EXTRACTS FROM SYDNEY PAPERS.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 22, 14 October 1842, Page 3

EXTRACTS FROM SYDNEY PAPERS.

CHINA. (From the Sydney Morning Herald.)

Previous to the sailing of the Sultana from Singapore, intelligence several days later than that previously received in Sydney had arrivedr. It was stated that the Emperor had retired into Tartary, being apprehensive of a visit from the English if he remained at Pekin. A boat of the American frigate Constellation, when sounding in Salt Junk River, was warned off by the Chinese by some blank shots, which not being taken notice of, the Chinese fired at the boat with grape, which fell but little short of her. Commodore Kearney demanded satis-. faction for this insult to the American flag, and the Chinese bad made the most ample apology for the mistake. Orders had arrived from Cal - cutta, making the settlement of Hong-kong, for the present at least, a mere military post,, of which Major-General Burrell, C. 8., had been appointed military commandant. All the officers holding civil employments on the island were ordered to join their respective regiments forthwith. Most of the works commenced for the improvement of the town, on account of government, were to be discontinued, and no more expense was to be incurred than should be necessary to keep the place as a military post.

Exportable Produce of South Australia. —In our last, we estimated the exportable produce of South Australia, for the year 1842-3, in the article of wheat alone, at 150,000 or 160,000 bushels, which, at the low figure of ss. per bushel, would realize about £40,000. At that time, we stated also that, in the articles of oats, barley, maize, &c., we should have a considerable surplus, which, after much enquiry and mature reflection, we are disposed to estimate at the value of one-fourth of the above, namely, £IO,OOO. Since then our attention 1 has been called to the manufacture of cheese and butter in this province, and a portion of one of the

former of these articles, manufactured by Mr. T. N. Mitchell, manager of the Cattle Company, at the Mount Barker station, and subsequently sent on a voyage to India by the Guiana, has been left at our office for. inspection; On examining \he sample sent to us, and which is now scarcely twelve months old, it-is. due to' Mr. Mitchell to say, that it fully equals the ripe Cheshire produced in the English market, and that much praise is due to him for having brought the capabilities of the province in tliis respect so early under the attention of the settlers. At the present moment, we are told, the Cattle Company are manufacturing cheese at the rate, of £1,400 per annum, besides large quantities of butter, both of which are being sold for purposes of exportation to the neighbouring colonies. It is right, perhaps, for us here to say, that the cheese sent by the Guiana was packed in tin cases, and was sold at a high price, except that of which a portion was taken; and given to us as a sample, which Was opened and left on shore for six weeks at Singapore, and was then brought back to Adelaide without the least precaution of a covering. We call the more attention to this latter tact, because it has hitherto been supposed, that, although me might manufacture cheese in South Australia, it would * not be able to stand a voyage as well as the English. —Sydney Morning Herald.

South Australia. —The recent accounts" from this place are of the most depressing nature ; a private letter just received in Melbourne, from a gentleman in Adelaide, says, “ I ,cannot give you any idea of the commercial distress now raging in our city; business is at a complete stand still; half the shops arc closed, nothing but gloom; no arrivals from England, no imports, no exports, every body appears to be < ruined, or thinks himself likely to be shortly. I have only one consolation to cheer me; the crops look beautifuls and there is a great deal of wheat sown this year; we shall have much to send to your colony; the province has received a dispatch from Lord Stanley, desiring him to send all the immigrants at present employed on the public works, to Sydney; but, at the urgent request of the settlers, who say, if such a measure be carried into effect, there will be no men to get in the harvest, Captain Grey intends to take upon himself the responsibility*of keeping them in the colony; the Municipal Bill has proved a curse to us, and I fear it will prove the same to you.”:— Herald.

