Extracts.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 459, 28 March 1857, Page 4

Extracts.

OUE EUYTJRE POTATO CTJLTTJEE. (Prom the • New Zealander.')"; The' last advices from Victoria and New South Wales inform us of a considerable rise in : tbe potato markets. The reasons assigned, after so'much had been written of the great breadth of the plant and the luxuriant promise of the Australian crops, are several—disease in the tubers themselves, and a light yield in other

aspects, added to the fact that the great prolucing districts of' Van'Diemen's Land, where [ast season the crops were left to rot almost en masse for'the want of demand, have this season been unworked,-so that but a-limited export can take placeffromithat country. -In the -Province of Auckland, the 'breadth planted has likewise'been greatly-circumscribed. That, however,.is much the,least evil of which the "-rowers ihave to,complain. [In the .fertile district of,the Tamaki, where, two. short seasons since, the return .was of ;the largest, and most gratifying description, the yield this year is so small that it is beginning to be regarded as alarming. By one authority we are positively assured that the average potato crop of the district will not exceed one ton per acre. ■ Others who regard 'this estimate as ■ below the mark, still limit ;the average yield to a ton and a half per acre. Supposing, therefore, that the highest estimate even be nt all accurate we consider that, our potato culture has reached a point when it behoves our Agriculturists to take immediate and active measures in remedy of such a serious evil. We shall say nothing of what improved husbandry mightveffect. The evil, in our opinion, lies not so much in any system of husbandry,"as in a o-eneral decay of the vital principle of the •roots. In Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, this decay has long been discernible. For half a century at least, the tubers have been produced aud reproduced, until, now, they have become not only exhausted, but wasted with disease. Change of country and of soil have, no doubt, prolonged the efficacy of the productive principle; but still, the original root in all these colonies claims kindred from a common stock, and, with short and diseased crops in all, it seems of the utmost moment that Agricultural science should be directed to the application of. a common remedy.

In Auckland, the question is being:mooted of sending to Van, Diemen's Land for a supply of seed for the ensuing season. .Without seeking to. discourage such a proposition, we would merely remark that there the, crops have been almost similar to our, own —that is to.say, poor in tlie yield, and diseased in condition, and that little more can be hoped from such sets than that which change of soil and. climate are likely to effect. -The Van Diemen's Land-tubers^r— commonly called Brown's River and Dei-went,— have undoubtedly been. tlie parent stock from which the potato of Australasia has been propagated,, and, being, so, it might.be worthy consideration, whether to procure its offshoots successfully cultivated on the Southern sea board bf New South .Wales — such as at Broulee and in that direction,—-might not be more beneficial than: to import direct either from the D/erwent, the Huon, or the Tamar." ■'"

' There is another quarter from whence a change of root might be procured, and .probably of a better quality and stamina than at any of the places; mentioned.^We mean the Chatham Islands, where, according to last accounts, the stock was large but', unsaleable because of a < want of demand. This is the spot to which the potato'growers of Auckland ;f would do well to turn their attention. They"who, three or four years since, either used or cultivated the Chatham Island potatoes, then in the Auckland market,must recollect their excellent quality on the table and their-generous return froni our soil. -At such a juncture a cargo of Chatham Island:potatoes would surely meet witlra ready, sale; and;although"the,farmers of Auckland may have serious cause to remember the heavy -losses sustained; still they cannot overlook the °<reat previous trains of the potato trade, which can only again become an important one by the culture of a superior, and more profitable article. All suck changes of potato sets are, however, in our opinion, but temporary and, ineffectual expedients.- Constant reproduction, has destroyed the active principle of the potato. It has been bred, in ? rad-w, till its powers of production are nearly exhausted. ; What we require is a change .not of sets but of seed, Twice m this Journal, have we published the American method of raising seed, msm the year, ironl the potato-apple. By that system, a great variety of the^ptato tribe is easily obtained, and edible potatoes -grown within^he season. If there be any potato Wes.still to the horticulturist .or husbandmanwho may adopt the: American system cannot fail to piofit by it as an individual, qr to become a benefactor to the country at large.

