1849 - Earp, G. B. Hand-book for Intending Emigrants to the Southern Settlements of New Zealand - CHAPTER XVI. AGRICULTURE AND SHEEP-FARMING, p 250-284

"Agriculture furnishes a healthful and profitable employment. No employment conduces in so high a degree to preserve the moral health of the community. Where can rational liberty find a safer asylum than in a country where the great body of the people are actively engaged in agricultural industry and in agricultural improvements? Every branch of industry, except agriculture, is liable to be overdone, and when this happens, distress, more or less severe, is sure to follow. Who ever heard of a national distress occasioned by a spirited agriculture? If the merchants who imported silks and other gewgaws from Europe, and by so doing involved people in debt, had been skilful, industrious farmers, who will pretend that the country would have suffered as it now does? Science is indispensable in order to the success of agriculture; but experiment is the great lever of improvement. The business of science or theory is to reason on facts; who can be a good farmer without reasoning? The business of experiment is to test the truth of theory, and thereby come at certain knowledge. Every farmer who tries experiment in agriculture for the public good, deserves the gratitude of the whole country. But individual efforts

are insufficient, there must be union of efforts in order to meet with great success. Suppose that one hundred farmers in different parts of the state can be found who would be willing to appropriate each one half acre of land for the purpose of trying some experiment in the culture of wheat. Suppose these one hundred farmers can act in concert, and each agree to try some different experiment, and continue their efforts we will say for five years, varying the mode of experiment each year; only think! five hundred different experiments skilfully conducted: who can tell what such a course of management may accomplish?"

"The methods I have adopted of clearing the rich alluvial bush land of the Hutt, and that on the sides of the adjacent hills, are these:--

"In the former, which is wooded chiefly with pukateas, kaikateas, and rata trees, and thick underbush of konine (fuschia) or roe-roe, kaua kaua (or pepper), &c., entwined with kuriwau or supple-jack, I cut the supple-jack and small underbush sufficiently open to admit a person walking upright through the clearing, in the early spring months, that the sap may ooze out as it rises, and the hot winds may sweep below the standing bush and dry the ground, as well as the small cuttings and overhanging parasitical vines, whose stems have been already severed below.

"This light cutting is effected by the natives at two shillings per day, or about twelve shillings per acre. They execute this part of the work with their tomahawk in one hand and a soft piece of wood about two feet long in the other, placing the wood at a right angle under the oblique hanging supple-jack, and chop with ease, and quicker than with the European billhook. The natives are also careful to cut and pull up the minute ground plants and ferns, conscious by long experience, that if left, the ground burning will be checked and irregular.

"A few weeks after this first opening of the bush, when the ground and cuttings are tolerably dry, the final cutting and lopping, at about two pounds ten shillings per acre, takes place. It is a general remark

that one shilling spent before burning saves five shillings afterwards. The best time for putting fire to the mass is about the middle of March, after four consecutive dry days, and with a north wind. The rata trees burn standing, consequently do not require cutting, and the kaikatea, with other pines in localities of easy access, are commonly sought for by the sawyers, who usually pay the owners one-tenth of the timber sawn. The tawa is also sought after by shinglers, who likewise pay a tithe.

"After the fire has passed through the masses of wood, with the exception of the pukatea and some other aqueous trunks, the whole is converted to ashes. When these cool with the ground, the autumnal rains cause a thick crop of sow thistles quickly to spring up, which affords, in point of economy, the best crop that could be devised for the next twelvemonths. Depastured with a large number of cattle, sheep, and pigs, the thistles do not seed, the acidity of soil is corrected, the charred surface roots partially decompose, time and opportunity are gained for a second burning of the remaining trunks leisurely and economically, and the land brought into excellent condition for wheat at a very moderate price.

"The hills on the west side of the valley of the Hutt are formed of slate clay, with an irregular depth of argillaceous loam and very little surface mould; yet they are thickly wooded. The timber trees consist chiefly of rimu, mai, tawa, rata, and a few others; the arborescent ferns and numerous parasitical plants, these are all cut down in the winter season, as the growth of the under vegetation in this comparatively sterile soil is less luxuriant and rapid than that of the valley, and will not retard the progress of the midsummer fires.

"Cutting, lopping, and burning cost about three pounds per acre, but the timber in localities of easy access will repay this sum."

"The rotation of crops, in the valley land of the Hutt, is, first wheat after burning, sown broad-cast, from the middle of May to that of June, and chipped in with a well-tempered shipwright's adze, which cuts in through the decomposing fibrous roots, and covers the grain at the same time; this chipping costs about one

pound one shilling per acre. One bushel of seed is sufficient at the early part of the season, but it will require one bushel and a half at the latter part per acre.

"After the wheat crop is off, and during the following winter season, the ground is chopped up about six inches deep, with a shipwright's adze, and in September drills are drawn 27 inches apart, and planted with early potatoes, which are kept well hoed. When these potatoes are off, and the ground well cleaned of them by pigs, it will be found in fine condition for wheat again or oats. Sometimes it is reserved for spring sowing of barley and grass seeds; if thought too crude for these last named crops, it is continued by alternate crops of green and white crop, until sufficiently ameliorated, for a four or other course system.

"The practice I should recommend for bringing the poorer hill ground into cultivation, which is chiefly done for the accommodation of stock to lie on, is to plant potatoes (Maori fashion) in the month of December, immediately after the midsummer burning, at the rate of five cwt. per acre, and two pounds for Maori labour per acre.

To enrich the land preparatory to laying it down for grass, the pigs are confined upon the potatoes when up, and a small portion of corn fattened. In the early spring months, grass seeds, with about a bushel of oats per acre, to shade and shelter the young grass, are sown and raked in, which form together a permanent pasture."

Halifax, January 8th 1846.

Sir,--It may be interesting to some of your readers to learn the present cost of cultivating land in New Zealand, and to be enabled to compare it with the cost about three or four years back.

