The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 85, 10 April 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 1874.

Cricket. — The match between the Union Club and the College will be played out to-morrow afternoon at the Botanical Gardens. The game will commence at two o'clock. This match will probably end the cricket Beason. Abtizans' Association. — Our readers are reminded of the entertainment to be given by the members of this Society, at the Oddfellows' Hall, this evening. Auckland Races. — Among the entries, eight in number, for the Auckland Handicap Steeplechase of 100 sovs., added to sweepstakes of £10, we notice Mr R. E. M'Rae's Rustic. The weights will be published on the 18th inst., and the race takes place on the 25th of May. Census Returns. — The following is a comparative statement of the population of the City of Nelson at the time the late census was taken, and in 1871, from which it will be seen that there has been an increase of 319 souls: — 1871. 1874. Ma'ea „, 2728 ... 2939 Females ... 2806 ... 2914 Total ... 5534 ... 5853 Cheist Church Bazaar. — Yesterday evening the Hall was again crowded, the receipts at the door being a few shillings in excess of what, they were on the previous day. A brisk business was done during the afternoon aud evening, which resulted in £108 being placed to the credit of the stall keepers, making the total receipts for the two days £211. Considering that there were but two stalls, besides that at which the refreshments were on Bale, this may be looked upon as an exceedingly satisfactory result, and the ladies who got up the bazaar are to be congratulated on the success that has attended their efforts. There still remain unsold about £75 worth of goods, including several very handsome articles. These, we believe, it is intended to dispose of by an Art Union, Masonic Hall. — Mr Chapman and Miss Ida Bonifon will appear for the last time in Nelson this evening, when Mr Chapman will once more invoke the assistance of his tame ghosts, and with their aid go through his astonishing performances. New parlor magic and the "Dancing Queen " are also to add to the attractions of- the entertainment. Mr James Anderson, of Melbourne, is now in Wellington, in connexion with the Para Para Iron and Coal Company, of which be is a director. The company is formed to work one of the richest deposits of iron ore in the world, in the district of Collingwood, in the Province of Nelson. The capital of the company has been fixed at £75,000, in 15,000 shares of £5 each, and it will be formed as soon as 8000 shares applied for. We understand that shares are being freely taken up, and as the project has been well received in Dunedin and Christchurch, there is now no doubt that Mr Anderson's persevering efforts to develope this great iron and coal field will be successful. This mine is situated on the shores of Golden Bay, where the- largest vessels may be loaded successfully. — Independent, We (Independent) hear of Beveral items of news which should give satisfaction in Nelson and Westland. Contracts for all the sections of the Hochstetter water-race, it is said, have been let, and the contracts are now in course of signature; the only portion of the work for which tenders have not been accepted being the Lake Hochstetter dam . It is also said that the piping for the syphon included in the Waimea water-race will shortly be shipped from Lyttelton; while there are now in Wellington, and to arrive shortly, rails and engines for the Grey mouth and Brunner coal-mine railway. In addressing the electors of Heathcote, and in reply to a question from a Mr Hall, the Hon. Mr Stafford stated that he considered that this country there was no one race or people who should ride rough-shod over others. THey should consider themselves as New Zealanders, and he hoped that their children would call themselves by that name. The affairs of the colony would never be thoroughly well managed until they had a legislature composed of native-born, New Zealanders* Divers are still at work on the Surat, lifting out the cargo. The condition in which her bottom is in cannot be told until the cargo is out. One of the divers was severely injured a few days ago by getting jammed between two tanks, and a deck hand was hurt seriously about the head by a devolving winch-handle. Captain Johnson's two months' imprisonment have expired. Taking the wheat and barley at 4s 6d, and* oats at 4s per bushel, the gross value of the grain produced in

