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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 237, 6 October 1874, Page 4

It is stated by a local paper that in Auokland ripe lemons are dropping from the , trees in Mason Brothers' nnrsery, Parnell, so abundant is tbe crop. It will soon be found ao unprofitable business to import this fruit*' Mee»r3 Mason's vinery is in a _'ple__idly 'forward condition, und b6l(j>re. many weeks ripe grapes will be obtainable from the nursery. There is atßo^gpoJ promise of a prolific sttawberr^reasorj. j^r John Gully, the now well-known aid r pop/ylar artist of Nelson— who has }V*k^gonejaa the guest of Hia Excellency JW..th& West Coast to examine the ta_£ti!_e*ent scenery there —is very industrious. We have had occasion lately to notice some of bis later contributions to the Victorian illustrated |)res9J ■■*4_;d now we see tbat he has lately forwarded to Mr Fletcher, of Elizabeth Street, , Melbourne (and formerly of Nelson), four iresh illus-trAnon-'of New Zealand scenery. *! 6fie of these represents a mountain truck ook-tftti-WaffciU ;' ! ahbth_r, the active volcano of Tongariro ; a third, Mouni

EgmoDt from Omata ; and the fourth, Separation Point, on the Nelson coast, at sunrise. Each has tbe breadth of touch and brilliancy of color for whicb this gentleman's pictures are so famous, and thej all serve to show that, while his facility of execution appears to be greater than ever, he does not allow that circumstance to tempt bim into carelessness. Air Gully's water-color drawings, it appears, are rising in favor among collectors in the mother country, whither a great many of them bave found their way. — 2V. Z. Times. The mode of manufacturing oilcloth is said to be the following :— A piece of cotton texture is passed between two cylinders, the upper one of which permits a mixture consisting of oil, resin, lampblack, and other matters to flow upon the slowly-moving canvas. From the cylinders the fabric is wound upon a drum made of wooden sticks, so arranged that the successive layers are kept opart from ono another. When tbe wbole piece has been wound upon the drum, the latter is placed, with the oiled cloth upon it, in a drying chamber. After drying, the cloth is smoothed with pumice stone, and passad a second lime through the cylinders, receiving another coating of varnish. It is then dried, and these altercate operations repeated at least five times, in order to make the coating sufficiently thick. The final process is pressing tbe cloth so as to give it the appearance of natural leather. A Queensland journal furnishes the following method ior the protection of sheep from being worried by dogs : — "If sheep are kept in the same lot with cows or faf cattle, no dogs will disiurb them. As soon as the dogs approach the sheep, they run to the cattle, which drive off the doga. A farmer for shirty years, by adopting this plan, never lost a sheep by dogs, although tbe same night the same dogs killed sheep on the farms north and south of him."