Having recently returned from Taranaki or New Plymouth, the most fertile district in the island, and the most eligible of all the Company's possessions for the purpose of colonization, at which place I was a settler for upwards of three years; I wish it to be understood that my remarks will apply chiefly to land in that settlement.

Fern land which was formerly despised by the farmer, and considered to be of little or no value, has lately been found to answer his purpose much better than timber land, in consequence of the greater outlay required in the first cultivation of the latter; taking for granted that the extra produce of an acre of timber land is not less than three-fifths more than the produce of the same quantity of fern land, the following estimates of the relative expenses of cultivating each of these acres must fully justify him in his change of opinion, independently of the recently discovered fact that instead of deteriorating annually, as was formerly thought, the fern land is found to improve, and the general opinion respecting it now is, that it will yield two or three successive crops of wheat, and continue to improve without manure for five years from its first turning; of course I presume that it is properly farmed in the mean time. I have grown two successive crops of wheat on the same land, and found the second crop much better than the first, others have tried three with similar success.

Three years and a half ago the cost for clearing and cultivating timber land ranged from 40l. to 60l, per acre, while that of clearing and cultivating the fern land was from 18l. to 20l. per acre. The expense in each case when I left Taranaki in February last was very much decreased, being as follows:--

Now timber land yields from 50 to 80 bushels per acre, while fern land yields from 30 to 50, but when you consider that, for the sum required to cultivate one acre of timber, you can cultivate four acres and a half of fern land, and instead of 80 bushels, taking the maximum in each case, you reap 225 bushels; the advantage in the latter case is so great and apparent, that the question as to which is the more profitable investment of labour and capital cannot admit of a moment's doubt.

I am not prepared to give an opinion respecting the wearing of timber land. I have heard some farmers say that it would require manure sooner than fern land; this I leave for experience to decide. The facts I have here stated are mentioned for the purpose of removing from the minds of intending colonists those frightful ideas of enormous outlay formerly required for the cultivation of a single acre of land, and to place before them the more encouraging prospect of being able to purchase, cultivate, and crop an acre of land in New Zealand for less money than I have known paid here for rent alone of the same quantity of land.

I have no hesitation in stating my opinion that the farmer of Taranaki if secured in the occupation of his land, and favoured with the assistance and co-operation of the New Zealand Company, will in two years be able to sell his wheat for 3s. per bushel and be well paid into the bargain; but under existing circumstances he is placed as it were between two fires, the impolicy of the government authorities has brought upon him hostility from the natives (not to him personally, but to the quiet occupation of his land) while a similar cause has induced those quarrels between the Government and the Company which have resulted in nearly the total ruin of farmer and colonist.

By assisting the farmer I mean, that the New Zealand Company shall make such advances to him on security of his lands and the property as shall appear to them safe and judicious, out of the loan which they are about to receive from the Home Government, and at the same rate of interest as they are required to pay, by so doing they will not only be taking the best means of insuring their own interests, but will be doing

an act of justice to the impoverished farmers, I might say victims, would my conscience justify me in the belief that either the Government or the Company had intentionally placed them in that situation of trial, difficulty, and danger which they now occupy. What I propose for the farmers of Taranaki, I propose for those in all the Company's settlements, as they are fellow-sufferers from the same cause. Relief thus granted to those for whom I now advocate would spread its genial influence to all classes, and be the means of promoting without any chance of loss to the Company, the general prosperity of the islands. Confidence would be again restored, the friends and connexions of those on the other shores would be found leaving this in greater and greater numbers, and in place of curses not only loud but deep upon the Company for having trepanned them to ruin by divers promises and inducements, the transported exile of New Zealand would be found calling down blessings upon them without numbers, lauding them to the very heavens, and bringing them forward on all occasions as examples of honesty, uprightness, and good faith. --Yours respectfully, - - - J. LEWTHWAITE.

Auckland, 12th December 1844.

MY DEAR SIR,--You having requested me to furnish you with an account of my expenditure, and other information which I might be able to give you from personal experience of farming in New Zealand, I have enclosed herewith a detailed account of my outlay in purchase of land, seed, &c. I have set my whole expenditure for labour in one item, but I think it well to mention the prices paid for the several kinds of work.

For a ditch and bank, with a hurdle fence at top, I paid 1s. 6d. per perch. The ditch is four feet wide at the top, nine inches at the bottom, and three and a half feet deep. Thus a farm twenty-eight chains long, and twenty chains wide, which would contain fifty-six acres, would cost, to fence in this way, 28l. 16s., something less than 10s. 4d. per acre. I have about this quantity enclosed.

I have erected three Warries (native built houses) for my workmen on my land, for which I paid the natives 30s. each. They are eighteen feet long, by twelve feet wide, and partitioned off to form two rooms. I had further to pay for two small sashes, and ledge door, with hinges, &c., and cost 25s. for each warrie.

I endeavour to pay my workmen by the job, but when employed on day work I pay them 2s. 6d. per day. Each of them has a piece of land for a garden, and, living near a wood (being part of my farm), their firewood costs them nothing. I frequently employ the natives, who work readily for 1s. per day. I shall this season employ them to stump and clear about thirty acres of land.

I have this year sown about twenty-five acres of wheat upon land that had been previously cropped with potatoes by the natives. This land was not cleared, the wood having been cut and burned down, and the potatoes sown between the stumps, in the usual way that they cultivate their land.

I sowed my wheat on this land after merely clearing the potato haulms, and chipped in the seed with hoes. This work was performed with native and European labourers, and cost 10s. per acre, and I paid 1l. additional to the man that sowed the wheat. The crop is very fine; I think it will, average forty bushels per acre; but, not having time to attend to the harvesting, &c., I sold it to a baker in Auckland for 120l., and he takes all risk of the crop, bears all expenses in reaping, &c., and leaves the straw for my use. The price obtained for the wheat, I am told, is very low; but, for the above reason, I thought the first loss was the best. I have also sown about one acre of oats, a small patch of Irish flax, and a little barley, which are all doing well.

