THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12,1858.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 102, 12 October 1858, Page 2

THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12,1858.

From numerous correspondents, as well as from personal observation, we are enabled to say s that the prospects of the ensuing harvest are favorable. The droughts which have occasioned such heavy losses to our farmers in the last season, have fortunately been not our detriment this year ; and although complaints have been made, still the general appearance of those portions of land under cultivation is cheering. Within a few months we shall have brought into our markets large supplies of all kinds of agricultural produce; the cerials have been more sown, and the mills will therefore find an increased trade.. Nothing perhaps can shew a more healthy state than this fact does. It proves at once not only the energy of. the individual settler, but a more healthy tone of general business. We must remember that the success of a Province does not so much depend upon the profits accumulated by those who have . made their-station the metropolis, as.it does upon the ; activity, displayed by those whose pursuits have carried them to the rural districts. If Nelson depended alone upon tie support afforded to it. by the storekeepers and merchants, their occupation would soon be a nullity. From the plains around us, and from the crops which those plains produce, is much of our hitherto

success to be accounted for. The large woolgrowing districts have been for some years our principal support; but the time has now arrived when. crops of a-, more sustaining nature become necessary. The runholder can ship his produce, and, with the exception of the expenditure necessary, the returns are paid to a private individual. These runs are nearly all absorbed, and it will now be the duty of those who have a voice of influence, to use it for the benefit of the more humble class—^those who seek to win. from the earth those products which she will freely afford ■ to perseverance and industry. To such, then, every accommodation should be offered, and it is a most short-sighted policy which allows the general productions of a province to arrive in a metropolis without a space being allotted to them where their value can be tested by comparison, and-the buyers enabled to form their own opinion of the relative merits of that produced. On the plan of Nelson so accurately adjusted as that,to which we have access, we find squares and blocks laid out for markets of various kinds* What is the effect of all this civil engineering ? Simply that there is no market whatever where buyers can meet those .who would bring their produce for sale. That a market has been attempted we are fully aware, and we will forestallthe facetious letters of correspondents by saying that the history of'the pair of ducks produced at the one that did take place, is not unknown, to us. One attempt, although not successful, should surely be followed by another; and if it was once recognised as a necessary improvement, it will not now, when trade and population is daily increasing, be thought too much to call public attention to. There can be no doubt but that a market of all kinds of produce would be advantageous. Those of us who remember England, remember that the marketday was always a day which brought iucreaseil trade to the town, and what is of far more importance, a place of meeting and an exchange for those whose calling was more particularly Urban. It is of no slight value to a community that an appointed day should be fixed whicli enables the settler to feel confidence that he can meet the buyer. The time wasted under our present inefficient regulations will lower the reasonable profit of the salesman, as it will also make the buyer careless.

We have a town not so largely occupied as to preclude the introduction of a general market. There is ground on which it could be held, and as it would be self-supporting, those not immediately advocates for high prices Would bo berie. fitted. The loose and unbusiness.way in which agricultural produce is now disposed of requires revision. Had this land rejoiced in the came of the United States, no such words as we are penning would be necessary. A market would have been established'years ago", and We living in the town would, have found its advantages. We have used the word self-supporting with regard to a market, and believe that we are fully justified. The market tolls collected for. standing and for shops would more than support such an edifice. There is no necessity for us here to attempt to rival the ornate and well appointed markets of Europe. All we desire is a recognised spot where produce can be brought to, and those whose, interests are' mercantile will assemble. That such a place is necessary, we have •only to refer to the cities of Europe from whom we have derived both our education and our knowledge of business.

If, theu, there be money in the public Exchequer, let if be produced, and allow us that which in our home country we have been so used to that it is become a part of our existence almost-p-viz., a marlcet day. Should these remarks be thought worthy of entertaining, we can offer a suggestion to those who'will have the control of the matter]. Numerous drays are brought into this town for which there is no shelter. Should such a building be erected— and perhaps the acre near the Eel-pond would serve better for that than for Government offices—every dray would be enabled to find standing room, and, what is more complained of by the farmers, shelter. A slight toll for the occupied space would willingly be paid by the owners of cattle; and the same layers which furnished on five days a shelter for drays, would on the one market day form a cattle market which all interested could attend, and at one view assess the different values of those animals which were offered for.their inspection.