PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1490, 22 January 1861, Page 5

PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

No. 1. [From the New Zealauder.] HOW TO SETTLE WITH ADVANTAGE AND ECONOMY. OPEN LAND. We will suppose the newly-arrived immigrant to have selected his land, some little insight into the nature, of whroh we have, in a previous paper "On the Soils of New Zealand," endeavoured t<> lay before him. His Qrst step is the erection of a house suitable to the requirements of himself .and fatuity. ■ In the choice of material for its construction, he will of course be guided by the circumstances of the case. If Ins selection be r open land or light bush on which there is no Umber for splitting into slabs oi* palings, he has no alternative but to procure sawn timber from the nearest and cheapest market. But in most cases he will have selected a section on which there is more or less bush. In such case he can choose between the more expensive, and tha equally commodious but far cheaper product of his own labour. In selecting v site for his house, convenience to wood and water is one of ihe first objects. The poorest land should, if otherwise advantageous, be selected, and' as the farm yard is necessarily near at hand and the cattle arc more constantly about the home paddock, the chances are that a larger q.u.mtity of manure will fall to its share than any other part of the farm. It is, too, more advantageous as well us couvenieut to have the field on which the house stands und ;r grass. A central position on the farm is the most suitable, the farm yard being the point to w^ich, the produce must nearly all be carried, and from whence the manure will have to be carted back to the different fields ; far in laying out his plans, however distant the time may be the settlor sho'ihl have an eye to the requirements of his farm. We should therefore recommend as a first step, the breaking up with the plough of some five or tea acres around the house. This may bo performed at any time of the year wheu the laud is dry enough' for the