Before closing this letter, I think it proper to remark, that I could not have got my crops in so cheap, if the land had not been previously cultivated by the natives; but many others have done the same as myself in purchasing and cropping; and all over the country lands that have been under similar cultivation are open for sale.

I am well convinced that a careful person with 300l., could purchase land and live well on a farm in New Zealand, though a capital of 1,000l. or more would be much better. My whole outlay, from the date of my purchasing my farm, which contains eighty acres, viz., 2nd April 1844, to this date (12th Dec. 1844), has been 153l. 18s. 10d. My crops the first year will exceed the outlay, thus leaving my farm, which is much improved, and too-thirds fenced in, clear profit.-- I remain, my dear sir, yours faithfully,

GEORGE GRAHAM.

William Brown, Esq., &c. &c. &c.

Auckland, 19th December 1844.

DEAR SIR,--Knowing as I do the interest you take in all matters connected with the produce of the country, I beg to give you the result of an experiment I made to grow wheat upon the lands I bought from the natives in April last.

You may rely with confidence upon this statement as correct, because I had everything to pay for, and all monies that I paid, I charged to the wheat.

after paying all expenses, and leaving the ground fenced in, and a house upon it. I may add that a practical man might have done it much cheaper, and, of course, would have a greater profit.

Wishing you a pleasant passage to England, and soon back again, I remain, dear sir, yours very truly, - - - D. DILWORTH

"I would therefore fain recommend many of those who have capital, to retire to the country and commence rearing sheep, a source of employment at once healthy, independent, and profitable. This country produces rich pasturage grasses to greater perfection than most districts of Old England, and certainly no other country on the globe can vie with it.

As to the adaptation of the soil and climate to sheep-breeding and grazing, I am for my part so fully satisfied, that I with confidence recommend it. I have heard it remarked that the climate was too wet, that sheep would never do here. Some parties, no doubt, speak so in ignorance, others prejudiced, and some dream themselves into such ideas. We all know well that sheep thrive in England, and as

I have kept an account of the weather since my residence here, I find that (despite the general outcry of wetness) we have not so much rain as they in many parts of Old England and Scotland experience. We have none of those severe snow-storms which (to my sorrow) I can prove do so most serious injury to flocks at home. Therefore why should sheep not prosper here? In fact, the climate is calculated to produce much greater weight of wool and mutton than the neighbouring colonies can; for though great wet is injurious to the constitution of the animal in question, yet it is well known that moisture is necessary to the full development of the animal as well as the vegetable kingdom, and the fact that the class of sheep which produces most wool and mutton, being those which are most capable of sustaining moisture, renders their success more certain. Again, as to this not being a sheep country is, I think, equally absurd, in the adjoining colonies, it requires, on an average, three acres to each sheep, and those generally short-woolled breed, producing about 2 1/2 lb. of wool each, often suffering from drought, &c. which causes the wool to be jointed. Thus it would require 3,000 acres to graze 1000 sheep, and produce 2,500 lb. of wool, this attended with great expense of attendance in consequence of the extent of the walks, wild dogs, &c., which, with the enormous expense of carting provisions often a distance of 200 to 300 miles, and their wool to return by the same means to the shipping port, to say nothing of the want of means to wash well, throws those countries quite into the shade when compared with the following advantages which this country possesses. There need be no fear that the general surface of this country, properly seeded to pasture, will carry five long-woolled sheep per acre, consequently 200 acres will carry 1,000 sheep, and those of a long-woolled breed would produce 7,000 lb. of wool, and considerably more mutton than the other. The extent of land required, easily fenced, and expense of attendance thereby reduced, no wild dogs to annoy them, no burs to cling to the wool (which is a serious evil in New South Wales), abundance of water to wash with, everywhere close to water communication, with sundry advantages, at present unnecessary to mention, as I have before said, throw our neighbours quite into the shade, and render this country well worthy the attention of intending emigrants of capital, who are fond of that pleasant and profitable employment. Compare the facts in figures.

New South Wales requires for each 1,000 sheep : 3000 acres of land : and produces 2,500 lbs. of wool therefrom.

New Zealand will require for every 1,000 sheep : 250 acres of land : and will produce therefrom 7,000 lbs. of wool, and considerably more mutton.

The difference appears so great, that it might possibly astound those unacquainted with such matters, and even many sheep-breeders who have not well studied or experienced the several qualities. It is, however, beyond doubt, that such returns maybe looked for, from the long-wool sort, and though I doubt not but the short-wool breeds might thrive tolerably well under careful management, and also pay the breeder, yet I feel certain that the former will prove best suited to the climate. The improved Leicester and Teeswater are the animals to make New Zealand flourish. It must be remembered that although they have natural pastures in the sister colonies, frequent attempts have been made to obtain good pastures from sowing mixtures of grass seeds (which are recommended and proved to answer in this country); but in one they have entirely failed, and in the other only partially succeeded.

