THE FARMER.

The Crops,

(By ouu Travelling Rkpobteb.)

As time rolls along I find in every part of the country that crops are promising splendid yields, providing the weather only keeps anything like what it has done up to the present. Rolling is just now tne order of the day, and one noticeable feature on the plains is that where the tussocks have been carted off, the pad docks have a much better appearance than where they have been allowed to encumber the soil. Now, this is a point on which I feel inclined to lecture our agriculturists, for two reasons. First, because wherever a tussock is left it is bound to occupy a certain area of ground on which corn should be grown, and as the season advances the tussock advances with it, so that by the time the reaping season comes on No. 2 difficulty crops up, and that was illustrated to a very consi derable extent last year in the clogging of the reaping machines, the breakage of knives, &c., the reapers having to cut through clods of soil instead of grain. This was due. solely to the slovenly manner in which the grain had been pre pared, and had the crops been heavier the evil would have been aggravated con siderably. Tills year, lam glad to say. a much better system has obtained, and in many ways a great improvement is to be observed in the country. One item in particular is worthy of notice and imita tion, that is the conversion of a portion of the Farm into a fruit and kitchen garden, sheltered by a plantation. This kind of tillage is not so immediately profitable as cropping, consequently it has not received that amount of attention it deserves, but I am glad to see the farmers devoting their energies in this necessary branch of their occupation. One reason why it has been neglected so much is because in many cases our farmers have gone in for “ crop ping leases,”' sometimes with profit to themselves, but oftener to the proprietor of the land, and in such cases every acre means so much cash to each party for the short term during which it is let, and the planting of 20 acres in trees this year would probly mean a loss to the landlord of £3O or £4O of rent, consequently a bad system has been adopted of impoverishing the stamina of the land for an immediate gain in preference to making provision for future and permanent improvements. There can be no two questions about the matter. Public bodies and private farmers must establish a plantation system in a more vigorous manner than they have yet done, and carry it out in such a way that some good will eventuate to the country. The County Council made a start at the work this year by ploughing and fencing some half-dozen small blocks at wide intervals along the railway line, and with the consistency displayed by public bodies selected in most cases the poorest land at their disposal. The season of the year, also, was chosen so that the ground should be prepared just too late for any planting to be done. So that next year the operations of ploughing, harrowing, etc., will have to be repeated, and the trees which are yet to be planted will he a year behind. In the Longbeach district a considerable amount has been done in this direction, more particularly about Chatmoss and Windermere. At the former place the change which has taken place in the swamp land is wonderful. Two years ago walking was almost an impossibility on the lower part of this estate ; it being a swamp with a depth of from 6 to 12 feet cf peat on it, and the cultivation of it looked hopeless. The manager, Mr James Scott, however, Ims for years been carrying out an extensive system of drainage at an enormous cost, and. has gradually re claimed the land acre by acre. Last autumn he was able to sow rape and grass seed on the whole of the large block east of the boundary road, about li miles from the railway line, at an expenditure of about £I6OO for seed alone. The growth on this block is so heavy that un less one saw it, it would be impossibe to imagine anything so luxuriant. The sheep depasturing on it are hidden by the growth, and as it will not, or rather can not, be mown, a large quantity of it will not be made use of for fodder, the land being yet too soft to admit of cattle being put on it. Chatmoss is well situated for carrying on large operations in all descriptions of farming, for the land on this large estate is of the most varied description, that near the railway being light and strong, gradually improving until it meets the swamp. This dry land is of great advan tage, where so many sheep are kept, as a run on it occasionally prevents the foot rot. The improvements on Chatmoss are of an extensive character, and in a few years, when the whole of it can be got fit for the plough it will be probably cut up into a number of small farms.

The Exportation of Butter- To the Editor. Sir, —As I find the columns of your valuable journal are devoted to the in terests of the fanning community, and that you have given many practical hints and suggestions, I beg to solicit from you, or any of your correspondents, some in formation relative to the exportation of butter. The splendid season we are now having has naturally increased the supply much beyond the demand fpr local con sumption ; consequently the price is get ting very low. Whereas, if butter could be shipped to England, arriving there in good condition, the price must necessarily advance here. lam told the experiment has been tried on a small scale, with great success, but then very especial care was taken. On the other hand there have been many failures, probably through want of proper attention, or proper kegs. If you could help your many readers by giving information upon this subject it would be greatly to their benefit, and the general prosperity of the district. lam, &c., Dairy.

