CANTERBURY PRODUCTIONS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 115, 19 March 1853, Page 6

CANTERBURY PRODUCTIONS.

(Communicated.) In the garden of Mr. Johnston, Cashel Street, Christchurch, their is a "Pumpkin,' which measures 4 feet 9 inches in circumference, and is now SAvelling at the rate of 5 inches per week. In the Nursery ground of Mr. Wilson, at Christchurch, there* is a plant of White Clover, measuring 26 feet in circumference. In the garden of Mr. Bryant, at ■ Summerfield Farm on the Heathcote, there is a remarkable crop of French Beans, three of the pods of Avliich—though still young and fit for use—Aveighed precisely a quarter of a pound. Pigeon Bay.—lt has ever afforded us the greatest pleasure to record the gradual

development of the " Agricultural resources of the districts of which our Settlement is composed. It may not, therefore, be altogether uninteresting to the general body of .our .readers if Aye lay before them the subjoined authenticated statement, proving as it does, beyond all manner of dispute or doubt the fecundity of the virgin soil of the Peninsula, and the extraordinarily prolific crops which by legitimate cultivation can be raised therefrom. In a paddock of neAV . land, containing three acres and a half, the property of Mr. E. Hay, of this Bay, planted with the Early American Potatoes, at the rate of Twenty-two Tons per Acre, have been already produced. This may appear somewhat" startling,'and at first sight seem to savour of the "long range," and Were--it not that the worthy proprietor of Ihe 6oil, had vouched upon his word and honour for the strict accuracy of the statement: made, we ourselves should have ranked amongst the unbelievers. To make assurance doubly sure, we are authorized to state that, should the enormous yield per acre which we have just referred to, be doubted, Mr. Play will be most happy for any sceptical parties, Avho may feel inclined for a sojourn at this delightful wateringplace, to prove to their entire satisfaction, by an attendance upon the ground whilst an Acre of the Potatoes is dug, that it is ■not a myth which we have this week chronicled. We may also state that the ground from Avhich this Leviathan crop has been taken, was measured by a competent person in the presence of, and attested by, tAvo credible witnesses residing in Pigeon Bay. Here then appears to us the true source of Avealth, which in conjunction with pastoral pursuits, must ultimately prove the only permanent foundation upon which the prosperity of this Colony can ever be successfully based. The question now resolves itself into Gold versus Potatoes, and as the former is assuredly the root of all evil, so is the latter the root of a most palatable nutritiousness.