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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 11, 12 January 1872, Page 2

It is very seldom that the fields and open spaces around Auckland present such a parched appearauce as they now show. An unusually wet aud severe winter has rendered the grass more tender thau usual, and a remarkably hot summer succeeding, has already turned most of the grass into hay, of that brown tint familiar to the eyes of Australians. — Auckland Evening Star. A Bourke correspondent writes to the Dubbo Despatch: — " Mrs James Reed, of Mount Oxley, twenty miles from Bourke, showed me come butter made on the Yankee system. Three pints of cream were placed in a cloth and buried in a garden about 2ft. but before tho three days allowed, curiosity impelled them to see what it was like ; it was found to be nearly all good butter. I am using some of it now, and it is superior to the churned butter, being firmer aod sweeter.

The Otago Daily Times makes the fol" lowing correction : — " A paragraph has recently appeared in the Wellington Independent, Nelson Colonist, and Auckland Morning News stating that ' steps are being taken to establish a Chinese factory at Milton, Otago/ Our contemporaries will please correct ' Chinese ' to ' cheese. ' " The Right Rev. Dr. Cowie, Bishop of Auckland, has received from the Diocese of Sydney the following resolutions passed by th 9 synod of New South Wales : — (1.) " That the members of the Church of the Synod desire to express their deep sympathy with the Churches of New Zealand in the loss which they and the whole Church of Christ have sustained in the removal by a violent death of the late Bishop Patteson and his faithful follower, aud to assure them of their hearty concurrence and co-operation with them in the course proposed in the Synod of Auckland io furtherance of the Melanesian Mission. (2.) That the Very Rev. the President be requested to communicate the resolution of this Synod to the several Bishops of the proviuces of New Zealand." Tiie Australasian Trade Review bas tho following regarding where all the bad wheat goes to: — A good deal of excitement has been occasioned through the action taken by the City Council, in bringing before the Magistrate's _ Court several bakers who are alleged to have used alum iv the preparation of their bread; the bakers persist in laying the onus on the millers; the latter however deny the allegation, and some (through the medium of the press) invite an inspection of their stock. The question probably resolves itself into the following inquiry — What becomes of the larse quantity of damaged and unwholesome New Zealand and other sorts of wheat, competed for so eagerly at our weekly auctions? It is well known that if flour be made from such inferior grain, it can only be rendered marketable by the use of alum, or some similar ingredient, as this community will have a white loaf. Whipping as a Punishment. — His Honor Chief Justice Arney, in his recent charge to the Grand Jury at Auckland, commented in a regretful tone upon the almost total abolition of whipping as a punishment for certain crimes. He said " that, although dictated by motives of great humanity, the Legislature at home had gone too far in abolishing the punishment of whipping for certain offences. Formerly it was disgustingly common and severe. Whipping at the cart's tail was the punishment for perjury. It was degrading to the individual and brutalising in its effects on the community. I think, however, the Legislature has gone too far in regard to whipping, for there is a tendency to go back again, and it has been found that whipping has proved deterrent of crimes that cannot be prevented by other punishment. A Bill was brought into Parliament, and au Act was passed to prevent what is termed treason-felony, the punishment for which is whipping ; and it undoubtedly stopped it. Lord John Russell, in bringing the bill forward, said the punishment was degrading to a man, but to such degraded men, degrading punishment only was fitting. Now in the case of unnatural offences, I think the legislature would do well to inflict a limited number of lashes. Whipping used to be carried to the extent of inflicting one hundred, five hundred, or a thousand lashes, which was equal to sentence of death. Ido not know whether my conviction will he shared in by others but I think a limited number of lashes would be effectual in suppressing those crimes, and in all probability courts of justice would not, at least for a great number of years, have such cases brought before them."