[Our correspondent has brought under our readers’ notice a subject of very great > importance to this district* Ashburton at. present does not produce,.butter in ‘ vety large quantities, but the production will be mimensely increased year by year. ■ In fact/we fully anticipate seeing dairy farming becoming quite as important a branch of the agriculturist’s labors as either wool or grain growing. Having

tried the experiment suggested by onr correspondent, some 12 years ago, merely from curiosity, we have great pleasure in stating the modus operandi. The process was first explained to us by a German merchant of grsat experience, who anticipated at that time the probability of a trade opening up in the direction suggested by our corres pondent. The first and main object to keep in view in this, as in all dairy opera tions, is cleanliness ; and the next the quality of the packages used. We were in the habit of putting down about 15 cwt. per week for the West Coast markets at that time, and after being kept from three to five months the butter was turned out as fresh as the day it left the dairy, and two kegs were sent to friends in Scotland, who pronounced it to be equal to the best they had ever used. We used white birch kegs, of the usual 5G to 60 lb. sizes. As all timber is known to contain substances which will tend to deteriorate the quality and flavor of so absorbent an article as butter, the one thing needful is to destroy these substances ; and the process adopted to do so was as follows. The kegs were first filled with hot water and salt, and the liquor kept stirred for a few minutes, then boiled again for another keg. The water would sometimes get inky looking and bitter on its application to the first keg, thus showing that there was a dye in the wood which, if not removed, would inevitably find its way into the butter and destroy both its flavor and color. The kegs were then filled with cold water and allowed to stand for about 3 weeks, changing the water every two or three days. They were by that time reckoned sweet enough to be filled. The butter was packed in in Itb rolls, made up in such a shape as would occupy as small a space as possible, each pound being rolled in a piece of calico soaked in brine, and when the keg was packed full and headed up, an auger hole was bored in the top, and the keg filled with strong brine, and allowed to stand a day or two to allow the wood to absorb all the moisture is was cabable of, and then the keg was finally corked up tight. Of course, the best quality of butter only should be used, and packed fresh as soon after churning as possible. The experiment is one worth our fanners’ while trying. Kauri kegs seem to be used most here, and we should think that they will require more soaking than birch or white pine. As we have already said, the butter packed in the way we have described and sent to Scot land, arrived in excellent condition, and drew encomiums from makers in one of the most popular butter counties in North Britain.—En. A.G.]

A New Silk.

For a long time the mulberry silkworm has been the sole producer of silk known in Europe, and no other species has been able to rival it for the beauty of the silky staple of its cocoon. But now, after more than 30 years’ persistent epidemics, it is really at a loss that pro ducers attempt to maintain hero and there, without any certainty for the following year, a few siikworm nurseries. For about a dozen years an imported moth has become a French insect, living in a free state and effecting its reproduction without any interference on the part of man. In winter there may be seen hanging to the leafless branches long cocoons of a pretty pearly grey. These are the work of the caterpillar of “attaous cynthia,” or ailanto silkworm, introduced into France by the Acclimatisation Society, under the direction of The ani mal is now as much at home in France as in its native habitats, as robust, as large, and as well-colored as in the north of India and China. No great welcome has hitherto been given to the new comer in France. The cocoon is not very rich in silk, it is strongly incrusted, and on this account, presents difficulty in weaving. Attempts have been made to wind it; but the winding yields only the single thread of the cocoon—too fine to be used, and requiring special and expensive ma chinery. This question has now, how ever, been taken up and solved by M. le Doux. He has succeeded to some extent in separating the gum from the silk, per mitting the threads to be drawn with great ease, and preserving to them, at the same time, sufficient natural glue to admit of the threads of several cocoons wound at the same time being, by the operation of twilling, twisted together and giving strands of raw silk, the only kind that can be utilised in weaving. Another chief point in the discovery of M. le Doux is that this production of raw silk is obtained with the same pans and the same hand processes as ordinary raw silk, so that no objection can now be used on the score of expense. The specimens of the silk produced are of a pretty blonde color, and make charming stuffs of “dcru” color. Moreover, both French and English dyers will know how to give the silk a variety of colors. The rearing of this new silkworm requires neither care nor expense. The wild moths look after themselves, and it only remains to collect the cocoons attached to the leaves or small branches. The ailanto tree of Japan, on which the worm feeds, is of rapid growth, and admirably adapted for covering waste spaces.

Mormon Emigration.

