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land plant of the same kind —the Leucopogon fraserii —which produces, I should think, one of the finest perfumes that could be got. The Natives used it before we came to New Zealand, and prized it highly I think you should encourage gardens for the purpose of perfumes ; but you can do very little with regard to these industries, unless you allow distillation in the country It is a curious thing that this prohibition of distillation, to the extent it is carried in this part of the world, originated from some colonies being convict settlements. The design was to raise a revenue almost entirely from a duty on the import of spirits, which were very largely consumed, and hence that system of prohibition has grown in these colonies, to an extent which, I believe, prevails in no other country Willows are plants the use of which, I think, is not known sufficiently The weeping-willow prevents coarse grass growing under it —such as what we term the rat's-tail —only the finest grasses grow under the willow In summer, if the boughs are cut off, there is a large supply of food for sheep and cattle above-ground as good as that on the ground. In dry weather, the willow thus affords an article of food for sheep and cattle the value of which has never been sufficiently thought of. Another willow—the African willow —is valuable for making wooden spoons, bowls, and plates. It is not grown in this country, except the few I have distributed. Every farmer could grow this willow I could furnish numbers of cuttings of that kind of willow The Seville orange, also, which is the best orange for several purposes, grows better, and produces more fruit here,'than in any other country I have been in. Other oranges do not succeed so well, but that grows here particularly well. That orange is the best for marmalade, and yields the only really valuable orange-flower for perfumes. You have considered the question of tobacco, so I say nothing on that subject. There are two varieties of the Pineaster, which give the finest kind of pitch. They succeed here as well as in any country I know They should be encouraged ; there is no difficulty, and they would grow on waste lands, and they increase themselves from dropping their seed. They bind shifting sands. 106. Mr Ballance.} In drift-sand they have to be protected for a few years, because the tendency of the sand is to kill the young plants ? —They will stop the sand drifting in a few years. When they are 4 or 5 feet high they will protect themselves, but when only a few inches in height the sand kills them. They will grow on high mountains, and will kill the ti-tree scrub. It is this pine which produces a great export from the southern sandy districts of France. 107. The Chairman.] I have heard 4s. is the annual production from each tree ?—I believe they would produce more in New Zealand, because they grow larger here. The climate seems better suited to them. 108. Is the labour very great in collecting the resin ?—There is a great deal of labour ; but your object should be to work for the future, and to get people to put in trees which will yield a valuable product in the future, and in the meantime look quite as pretty as the useless trees now growing. There are two other sorts I would plant for the seed —the Pinus pinea and the Pinus sabiniana. The seed of both these are sold for food. They are like nuts, and are very nice. They ask half-a-guinea a cone for cones of the Pinus sabiniana in San Francisco ; they grow to about the size of a man's head. You should also encourage people to plant the loquat. It makes the most beautiful hedges, bearing abundant fruit, which man and every animal eat with avidity It makes probably the best jam in the world. We could produce that in the North, and exchange it for Southern gooseberries and currantjams. 109. Castor-oil? —That grows like a weed. 110. Captain Colbeck.] I should like to hear your opinion on this resolution which I have prepared : " That this Committee recommends the compilation, and printing in pamphlet form, of the papers read before the South Australian Chamber of Manufactures, the letters of the Commissioners of Agriculture, United States, and such other information as has been obtained in evidence, especially that of Sir George Grey on the subject of the cultivation of the olive and manufacture of olive-oil, also the cultivation of sorghum and manufacture of sorghum-sugar, also the methods adopted in the drying and preservation of fruit; and that the Department of Science and Industry be charged with this duty "?■ —I think a publication of anything on these subjects would create very great interest, and would be prized by every cottager in the country I think it would be received as a very great boon by the whole country I do not think a more useful thing could be done.

Tuesday, 23ed August, 1881. Mr. W Seed, Secretary to Customs Department, examined. 111. The Chairman.] The Committee wish your opinion upon certain articles upon which Customs duties are imposed, as it might, in the interests of colonial industries, be desirable to remit the duty upon some articles, and vary it upon others. With regard to ascetic acid, what is the object of retaining the duty on that ? Is it not a raw material used in manufactures ?—I am not aware; but so long as there is duty to be put upon vinegar, ascetic acid must be charged. There is no particular object in keeping the duty upon nitric acid, and I see no objection to its being remitted. It is used in various arts. 112. What is the object of retaining the duty on tartaric acid, seeing that it is to some extent used as raw material ? —I cannot give an off-hand answer. If remitted, it would be the loss of so much revenue. 113. Then, with regard to soda crystals: the duty on that seems to be a tax upon Native industries, as it is used for bleaching cotton fabrics and other purposes ? —lt is only used domestically here, I think. The amount derived is large—getting on for £1,000. I see no objection to remitting the duty on alum. 114. Mr. Reid has mentioned bacon and hams as being free. There is a considerable quantity imported from Australia here ?—The duty was remitted about 1878. Prior to the remission the importation had fallen to a very small quantity I believe the reason it was remitted was that the Colonial Treasurer was anxious to rid the tariff of a number of non-producing items.