THE MAOUI MESSENGER. Auckland, April 25, 1850.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 2, Issue 35, 25 April 1850, Page 2

THE MAOUI MESSENGER. Auckland, April 25, 1850.

We may, perhaps, appear tiresome in our unceasing endeavours to incite our Maori readers to redoubled industry in Agricultural pursuits; but as the topic is an inexhaustible one, and as the cull lire and improvement of the soil is the first great souree of civilization and prosperity to every nation, we should be wanting in duly did \vc fail to point out every way and means by which so desirable an end iiiav be encouraged and promoted. " No country," 3ays a recent Australian writer, " can be ultimately great that d 'es not produce its own food ; for although some isolated instances may be quoted to the contrary, these arc but exceptions to the general rule. Were it not for Agriculture, at least in the temperate ■/.onos, man must have remained n savage denizen of the forest—a houseless'waudorer—dependent upon the mere caprice of nature for esculents, or upon the chance of procuring the untamed animals that inhabit his scattered domain, thousands of acres being required for the support of u single tribe, and,even then, the members of it suffering, at times, privation and want. Contrast with this the whistling ploughboy, going forth to bis toil ; the smiling fields waving with corn; the lu«ty reapers bin ling their sheaves ; the joyful harvest-home. See the lowing herds, their udders bursting with liquid treasures, returning from th;>ir pasture; and all the p'easing associations of a comfortable farm, comprising a few well tided acres- ; and who will be bold enough to assert, that agriculture is not the basis of all other arts ?" There are, no doubt, many of the present race of Maori cultivators who can, from their own experience, confirm the correctness of the writers observations. The time is not so very remote since thousands of acres were here required for the support of a single native tribe; and the support, by those a>res afforded, will, wc imagine, be readiiy admitted to have been of a poor and scanty description. Thousands of acres, however, yet remain iii a state of barren unproductiveness; whilst much of the soil that has already been cropped, and that has yielded the most generous return for the labour bestowed upon it, is fast hastening to destruction, because of the ruinous practice of forcing it to bear crop after crop until its powers of vegetation and its natural fertility are utterly exhausted. Other uncultivated acres, it is true, may be found, and broken up to supply the placo of those so stupidly lost; but such a remedy is a very wasteful and a very wanton oii'«, niiil in direct opposition to the first principles of agriculture, which seeks by a simple, but careful, system not only to extract the largest possible crops, but also, whilst growing those crops, so to relieve and enrich the ground that (unlike many fields of youis now so foolishly destroyed) each year's successive culture shall only serve to render it more and more productive for the following season. Tin's is accomplished by careful preparation and a thorough manuring of the laud ; by guarding against taking crop after crop of wheat from the same field; by being particular in the rotation, or change, of crops, taking care that turnips, mangold wurzel, grass, or some other green crop shall take the place which wheat or barley may havo previously occupied. If turnips bo grown, and sheep or cat-