. The Fool’s Fence. —A little mean looking man sat talking with. Mrs. Crowder, the mistress of the Punch Bowl. “ Why, Mrs. Crowder,” said he, *• I should hardly know you again ! Really, I must say you have things in the first style ! 'What an elegant room ! What noble chairs! 4 What splendid lamps!—all so fresh and so bright!—and yourself so well, and looking so well!” Mrs. Crowder had dropped languidly into, an arm chair, and sat smiling and sighing with affectation, not turning a deaf ear to her visitor; but taking in with her eyes a full view of what was passing in the shop, having drawn aside the curtain of rose-coloured silk, which sometimes covered the window in the wall between the shop and the parlour, “ Well, Ma’am,” continued Mr. Brosiman, “ I am at a loss to know where you find the needful for all these improvements. For my part. 1 can only say, cur trade seems quite at a stand still. There’s my wife always begging for money to pay for this or that little necessary article; but I part with every penny with a pang.” Dear Mrs Crowder, how do you manage ?” Mrs. Crowder simpered ; and raising her eyes, and looking with a smile of (ontempt towards the crowd of customers in the shop : —“ The fools pence : ’tis the fools pence, that does it for us,” she said.

absence of mind. A man in Kentucky was so absent, that he put himself on the toasting fork, and did not discover his mistake until he was done brown. MOUNT VESUVIUS. The anticipated eruption of Mount Vesuvius is said to have been prevented by throwing a box of Holloway’s Ointment into the crater.

INDIA.

(From the Sydney Morning Herald.J In the Straits' Messenger, (a new Singapore paper,) of the 4th June, we find a General Order, issued by Lord Ellcnborough, dated Allahabad, April 30th, 1842, acknowledging the receipt of General Pollack’s dispatch, announcing his arrived at Jellalabad. After expressing his high approval of the whole of General Pollack’s conduct, his lordship reverts to the services of Sir Robert Sale, and the garrison at Jellalabad, and testifies his “ opinion of the just claims of that garrison to the gratitude of the government, and of their country.” The Order then directs that the sixth battalion of artillery, the fifth regiment of cavalry, and the thirty-fifth regiment of native infantry, shall bear upon their colours and appointments a mural crown superscribed Jellalabad, and the thirty-fifth is in future to be a light infantry regiment. His Lordship then directs that a silver medal he made for every officer, non-commissioncd officer, and private, European and native, who belonged to the garrison of Jellalabad on the 7th of April, 1842, such medals to be all similar, and to hear on one side a mural crown superscribed “ Jellalabad,” and on the other side the words, “ April 7th, 1842,” the day on

which the garrison defeated the Afghans. A donation of six months’ batta is to be made to every officer, non-commissioned officer, and private, who was with the garrison on the 7th of April. Finally, the Commandcr-in-Chief is requested to give instructions that the several corps composing the garrison of Jellalabad may on their return to India he received at all the stations on their route to their cantonments, by all the troops tit such stations, in review order, and with presented arms.

COLONIAL TOBACCO. (From the Sydney Morning Herald)

In the month of July select a rich lively soil of new land, with a slight mixture of sand, bum it well with any kind of wood that will not make many coals, then dress it about one and a half inches deep very fine, with sharp hoes and rakes, working in the ashes, and leave the surface smooth and fine; marie off the bed thus prepared into rows, four fcffc apart, to sow by, then count off the bed, to ascertain how many square yards it contains, and for every hundred square yards measure one common tablespoon even full of seed, mix them well with ashes for sowing, taking care to sow only one-half by the marks already laid off, then cross the bed by similar cross-marks, and sow the remaining half; tread the bed smoothly with, the feet, and cover it closely with brush to keep it moist, and to protect the plants from the frost while young; let the brush remain until the plants get the size of a shilling piece, when they may be taken off, and in a week or two they will be large enough to plant out. On taking off the brush, it is well to sprinkle the plants with well rotted stable or henhouse manure, heat fine, to make them grow fast.

The best soil ackpted. for raising fine silky tobacco, is a grey, or a mixture of fine sand with the upper strata —with a clay bottom. It should be well ploughed i >r harrowed in the winter, or early in the spring, and laid off into rows from three and a half to four feet apart for the hills; these rows may be checked off at the same distance, making the hills of fine earth upon the rows ; let them remain until the plants are large enough to plant out, and when you expect a wet sc; is* in, have the tops of the hills cut off to be ready to receive the rain.