The United States Government has sent a letter to its Ministers in England, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Den mark, protesting against further Mormon emigratian to America. The letter de clares that bigamy in any part of the United States is a crime, and that the Mormons destined for Utah go there with the avowed pmpose of violating that law. The letter recites the laws on the sub ject, with convictions thereunder, and de clares the intention of the Government to prosecute every one in Utah against whom evidence is obtainable of his violating any law in this respect. This letter is believed to be preliminary to Government action forbidding vessels from landing Mormons in its port,-,, in pursuance of its obligation to prevent the immigration of lawless people.

THE SYDNEY EXHIBITION.

♦- The Sydney Exhibition, considered as a financial speculation, has every prospect of being a very groat failure. This is no more than was to be expected, and what the New South Wales Government was perfectly prepared for. But there can be no doubt whatever, on the other hand, that the great end has been accomplished the Industrial Exhibition of the Southern Hemisphere was inaugurated to subserve. It has brought in competition upon Aus tralian ground the great workshops of the world, and drawn together upon Antipo dean soil the representatives of the world’s manufacturing skill. They came there competing for the good opinions of the Australian markets, and spreading the fame of the excellence of their produc tions still further over the world. The show of manufactures will enable our im porters to obtain better information re garding the manufactures they have

hitherto been introducing into the colonies, and put them in a position to select, from actual comparison under their own eyes, the best factories from which to procure the goods they have hither to been accustomed to receive, depending for choice upon the knowledge of the com mission agents with whom they dealt. To many importers the names of the manu facturers of numberless classes of goods were but “ brands,” that had hut little meaning, because the specialties of each particular firm were not known ; and not seldom the goods of an inferior but lower priced house were innocently preferred. To a keen man of business the Sydney Exhibition will be a great practical lesson on this point alone, and one from which the whole of the Southern Colonies will profit. Manufacturers from every pro ducing country are represented in Sydney, and even “strange Japan” puts in a not unimportant appearance ; the products ot every industry in the colony are sampled to a greater or less degree, so that young Australia has now had brought under her eyes, in one great panorama, the natural history of the world’s commerce. She will be able to estimate to some extent how far she is behind her older compeers, and mark out for herself the easiest course to pursue in the race to come abreast of them. The keen sighted men who have come from every corner of the earth to attend the great show, and if possible, by its agency extend their own business con nections in these colonies, will have an opportunity of seeing what these great countries of ours are like. To their practical eyes our resources will be open for inspection, and they will go home with no unduly rosy story, no jaundiced report, but the “ plain unvarnished tale” of men who are earnest in the professions they follow, whose word can be trusted, and whose opinions are valued. We prophesy great things to the Southern Hemisphere from this “ World’s Show,” and the one that follows it, at Melbourne, and if the patriots of New Zealand have not taken advantage to the full of the opportunities now given the blame rests with them selves. But we are happy to say that advantage to a fair extent has been taken by New Zealand of the Exhibition, and the picture of her resources represented by her court in the great building will not fall upon eyes lacking collodion sufficient to retain the picture on the mind. As the summer goes on, we expect many visitors of a kind who have hitherto been strangers to onr islands—men who know how to estimate the practical value of resources— and those visits will not be without their influence upon the industries and com merce of our future. Crowds of sight seers may not flow into the Exhibition building, to swell the receipts in a propor tion equal to the outlay expended to bring about the opening of such a great feature in the Australasian history ; but we feel assured the after results of the great Exhibition of 1879, will repay a thousand fold the paltry loss that may now be in curred, and those results will be shared in by the whole colonies of the south. New Zealand Court.

