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land. The above statement should not be taken as giving the average produce per acre throughout the colony. From the agricultural statistics for the year 1874, with which he had been favoured, he found that Canterbury, the greatest grain-growing province in New Zealand, produced in that year, from 71,827 acres of land, 1,706,739 bushels of wheat; and from 38,985 acres, 1,053,550 bushels of oats ; 9,201 acres, 249,690 bushels of barley ; 14,873 acres, 20,958 tons of hay; and 1,854 acres, 8,522 tons of potatoes. Otago, which was the next largest grain-growing province, produced from 50,069 acres, 1,489,711 bushels of wheat; 60,204 acres, 2,002,794 bushels of oats ; 8,891 acres, 264,007 bushels of barley; 10,558 acres, 16,971 tons of hay; and 3,303 acres, 15,436 tons of potatoes. The total quantity of wheat grown in the North and South Islands was 3,391,634 bushels. The number of live stock in the colony, according to the census of March, 1874, was —cattle, including calves, 494,113; horses, 99,261 j sheep, 11,674,863 ; pigs, 123,741. Besides this, there was 1,057,220 head of poultry of all descriptions. The amount of butter produced last year was 4,861,159 lbs., and cheese 1,964,809 lbs. There was under crop this year, 1,547,277 acres. In sown grasses, permanently laid down, there were 1,107,115 acres, which were included in the number of acres stated as being under crop. There were 173,110 acres broken up, but not under crop. The quantity of grain exported from the colony during 1873 was 589,431 bushels, valued at £136,832, and of wool 42,587,049 lbs., worth £2,705,351. Boots and vegetables of all kinds abounded in the colony, and nearly all kinds of fruit were also grown there. A large quantity oiphormium tenax, or New Zealand flax, was grown there, and was largely used by the Natives for the manufacture of baskets, mats, cloaks, Ac, and formed the principal article of barter between the Natives aud Europeans. In 1873 there were 6,454 tons of flax exported from New Zealand, and which was valued at £143,799. He next went on to give a description of the forests, and said that they contained more than a hundred different specimens of trees, and a variety of birds pecubar to that colony. Game, such as hares, partridges, and pheasants, were becoming abundant in some parts, while rabbits in some places had become a regular nuisance. The rivers were almost destitute of fish, with the exception of eels. One peculiar feature of that colony was the absence of all obnoxious animals and venomous reptiles. The mineral resources are very extensive, and gold has been found in large quantities in Nelson, Otago, Westland, and Auckland, and in smaller quantities in Marlborough. Each province had its own land laws. One system did not prevail throughout the country, and some of the systems were rather complicated. He pointed out the different systems, and showed that emigrants might easily become possessed of 50 acres of land or more from the Government. In the Province of Otago there was a land law relating to hundreds, which consisted of from ten to twenty thousand acres of land or more. Any person wishing to purchase a section of land could spot it out, and then make application to the Government for the same to be surveyed. He had to pay £10 on application, and on the completion of the survey the remainder of the purchase money, amounting altogether to £1 an acre. The land then became a person's own freehold property. Another mode of purchasing land in this province was that of the deferred-payment system, which enabled persons of small capital to purchase land and pay for it in a period of ten years. In this case, the following were the conditions to be complied with : —The purchaser had to pay a yearly rent of 2s. 6d. per acre, the money to be paid half-yearly in advance, the land was to be enclosed by a good substantial fence within three years, and at least one acre out of every ten to be cultivated within the same period, and that the person settle down upon the land within six months. After complying with these conditions he would be entitled at any time within thirty days after the three years to obtain a Crown grant on the payment of 17s. 6d. for each acre, or fractional part of an acre. The Canterbury land laws differed from all others in the colony ; they were very simple, and said to work admirably. A fixed price of £2 per acre was charged for all Crown land, whether it be mountain or plain, farm or cleared land. A purchaser had to get it surveyed and pay the £2 per acre, and then it became his freehold property without any other conditions to be fulfilled. The Auckland land laws were divided into five classes, as follow : —l, town lands ; 2, suburban lands ; 3, rural lands ; 4, special settlement lands ; 4, timber and mineral lands. Some of these classes of lands were offered for sale or lease by public auction. Taranaki laud laws comprised three classes of lands:—l, town and village land ; 2, suburban land, being land in the vicinity of town land; 3, rural land, not reserved for towns or villages or other public purposes. No section of rural land contains more than 300 acres. Most of these lands are sold by auction, the upset price being fixed by the Provincial Council, subject to the approval of the Superintendent. He pointed out the easy terms on which all these lands might be obtained, and then went on to show the population of New Zealand. In 1873 the European was population 295,946, or 170,406 males, and 125,540 females. The total increase that year, exclusive of emigration and deaths, was 16,386. The Native population is 46,016, of which number there are 3,000 in the South Island, and the remainder in the North. The total amount of the revenue in 1873, both ordinary and territorial, was £2,753,181, and the total debts of the General and Provincial Governments, consisting of debentures and Treasury bills in circulation, amounted to £10,913,936. There are 2,389 miles of railway and 98 telegraph stations in the colony. The number of miles of telegraph wire is 4,609. A number of railways are now in course of construction, and these would open up large tracts of country which has not yet been brought under cultivation, and materially increase the prosperity of the colony. He remarked, in conclusion, that it was an excellent field for emigration, and recommended all intending emigrants to go to that colony. (Loud cheers.) —Mr. Banbury, of Woodstock, who arrived shortly after the meeting commenced, next addressed the assemblage, and expressed the pleasure it gave him to hear Mr. Holloway so flatly contradict the statements that had been made by Mr. McPherson, who had lectured in this neighbourhood.—Mr. Glanville, who has recently returned from New Zealand, also addressed the meeting, and bore testimony to what Mr. Holloway had said.—Hearty cheers were then given to Mr. Holloway, and a vote of thanks to the Chairman, after which the proceedings termimated. By Authority : Geobgb Dedsbuey, Government Printer, Wellington.—lB7s. Price 9d.]