tie be prM'ned in tins field in order to cut them off—not only will the sheep and cattle become fat aiul readily saleable to the butchers, but the quantity of manure which they will scatter upon the soil will so greatly enrich it, that the return of wheat will far surpass the expectations of those who have not ascertained by experience, its truth. This is the wise system which civilised nations, who have no va«te lands to run over and ruin, adopt, and the consequence is, that one acre ot land so reclaimed and so improved, is ot much greater value, will support 111 coinfort a much larger amount of animal lire, and will return to the judicious owner infinitely move money than a score of wild or ill managed acres, i ou are n , ' ,at understand the value of money well. Y«>u ore very industrious and persevering in your efforts to acquire it. You should, therefore, study how you may do so in the readiest and simplest manner—earning an immediate gain for voursclves, and leaving not only your highly improved farms, but invaluable examples of peaceful and successful industry to your children. We have endeavoured, to the best of our ability, to point out some of the methods by which your Agriculture inay be reduced to t« system: —how, from scratcliers, you may become till'-rs of the soil: how from imperfect day labourers you may exchange your condition for that of wealthv and prosperous Pinners. You have the land for jour inheritance. All therefore, that you require is but to bend your minds to receive the instruction which you may easily accomplish, and which will enab'e you, in n very short time, to underst'iud Agriculture, and to practise it as an Art. \N hen your eyes sha'l be thus opened, you will be üble to discover the vast riches which, as n corn and n meat producing country, New Zealand possesses. You will, then, appreciate the pains we took, and the space we bestowed, ill our endeavour to arouse you to the great advantages, and to the money to be made by dairy farming. You will preceive the benefit to be gained from a careful study of the growth of the various grains and vegetables, which we have already, or may yot brin o ' under your observation, anil you will,"we liope,:admit that however difficult of understanding some of our explanations may have been, that they have, nevertheless, been given in the simplest possible manner, and with the moat anxious wish for your improvement. Having written so fully respecting the growth of Wheat. Barley, Oats, and Rye, we shall proceed to direct your attention to the culture of Rye grass, not only ns a means of cleansing your c " m lands, and so establishing something like a rotation in vonr crops, but as a sourie of wealth in itself, from the momy to bo made by it as dairy and general pastnie, as well as by mowing and saving it for liay. „ "Rye grass," s-iys the Penny Cyclopaedia, " is one of the most common of the artificial grasses. There are se\ eral varieties, some annual, others perennial, some producing a strong juicy grass and others a small diminutive plant. I liesu varieties aiise chielly from difference of soil, c'imate, anil cultivation. In the convertible (that is to say the rotation) system of husbandry, rye grass performs a very essential pait, especially the perennial sort, which, inix< il with diderent varieties of c'ovcr and other gras9 seeds, produces a rich and close herbage, which may be either mown for hay or depns* tured. In the course of two or three years tho laud is so much recruited by the extension of the roots, and by the dun"- and urine of the animals, that, without dung from the yard, it will produce oy, „<• two very good crops. When cloto remain only one year, the annual variety is frequently sown with it. It adds to the weight of the hay, and the stems of the rye grass are a good corrective to the richness of the c'ovcr, when they are given to horses in a green state ; but when the hay is intended for the Loudon market, or that of any of the great mercantile towns, tiie tradesmen and carmen prefer the pure clover hay, thinking it more nutritious. Many farinersj without being able to gi v o any reason, assert, from expeiience alone, that •wheat taken after rye-grass is more subject to accident or failure than after red

clover. This is not the case when tlie ryc-grnss has been depastured, but in the rotation system, generally adopted in Scotland, oats ate usually sown when the grass is broken up, beeanse an abundant crop is obtained on a single ploughing ; and the land requires stirring to produce a good crop of wheat, which is taken in preference alter beam or early turnips. "Those who have p.iid attention to the cultivation of ryo-gniss think highly of it. Tin's grass grows inth'h more rapidly in spring than any other grass, and is so much relished by catlle, that they scarcely allow a single stem to sp-ing up. There is a variety i ailed the Italian rye•rrass which grows most luxuriantly and rapidly by means of irrigation. There is no gnus wliifli s > soon forms a water meadow. A small space in a layer being sown with this Ita'iau rye-grass may be distinguished in the pasture by its superior gieeii colour and its vory close pile ; and the cattle will always be f.uind there, as long as there is the least bite for them. When Italian rye-grass b sown by itself and a'lowed to go to seed, it becomes thin after the first year from many of the plants dying off: it may therefore be prudent to mix some other kinds of grasses with it, which will supply its place where it is worn out It is a most excellent practice to sow Italian rye-gr.iss on old meadows and pastures, at the time when they are recruited with compost or earth. If they are well harrowed ov scarified, and the rye-gra-s be sown before the roller goes over them, the succeeding crop of hay will be much improved in quality and grcat'y increased in quantity. On water-meadews/whieh require renovation, tins grass is invariable, being early, rapid ingr.iwlh, and very abundant when irrigated. We have seen hay made in July from a newly made water meadow sown with Italinn rye-grass in March.'' These observations are, of conrs \ addressed to the liuglish farmer. However, the ndvan'agcs of rye-grass are sufliicutly known not o:ilv to the New Zealand cultivator, but to" every grazier iu Australasia—so much and so deservedly is it prized, that it may be said to have become so conipletly natuializcd as to form the staple grass of our Colonial soils. To any Maori cultivator there can be no difficultly in mastering the details of its growth, or in obtaining the seed and preparing .the land for its reception. Lei the iMaories turn their ntteiiion to it They should convince themselves thai land sown with grass-is will sometime return more money, than it would if sowi with wheat, maize, or potatoes.