The following flattering description of the New Zealand Court at the Sydney Exhibition, is thus referred to in the Sydney “ Town and Country” : The enterprise and fraternal spirit mani fested by our New Zealand neighbor is in the highest degree commendable, especially from a New South Wales point of view. The court is one of the most attractive and popular in the whole exhibition, and as an indication of the wealth, enterprise, and natural productions of the colony, the dis play made is very satisfactory. Perhaps the excellent and valuable collection of products and manufactures sent up from Maori land may be in some measure due to the influence of Sir Hercules Robinson, who, as he—well, not to put too fine a point on it —ran us into holding the show, could not do less than exert himself to secure the co-operation of the people over whom he now presides. However this may be we do not know. We only know that New Zealand makes a really grand display of her natural commodities. If she had sent nothing else than the magni ficent samples of cereals to be seen in her court, she would have been entitled to our gratitude and admiration. In this line, so far as quantity is concerned, New Zea land is far ahead of all other competitors. There is more grain sent by her than by any of the other colonies. The samples, too, are of splendid quality. Over 150 growers have sent samples of the produce of their farms. The wheat is really grand and ought to put some of our own farmers to the blush, though the Mudgee farmers have upheld the honor of New South Wales in this particular. This cereal in quantity predominates over all other kinds of grain. Much of it is grown near Oamaru, Dunedin and Christchurch, in the South Island. One sample, from Christchurch, of Tuscan wheat, goes 081bs to the bushel, and one exhibitor alone sends 20 different samples. Besides wheat there is a great show of barley, oats, maize, peas, beans, pearl barley, mangel wurzel, hops, flour, meal, grass seeds in great variety, &c. Many of the samples of wheat contain full information respecting its growth, &c., as for example, the following : “ One bushel white velvet wheat, grown by E. Menlove, Esq., on his Windsor Park Estate, near Oamaru, on undulating ground, loamy soil, limestone formation ; average yield per acre this season, 50 bushels; value in Oamaru, 2s 6d per bushel. ”

The minerals of New Zealand ere mode rately well represented ; but there is a fine show of native woods, furniture, wool len goods, and n orks of art —paintings and photographs. Wc observe that the Hon. Lady llobinson has sat for her photograph since her residence in Maori land. The furniture in this court, manu factured by Messrs Guthrie and Lavnach, a Dunedin firm, will compare favorably with anything shown in the palace. Messrs A. and T. Burt, another Dunedin firm, show a lot of splendidly-finished brass-work for engineers and plumbers ; also lead-soil pipes, rough brass castings, pumps, lead and composition pipes, bot tling machine and syphon, gaseliers, Ac. A model of the splendid steamship Roto mahana attracts crowds of visitors. There are also several other models of a kindred character in the court. In the matter of wool and manufactures the colony is well to the fore, being represented in tins com modity by specimens of tweed, all made at the factory of the Mosgiel Woollen Factory Co. (Limited). There are 35 dif ferent patterns of tweed, all made from wool grown in the colony, and they are equal to any English stuff's. Some flannels and yams are shown with the other ex hibits. This company, we understand, employs about 150 hands, and its tweeds are in great favor, and' bring paying prices. The Kaiapoi Woollen Manufac turing Company, of Canterbury, also send samples of their heavy tweed, blankets, and white cricketing flannels, all of a very superior quality. It is a pity these ex hibits have not greater space assigned them than has been allotted. The court, though a large one, is somewhat cramped for room. Among other New Zealand productions are to be noticed some very nice confectionery and biscuits, bottled ale, preserved meats, flax, rope, cordials, liqueurs, boots and shoes, leather, sad dlery, hats, plated-ware, fancy work, gum, hosiery, a plan of Lyttelton harbor, coffee, chicory, flock, stuffed birds, hand muffs, candles, soap, wool, and New Zea land greenstone. There is also to be seen in this court a bust of Hapuku, a late cele brated Maori chief. The paintings in this court possess great merit. There is one ancient sketch in the wool work, said to have been made by Alary Queen of Scots —not for criticism.

A Novel Wager.

L. P. Fedemeyer, a Frenchman, recently arrived in New York, wheeling a barrow, which, with its contents, weighed about 1-lOlbs. He was followed by aMr Fuller, who had accompanied him all the way from San Francisco to see that he accom plished his task. A number of gentle men in that city had offered $1,500 to the man who made the best time across the continent with a wheelbarrow in front of him. M. Fedemeyer and Mr Potter en gaged in this novel race. They started together from San Francisco in December last, but separated at Battle Mountain, Nevada. Where Potter is now, is known only to himself. Fedemeyer has won the race. The route which he took in order to avoid ferries is about 4,500 miles, and was principally along the line of railroad. When Fedemeyer and Fuller loft San Francisco the sun was shining brightly, the air was warm and flowers were bloom ing. They soon left all this beauty behind them. When they reached the Sierras they began to realise what a winter in the mountains is. In the wheelbarrow, which is covered over, were carried a tent for camping purposes, and such provisions as the pedestrians thought they would need before reaching the next settlement. Fuller carried a gun, with which he in tended to secure food shoidd the provi sions in the wheelbarrow give out. The only provisions which this gun furnished were seven small birds, at a time when the two men were nearly starved. In travelling from Carlin to Moline, Nevada, Fedemeyer’s feet were frozen, the thermometer at this time registered 20 degs. below zero. The trip through Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah was made during the winter, and both Fedemeyer and Fuller underwent extreme hardships. Provisions were scarce, and one time they had to travel 100 miles before they could get anything to eat. Plenty of antelopes showed themselves upon the plains, and plenty of shot were sent to meet them ; but the antelopes and the shot did not seem to comejtogether, and the result was that Fedemeyer and Fuller often went hungry with any amount of game in sight of them. In going from Laramie to Cheyenne the two men abandoned the railroad and took to the Black Hills. A terrible snow-storm set in, and they lost their reckoning. Finally, after wandering aimlessly about for several hours, they stumbled upon an old log cabin, which was occupied by a Swede, and he took them in and made them comfortable for the night. The trip occupied 228 days.