The pastures required may be obtained by merely clearing the ground, harrowing well, and sowing the grass seeds in the autumn, harrowing them in, if about 2 lbs. of cole, or native cabbage seed, per acre, is sown with the grass, a sheep-pasture will soon be obtained. Tares will also answer well. Two hundred and fifty acres of land, prepared as above, will keep 1,000 long-woolled sheep, and the produce annually, taking wool at 9d. per lb. and mutton at 3d., would be about seven hundred pounds. To purchase the land, fence it, seed it, and purchase a full compliment of stock, would cost about 1,500l., and I would ask, in what way can the same return be looked forward to with any degree of certainty in any trading business. This end may, however, be easily accomplished by much less capital, for many localities may be selected to require very little fencing or clearing, and on which there is considerable pasture, keeping a smaller stock to commence upon, preparing the ground as the stock increases. Five hundred pounds judiciously invested, and carefully managed, would soon realize the 250 acres of land in grass, and 1,000 of sheep upon it; thus giving a property worth upwards of 2,000l., and producing a net yearly income of 700l. This Colony may not be so well adapted for those sweeping speculations

common in New South Wales, where transfers of thousands take place at a time. But for moderate capitalists it offers more advantages, and if they cannot sweep into a large return at once, it is more certain, and decidedly more profitable in the end. It is the peculiar adaptation of the country for growing rich pasturage grasses, and consequent equal adaptation to produce the long or great wool-producing-sheep, which throws the balance so much in favour of this country.

I must state, that the Leicester sheep have been tried on a small scale, and that trial was highly satisfactory. If, therefore, some of the dormant capital of the Colonists was devoted to this purpose, the result would be publicly, as well as personally advantageous, by producing one article of consumption, and another, one of the best of exports, one that has a standard value, and only wants producing.

I would remark, that the moderate success of some few of our agriculturists ought not to deter others. The early settlers of this place commenced under many disadvantages, paying for everything double what is now done, and many of those who had capital had not a sufficient knowledge; some of those with knowledge had not capital. Again, the branch I am advising is decidedly less precarious than any other. Breeding stock is less speculative or riskable than merely grazing or grain-growing; indeed, if properly managed, may be said to be a certainty."

"Modern colonists act on two principles in the selection of their adopted country: one party make up their minds to contend with a climate uncongenial to their habits and constitution, for the sake of the commercial products to be raised under its influence when directed by their energies or their capital, becoming by degrees the masters of a numerous native race, unable to contend with them, and raising rather factories than colonies. The other class seek out a country as nearly like their own as nature offers, and where the physical and intellectual energies of themselves and their descendants may be matured, and where, from resources within the

colony itself, there is a fair, if not a certain, prospect of a steady progress to ultimate prosperity, and of, at the same time, relieving their own wants, and benefiting, by increased demand, the mother-country. Such a country is New Zealand. The climate is not only analogous to that of England, but as mild as that of her southern counties, and yet healthy and invigorating. Here is no epidemic to wither health and strength; no drought to devastate the flocks and herds, and desiccate the pastures. The greater part of the country possesses a soil suitable to the production of grain, fruit, and vegetables, so necessary for European colonists; whilst its forests present materials for the shipbuilder, and its freestone and marble are ready to the mason's hand. It wants not in coal to call into life the power of steam, or in harbours or inlets to facilitate intercourse and trade. Those who resort to our Australian colonies with the expectation of making fortunes easily and rapidly, had better not seek New Zealand. They will not there find the endless pasture-grounds of New South Wales or Van Diemens Land, or sufficient available native labour to produce, in the shortest possible time, articles of export. Such colonists as these, who regard the new land merely as a temporary resting-place, will not progress in that island; but to all those who come to a colony as to a second home, content to form one item in an independent and affluent middle class, such as the old English yeoman was, and in some places still is--who are content to labour long and well, so that their labour do but meet with its reward at last--who come to a colony to seek and to find there, not instant wealth, but eventual independence, after years of successful labour--to them New Zealand presents more advantages than any other colony: it is peculiarly the yeoman's colony."

Balham, May, 1840.

DEAR SIR,--I shall be happy to comply with your request that I would give you some idea of the condition of stock-farming in the Wairarapa district, at the time I left the colony (March 1848).

With regard to the following observations, all I profess to do is to give an account either of operations in which I may have taken a

part, or of facts which have come under my own knowledge. And first, let me correct a very prevalent error, that the valley itself extends from Palliser Bay to the Ahuriri. This is not so, what is really the Wairarapa valley, or the valley of the Rua-Mahunga, extends to a distance of fifty or sixty miles only, when commences a district of undulating downs and plains, interspersed with large masses of forest, which reach in a northerly direction to Hawke's Bay; and throughout this whole range the downs, table-land, and plain, furnish one of the richest and most extensive pastoral countries imaginable. This latter part of the country is called the Ahuriri district. It extends in a westerly and south-westerly direction from Hawke's Bay towards the Rua Wahine and Tararua ranges of mountains, between which flows the Manawatu river.

From the nature of the country and of the climate, New Zealand stock-farming differs from any other. One of its most valuable peculiarities is in consequence of the climate, viz., your cattle are never housed either in summer or winter. They are always in the open air, or, as they would say in New Zealand, "on the run." Hence, whatever may be the extent of the flocks and herds, the only farm buildings requisite are, a strong post-and-rail stock-yard for the purposes of milking and occasionally mustering the stock. This favourableness of climate again gives rise to what in my opinion is the greatest charm of the stock-farmer's life in New Zealand. His stock being always free to roam where they please, he must be continually in the saddle if he does his duty to them or to himself; and this constant horsemanship carries with it a life of healthy excitement, to which even, at times, fox-hunting must yield. Few who have not tried it can have any idea of the excitement that this occupation affords.

At the head of Palliser Bay, which is the commencement of the Wairarapa district, the valley is about eight miles wide, and the average width of the whole I should think is not much more. For the first ten or twelve miles, a strip of land, about three miles and a half wide, on the eastern side only, is available for the purposes of grazing; the remaining portion of that part being occupied by the Wairarapa Lake, and by extensive swamps on its margin; some of which, however, instead of being a nuisance, as might be supposed,

are quite the reverse, affording abundance of green food for cattle in the dry seasons, when the finer kinds of grasses are parched up.

