when I heard of your illness and never was satisfied till Alex returned then I had better hopes and was very glad he went to see you. I make no doubt but Jessy and John will make you as comfortable as they can and pay every attention to your requirements that is one comfort but I wish you had come here and when you would see everything going on and improving about it would help to cheer you and a little amusement about the gardin which has done very well considering the very dry season we have had. We have plenty of vegetable and potatoes. We are now very bussy with the harvest and sheep shearing. It is a bad thing in New Zealand to have both harvests at one time. The most of the wheat is cut and stacked and the oats is cutting, the grass was cut and we got 4 bags of excelent seed out of it this year and I trust next year we will have plenty. We got the sheep washed on the 24th and commenced shearing them on the 28th and I am glad to tell you everyone says they are well washed and clip very heavey. We have here 8 white men shearing and they shear very well. If the weather keeps dry I hope we will be finished in 14 days with the sheep. Alex would tell you of the increase