The Knowsley Hall.— Serious fears for the safety of this ship are felt in Lyttelton. She is a large first-class iron vessel of over 1,700 tons register, only on her second voyage, and is now nearly 150 days out. She has on board the balance of the iron work ordered by the County Council for the Rangitata Traffic Bridge. Weather Forecasts. Captain Ed win’s fifth annual report on the storm warnings and weather forecasts issued by his department, and their results, has been presented to Parliament. It shows that the direction of the wind was correctly predicted in 87 per cent of cases, the barometer movement in 76 per cent, and the state of the sea in 72 per cent of cases. Of the warnings for force of coming winds only 43 6 per cent were verified, but it must be remembered that as Captain Edwin puts it : —“The results of fore cast of barometer movement and the wind direction are the best tests of the weather forecast, as few places are exposed to all winds, and it therefore follows that should gales prevail from which many of the stations are protected by the formation of the adjacent country, the force as given in the returns will naturally be lower than would otherwise be the case ; but the movement of the barometer would not be affected by these conditions : thus showing that, although no bad weather may have been experienced at the station which received the warning, yet there is great probability that other places in the vicinity have experienced it. ” Cn the other hand, the gales experienced without any pre vious warning being given amounted only to per cent. This in itself is an un answerable testimony to the usefulness of the department, and the value of Captain Edwin’s services.

French Home Life.

A writer in the “ Constitutionncl ” pub lishes an interesting description of past and present home life in France, or, rather of family life in Paris. He says

“ It is a characteristic trait of the con temporary Parisian that he cannot stay at home of an evening. Great or small, rich or poor, he must go out, and that in all seasons. Formerly theatres, balls, or even ing walks were exceptions for the Pari sians. After dinner they stayed at home as a rule ; they kissed the children, who said “ Good night ’ on leaving the dining room, and went to bed ; the mother some times did not think it beneath her to put them to bed herself. She would then till about ten embroider, or work tapestry. Husband and wife would converse to gether, or the husband might, perchance, read the evening paper aloud. In that way the evening passed, long or short, ac cordingto Ithe “entente”—more or less “ cordiale”—of the spouses. At eleven, at the latest, the lamp wasturnedout. In those days it was almost a treat, a small extra, when the family went to listen to the military bands in the public gardens, or to sit down in the chairs in the Champs Elysee. At that period very few people, even among the richest, could tell their coachman to put the horses to, in order to go and breathe the cool air of the summer evenings. Very few people had a coach man. Nowadays, private carriages are as common as boots or umbrellas. The quiet pleasures of home have disappeared from our manners. People now go out every evening, and cannot content themselves with cigars of a moderate price. They go out and see all the new pieces ; they are everywhere, in fact, of an evening, except at home, and that is why public establish ments swarm in Paris, why the keepers of cafes become millionaires, and why the great city is the city of night par excel lence —the astonishment and joy of foreigners, who cannot help asking ‘ When do the Parisians sleep ?’ Life in the coun try in August is generally private. Visits are made among neighbors, riding parties are formed, and lawn tennis is played. In the villas of the Paris finan ciers the luxury displayed is unimaginable. The ladies always dine in low dresses, and the gentlemen in evening dress. The cus toms of the town have been imported into the country. Visits are paid, and cards exchanged. Three toilettes daily are the rule ; and what toilettes ! The other day at Ville d’Avray the'charming wife of a banker wore a costume composed of forty five silk pocket-handkerchiefs. In this society of millionaires the baby mania plays a great role. There are a pair of scales in each nursery. The mothers spend time in weighing their offspring. Baby weighing is all the rage, and fond parents lay heavy bets on the chances of their babies making other people’s babies kick the beam. Nor are the horses for gotten. The ladies have their village cart, which they drive themselves. Others have two grooms on horseback following their pony chaise. The financiers do not know how to show sufficient honor to their bank notes. Their valets bloom in breeches, they eat off silver plate, and the dinner consists of several services, exactly as in Paris. The rusticity of the country, the free and easy life it invites one to, are severely banished. There the tone of conversation is within the reach of the meanest capacity, and the song of these birds does not correspond to their feathers. The ladies like to talk the latest slang of the Boulevard, and the repertory of the cafe concerts is very much in vogue among them. Spicy jests are bandied about, and bon-mots are concocted which are more worthy of the Folies Marigny than of these lordly marble halls. After all, doubt whether this society of outrage ous luxury amuses itself very much. But it spends a great deal of money and our millionaires show what wit they can. ”