As you get further up the valley the whole of its width becomes available either for pastoral or agricultural purposes: for the former on the eastern side, for the latter on the western. The proportion of woodland here increases, the soil being of very good quality, and the land generally of a drier nature, although there are here and there some extensive swamps. The swamps of the Wairarapa have generally a sound bottom, and the green food which they produce consists chiefly of tohi-tohi, sow-thistle, and two or three coarse descriptions of grass, all of which are in the greatest luxuriance in the summer season, when they are most wanted. They are of great importance to the cattle-farmer: the period of the year when the cattle put on most fat is certainly that which I have just mentioned. There is a great variety of native grasses; in some places they form quite a close sward, in others they are more scanty, and are mixed with other kinds of vegetation, such as coarse grasses, fern, tohi-tohi, porcupine grass, flax, tutu, manuka, and others. But the trampling of the stock soon causes everything to disappear but the finer grasses which quickly form a fine pasture.

The forest land is of good quality, a proof of which is the very fine timber it produces, particularly the Kahikatea, Rimu, Mai, or Matahi, and Totara, which woods are most useful for the various purposes to which they are applied in house building, the making of shingles, fencing, and constructing stock-yards. The soil of the forest land is much better on the banks of the Rua-Mahunga than it is elsewhere, on account of the annual floods, which have a periodical rise similar to that on the Hutt; and it is much more easily cleared, there being comparatively little underwood.

The whole of the land available for sheep or cattle runs, for a distance of forty miles from Palliser Bay, that is, in what I will call the lower and mid valley, is now occupied by squatters, and persons wishing to form stations must now go further north towards the Ahuriri. There are fourteen stations in the space commencing with that at Cape Kaua Kaua occupied by Mr. Purvis Russell (a very enterprising and industrious settler), and ending at Ahiaruhe and Parinuiokuaka, owned by Messrs. Tiffen and Northwood. The stock on these runs I estimate at about 18,000 to 20,000 sheep, 2,000 head of

cattle, from 90 to 100 horses, with mules, donkeys, and pigs innumerable, owned by both Europeans and natives. The quantity of land occupied by these fourteen runs is about 100,000 acres. This would give an average of about 7,000 acres to each station; but in estimating the actual pasturage, I think that full twenty-five per cent, ought to be deducted for unavailable hill, swamp, and woodland. The remaining part of the Wairarapa, which is unoccupied, being chiefly woodland, and difficult of access until the Hull road is finished, is by far the largest, and comprehends all of the western side of the valley, about 50,000 acres of which, at the lower end, is occupied by the Wairarapa lake.

I will now tell you something about the cattle in this district. With the exception of the few that have been imported direct from England in the emigrant ships, they are all from Australia; the various stations near Sydney, Twofold Bay, and Port Fairy, having supplied the greatest number. These are principally of the shorthorned breed, and very good cattle they are, although you occasionally meet with some importations, the breed of which not even a good judge could determine. The best breed of short-horned cattle in the Wairarapa is at Taua-nui station, now owned by Messrs. Tully and Scroggs. They belong to Captain Daniell, of Wellington, and at the present time there are of these two hundred head; and Mr. Ludlam is the only person in the colony who possesses a herd of Devon cattle. They are now running at Kopungarara (Mr. Bidwill's station), and for pureness of breed are not inferior to the Durhams. Captain Smith has also a very superior breed of short-horned cattle at Huangaroa; these were selected by Mr. George Duppa from the best herds in New South Wales.

I will now explain some of the peculiarities of the New Zealand mode of cattle-farming; and the first one is, that unless it be near a town, you never have to house your cattle in any season. Very little attention is paid at present, nor does it seem necessary, to the period of the year during which a cow should calve. I have not found that a calf dropped in the winter suffers in the slightest degree from the effects of that season.

The owners of cattle in this district, and indeed in New Zealand generally, have two modes of managing them, and the preference depends on whether the object you have in view is that of rearing

first-rate stock, without any regard to making butter and cheese, or whether you desire to make the most of the latter. These two objects are believed by some to be quite incompatible; and therefore, with the exception of Taua-nui and Kopungarara, they make at the other stations as much butter and cheese as possible; the calves reared at these places too often showing by their hide-bound staring coats, and stunted growth, that they have been fed on skim milk only.

At the two above-mentioned stations a very different system is pursued. The object is to rear fine stock, and therefore little more butter is made than is required for their own consumption. When a cow calves, the sooner she is brought to the homestead the better, as the calf soon gets wild. The calf is then put into the calf-house, where it generally remains for a short time, in order that it may become tame, and that the mother may learn to feed near the homestead with the other cows, which she is sure to do on account of the wish to be within hearing of her calf, and which has also the effect of making her very quiet. At the expiration of two or three weeks, the calf is allowed to go out during the day in company with the rest of the cows and calves. They are all driven into the stockyard at sunset; the calves are then separated, and the cows turned out to go where they please till morning. They seldom go far away, and generally return at night to sleep round the outside of the stockyard. In the morning, the cows are again collected in the yard, and a small quantity of milk taken from each. They will, of course, produce far more than is sufficient to feed their calves; but at these stations a certain portion only is requisite for consumption of the people, or as food for pigs. The calves are branded when about six months old with the initial mark of the owner, by means of a heated iron applied to the skin, which leaves a mark that cannot be eradicated. This operation having been performed, they are of no further trouble, and are fit for the butcher at any time after they have passed their third year. Captain Daniell's steers weigh when they are between three and four years old, from seven to eight hundred pounds, and if allowed to live until they are four years old, or a little more, they frequently reach nine hundred pounds in weight.

The cattle are healthy in New Zealand to an extraordinary degree.

During a residence of three years in the Wairarapa, with the exception of a few heifers slipping their calves, I can remember scarcely any instances of anything happening to them. In no instance can I recollect the occurrence of any disease amongst them, except a sort of scab or mange which attacks calves only, but which is of so insignificant a nature that it speedily cures itself when the calves are turned out on the run.