, I purpose, and if burrowed and crosProloiiirlieH, 1 1 ami harrowed down tolerably fi:>e, may be sown i with rye-grass seed at the rate of two bushels t<» the acre some time in the latter end of the i following' March { clover and other gross seeds i can be so vn afterwards at pleasure, hut rye-grass • we have found to bs o.n the whole the best kind for newly hioken-up land in this Province. On this piece of ground, he has .then, we snpposs, either built, or will build his house In this i paper we shall only consider the case of the more numerous class of settlers, those whose c ipital is limited, varying 9ay from two to five hundred pounds. The system of cultivation to be observed upon bush or forest sections, and those of open fern or flax land, is so entirely dissimilar as to preclude the mention of both in the limits of a single sketch. Oo the former, the main object to be aimed at is that of laying the whole farm down in permanent pasture as quickly as possible, as it is beyond the first owner's reasonable expectation to see any but a limited portion of it for the plough during hU own lifetime. Nevertheless, the occupation of forest laud is attended (especially during the present high prices of labour; with a surer, a more produclive and a quicker return than that of the generality of the open land of the Province. As som as the stock yard has been completed, the next investment will be that of a team of bullocks and plough. The number ofoxsn required will of course be regulated by the nature of the soil and the evenness or. unevenness of the ground. On an average open soil four- strong bullocks will be found sufficient 5 on clays and itax ground six and sometimes eight Will be required. Bullocks are for many reasons, more suit^ able than horses in the Commencement of bush farming. Unyoked from the stock yard after a day's work they are turned loose uyon the run to find their own feed. Horses would- require more attention and the whole of their food would have to be purchased at a considerable co^t until it could be grown upon the farm, neither could they be taken into many pUces in the forest for the purpose ot di«\vin* out fencing, firewood, Sec, where bullocks with a skilful driver c«n be taken with safety. A Scotch swing-plough will prove the best. Wheel ploughs, however available on land previously cultivated and possessing an eyeD surface) are altogether out of place in breakjug up new land. The intending settler should uot ha in too great a hurry to commence operations, but carefully strive, as he can only cultivate a few acres fit first, to pitch upoa the best piece of land on his form for that purpose. But above all things let him not fall into the foolish error in which so mauy new coiners indulge, that of I fancying that the old hands have ».>ne but interested motives in the aduicc^which they m.iy' be prompted to give. Many a man has been allowed to g» in a course wl-ich'ail his neighbours could and did see would end in disappointment and perhaps ruin to himself, because none would tender advice which all know by experience is so often but too thanklessly received by newly arrived,, emigrants. Having purchased a team and a couple of cows for the present use of his family, and selected a spot of not more than ten or a dozen acres, let him as soon after winter as possible commence ploughiug it up. The shallower ploughed the fir<t year the better, say four or five inches only. We shall suppose that during the winter he has put in a few deep underdraws in those places wuicb appeared the wettest. Same time before Christ' mas he will take the opportunity of running the harrows up anil down the furrows, much for the purpose oi' checking the growth of rubbish sis Topillveiisu the roit.amt niV= jantttrry he will commence cross-ploughing; agair*, after the in terva! of a month or six weeks, harrowing the land several times iti a place, both up and down and across the fuirows. That portion intended to be sown With wheat roust be ploughed up again into nairow lands, not later than May, and wheat at the rate o{ 1% bushels to the acre sown broadcast towards the latter end of the month, and covered in with, in most eases, a siugiqg»stroke of the harrow. The remaining land intended for potatoes and oats should be ploughed at the same time, hut not harrowed after the third ploughing, for having to lie all the winter, if broken down fine by the harrows, it would not become so easi'y dried by the sun and wind. That portion intended for oats may be harrowed and sown during the first fitting weather in the end of July or beginning of August. Oats are usually sown too late in this country. We hare grown side by side on land of exactly the same quality and with the same cultivation, double the amount of grain from the sowing of July than from that of September. Toe only abjection' we are aware of attending the early sowingof oats, is their greater tendency to shake when ready for the sickle, but this would rather apply to those sown us early as May and June. At least 1 cwt. of Peruvian guano should be sown icith the pats, and upon the young wheat about the'same time. The first year's crop must be assisted, uiiless the new settler would break his heart us well as his hack at harvest time. The land intended for potatoes should be ploughed, a fourth time at the time of planting in September* aud not less than two cwt. of guano, or lire of bone dust, be sprinkled in the drills along with the sets. In Eng'and it has been found advantageous to increase the width of the drills or rows from one another, but iv New Zeatand we have a reason in theheatanddrouglhofthe summer for lessening the distance. A great object is gaiued here if the surface of the ground eatt be covered with vegetation early in the seasoiu We hive found hy experience twentycight inches to be quite sufficiently wide- - . The fencing siaffhewill hare either purchased or had split in his own bush, aud carted r.pni the ground when the team, was not otherwise engaged during the summer; the fencing must of course l>e erected previous to sowing the Wheat in May. As a general rule we would recommend a two*railed fence and a ditch, in which case the post and raits may be first run up and the ditch cut afterwards, during the winter, should he be pressed for lime. Having by this time-, become somewhat settled on his land, and acquainted with the surrounding ootmtiy, we should recommend a further investment in the purchases of sorce half-iloz jn or more milch cows, according to his means. These will, like the bullocks, if bred on and used to a bush mi), find : their own, Uviug j roaruiug over the unineloseJ waste lands; and though they will not give as much milk as they would do on grass hnd, will keep in good condition and increase i)> number. Bye and bye, when he bus grass paddocks laid down, he c-in I procure vattie of a finer breed, but till th-'n the I others are more suitable and profitable on a bush run. H; will, too, run no danger of losing the calves, as is common around Auckland, though this might be prevented but /or the greediness aod carelessness of their owners. It stands to reason that, wheu tho food costs uothiag, add the increase is sure, and the labour required io looking after them comparatively trifling, that the rearing or rather running of cattle is the moat payiug part of a settler's occupation. Some

make a ptactjee of stock-yarding their cattle every night..' lor the sake qf v aQ»:»in)ula(i!ig manure for their arable land ; but where this is . (lonesome portion of, the land should be set apart forthe growth of swedes, green oatn,-&c, which should, together with the oaten straw, be niven to them as fodder. Were this system pursued, new settlors would bring their giound into a p lyir-tr state of fertility far quicker than they ordinarily do. r A very good system., of to--t.ition here is — Srst ye*r, outs of urheat^accbrd* ; . ing to the nature of the soil) ; second year— the , same; third year— '-iota toes manured The ground is then harrowed down fine as soon astbe potatoes are taken out, the water furrows marked out, and grass seed sown immediately, and covered in with a roller, which is best,. or light brush barrows. So much land is thns brought every year into the most pro • ductive leasts expensive) crop—?rass —and the farmer is enabled,, with .a^ias strength of team and men,, to bjing in a^fiesu. piece of wild every year, of the same extent as that laid out of hand by being sown down in grass. .