Two ploughing or coltrings, and three hoeings, will be all that is necessary after planting; the first ploughing shruld be done as soon after the plant takes a start to grow as possible, and the second before it gets]] too large. The first hoeing should follow the first ploughing, by slightly skimming around the plant, and drawing the earth from it; the second hoeing should follow the second ploughing, by throwing back the earth ; and the third hoeing likewise, when the tobacco is large, without ploughing, by working up the -whole hill, and throwing the earth to the plant, taking care not to injure the routs by too deep hoeing. Topping should be d f me as soon as the plant will bear it:; it is necessary to go over the crop twice a week, to take eacli plant as it comes to the top, and to prune off three or four of the bottom leaves, or high enough to protect the lower ones from rubbing the ground, leaving such as will make good tobacco; then take out the bud, leaving eight or ten perfect leaves, according to the land. Eight leaves is most advisable on ordinary land ; if topped too high, the bottom ones will decline before the top ones become ripe. In a few days after topping, suckers will begin to show themselves at each joint, and at the bottom; as soon as they are large enough, they must be carefully taken off, and the operation repeated once a week until they cease coming. The plant must also be carefully examined for worms while suckering. The crop, planted at the usual time,, will mature and ripen ninety or one hundred and twenty days from planting, on good land. It should never he cut until thoroughly ripe, as it will he deficient both in weight and quality. The best indication to judge of that is, to see it begin to fade in color, with yellowish spots, and a rough brittle appearance. In cutting, it is liable to be

burned by the sun if too long exposed. As soon as it is sufficiently fallen, it should he carefully taken up, put into piles, and covered with bushes, or carried to the scaffold or house, and hung on sticks. It is best to have the scaffolds ready prepared at the house before commencing to cut: the tobacco can then be put in whenever, it is necessary. Have the scaffolds fixed on forks,, permanently in the ground, so Jiigh only as to admit the tails of the tobacco to come within a foot or eighteen inches of the ground. Have the sticks, got four and a half feet long* or to suit the tiers in the house, which should be about faur feet apart; put from ten to twelve plants on a stick; after hanging, crowd the sticks close together on the scaffold five or six days, in order to give it a uniform yellow colour, and to protect it from the burning of the sun ; then open the sticks eight or ten inches (or more, if there is scaffold room enough), in order for the curing operation by the sun. This will show itself in a few days, by the tails and the outer parts of the leaf beginning to cure of of a bright yellow colour; and in eight or ten days after opening, the leaf will be nearly cured, if the weather be warm and fair, leaving the stem only green, which will become cured after it is put in the house and fired. In housing it, place the sticks six inches apart; then fire it veiy moderately four or five hours during the day, having little more effect than a hot sun; in four or five days more repeat the operation a second time, increasing the strength of the fire; and in six or eight more repeat it the third time, still increasing the strength of the fire. The third fire is generally sufficient, unless there should be much damp weather. Care must be taken never to let the leaf mould ; a slight mould on the stem will not injure it for manufacturing. The firing should always be done in damp weather, if possible, to prevent damage by burning the tobacco, as well as the house; and while curing, the oftener it is changed from damp to dry, and from dry to damp order, the better. The house should have a long window in each gable end to open and discharge the smoke and evaporation of the tobacco while firing; it is not well to have the house too close, it must have air to purify and sweeten, and room to let off the bad quality while firing, and also to get clear of the smoke, which if not excluded will strike in the tobacco and give it both a bad flavour and taste, which is very objectionable for manufacturing.

After it is thus managed, the first day it can be handled, it should be struck down and stripped, sorting at the same time the good from the bad, and tie it up accordingly into bands of twelve or fifteen leaves; after which, if in dry keeping order, again rehulk it; but if not, re-hang it, and let it remain until it can be struck in dry hulking order; there let it remain until it goes through a natural sweat, after which it will return to the same sweet order in which it was put in bulk; it should never be forced into a sweat by bulking in too high order, as it tends greatly to spoil and soften the leaf. In very warm weather, if it remains too long on the scaffold, as before described, the leaf will thicken and spoil; care must therefore be taken to examine and open it to the sun in time to prevent this, or put it in the house and fire it.