The butter and cheese made here is of very good quality: the cheese fetches at Wellington about 1s. per lb., and the butter from 9d. to 2s., according to the season. At some of the stations, from 100 to 150 lbs. of butter per week is made, and few make less than fifty or sixty pounds.

I will conclude this part of the subject with a few words about stock-yards. They are generally made of stout posts and rails; the corner posts ought to be much stronger than the rest, as they often have to bear the weight of a heavy bullock in branding, and other operations. The yard is generally divided into three portions, viz. -- a large yard for the whole herd, a drafting yard, and a milking yard, at one end of which is placed the milking shed, cow bails, and calf house, the whole being so arranged that a calf can be let out to suck its mother on one side while she is being milked on the other.

SHEEP. --Almost all of the sheep in New Zealand have been imported from New South Wales, and are principally of the pure Merino breed. The Merinos have been crossed with the Leicester and the South Down; a slight cross of the latter is by some preferred, as it improves the carcass of the Merino, without making any very great difference in the quality of the wool. It is generally believed that the wool of New Zealand will rival that of New South Wales in quality, as it has already done in quantity per fleece. The average weight of the Merino fleece in New South Wales is 2 1/2 lbs.; in New Zealand it is nearly 4 lbs., and likely to increase with the improvement in the pasture and the better mode of management. Messrs. Clifford and Weld, at Warekaka, have the largest number of sheep in the Wairarapa. They have taken great pains to improve their flock, by a careful selection of rams from New South Wales, and by the importation of a ram and some ewes of Lord Western's breed from England. Mr. Bidwill, at Kopungarara, has a small flock, which is said to be the best in the valley, having been picked

from the celebrated flocks of MacArthur, which for fineness of wool are scarcely inferior to Lord Western's. Mr. Pharazyn, at Te Kopi, has also a breed of Merino sheep, which is said to be very pure.

There is some difference of opinion as to which is the best time for lambing. Some people prefer May, and others the beginning of October. The advantages of lambing in the former month are, that you have plenty of feed for the ewes all the time they are suckling their young, and that, when weaning time comes, the young lambs immediately get the best grass, which is in season from September to the end of the year, when the hot weather begins. The disadvantages are, that you cannot depend upon the weather in the month of May: there are frequent gales of wind from the south-east, with cold rain, which sometimes kills the young lambs; but there is no doubt that, if you choose to run the risk of getting fine weather at this time, you will rear much finer sheep. If you lamb in the beginning of October, your ewes get the best of the grass, and the young lambs soon begin to nibble at it; but when weaning time comes, which will be at the hottest period of the year, there is sometimes a scarcity of feed for them.

The quantity of lambs now reared averages from 70 to 90 per cent. There have been great losses in some flocks, principally from wild dogs, bad management, and want of knowledge of the climate. In the course of a few years, however, these causes will be removed, and the average will be nearly 100 per cent. In New South Wales, I believe it is not more than 60 to 70. Wild dogs have been very plentiful in the Wairarapa; they have, however, been much thinned by the free use of strychnine about the runs.

Sheep also are very healthy in this climate. There are only two diseases common among them, viz., scab and foot-rot. The former was introduced from New South Wales; the other is always the result of running on undrained lands. For two or three years the scab was found very troublesome and difficult to cure; the remedies used in New South Wales (I suppose from the greater dampness of the climate, or some other peculiarity) not being found to answer. The best mode of cure, and that which I believe to be now generally adopted, is this:-- You first spot the whole flock over; that is, every spot of scab that can be found is scarified and rubbed with spirits of tar. After two or three days have elapsed, the sheep are bathed, in

such a manner that every part of the skin is equally welted, with strong tobacco-water in a warm state, to which is added some yellow soap and some spirits of tar, in the proportion of about one wine-glassful to each sheep. This operation is performed at intervals of about one month, and seldom fails to effect a cure in two or three dressings, care being taken to send the sheep after these bathings to a clean part of the run. With regard to foot-rot, I do not think there is any peculiarity in the mode of treatment. If the disease has only just appeared, the sheep should be driven to a drier and stony part of the run. This will generally cure them. But if it be of long standing, a caustic called butyr of antimony must be applied to the foot, care being taken to cut away as much of the infected part as possible.

The shearing season commences in December, and at present the wool is transported from Palliser Bay in open boats to Wellington. When the Hutt road is finished, most of the settlers will prefer sending their wool in drays, as, although the time occupied by the journey will be much longer, there will be no risk whatever. It frequently happens now, that a load of wool is either capsized, or so wetted as to diminish its value one-half.

Any number of maiden ewes may be landed in Wellington at about 15s. to 18s. per head: they are picked for this price from the best flocks in New South Wales.

A few words on the native grasses will not be out of place.

The grasses of the Wairarapa, and indeed of New Zealand generally are very numerous, and if cultivated, would be fully equal to English grasses: cattle eat every kind, from the coarsest to the finest. There is abundance of a native rye-grass, and sheep are very fond of a species of couch-grass, which is the first to make its appearance in the spring; not that the grasses fail in the winter, but they become sour at that season, and do not possess the same nutritive qualities. These grasses improve by cultivation, and if brought to England would no doubt become valuable adjuncts to the grazier. Grass everywhere makes its appearance whenever the fern and brushwood are burnt off; cattle running in a district speedily destroy the fern, and grass takes its place; the more this is eaten, the more turfy the land, as a matter of course, becomes. The Wairarapa is, in consequence of cattle running in it, becoming a rich grazing district; the

fern has, in many parts, disappeared, and thousands of acres of the native rye-grass, and other grass, are now to be found. When the bush is destroyed, it is replaced by sowthistle, growing to the height of five or six feet. This valuable plant is found in great abundance in dry swamps. There is a great advantage in the sowthistle, it is most abundant in the hot summer months, when the ordinary pasturage becomes parched, and cattle then resort to the swamps in which it grow; the sowthistle, the natives state to have been first sown by Capt. Cook, which is not unlikely to have been the case. It grows in New Zealand to an extraordinary height in most districts of the Wellington settlement. The wild turnip and wild cabbage, are in many parts equally abundant, and equally beneficial to the stock-farmer.

