The Oamaru Times, AND WAITAKI REPORTER THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1861.

North Otago Times, Volume 1, Issue 3, 10 March 1864, Page 4

AND WAITAKI REPORTER THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1861.

Some shrewd fanner's wife is said to have compared farming as a remuneiatne business, to " cooking a feast and getting the smell of it, for the trouble of putting money into one's pocket with one hand i and taking it out with the other." Most ' persons will agieewith her that the profits of farming are not great, and these much with the followers themselves, as in ' all other occupations. , A farmer, to succeed well, must not only have a thorough knowledge of his bu^i- I ness—know how to raise in the most ecoi mical manner, wheat, oats, meat, and ' the other pioducers of the farm. The j farmer must not only be free from debt, but [ he must have sufficient capital to woik with ; his farm must, moreover, be adapted to hiR qualifications in every way, in older j to make farming a paying speculation. If I he have a taste for. -md is a judge of ttuol, he should adopt such a system as would turn this talent to the most profitable account On the other hand, if he has a taste for the i aiding of cereals, he cer- j tainly should devote his attention to that j branch of farming Agiicultural life j differs from the mercantile in this and many other respects. The merchant, having learnt his business, begins to practise it forthwith. The farmer, on the other hand, has just to chose from among the various departments of his business which he will pursue. Before he engages in the commercial part of his business, namely that of buying and selling, he becomes a manufacturer or producer. The same qualities requisite in a merchant are also requisite in a farmer. Special attention to the working out of details, is an essential ingredient in the compound of a farmer ; for success in farming, as in every other department of life, is due as much to the woiking out of the details of a system as anything else— as much to petty savings as large profits. Besides, the farmer should clearly know the general value of the articles he proposes to rmw and how and when to purchase and dispose of them to the greatest

advantage. Frequently we bear of farmers, skilled in their profession, being disappointed in the remuneration obtained for the trouble and expense bestowed on their undertakings — the cause of disappointment being, in most cases, the absence of +he important qualfication of knowing how to buy and sell to the best advantage. To ascertain at any time what he is really making from his business, accurate accounts should be kept. And in no country is this more applicable than New Zealand, where the finest crops is liable to be destroyed in twentj'-four hours by sora? accident. Forcible and painful instances of this fact have been experienced this season throughout this district. The great point however the farmer ought to observe — commercially speaking, is the cultivation of that which has the promise of being the most remunerative. Here the high pr'ce of cattle, sheep and wool, as contrasted with the low price of cereals, point to the advantage of increasing our artificial pastures and decreasing the extent of land under cultivation. It would be for the benefit of the farmer and the province at large were grass to form a larger portion of the rotations at present in use. For vhile the competition from California and other foreign markets has forced down the grain roaihcts to a price that would not pay the New Zealand producer, unless in such cases as Oamaru, where the difficulties attending the landing of cargo are great and expensive, while those of cattle, sheep and wool have on the contrary risen — the former perhaps through the closing of the ports of the province against the importation of cattle more than anything else. These facts point to the most remunerative system to be pursued in most districts in New Zealand, and the farmer would do well to give attention to them. The objections made to artificial pasturing especially in this district are proved to be without foundation. The system has been found to answer veil, and those in the neighboihood of Oamaru Avho have adopted it, say it pays them better than the raising of cereals, and is more certain of profitable returns. We purpose returning to this subject a»ain in respect to the best mode of laying out lands for pastoral purposes.

At the mi'i'tni!; held on Tuesday la«t, at the j Court-house, Oamaru for the ele< turn of Warden*. ; Me«sis Filleul, "llcim Campbel 1 , J C (hlcrist, were elected as Wardens lor the current j ear. , The general quietness of the Resident Magi*- j trate's Court, was disturbed by the bringing before it of Alc\ander Sutherland, charged bv Sergeant Jhillen w ith drunkenness, and ; using obscene language m a public place Fined 2fK ,or 3G hours'* nnpri^omuent Samuel Green j ahas frrme, charged «it!i lining obscene language . m ti pubhe place, wa* fined 10^ .or 2 i hour'; in < gaol These nre the only eiset. of the kind that i hfm 1 occurred in Oamnru for home weekb pa'-t The ne\t meeting of the ProMnci.il Council w further jn-orogued until the seventh day of April ne^t. V\ r e believe the objeit of the Superintendent m this ib, that the accounts of the ProMiice foi the umi- ending INfarch 31 <-t, may be- made j read} to kj before the Coimeil at that time i We are glad to be enabled to state, upon the most re'iable authority, that the reports which have been generally circulated to the effect that three caltle had. died upon the M.ition of TVre«bi-«; Teschmnker and M'Mu«ier, Upper Wiutaki, from { pleuio-pneumonui, and that the &cub had broken out upon the run of l.lcsr-> E A and R Julius, are both entirety without foundation In the former cuf-c, «c ha\e ascertained upon enquiry that no cattle luue died m the district latety, nor hare there been any Mmploms of disease among them. In the latter, we are informed that, since the circulation of the report above alluded to, the sheep have been examined bv the Inspector, and declared clean. Too much blame cannot be ! attached to personb who, without the slightest foundation, spread reports of this^iaseription, which are calculated to entail setfUutlesttg a^ct inconvenience, not only upon the^p-cfsoni tt> wAejte property they refer, but nlsQ.Jtpt* *net> ttte dis-\ | mot ' " I

