HINTS FOR NEW ZEALAND COLONISTS.

Wellington Independent, Volume II, Issue 80, 18 July 1846, Page 4

HINTS FOR NEW ZEALAND COLONISTS.

New Zealand Dye Woods.—We congratulate 1 the colonists upon the recent decisionof tbe Commissioners of Customs of this country, viz., that '-the dye-woods of New .Zealand are henceforth to be admitted free of duty. These woods are only another instance of the valuable productions mdi- 1 genons to the colony. Well might Capt. Fitzroy sayof NewiZealand, " her resources are abundant; her productiveness is extraordinary." The dyewoods of the colony will no doubt become highly • valuable, as they&re well known to be what manufacturers term " fast colours;"" a desideratum;. »wbicb, at-present, this-country does not possess, at; least in the colours most extensively employed.: The hinau, or black dye used*by the natives in the decoration of their mats,' for instance, retains its depth and lustre aa long*as the garment lasts, which is frequently for many years, though exposed to all oweathers. Whereas the black dyes now used in the. • cloth manufacture of -tbis country : are, of all •others, the most Heeling. At no distant date, the dye-woods of *New.£sealand will, as the Times **rery .justly remarks, ''form an important item in the consideration of- the relative value of the various productions of the place.*' Wearaay here remark, that;there4s no colony in .the southern at present possesses one-half of tbe exportable pro-ducts-which New Zetland possesses. What will not these become when the colony is more fully explored ?—New .Zealand Journal, Sept^7. •New Zealand Minerals. —We shall feel much obliged if any of the numerous parties who have returned from New -Zealand will *put us in possession of the facts ..which have come under their own observation, or which they may have obtained from others, respecting the minerals of the colony. -By neglecting to supply this information, persons in possession of it are really inflicting injury upon;'the colony. We are not unfrequently asked by manufacturers respecting the mineral productions of New .Zealand, and receive for answer to our information, Why do you not let us have samples, or tell us how we can get them ? The New Zealand people are sadly wanting in their terests to be thus supine upon a matter of sterling importance. Cobalt, for instance, exists inconsiderable quantities in some parts of the island f yet, notwithstanding its very bigh4>rice in this country, not a single sample has, to our knowledge, reached home. Where cobaltkls, nickel is not far distant; and it would be more profitable employmenttfor the beach-combers of Wellington and Auckland to look out for an article which, when refined, is worth eight shillings per pound, than to enact the part of walking pasts, bewailing their hartl fate, and 'thus prejudicing new settlers against the colony; the greatest misfortune of which is, having them as residents. The magnetic iron ore, again, which every one talks about, but no one sends home, would he, atthe,price iron is likely to -sustain for years to come, a profitable investment beyond all question. Mr. Carrington stated before the Committee, that the sample of'iron-sand from which the piece of metal exhibited was produced, contained ninety per cent, of pure metal. This might be an exaggeration, yet, again, it might not be so. That it Jcontains a very large per centage is. certain. Our Nifcw -Zealand-friends'may not be genjpally aware that the ores of this country do not produce tea. per cent, of metal, and very frequently not five per cent. We have just been conversing with fin eminent refiner of metals, who has a sample of the iron-sand of New Zealand, and his opinion ii» that it would produce iron equal in value to the best Swedish iron, and that it is worth, in this country, £30 per ton. In fact, the New Zealand iron is identical with the ores from which the Dannemora or best Swedish Iron is produced, and would. Beyond doubt, produce iron of equal quality. Even if it produced a quality -only equal to good English iron, it would pay. Suppose it would yield eighty per cent, of metal, one ton of New Zealand magnetic iron would equal in quantity eight tons of English ore, and that without the expense of mining, and very little freight, as it would be cheaply taken as ballast. It is lamentable to see so valuable a product lining the shores in exhaustless quantities, and only requiring'the labour of shovelling it into a barrow, and yet no one seems to possess enterprise enough to perform this slight labour, where nature has done all the mining part for them. There is another purpose for which it would be eagerly sought by iron manufactures, viz., for the puddling-furnace, in which it is requisite to use fine iron in all cases. The New Zealand magnetic iron is admirably calculated for this purpose, being, in powder, easy of fusion, and containing so large a percentage of metal. For this purpose, . we have the assurance of those conversant with the manufacture of iron that it would be considered ver) valuable. We>ust our remarks will have the effect of producing for it a fair trial in this country. If any one is enterprising enough to send home a ftw tons, and will inform us of it, we will take care that it gets into the right hands for the. purpose of establishing its value; provided an exorbitant price is not put upon it—a circumstance which has completely defeated its own object, and the interest of the colony, more than once to our own knowledge. We give, this advice to every one sending home mineral or other produce—consign it to people who know how to dispose of it, and not to people who dißgust an intending purchaser by the price asked, and then write to tbe owners about the great interest they take in their consignment. Their next letter is certain to be to this effect:—" We have been compelled to sell your consignment for tbe charges, and debit you with the deficiency.'' We have ourselves seen five shillings asked for an article and persisted in; the same article having afterwards been sold for less than one shilling. Such a policy is destructive to the best interests of the colony, but it has been one too generallyppurr r sued. If no one person could be found to consign, the best plan would be, for a number to subscribe and send home the article in sufficient quantity; regarding the outlay as a total loss, and trusting to the intrinsic value of the consignment in proper hands to create a market for future consignments. —Ibid., December 6. G.OURDS.—The boi ing of sheep down for fat in Australia, is a.novel circumstance which has lately at racted much attention; still it is nothing in comparison with what is sure to occur within a few . years in New.Zealand, in boiling the.hog for lard, as is done in America, and which is sure to supersede the half year's Scandinavian import of tallojv

from Russia: at present the New Zealand hog feeds on the fern root, and that of the bulrush. The attention of the settlers is called to the cultivation of the gourd for the purpose of hog-feeding ; it is a fruit used for it in Hungary, being planted with the maize, up the stalks of which it first creeps. The .quantity of hogs reared with it 'throughout Servia and Hungary is so great, that none can imagine their numbers but those who have either seen it in -these countries, or who have met the numerous herds of them travelling eastward to Austria and the several states of Germany.—lbid. October. 25.