One great peculiarity of New Zealand is the abundance and nutritious quality of many of the native shrubs, upon which cattle eagerly browse. One of these, the karaka, which grows to be a large tree, is invariably devoured as far as cattle can reach the leaves; consequently, contrary to the experience of most other countries, the shrubs of New Zealand, everywhere existing in the most lavish abundance, become of equal value to the stockmen with the grasses themselves, and this will account in a great measure for the comparatively small district required to pasture a considerable quantity of stock.

Some of the grasses furnish food for man and beast. The porcupine-grass is one of these. When young, it is devoured by sheep with avidity, and the root is a favourite and agreeable food both with natives and stockmen. But when this grass is fully grown, it is a great annoyance to the pedestrian; the stems, as its name implies, closely resemble the quills of the porcupine, and are pretty nearly as formidable to the legs of the stockmen. Porcupine-grass is abundant in the Wairarapa, and since the introduction of cuttle, is rapidly on the increase.

There are also other grasses no less useful to cattle than to the colonists in a domestic point of view. First amongst these ranks the tohi tohi, not more on account of its fitness for pasturage, for when young it is greedily devoured by cattle and horses, than on account of its value in housebuilding. The tohi-tohi is, properly speaking, a reed, which, in swampy places, grows to the height of eight or nine

feet. The edge of the leaf is toothed like a saw; and from the silicious nature of the plant, this jagged leaf requires to be handled with caution, as it is capable of inflicting a disagreeable wound. The two properties of the tohi-tohi just described, together with its great length, render it invaluable for thatching roofs, for which purpose it is generally employed both by European and native. The silex of the plant, by throwing off the rain, renders the roof impervious to water, and the toothed edge of the leaf, penetrating the others bound up with it, renders the cohesion of the mass perfect. The only drawback to a tohi-tohi roof is its liability to fire, from which its use in towns is undesirable; but for country dwellings and outhouses, it forms the best roof that can be made. The natives are very expert in thatching with it, binding on their work with the leaves of the flax plant, and the roofs thus constructed are light, neat, durable, and waterproof.

In addition to the leaf, the reed is equally valuable to the native, as forming a very elegant lining to the interior of his dwelling. This reed is of a deep yellow colour, and, from its flinty covering, possesses a considerable polish; these reeds are placed side by side, and perpendicularly from the floor to the roof, being tastefully bound together by the flax leaf, dyed of a glossy black by the bark of the hinau.

The reed has another valuable property, which has been turned to good account by the settler. From the top of the reed springs an elegant white plume, which might be readily taken for an ostrich feather. This plume forms an excellent substitute for feathers in a bed, and is very generally used for this purpose by the stockmen of the colony, being to the feel as comfortable as a feather-bed. Care must, however, be taken to collect the plume at a proper season, and it must be thoroughly dried, for, if these matters are not properly-attended to, the plume is apt to be infested by insects. Emigrants arriving in the colony in the summer should bear this use of the plant in mind; a small gratuity to a native will ensure them as many of these vegetable feathers as they may require.

Nor are the roots of this beautiful plant void of utility, these are devoured by swine with as great avidity as are the young shoots by horses and cattle. The stockmen in the Wairarapa attach great value to the tohi-tohi. In a dry season, when the natural grasses

are less abundant, the tohi-tohi is in a proper condition for the food of cattle, which betake themselves to the swamps and fatten on it; and thus the swamps, which were at one time considered of doubtful utility, are now regarded as essential for a good stock station.

The raupo is another swamp plant, which is also used for thatching roofs, generally in combination with it. This plant grows in water, and produces a reed similar to the last plant. It is, in fact, a bulrush, and this too, when carefully dried, is used for stuffing pillows, being for this purpose even superior to tohi-tohi. But greater care is required in its preparation, as it contains insects at all times. Baking the bulrush in an oven is one of the best modes of preparation. Another, and a finer kind of grass is found with the above, which is also used for thatching roofs, and is in great estimation amongst the natives for the manufacture of eel-nets.

Of the value of the above plants to the native, it may be stated that his dwelling, together with manuka poles and rafters, is entirely composed of them. Few, if any, nails are used by him, but the whole is firmly bound together with the leaf of the flax plant, and is no less substantial than if nails and timber had been the materials employed; and it is little less durable. For the outhouses of the agricultural settler, no better or cheaper architect can be found than the native artificer. These buildings are so elastic that they receive no damage from high winds.

As little is yet made known respecting the native fruits of this district, the following remarks may prove interesting:-- The fruit of the tawa resembles a prune damson, but is more oblong, colour blue-black, with a beautiful bloom. The fruit must be perfectly ripe when eaten, or it has a strong flavour of turpentine. It contains a soft bitter kernel, forming almost one-half the bulk of the fruit. The natives eat these berries in large quantities. The pulp of the fruit is most grateful to the palate, and is remarkable for the coolness which it imparts to the mouth, which renders it invaluable to the thirsty stockman.

Kia-kia. This is a singular and very delicious fruit, springing from the base of a number of leaves, about eighteen inches to two feet in length, which radiate from the same point; at this point, or base of the leaves, is the fruit, in appearance a species of vegetable albumen, resembling, when unripe, the white of an egg when boiled

as the substance ripens it becomes darker in colour, and is very juicy: this is not properly a fruit, but an exudation from the plant, from which it issues in layers, folding over each other, which separate readily; when ripe, it melts away in the mouth as would a ripe pear. The natives, who are very fond of this substance, tie the leaves over it as it grows, in order to prevent its being injured by the weather, as we should put out-door grapes in paper bags in this country. The act of thus tying the fruit also renders it tapu, or sacred. If collected in quantities, and placed in a vessel, it deliquesces, fully one-half becoming liquid, and a large quantity of saccharine matter is the result.

