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tion of roots, house and laud hold, hay carefully harvested for winter feed, instead of being wasted in summer months, when stock would do on half the acreage, which, with the oil-cake, would form an entirely new branch in our farming —viz., winter yard-feeding for beef and paddock-feeding for sheep, with portable racks, mangers, &c. Not the least important part would be the converting of all straw into manure for the improvement of the land, instead of (aa now) every crop rendering it less valuable. Should you think my humble suggestions worthy of consideration, I shall be most happy to communicate with you in any further details of the same or any other topic with which I am familiar. Not having had my time fully employed for the last year —since Mr. Hayhurst dispensed with my services as his agent and attorney (on the plea of hard times) —I have been on the look-out for some suitable engagement or commission—without success. Indeed, my corn-drills formed my principal source of income during the past winter and spring. Should you like a chat on any topic with which I am familiar, I will meet you by appointment if you give me a few days' notice ; or 1 shall be most happy to see you at my humble cot, where you will find a room for the night, though not a very large one. Trusting mj hurried and rambling scribble will not be too much for your patience, I have, &c, Fjdw. Pilbeoav.

Btjlbs, Tueekous Boots, Flowee-seeds. No. 2. Mr. P. T. Adams to the Chairman of Local Industries Commission. Sic,— Gloucester Street, Christehurch, 11th March, 1880. I enclose you a few notes relative to my business, in the hope that you may deem it within the scope of your Commission on Local Industries. I note that the Times has been howling over the appointment of Commissions, ignoring the fact that they are for the collection of facts upon which future legislation might bo based at the discretion of the House. If we define as a local industry one which produces in the colony an article of consumption hitherto imported, I think you will consider that my work during the last five years comes under that head. I have, &c, P. T. Adams.

Considerable sums of money are annually sent out of the colony for the introduction of the above, and it was in the hope of diminishing this, by producing a better article in the colony itself, that the growing of bulbs and flower-seeds was commenced by Adams and Sons at Christehurch. The capital employed during the five years the industry has been in existence may be moderately estimated at £4,000, and the returns as yet do not average more than 5 per cent, upon it. This is mainly due to the long period occupied by acclimatizing and raising a stock for sale. When the large amount of capital and labour engaged in similar industries in England and the Continent is considered, it is not too much to say that, if the Government thought it advisable, by bonus or otherwise, to enable this industry to be expanded to a scale commensurate with the wants of the colony, they would strike the keynote of a local industry which must become one of considerable magnitude. The practical benefit of an industry like this will appear to some limited in its employment of labour ; but others will recognize the silent influences for good which flowers have upon all classes of society. As bearing upon the good supply of the colony, our importation and acclimatization of the best varieties of potato is probably worthy of note. Adams and Sons. The practical results of our work are embodied in our catalogue, which shows that upwards of 1,000 varieties of bulb have been imported aud acclimatized.

SITOAE-BEET. No. 3. Evidence of James Laied, taken by Mr. Colhmissioner A. J. Burns at "Wanganui, 31st March 1880. Hi name is James Laird. I have been residing in "Wanganui eleven years. I have been twenty-five years in the colony. I have tried the growing of sugar-beet on a small scale, raised from seed procured from Prance. The proper time to sow the seed is about October. It ought to be at maturity and taken out of the ground not later than April, before it begins to take a second growth. "When the root is required for seed purposes, it ought to be lifted and transplanted deeper ia the ground in April and May. The seed ought to be ripe in the following February. In order to procure the best and purest seed, care should be taken to select only the best-formed roots, and, if in exposed situations, the seed-plants ought to be supported; the seed is then saved in the ordinary way. Care should be taken to plant sugar-beet roots, when required for seed, at a considerable distance from any other roots of the beet family. AVhen required for sugar-manufacture, sow in drills in the same manner as growing turnips. Keep clean, and hand-lift, care being taken not to break or damage the root. The leaves ought to be twisted ofi'; but the best variety of sugar-beet has very few leaves. Stack the roots in a conical-shaped heap, either in the field or farm-yard, 2 feet wide at the bottom, and thatched with straw or other covering to keep out the wet, or placed in an open shed, heaped full if required ; but the roots must be kept dry. lam of opinion that the saccharine matter gets stronger after the root is taken out of the ground. This opinion I arrive at by tasting the root at various times. After this the root is ready for the manufacturer; but I have no experience in manufacture of sugar from beet. It requires about 5 Ib. weight of seed to sow an acre. It can be sown by hand, or with the ordinary seed-drill, in rows about 18 to 20 inches apart. When thinning out the plants, leave them about 6to 8 inches apart in the rows. About 20 to 25 tons of sugar-beet cau be grown per acre on the land in the neighbour-