PLAYING- AT PAELIAMEN.T. . . Q r f the inducements which every year carry some Anglo Indians to' the Southern. Colonies, perhaps none is stronger than the hope of political activity; A man with a fixed but small pension is dost in-England. In Australia,he has a hundred advantages in the race. He can wait. ■He can, live if politics interfere with his ;busi:ness. -Above .all, he -can -exhibit ; in;season and out of • season that brusque independence which Colonists value, above ability. Our, readers have read much of the favourable side, of the ; p6litics of these Colonies. It may be well to point out another less in accordance with their tastes^ Coloriial self-Government .has one drawback. Tt'works through institutions which are not respected by the colonists themselves. The Parliament^ of New South Wales, though-repre'sent-

ing a , society: whose traditions are chiefly of the treadmill, isrdoubtless - as ; capable of >risirig tov a great occasion, as the community; of the * Cape, .which, though .usually |absorbed in municipal sqiiabjales, displayed in the .case.df the convict ship Neptune, a degree of resolute, self-devotion worthy of the men of the Boston tea fight. But since the days of Earl Grey, nobody has attemptedto oppress the colonies, and colonial patriotism has ceased to be a profitable speculation. Great occasions for the display.of Anglo-Saxon .spirit-do not arise, and so there is developed from •the necessity of occupation an irresistible propensity to Waddle. Thus we,find that the New Zealand Parliament recently devoted a whole day to ,the i of Clothes, - The Committee of Supply recommended that the messengers of the "Lower House" should wear a sort of distinctive uniform. A lMr. j Fox, who, though not precisely'Macaulay's New Zealander appears to be a prominent Colonial * patriot and very much in,advance of hisiage, objected to any " absurd, gold trappings . and other • relics of the feudal customs of the,old country, which were totally unsuited to a young nation like New Zealand/ A lively debate then ensued, illustrated by the production of a pattern coat and a pair of trousers, the coat consisting of "plain blue doth with red cuffs and collars." The sight of the red cuffs still further exasperated the John >Bull spirit of Mr. Fox. The "dress was not only unconstitutional, and one which would have been obnoxious to Lord Somers, but; it was "a,badge of serfdom,degrading to the messengers as members of the human.race." Mr. Eox ac- : cordingly proposed as an amendment, "that the uniform;snould.be. plain black cloth/having a white ribbon.from the first to the second button hole of the coat, and a black silk cravat:" After a prolonged debate, in which the plush and the passion were; both torn to tatters, the House divided, _ and the Government .carried its tailors bill by a tri- ; umpbant majority of twenty-three to six. But it unfortunately happens, that the New Zealand press has a certain sense of dignity. It will riot report in full such, debates as these, and the Local Parliament accordingly complains

that its eloquence is not fairly treated by the press. The reporter's gallery must be closed, the press must be excluded, and the Parliament must appoint its own reporter. These are'the sentiments of the iParliamentary party. They = are not, however, the sentiments of the New Zealand community. It is a community which. does not appear to care much about the Parliamentary debates, yet as it pays the members it naturally likes to know how "they employ thentime. The community accordingly insists upon -having its own way, and the attempt to exclude the press ignominiously breaks down. We have dwelt on this illustration, because New- Zealand of all the' Southern Colonies has presented the most favourable conditions for the success. of Representative institutions^ It is not only free from the taint of convict origin, but it hasJbeen notoriously, colonized by pnmi-a-raiits of a superior class; while its society has been still further purified.by the natural tendency of all its vagabonds to gravitate towards the Australian gold'fields; In the other Southern Colonies Parliament tary excesses are rather repulsive .than ridiculous. The bowie knife has not it is true made its appearance in the Sydney House of Assembly, but'bne observes there all the coarseness in debate, and all the brutality in repartee, which in America ended in the bowie knife Ihe great difficulties with which the Australian Colonists have had to contend are patent to a 1 : But we cannot help thinking that by this time there must be many gentlemen m -all these

colonies, and that it it is high time they should rise to the surface. It is not to be supposed that self-Governmerifc among any offshoot of the Anglo-Saxon race is in danger of falling into general contempt* In Canada, in all the' North .American-Colonies, it works-well, and is respected; simply because it has grown up with the growth of the people. Responsible Government was given to the .Canadians by tardy degrees, and it was but the other day that the appointment of Mr.'Hinckes opened to the youth of the Colony all branches of the Imperial Service. The gold brings on the Australians too fast, and like children bred in too warm a climate 'they are, though precocious, somewhat ricketty.— Friend of India.