The Queen’s Prison.

The Queen’s Prison at Southwark has been denuded of its contents, prior to its demolition, it is hoped. The great masters of the pen have not failed to perceive the dramatic aspects of life in this debtor’s prison, in which those who owed much fared sumptuously, as if they feared not any man ; while pitiful wretches, whom a hundred pounds would have set at liberty, almost starved to death on the meagre pittance allowed by the country, and the reception of which stamped them as creatures’of inferior race. Dirt and idle ness reigned over all, and hunger dwelt side by side with drunkenness. In the olden time, before some slender provision was made for them, the poor debtors died by scores in severe winters of sheer cold and hunger, while the Hon. Algernon Deuceace and Captain Shandon fared sumptuously on the “ Queen’s side,” set apart for occasionally wealthy and always luxurious prisoners. All these strange features of prison life have been illumined by the greatest masters of English prose fiction from Fielding to Dickens, not a few of whom have had practical experience of them. There being no more need for the grim enclosure on the Surry side, with its excellent drainage and copious water supply, tenders are invited for the build ings and grounds, in all some three and a half acres, by Her Majesty’s Office of Works. The prison has for some years past been undergoing a gradual process of denudation. Its celebrated bell has gone to the bran new prison at Wormwood Scrubs, which excites so much amazement among passengers by the Great Western Railway. Much of its ironw'ork, some of which, after being exported to Australia, was actually brought home again and built up at “ The Bench,” has been utilised by the Department, and will not be tendered for by the speculative persons asked to make up their minds early in September as to the value of the building and ground. There is little hope of the building being put to any use, and they will probably, together with the lofty wall which sur rounds them, be razed to the ground. The site would then be invaluable for working men’s houses, and a hope may be expressed that this may be its ultimate employment. Such large spaces within roach of the in dustrial centres of the Metropolis are daily becoming more rare, and it would be a matter for regret that an opportunity like the present should be missed of erecting “ Bastilles,” as the new and convenient artizans’ dwellings are playfully called, on the site of the dreary structure once devr ted to a perpetuation of the atrocious spirit of ancient law against poor debtors. —“European Mail.”

A Gushing Doctor.

The good character of Victoria will not suffer in Irish eyes if aught that Dr Beaney can say will sustain it. Speaking at a banquet in Dublin recently this is how he pours forth in praise of his adopted country : “ The Colony of Victoria, the Go vernment of which I medically represent here, is, from the beauty cf its scenery, the fertility of its soil, and the healthi ness of its climate, one of the most at tractive of the group of Australian Colonies. Its gross area comprises over fifty-six millions of acres, and the popu lation is at the present time under one million, so that there is boundless room for stout hearts and willing hands. Mel bourne, the capital of Victoria, is a splen did city; the street! are wide, and well planned, and of the water supply I will merely say that it is as abundant and perfect as your own Vartry. Railroads run in all directions into the interior. It has a university, with a complete pro fessorial staff; and is enabled by its charter to confer degrees in the fac dtics of arts, law, and medicine. It possesses a flourishing medical school, and a general hospital—a magnificent structure, containing 500 beds, and in which 1 ha.-e the honor to be senior surgeon, lecturer in clinical surgery, and practical teacher of operative surgery. Melbourne posseses, besides botanical and zoological gardens, an observatory, with a splendid telescope, the work of Mr Howard Grubb, of your own city. It has, moreover, a general post-office, a public library, a gallery of line arts, public gardens and recreation grounds, theatres, an opera house, and a town hall, which possesses the finest organ in the British dominions out of England. “ Irishmen will, no doubt, be gratified to hear that the interests of sport are not forgotten, for we have a racecourse'and a standhouse finer than any in England. We have our own flag, and a small but effi cient army and navy, a large volunteer force, and a very fine body of mounted and foot police ; so that you see we are quite alive to the necessity of maintaining law and order or of repelling foreign in vasion.