We arc requested to state that m compliance with a memorial from the Clergymen, Church Wardens, and others, of the parochial districts of Moeraki and Waitaki, the Kural Deanery Board has constituted the said districts the parish of Oamaru, and decided 6hat it shall be represented at the Board A public meeting, therefore, mil be held at the Court-house, Oamaru, on Wednesday next, the lGth instant, at 3 o'clock, to elect a lay reprcbentath c to sen c at the Board for this district. We may state, for the eomenienee of all interested, ths't the names of laymen who are willing to be candidates, for the district should be bent b> themsehes, or b^ >-oine elector of the district, to the returning officer, on or before the day of meeting for the election All k\ electors, being also communicants of the Church of England, are qualified to ser\e as representatives of any district, whether resident m that district or not The two lads recent 1} committed for trial at the Resident Magistrate's Court, for robber) under arm* near Oamaru, were tried at the Supreme Court, Dunedin, on Thursday last, and com icted. Thomas JRobson was sentenced to six gears' penal berutude, and Thomas Laugham to four It seems that both, though joung, are not strange to crime, for they had only been a few w eeks out of gaol when the crime for which the\ are now under sentence was committed. Neither of them is over eighteen years of age. We remind those in the electoral district of Oamaru who are qualified to \ote, but who are not registered, tiiat registration forms are now lying and ma} be had at this office, and also from Mi- Paradice, the Master of the District School The Oamaru Countn District comprises all that area bounded on the north by the Waitaki , on tho cast by the Ocean and Oamaru Town ihbtnet ; on the south h\ the Horse ranges and Kakanui Mountains; and on the west l\\ the Manuherikia and Limbs Districts The registration season will end next month. From the Government Ga7ette of the 3rd mst , we learn that applications for blocks of laud m the Waikouaiti, Moeraki, and Otepopo districts, ■will be decided b\ auction at the Land Office, Dunedin, ns follows —Waikouaiti, blocks 1 and 1, on the 17th infant, at 12 o'clock Moeraki, bloi ks 3, 1, 5 and 10, on the 21th instant, at 12 o'clock Otepopo, blocks 2 and 5, on the 28th instant, at noon The Dailii Tunes states — " Pleuro-pncumoma has broken out with considerable violence amongst the imported cattle in the Auckland Province, great h to the alarm of our lattb* biveders A large meeting has been held, and resolutions r»nw»d with regard to "becking the spread of the r!i>easi> and importations from Australia are to be •topped " The Oamaru Orn-ket Club has now got itself into thorough working order, h.nmg provided itself with a capital set of cricketing implements, and appointed a working committee The ground is m good older , and on Saturday after noons the members nun be t-een indulging m their usual weekh practice On the night of Monda\ last, some malicious persons dmbed the front of the Bank of New Zcalamj with black paint io a degree that wdl necessitate its being re-painted No reason eai, be assigned for the act, unless it be that it con nccts itself in some wa\ with a ii J 'mi- ful case ot goose shooting to be heard at the Police Courl to-da\ Tin Tilting Tourney of the Otago Caledoniai Moeietv will be held at Dunedin, on Wednesday the 23rd instant The Lyttelton Times has the following interest ing item — "Last autumn Mr George Rhodes, o Punui, liberated a pair of fine blackbirds Sooii after fhe\ took to the bush, and nothing furthei was seen of them till a few days ago, wheu the\ returned to the neighbourhood of the house wit > a brood of jouug ones, quite strong on the wm< It is something to know that this little succe gives a hope that it is possible to adapt some • the English songsters to our climate " A more striking illustration of the mtere taken by the people of Oamaru in Municip i affairs could not be found than in the result yesterday's nomination of a member of the To\ i Board It seems that, at the appointed hour, t i retuimng officer presented himself at the Cou . house, and waited for some tune, but withou single individual putting in an appearance, t cept the policeman. The nomination, thercfo lapse d once more Mr Langley (Messrs IT Hoyt and Co 's agei i report*« that tlie stables along the line of road c Duuedin from Oamaru, are completed The i cessan relays of horses to insure a speedy 8 i certain transit, have been laid on ; and, from * advertisement in another colnmn, it appears t ' Messrs Hoyt and Co have m this case adop u their usual precaution in the appointment of T perienced drivers and the use of com forte ■ coaches The people of Oamaru and surround . chst net have long felt the want of a regular > I certain conveyance to town. It is now j -vMt^nd it is to be hoped, therefore, that peaoltwty fehow their appreciation of it >

Tho Nehon Examiner, of the 23rd ult., says :— " Yesterday, evening, at about two minuteß to seA-en o'clock, a shock of an earthquake was felt ; ]( passed from north-east to BOuth-weßt, but was of bo slight a nature that but few persons felt it." In tho Province of Southland, tho population of which has largely increased since the 31 st of March of laßt year, only twenty .eight claims had been sent in the registrar under the Electoral Act up to the 4th met.! Of these even, "many " says (lie Trivet cargill Tunes, are electors on the present Roll for other properties. We fear that the case of Otago ib only too similar. The number of claims sent in up to the present date is miserably -mall, when compaired with that of the mdi'lduals who are in a position to qualify."