NELSON. [From the Nelson Examiner, April 1 and 8.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 282, 12 April 1848, Page 3

NELSON. [From the Nelson Examiner, April 1 and B.]

The selections for the rural land in this settlement commenced on Monday last, and closed on Wednesday ; just six years having elapsed since the town selection took place. It is not necessary that we should give any explanation of the causes which have led the Company to so long delay completing their engagements to the land purchasers, as they have been sufficiently often brought before the notice of our readers. It has been beyond doubt a source of grave complaint, that the holders of land orders should for so long a time have been kept out of the property paid for many years since, and we hope the general effect of the arrangement made a few months ago with the Company's Agents, will be to recompense them for their previous dispointments. The selections were apparently made to the satisfaction of all parties, and ■commenced by Nos. 1 and 2 being chosen in

Massacre Bay, where the coal has been workl ed ; Nos. 3 to 9 were selected in the West . Wairau, the preference being given to the . sections which embraced the pine grove, and | those near the mouth of the river. No. 10 ) was taken in the Opawa district of theWairau, and from that number up to 48, the majority . of choices were made in the lower part of the j Wairau plain. No. 49 was taken in Massacre r Bay, and the selections then went forward in ', the Wairau until No. 141 was reached, when another section was taken in Massacre Bay. . The latter district then came more into favour, j and shared the choices with the Wairau, until No. 240 was reached, when the first choice , was made in Kaiparitihau, or as it is now , called, Wakefield Downs. From this time , no remark is necessary, as the remaining choices were made in all the districts indis- ; criminately. It appeared to be the object of the Resident Agent to select the Company's land in blocks, and this be was able mostly to do. The town re-selection commenced yesterday. About 220 numbers of the original choices were retained, and all the remaining, with the exception of those unsold, which are thrown aside, were to be rechosen. The two corner acres of Trafalgar-street and Bridgestreet, on which stand Mr. Strong's shop and the Odd Fellows' Arms, were taken for 1 and 2. The remaining acres in those streets, occupying a central position, were next in favour, followed by those in Hardy-street. The centre of the town was thus soon filled up, and people were far more reluctant than before to look countryward for a tcwn property. Should the business not be interrupted to-day by the arrival of the Judge, and the commencement of the assizes, the re-selection of the town will be pretty well got through. Thore will only then remain the re-selection of the suburban land, which, until something is finally determined respecting the site of the Wairau town, must stand over.

Roads. — Complaints have reached us in several quarters that some of the contractors for reyairiug the roaJs are proceeding but slowly with their work, and fears are entertained that the wet season will set in before they are completed. It should be borne in mind in the proper quarter that after this month there is no dependance on the weather, and let the wet season once set in, followed as it immediately will be by frosts, before the roads are completed, and it will be almost useless to do anything further to them until the spring. The farmers who have to cart so much of their produce to town during the winter, may well therefore be anxious that the present favouuable season should not be lost.

Cricket. — On Easter Monday (the 24th instant) a game of cricket will be played on the Green in Nelson, Hampshire against the settlement ; wickets to be pitched at eleven o'clock. As this is one of the few holidays which is still kept up in Englaud, we see no reason why it should not be continued here, and it cannot be done better than by a good game of cricket. We shall hope therefore to see a good field. The old sport of April Fool, once so great a favourite with our forefathers, but now nearly fallen into disuse in England, is practised in New Zealand on a scale more extensive than ever it was at home. How can the ordinary joke of telling a man that bis shoe is untied, or that his chimney is-on fire, or any other small casualty of. that kind, compare with summoning sixty or seventy people from their business and homes, some of them from a distance of five-and-thirty miles, to attend in Nelson on the Ist of April as witnesses and jurors, and then, on the arrival of ! the day, to find that no judge is present. The proverbial gravity of the bench itself must give way at the superlativeness of the joke. We fear however, that in this case as well as in practical jokes generally, the laugh will be all on one side, and our disappointed settlers will little thank the Government for its defective arrangements, which thus affords it the opportunity of saying to us, Ah! April fools! April fools ! We heat that an effort is to be made to establish in Nelson a quarterly fair for live stock, and the idea is one which is entitled to consideration. The holding of such fairs in England is of very ancient date, and has been found of considerable importance to the people geuerally, as well as to the particular towns where such fairs are held. It is one of the best methods that can be devised to serve the interests of intending buyers as well as sellers, for bringing both together in some numbers, a fair competition takes place, and an opportunity is afforded each party of obtaining that which they require, be it money or produce. Another important effect of these fairs would be that they would determine prices, and the value of every kind of live stock in the settlement might then be correctly quoted. But the greatest advantage after all would be, that the establishment of periodical fairs would draw here at those seasons purchasers from the adjacent settlements, who in all probabi-

lity would not confine their dealings to stock alone. It only now requires a better means of communication than exists between Nelson and Auckland to give us a footing for our fat stock in that rapidly increasing market, augmented as it has been within the last year by nearly 3,000 souls. Hops. — We saw the other day at Hooper & Co.'s brewery, a few pockets of hops grown in the settlement. The sample was exceedingly good, such as a grower in England might send to market with satisfaction. As the cultivation of the hop plant is now extending here, it having been proved that it thrives amazingly, exceeding anything of the kind seen in England, we shall soon be able to supi>ly our own breweries, and get up an export with the surplus.