The Evening Star. THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2544, 13 April 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star. THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1871.

The progress of the Province can only be estimated by comparing tile returns of this Census with previous periodical stock-takings; and notwithstanding the drawbacks experienced, it will be found that we have continued to advance. We do not think that any fair inferences can be drawn by looking further back than the Census of 1867 ; for from 1860 to that time there had been disturbances that had unsettled society. There was a feverish rushing hither and thither in search of new goldfields. Waves of population rolled upon us from Victoria, and swept onward to the, West Coast, and with them came and wont merchants and storekeepers, and tradesmen and artisans. Those who have remained have now settled down to fixed industrial pursuits, and our real industrial development may be'-assumed to have taken form and shape' about that period. But while an accurate estimate of progress may be more correctly formed from comparing the results' of the last Census with •that of 1867, it must be interesting to look still further back, oven though the recital may involve a few dry details. The first correct statistical returns were published in 1858, and. included Southland. In that year the whole quantity of land fenced was only 19,139 acres. The quantities; under crop were— Wheat, I,B,3s’acres; barley and oats, 2,885 ; potatoes,. 489 ; sown grasses, 3,717’; and other crops, 436 acres. Separation ‘between Otago and Southhand having been effected, the acreage ' returns afterwards appear separately, and are as follow —

It will be seen from this comparison ; that some changes have taken place in ; the attention given to certain classes ' of crops ; and that the cultivation of wheat and oats has much increased, while potatoes, notwithstanding the increase of population, are comparatively neglected. It would appear, also, that the pastoral interest do not find it much to their advantage to invest in sowing grasses, and that tee hogio of breaking up hind on the chance of having a run declared a Hundred, and obtaining compensation for improvements, has no charms as a speculation. It is one of the hallucinations of the agricultural mind. There is yet one porno tiiao ought not to be overlooked. It was estimated some two or three years ago that the average yield of wheat peracre sown in Otago, was 371 bushels. ; We always considered that exceptionally high, and arc inclined to think it must have been an over-estimate by the farmers themselves, as it exceeds by some three or four bushels per acre the yield of Groat Britain, where, we suppose, is to be found the best farming in the world. But if it were anything approaching the truth, it follows either that the land since taken into cultivation is less fertile or the whole is worse farmed, or that the old farms are becoming exhausted, or that the past season has produced an unusually small crop. Probably all these causes have combined to reduce the average, which presents a heavy falling off. The area sown with wheat in Otago last year was 21,401 acres, and the estimated yield G0G,820 bushels. This (rives an average of about 2S - 35 bushels only—a very serious falling off, but still a very much higher yield than any other Australasian Colony. In Southland the estimate is 34’2, and we can hardly imagine that there can have been anything exceptional in favor of that district to give it so great an advantage over the rest of the Province. It has long been remarked by competent judges that an exhaustive system of farming prevailed in Otago, and the statistics just published favor that idea. Farmers should learn to use the soil to better advantage, for their competition will be more intense annually; and only those who obtaip the greatest possible crops at the least possible expense will be able to compete in the markets outside the Colony, to which they must ultimately look for consumers,

Otago. jYear. I Acres 1 Fenced. Wheat. Barley and Oats. . Potatoes. Sown Grasses. Other Crops. Total nndej Crop. a i ■' 1861 42,254 4,928 ' 4,683 667 8,220 753 19,254 1SG4 151,516 5,117 21,936 3,068 15,895 2,440 49,158 1S67 653,572 12,541 45,314 3,344 56,018 4,991 122,208 s* 1871 21,401 J 55,580*" | 3,676+ j: 2,628 ,5,596J 3 a ■H* Southland, 1SG1 5,975 139. | 465 138 206 120 1,114 02 1864 70,341 352. 1 ' 5,695 878 2,148 17,300 470 9,549 O 1867 302,185 p 1,103 9,844 691 2,096 31,034 * 1871 1,410 : \ 10,636* ' { 1,060+ | 571 1,8207