WELLINGTON EXTRACTS.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 289, 10 March 1849, Page 3

WELLINGTON EXTRACTS.

On Thurslay evening hii Exccllrncy the Lieutenant Governor gave his first ball and enteittinment to the inhabitants of this settlement, on which occasion the npw suite of rooms, recently added to Government | Home, were thrown open for dancing for which they were exceedingly well adapted. The Band of the 65th regt. was stationed in the verandah which was inclosed with boarding and lined with different coloured flaps. The guests began to arrive shortly after nina o'clock, and were received by his Excellunry the LieutenantGovernor and Mn. M'Cleverty. There were upwards of two hundred persons present, including a great number of settlers, the officers of the garrison, and the officers of H. M Steamer " Acheron." Dancing commenced at ten o'clock, and was kept up with great an - mation throughout the evening, qiiMclritles* wallze3, and polkas following in quick succession. About one o'clock tlie guests sat down to a sumptuous and abundant tupper, which was very tastefully laid out in the verandah enclosing the entrance, which wai converted into an excellent suite of temporary supper looiiii. After »upper his Excellency proposed the Queen's health which was drank with great enthu siasm, and when the ladies retired their heal h was drank with appropriate honours. After supper danceing was again returned, and the company did not separate until five o'clock in the morning after having ■pent a most agreeable evening, to which nothing was wanting that could in any way contribute to their en« joyment. We were very glad to see among: the invited guests the venerable Epuni, Thompson (Te Rauparaha's son) and Martin, from Otaki. They were all three of them well dressed, not forgetting white kid gloves, and appeared to be deeply impressed with the novelty of the scene, and seemed to take the deepest interest in the different dances. This mark of attention paid by hii Excellency to the natire population of this settlement through three of the most influential and respectable of their number "ill not. fail to have the happiest effect in strengthening the kindly feelings existing between the two races, and in increasing nnd stimulating the desire of the natives to imitate the habits of the pakeha.

In the Hutt district a steady progressive improvemerit is observable in tbe rxten«ion of cultivation during the present year. With re<Hrd to wheat, many lands which had previously remained unreclaimed are novr yielding a mut bountiful return. The eaily Cfp of potatoes from various cauaei is not expected to equal that of former yeais in the amount of produce, bat the Inter crop has a most promising appearance. The late storm of rain in the beginning of »he week, while it hai not injured the com in the slightest dtgrec, has been of very great service to the potatoes ; oa*s and barley have not been extt-nsively cultivated, but wherever they have been grown, their yield, especially that of the former crop, has been mott encoraging to the farmer. Owing to the detached nature of the cultivation* , and the inteivening belts of sanding bush it is difficult to arrive at a correct estimate of the actual extent of land under cultivation, but the attention even of the casual visi or mus>t be forcibly ane ted by the tapid chnnges and improvements which are daily perceptible in the district, and in the increasing extent of cleared land. The Wniretu diutiici presents features of peculiar interest to the agrioultuiist, and the ro«d connecting this patt of the valley with the principal line of road leading through the district will prove of very great service to those having farms in th's neighbourhood. The great drawback of the district, as it is indeed of the settlement generally, it the high price of lubjur and the difficulty of procuring hands, even at the present advanced rate of wages ; this fetters the energies of those enterprising persons who have devoted themselves t> agricultural pursuits, and limits to a certain extent the productiveness of the district ; the want of labour u most severely felt at this time of the year, when the crops are ripe fur harreit, the operations of which are greatly delayed from this cause, and unless an Additional supply of labour is received it must have the effect of cherking the cultivation of gram crops by Europeans. Tbe dock, however, has spi'od rapidly through the distr.ct. The road through the valley to Wairarapa, although still unfinished, has already proved a great boon to the settlers, aud ha* been the principal means of giving that impetus to cultivation which is bo perceptible in the district.