Canterbury this year is calculated by the Press at £650,905, or nearly £12 per head of the population. " Better times now " is the brief form in which satisfaction is expressed in a telegram from the West Coast, transmitted on the receipt of news that the several sections of the Hochstetter water-race had been let to contractors. Speaking of the San Francisco mail service, the Sydney Morning Herald thus alludes to the vaßt commercial advantages that would follow the trade between New South Wales and New Zealand being sedulously cultivated : — Within a few days' steam is the colony of New Zealand, which has all along shown an inclination to maintain the most friendly relations with us, which has joined us in the great work of opening the new postal service with England via San Francisco; which has a coast line of about three thousand miles, with numerous bays and inlets; which has an area of more than a hundred thousand square miles, which has fine soil, a Bplendid climate, and is rich in minerals and raw products of great commercial value. Its population is as large as was the population of this colony tweDty years ago, and its exports and imports show that it has carried on the work of colonisation and improvement with Anglo-Saxon energy. The American papers have a curious, dry, satirical way of giving their news at times. A New York contemporary, for instance, reports a suicide as follows : — " Abraham Stoner, eightytwo years old, of West Lampeter, Lancaster county, Pa., cut his throat on the 17th inst. He was owner of a fine farm and comfortably fixed financially, but he was troubled about his future state, and took a short cut to obtain a knowledge of it." Private advices from Fiji state that the following official notice has beeu issued : — "Consular Notice. — Islands ceded to Great Britain. The Commodore, foreign Consuls, Mr Thurston, and the Chief Justice, with certain native chiefs, will meet and arrange a form of Government ad interim. E. L. Layard, H.B.M. Consul. British Consulate, Levuka, 2Qih March, 1874." Creosoted Potatoes v. the Disease. — The Rev. J Crawford has communicated to the Ayr Observer some particulars of on experiment which he made last spring in the cultivation of potatoes, with a view to the prevention of disease. Mr Crawford says : — "In the beginning of this year I noticed in a newspaper a statement that the application of creosote to the eyes of the seed potato would prevent the disease, and this induced me to make some experiments, the results of which I will now proceed to give to the public. These were made with the different varieties of earlies; the potatoes were planted about the middle of April, and raised in the third and fourth weeks of September, the crop of sound ones being fully three times the quantity I had last year off about the same extent of ground. Ist. With a small camel-bair brush, every eye in the seed potato was slightly touched ("the slighter the better) with the creosote, and in the produce of these no diseased potatoes were found. 2nd. A part of the seed planted had one or two of the eyes not touched with the creosote, and at these were found one or two, seldom three, slightly diseased. 3rd. Another portion of the seed was planted without any creosote, and, on raising these, from one-third to onehalf were found to be diseased, as in some other parts of the country. 4th. A very few of the seed potatoes had too much creosote applied to them, and this was found to have destroyed the vegetation altogether — hence the caution under the first experiment. I am thoroughly satisfied from the practical experience obtained this year that there will be few, if any, diseased potatoes next year in the manse gardens. Feeding Bees. — It is impossible to say exactly what weight of food should be allowed for any given hive, so as to consider it safe for the winter, therefore we recommend a full allowance. Hives and boards are very different in weight; also, there is a great difference between a swarm of the current year and an old stock. In the latter case the combs are heavy with accumulations of beebread, propolis, and the residuum left in them by generations of young bees that have been laid in them. Also bees will eat more or less according to population, situation, the state of the weather, &c. A careful bee-keeper will adapt his supplies to the probable wants of his bees. Five pounds of food will carry most hives safely through the three winter months, often less than this; but we should like every hive to have lOlbs on the Ist November, so as not to have to feed them again till Lady-day. If your two stocks now weigh 22Ibs and 17lbs you may let them alone. Cover them up warmly, and see that their entranceholes are always free for them to go in and out at pleasure. — Journal of Horticulture. Variations in Hand-saws. — In America and England hand-saws have the teeth pointed from the handle, while in Asiatic countries and in Greece they are made with teeth pointed the other way. The latter must be operated by pulling them ; the former by pushing. In delicate work, and where very fine saws are used, the Eastern saw is the besf. The Orientals differ from us in setting the teeth also; they turn a group of a dozen one way, and the next group the other, while we alternate one on one side, the next on the other.