Mulberry, or matahi is a small round fruit of the same colour as the tawaberry, the bloom being even more beautiful. This fruit is collected in baskets by the natives, when it heats. The fruit when gathered is perfectly dry, but after lying together for a few hours the juice bursts through the delicate skin in large quantities, and is very glutinous; the flavour is delicious in warm weather, being slightly acid. This is a stone-fruit, the stone occupying two-thirds of the bulk of the fruit.

The tetoki berry is a fruit resembling a raspberry, but somewhat lighter; the flavour is slightly acid, and rather rough to the taste, exciting the saliva as would a small quantity of alum. This fruit contains a small jet-black kernel or nut, yielding a large quantity of oil, which is highly prized by the natives as an unguent for the hair. This oil will no doubt one day be appreciated by watchmakers, from its purity and freedom from gross fatty matter. The natives extract the oil by first bruising the kernels and then laying them in a flaxen mat; this is then rolled up and screwed in a contrary direction by a native at each end; the oil is thus expressed.

The fuschia berry, or, as it is called by the natives, konini, is also highly prized. This is an oblong fruit, about three-quarters of an inch long, and a quarter of an inch in diameter. The flavour is very sweet and juicy, and forms an admirable preserve. The New Zealand fuschia grows to the height of 20 feet, and sometimes more.

The kaikatea berry is another favourite fruit with the natives; it is about the size of a small pea, with a very grateful flavour. This fruit is not produced annually from the same tree, but sometimes at intervals of two or three years.

The karaka berry is one of the chief articles of food amongst the natives, who never destroy the tree itself. This fruit resembles, in form, a large olive, and contains a kernel. The colour is yellowish-red, and the flavour is not unlike that of a ripe medlar. After the natives have eaten the pulp from the kernel, which is then very hard and bitter, they steep it in water for months, when the bitter taste vanishes, and the fruit becomes softened, the smell being very offensive. In this condition it is considered by the native one of his chief delicacies, but one which a settler would rather decline eating.

The tutu berry is also consumed in large quantities by the natives; it is very juicy, and this juice is fermented by them into a kind of wine, of which they are very fond. The seeds contained in the berry are poisonous, and the fruit itself should never be eaten by an European but under the direction of a native. The shrub on which it grows is very destructive to sheep and cattle, which are nevertheless fond of browsing on it. The effect on them seems to be a narcotic intoxication, from which, if they are not speedily relieved by bleeding, they soon die. The fruit should be let alone; a recent instance has occurred, in which a settler and his family suffered severely from partaking of a pudding filled with the berries.

Whilst enumerating the fruits of New Zealand, the honey (korari) of the phormium tenax, or flax plant, must not be forgotten. This lies in the cup of the flower in somewhat considerable quantity,. and surpasses in deliciousness of flavour the finest honey collected by bees from a variety of flowers. It is not contained at all times in every flower-cup, but its presence may be known by the colour of the flower having become of a beautiful crimson, which every flower does in its turn. It abounds, in the neighbourhood of Wellington, from August to the end of December. If the native has no paper, he frequently makes use of the green flax leaf as a species of papyrus, writing upon it with a pen or a nail, the writing being as distinct as it would be on paper, the scratches taking off the green polished surface, and leaving the delicate white fibre underneath perfectly distinct; the writing being thus white on a polished green ground. Flax gum for sealing letters; flax root a substitute for sarsaparilla.

The nikau is not, properly speaking, a fruit, but a substance which grows on the summit of the stem of an elegant palm bearing the

same name. As this beautiful plant sends up its slender stem to heights varying from 20 to 50 feet, and as the stem, having no notches, is difficult to ascend, the tree is usually cut down to get at the delicacy on its top. This consists of a number of concentric layers, the outer of which must be removed till the inner ones are found to be tender--these only are edible; this heart, as it may be called, is of a delicate white, and readily peels in thin flakes. The whole substance is sometimes found as thick as a man's body, the heart or centre being little thicker than his wrist.

The pura-pura berry is another fruit much prized by the natives. This is about the size of the tawa berry, of an oval form, and a yellowish-red colour when perfectly ripe; before that they are of a very disagreeable, bitter flavour. The same remark applies to most of the New Zealand fruits, and they are in consequence pronounced by the settlers not eatable, when, in fact, their flavour is very delicious. The only guide to their fitness for the purposes of eating or preserving, is the experience of the natives, who know the precise time at which they should be gathered, so as to be in perfection. The pura pura is beginning to be highly esteemed for preserving. The fruit is full of seeds, like the gooseberry.

The water-melon is another native fruit, though not indigenous, the New Zealanders referring its introduction amongst them to the same period as potatoes, viz., the different visits of Captain Cook, of whom they always speak in terms of admiration, and even gratitude,--a very rare virtue amongst them generally. Large quantities of water-melons are grown in the vicinity of Waikanae, and in Palliser Bay; their favourite locality for growing this grateful plant is the sloping, sandy beach, just beyond the reach of the tide. The watermelon has not degenerated in flavour; and from the ease with which it is raised, it may be inferred that many of the finer kinds now known in Europe might be grown by every cottager as readily as a bed of cabbages.

The root of the ti tree, a species of palm, is in great use amongst the natives in the vicinity of Otago. This contains a large quantity of saccharine matter, and is, in fact, a species of liquorice root. The ti tree grows to the height of 20 or 30 feet, and the small roots are alone eaten; but there is no doubt that the main root possesses precisely the same qualities, being rejected only from its greater

hardness. There is little doubt that, by boiling, the whole, of the root might be made to yield a great quantity of saccharine matter.

I am, dear Sir,
Yours very truly,
ALBERT ALLOM.

G. B. EARP, Esq.