from tho results of the p»st season, there must have boen an abundant supply for all kinds of stock, and any interosted party having somo time at his disposal could do no better than visit the Company's extensive herd of polled cattle. There aro some thoueandt depasturing ovor th« property, and their fame is well spread throughout tho Colony. A'stud-book is being kepc, and anyone wishing to start with a puru stock of this breed will thus have gome sa; isf&etion in making his purchase*. Mr J. Shand, who ban made such a large investment in portions cf this estate, has also been a very extensive purchaser of fat cattle and sheep, and f«.r tho Jast two months he had special trains engaged twice a week conveying stock to and fro, and will probably continue this arrange ncnt for some time yot. Ho is certainly a very iinpai-Mnt factor in contributing towards the four per ctn 1 . on#our railway reienue. I understand the Cbmp\ >y have disposed of their first lot of vheese out of tho factory at a very satisfactory prieo, but the quantity, i- my estimation, ia remarkably small in proportion to the numiior of cows that wore milked. Id would be gratifying to know tho results of tho industry.