THE SUBURBS OF CHRISTCHURCH.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 67, 17 April 1852, Page 6

THE SUBURBS OF CHRISTCHURCH.

From onr Correspondent. (Continued from the Lyttelton Times of March 16.)

The moment the traveller has crossed the neck, 1100 feet high, over which the Bridlepath leads from Lyttelton, he sees signs of industry and plenty. Christenurch looms in the distance, on the level plains, larger than it really is. In the valley, the eastern edge of -which he skirts in going to the Ferry, he passes a neat parsonage, inhabited by the Rev. E. Puckle, with its flourishing garden ; the embryo establishment of the Rev. — Paul, one of the Commissaries of the Bishop of New Zealand for this district; the farm-house and garden of Mr. Townsend ; and two or three smaller dwellings, with their patches of kitchen garden. Cattle and horses are enjoying the rich natural pasture of the unreclaimed soil.

A new ferry and wharf is being constructed opposite Mr. Townsend's house. When tins is finished, the road will be still further shortened, and the ascent of the low spur avoided. North of the ferry, the Heathcote Anns Inn, with its stable, and two or three other houses, with their gardens, form the nucleus of what promises to become a village at no distant date.

About a mile along the road you pass Christchurch Quay, where there are often four or rive schooners and cutters unloading at once, and as many carts loading. For the next mile and a half there are several dwellings and good-sized patches of cultivated land on either side. There have been very good crops in these small farms ; a small patch of wheat belonging to a labouring man named Parish, and a field of oats on Mr. Cridland's land, being especially remarked. Allen's market-garden is also distinguished by the goodness of the vegetables, and the bright colours and sweet smell of the flower-beds?

Looking towards the Peninsula hills, numerous homesteads are seen on the rural sections which border both sides of the Heathcote: and when jieai the quay, a goodly row of stacks at Mr. Kent's farm across the river, cheers the eye. Of the He:ithcute farms, however, 1 propose to give you a particular description on a future occasion.

East of the town of Christchurch, on either bank of the Avon, there are some improvements worthy of notice. On the North bank, opposite the wharf at the Bricks, a Cemetery has been reserved, of wliich a few acres have been fenced in by bank and ditch. Near its outer fence is the house and garden of Mr Bowron, who owns the nearest rural section.

Adjoining the wharf, 22 acres, reserved for a Botanical Garden, have been substantially fenced in, at the expence of the members of the Horticultural Society. A nursery gardener, named Wilson, has been allowed to occupy part of this ground for the present. In a small inner enclosure he has reared a large number of young- plants and trees, including Australian Wattles, firs, and fruit trees of various kinds. A hive of bees is also struggling for existence.

Two slaughter houses stand on that part of the Town-belt which is reserved as a Cattle Market, just outside the South-eastern boundary of the Garden.

A road, made by private subscription, leads from this spot for about a quarter of a mile along the South bank. The first farm is Mr. Brittan's. A. neat wire fence fronts on the road for a short distance, and is succeeded by a row of healthy-looking hawthorn and furze plants on the top of the bank. The kitchen garden, on a slope between the buildings and the road, displays an abundance of vegetables and fruit trees of many 'kinds, besides a few willows and wattles. All the vegetables have succeeded to perfection here : there could not be finer potatoes, cabbages, turnips, onions, carrots, and parsnips ; celery also flourishes. Peas and beans of several kinds were equally productive in their season.

A substantial cob house is being erected in the rear of the temporary hut, covered with rushes, which has afforded the first year's shelter to the fanning man. Well stocked piggeries and fowl house, a milking shed, and two ricks, stand in the neighbourhood.

Besides the kitchen garden, about 25 acres have been cropped on this farm. The soil is a light sandy loam, easily, worked with two horses, now that the tutu roots have been extracted. lam told that this operation swelled the cost of tilling in the first year to £10 or £12 per acre. Wheat is reekoned'to have produced 28 to 30 bushels per acre ; oats, barley, and potatoes afforded a much larger crop in proportion. The quality of all the crops is remarkably good; and, as the land is now thoroughly well cleaned, the yield may be expected to augment next harvest.

The next section is Mr. Tancred's. A very small patch of maize is remarkable, as the only one in the settlement likely to ripen, and a; promising a really good crop. A good example is set here, in the shape of a genuine, wellhung English five-barred gate. A neat cottage is nearly completed, built of concrete, a mixture of small gravel, sand, and quick lime, in the respective proportions, I believe, of 4, 3, and 1 parts; There is also a small kitchen and flower garden, with a few fruit trees.

The greater p. ut o f next sect | ou ] ]as been sold by its proprietor, Sir. Bradley, in small lots. Three or four dwellings of various sizes stand on it, each with a small piece of cultivation.

Next in succession is Mr. Joseph Britain's farm, on which a small house has been built, the foundations of a larger one laid, and a small patch of ground fenced in, broken up, and sown, although the owner only arrived in the last ship. The soil becomes much more sandy hereabouts, ami there are indeed sandhills on the section, barely covered with grass, on one of which stands' Trigonometrical Station, No. 11, G.

About » quarter of a mile lower down the river, is Mr. Percmil's house, and about an acre of well cultivated garden, full of vegetables of all kinds, and fruit trees. Still lower down, there are two labourers' cottages, each with a small patch of potato garden, on the sections of Captain Westenra and Captain Wilkinson.

On the north bank, opposite these last, there is a large house built by Mr. Dudley, on his section, and a short distance higher up, the tasteful cottage of Dr. 0. Dudley, whose thatched roof and dormer windows remind the eye of England. Three smaller houses stand in the neighbourhood of these two, and there are several patches of fenced cultivation.

Altogether there is great promise of improvement in this district. There are several resident land-owners, who have shown taste in their small beginnings, and the quiet, serpentine Avon will probably, within a few years, glide between pretty homesteads and orchards gardens and shrubberies, for two or three miles along either bank. The soil, though light in some places, is generally speaking of fair average quality.

Between the sections bordering on the south bank and those fronting the Lyttelton road, Mr. Tuson owns a section, a part of which has been sold out in small lots, so that there are already three or four cottages besides his own, i a good deal of fencing done, and a little land roughly cultivated.

(To be Continued.)