DAILY NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8004, 6 May 1904, Page 2

DAILY NOTES.

With characteristic enterfrtjit- prise, the South Island GRdwiNG. State Pomologiefc is interesting himself in encouraging the • culture of new fruits. With this object in view ho has made a collection of little-knowd or entirely new varieties and is making arrangements with leading orchardists to grow these varieties by way of^an experiment. Mr Blackmore's enterprise deserves to be widely supported. It may bq the means of showing that the climate and soil of New Zealand are favourable to many hitherto unthaugbtof varieties, and in any case it will assist orchardists to discover which/ varieties are unsuitable. It is by experiments of this nature that a stable fruit industry can be built up in the colony. The little ceremony which • A well- took place at the annual deserved meeting of the PliilosopMcompliment. cal Institute on Wednesday was a. well-deserved compliment to a gentleman who has been an indefatigable worker in the cause of science. For more than thirty" years Captain Hutton has given his Services ungrudgingly to scientific objects. 'His labours in the Christchurch Museum have 'been productive of immense benefit to that institution, while the colony at large has reaped 1 immense advantage from the assistance he has given in the task of tabulating the geological re- " cords of the country.. Captain Hutton set the seal on a particularly useful -career when he edited the "Index Faunsfc Novse Zealandi^e," which is fresh from the pub- i , lisher's hands. * ; It is satisfactory to find land for that the Minister of Lands settlements, still firmly believes in the Edendale Estate. He told a newspaper representative on "Wednesday that he had not the slightest doubt that in a very 6hort time the estate would bo l taken in, Wfi s©» no reajoa to question

■yir Dunc an ' s view ; indeed, tie news pubi li&hed thi* morning, that since the ballot i no less than twenty-four applications have ■ been 'granted, goes a long way towards confirming it. But, whether he is right or wrong, the fact remains that the Govern- . meat has no intention just yet of reducing its charges for the unallotted sections; instead, it intends to stock the land and work it itself. This ifl a wise move. No doubt all the section will go off in time, and in tbe meanwhile the land should not be allowed to bo a burden on the State. The lesson to be learneVi from the result of this ballot is that unless land for^ settlements can be bought cheap enough to be cut up at prices which tempt settlers it is inadvisable to acquire it. • The Mayor's water supply rats. scheme has been received with the objections and sneers which appear to be reserved for all efforts to provide Ghristchurch with a supply of water proportionate to its needs. Certain people in Christchurch seem to be possessecl of the idea that because there are large numbers of private wells in the city there is no need to establish a public water supply. If these people would stop to consider what would happen if a fire broke out in any of the old wooden buildings which disfigure some of the most central parts of the city, they would very quickly alter their opinions. The fire which occurred in j Auckland yesterday morning was disastrous enough as it was, but ifc would have been far more, terrible in its consequences if the brigades had not been able to localise it. If a nor'-wester were blowing would the Christchurch brigades be. able to confine an outbreak of fire to one or even to two or three of certain blocks of building? we could mention, in the heart of the city? Certainly not with their present water supply.