“ Our exports consist of wool, tallow, hides, preserved ’neats, gold, silver, cop per, tin, iron, antimony, and wine. The production of wine promises to be a great industry, for, with the climate of Southern France, we produce the finest grapes in the most luxuriant abundance. \Ve are enterprising, and have brought in numbers of the most export vine growers and wine producers from tiro wine districts of Europe for the purpose of training our own people. Wine is already made in great abundance, and the foreign experts say that they will shortly imitate and equal the very best European varieties. When I left they were making champagne —a vei y satisfactory circumstance indeed. “ And all this, sir, has been accom plished in a country which 43 years ago was uninhabited save by the aboriginal blacks. Yes, in the very spot where the palatial structures of Melbourne now stanc', about 40 years ago the solitary white shepherd smoked his pipe and guarded himself against the spear of the prowling savage, who on the banks of our beautiful rivers, now smiling with the evi dences of happy industry, sang his war dance in grand “ Corroboree.”

“ Victoria is a land flowing with milk and honey. The climate is simply delicious. There is money to be made, and people really enjoy life. Everyone is comfortable, and the least opulent—for we have no poor—have abundance for all material wants. Victoria is destined to become a great country ; and the time will yet come when the five colonies, united federally, will form one grand dominion, presided over, like Canada, by a Governor-General. And I can see in the vista of time a great future for those who follow in our footsteps, when we, the pioneers, have passed away.

“ It is now an established fact that Irish men make good colonists—three of onr Supreme Court Judges are Irishmen, as also our Speaker of the Legislative As sembly, Sir Charles Gavin Duffy. We ha.e had several other Speakers from this side of the water, including Sir Francis Murphy, about whose nationality I need speak no further in this place. During several Parliaments of Victoria the high and honorable office of Premier has been filled by Irishmen. Our mounted troopers who were so much admired by his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, during the memorable visit of the Galatea to the Port of Melbourne, are Irishmen. “ In this country there are htindreds of thousands of people who require fresh fields for enterprise, and they have seen them at hand in the Australian colonies, which acknowledge the same allegiance, are swayed by the same laws, and are in habited by the same people as these is lands. Queensland, the youngest of the Australian group, presents also a great opening to those who choose to settle there. This colony occupies the north eastern quarter of the Australian conti nent, and stretches from the northern boundary of New South Wales to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is twelve times the size of England, twice the size of Canada, and half as large again as England, Scot land, Wales, Ireland, France, and Spain combined. It is very rich in the precious metal—gold. In fact, the area of the auriferous country now being worked can not be much less than 4,000 square miles ; and the colony is something like what Victoria was twenty years ago. In con clusion, I hope that thousands and tens of thousands of brave hearts and willing hands will leave these shores for the “New World,” and when on board the good ship which is to bear them to the land of their adoption, may their voices ring out merrily the old refrain— “ Cheer, boys, cheer, no more of idle sorrow Cheer, boys, cheer, united heart and hand ; Cheer, boys, cheer, there work for honest labor ; Cheer, boys, cheer, for the new and happy land. ”

A New Arch Ornament —On the nnival of the Maharajah at Bangalore one of the triumphal arches was ornamented with locks of women’s hair. The Depression. —During the first week in August a million sterling was withdrawn for holiday purposes from the Bank of England by persons who keep private accounts there. The Great Eastern. Tin* big ship is to be converted into a meat trader be tween England and Texas. She is capable of accommodating 2000 head of cattle, or 30,000 sheep, and ought to pay.

The Cost of Modern Warfare.

The recent experiments with steel guns in Germany has called up some interest ing facts concerning the increased cost of ordnance in modern times. We have but to go back to the days of the Crimea to find the ordinary -weapon of cast iron, which was regarded as good enough for killing and wounding by our forefathers for centuries. A field-piece of cast iron that carried a cannon ball of 10 or 12 lbs. weight conld be fashioned for £5, or if made of bronze or gun-metal the expense of material and casting was not more than, double that sum. Now-a-days a field piece of improved construction, made of the finest steel, such as Herr Krupp, of Essen, produces at his well-known factory, costs £llO. Next to the Krupp steel-gun comes the iron-steel cannon of Woolwich. A field-piece manufactured on this prin ciple costs from £7O to £75, and the Armstrong breech-loader, that was for merly in use in our service was made for the same money, or perhaps a little less. In the British gun the most costly part is the steel tube or core of the weapon, which has to be bored out of a solid pillar. The steel tube is strengthened by having placed round it a coil or cylinder of wrought iron, which if it adds strength to the weapon makes it also heavier. The cheapest of all modern guns are those of the Austrians. These, like the Krupp cannon and unlike our own, are breech loaders, and resemble in make a good deal the weapons turned out at the Essen factory. The Austrians make their field guns for £35 a piece, the lowest price paid by any nation for rifled cannon. The material of which the guns are made is bronze, treated after a method proposed by General Uchatius. The metal is cast in a chill-mould, which renders the alloy harder and more crystalline, and still further strength is given to the gun by dilating the bore,’brought about by forcing a steel cone through the tube, and thus increasing the calibre.

