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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 119, 11 May 1876, Page 4

Sheep the Salvation op the FABM.-^'VHorses hafe ruinocl the farm, and shebp hiuflt save it, said a practical farmer to us recently; and the remark has in it a great -deal of truth and a great deal of wisdom. However- muoh we tnay prijz.e the horse for his valuable services to man, all sensible persons must admit that the breeding of horses in the past fey/ years .assumed . undue proportions which have not brought correspondingly profitable -returns, to the average farmer at least. Now sheep husbandry is profitable to clWct." There are no losses and few risks to be met with in the business. Early lambs, fat:- wethers, wool, and pelts, always bring good prioes and a ready market. Besides, sheep bring up the condition of thefarm. and, as the old adage has it, turn the earth to gold wherever their footprints are , to be found. Nothing is so good to counteract the effects of too much horse as « course of husbandry well selected- and judiciously followed. We are not sure but our practical friend was more than half right when be said sheep were to be the salvation of our farms, and bring ibe restoration of our farming to a safe basis; and if more could realise and follow it, we.* verily believe a larger share of prosperity; in farming would bo the result.— "Exchange, Coromandel is inundated with Maoris wailing for the opening of the Native Lands Courtj arid "Snyder," who' 'has been: making observations upon their manners and oustoma," says :^ 4 ' They have passed their time, some in getting intoxicated, while others are bemoaning their hard lot by. much weeping and rubbing, of each others noses, and doing things which, to the European, partakes of the ridiculous, although to the Maori it may 7be comprised in the sublime. Many of the children, of the noble savage have that whi tey- brown complexion which leads_Jo Jhe belief tbat jhey ,jwH. be ranked, mi pfieri years among the half-castes, and some of them are really splendid specimens of icfantUe. rhumanity^ .The Governniefit have kindlyvprovided them 'with lodgings and ratiohsf which is more than they would do for their own countrymen. At the moment of, writing this there are three tipsy. Maories in front of oiir office window who are in violent gestures, which so far aB we can under* stand is whether two gallons of -beer whioh have been, consumed shall be Said by the Native Lands Court or the laoris who consumed the liquor." The confidential nature of. much that is done in a newspaper office is thus spoken of by the Brunswick Telegraph. It says that a properly conducted printing -office sijb s 5 -;; as. buch\; ; aj secret society as is a Masonic Lodge. The printers :ar.e • hjot .under an . path of secrecy, but always feel themselves as truly in honor bound to keep secrets as though they had been put through triple oaths. Any employe in a printing office who willingly disregards this rule in regard to priating office secrets would not only be scorned by the brethren of the craft, but would lose his position in the office at once. We make this statement because it sometimes -happens that a communication appears under an assumed signature which excites comment, and various parties try to find out. who- is the author. Let all.be saved the trouble of questioning the employ-^3 or attache 3 of Ibe printiug office. They are;" knownothings" on such points as these. On such matters * , • they, "ha ye eyes and ears, but no mouth," and ifjhey fail to observe this rule, let them be put down as dishonorable members of the craft. Describing a . trip of two cattledealers, M6Bsra ; Stevenson and Flowers, who 'recently had occasion to travel up the head-waters of the ZOangahua river to bring down some cattle which had wandered away to the lake from which the river rta^eSi itsrise-the Inangahua Times says :— " The 'lake,' as it is termed, is situated in a natural basin, between „ the snowy mountains, and is of small 6x "tent, except in times of rain. The coaniry surrounding is described as being very desolate, the tops of the ranges containing, nothing; but. scrub and snow gross. The cattle liye mostly on broadleaf and the bark of a kind of lancewood tree. Nearly all the trees referred to f havebeen r denuded of* their bark by tbe cattle, the latter having stripped off the bark for a height of from fifteen to twenty -five feet. The cattle were very Wild, but most of them we,re..got- dpwp' "without , any. great difficulty. ' JMr Stevenson describes the country as abounding in quartz, immense blocks of which are scattered all along the river bed so far up as the lakes. Beefs can .be seen dropping out of "the sides of the ranges along the river, but no gold could be seen." Tho following; extraordinary record •f death from fright appears in the Sydney Morning Herald :-r" It .was mentioned' oh -Saturday that a girl named Christina -Sharp, had died suddenly at St. Kilda, after taking some strychnine by accident. Mdnday's Argus says that at an inquest \hcld' by Mr Candler, Mr Bankin, wt-o had made a post mortem examination, deposed that there were no signs of poison in the stomach, and that the deceased, if- she had swallowed any strychnine, could not have taken more than a 1 6th or 12th of a grain. The cause of death was congestion of the brain, due to fright from the. deceased thinking that she had poisoned herself. A verdict was returned to that effect.

Cock-fighting is one of the pastimes j of Christian Ne^v '■■ If orS.* Th^papersi report a champion match between New j York -and Connecticut, 21 cooks each, 1 250J015. a battle, and lOOOdola. the odd \ fight, was woncby Connecticut by about ; 9toß. J ' ''" A 'XX ' a j " Ann," f said an ?' tbfri* lady to her j hired pgirl,, "as we are about entering J bn ; a new l century Of our national eiiit- ; ence, you hkd betier inves-t in a tooth- j brush of your oWh." i .{■-.: > .- ,", - •'.:•.- •. : • •.■'k-r,- \ :-'■'■' i ''■•■•- 1 ■• • -- - ' : t !