Afraid of Being Kissed.

A man was walking along one road, and a woman along another. The roads finally united, and the man and woman reaching the junction at the same time, walked from there together. The man was carry* ing a large iron kettle on his back; in one hand he held by the legs a live chicken, in the other a cane ; and he was leading a gout. Just as they were corning to a deep dark ravine, the woman said to the man ; “ I’m afraid to go through that ravine with you ; it is a lonely place, and you might overpower me and kiss me by force. ”

“ If you were afraid of that,” said the man, “ you shouldn’t have walked with me at all ; how can I overpower you and kiss you by force when I have this great kettle on my back, a cane in one band, a live chicken in the other and I am leading this goat ? I might as well be tied hand and foot. ”

“ Yes,” replied the woman, “ but if you should stick your cane into the grounds and tie the goat to it, and turn the l£e bottom side up and put the chicken omer it, then you might wickedly kiss me in spite of my resistence. ” “ Success to thy ingenuity, O Woman 1” said the rejoicing man to himself, “I should never have thought of this ex pedient. ” And when they came to the ravine he stuck his cane into the ground and tied the goat to it, gave the chicken to the woman saying ;

“ Hold it while I cut some grass for the goat.”

And then lowering the kettle from his shoulders, imprisoned the fowl under it, and wickedly kissed the woman as she was afraid he would.

Resuscitating the Drowned.

A Frenchman has the credit of invent ing an apparatus for aiding in the resusci tation of persons apparently drowned, or who from any other cause have been tem porarily deprived of animation. It con sists of a cylinder of sheet iron large enough to contain the body of an adult person. It is closed at one end, and the inanimate individual is inserted, feet fore most, in the receptacle as far as the neck, round which there is placed a padded diaphragm, fastened to the cylinder so as to be air-tight. An air-pump, attached to an opening in the tube, creates a partial vacuum, and then the outer atmosphere, by its own pressure, forces its way into the lungs by the mouth and nostrils, which are left exposed. By a reversed action of the pump the air is allowed to re-enter the cylinder, and respiration is thereby re-established. A glass plate in serted in the iron casing enables the operator to watch the movements of the chest, which rises and falls as in life with the working of the pump. The action may be repeated, it is stated, 18 times in a minute, an exact imitation of natural breathing thus produced.

The Charm of Life.

(After Longfellow.) Tell me not that advertising Is at best an empty dream, For its charm is more surprising Than its base traducers deem. And whichever way thou turnest Thou wilt find upon the whole, Those who advertise in earnest Soonest reach the wished for goal. Wouldst thou save regret and sorrow For good prospects thrown away 1 Never wait, then, till to-morrow ; Always advertise to-day. Advertise, then ! time is fleeting ! All the wealth this side the grave That is ever worth the meeting It will bring if thou be brave. Try the charm of advertising, And avert a meaner fate ; Be ye ever enterprising ; Learn to advertise and wait.

A Questionable Compliment. Tha Wairoa Free Press” means to compliment somebody, we presume, in the following paragraph :—Judging by the number of people we have seen this week with their heads done up in flannel, and a woe-bo gnne look on their faces—sure indications of neuralgia or toothache—we should imagine that Mr Wilson must have done • good deal of business during his short stay here.

4

fTHE ASHBURTON GUARDIAN

[Tuesday October 28, 1879,



Thr Colony’s Wreck Register. During the past year 82 casualties were reported to the Marine Office, 78 of which occurred on or near the coasts of the colony. Of these, 32 affecting vessels of an aggregate of 5634 tons, were cases of total wreck ; while 46, affecting vessels of 6504 tons in all, were of partial loss only. The number of lives lost on or near the coasts of the colony was 25.