TOPICS OF THE MONTH.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5005, 9 April 1877, Page 2

TOPICS OF THE MONTH.

The agricultural statistics of the Provincial District of Canterbury show the difference between the estimated crops of 1876 and 1877 to be as follows; : Bushels. 1870. 1877. Bushels. Wheat ~ 1,770,303 .. 2,707.025 .. Inc'so, 037,202 Oats .. .. 2,788,088 .. 2,100,800 .. Bec'se, 081,888 Barley .. 020,099 .. 505,700 .. Dec’ae, 114,99!) Potatoes(tomi) 17,895.. 19,880 .. In. ,1991 (tons). But it has been calculated in the HegistrarGeneral’s office, that the above figures for 1877 are in excess of the actual yield by the undermentioned amounts, as in several of the districts considerable damage has been done to the crops by bad weather since the collectors obtained their returns. These amounts have been calculated on the estimated proportions of damage sustained, and the loss is set down

as follows;—Wheat 84,513 bushels, oats 74,895 bushels, barley 19,101 bushels, hay 963 tous, potatoes 293 tous. The statistics for the Provincial District of Taranaki show the differences between the estimated crops of 1876 and 1877 to be as follows:

Bushels. 1876. 1877. Bushels. Wheat .. 13,487 .. 25,293 .. Increase, 11,800 Oats .. .. 21,695 .. 20,754 .. Decrease, 841 Barley .. 430 .. 1,035 .. Increase, 005 Potatoes (tous) 2,106 .. 2,871 .. Increase,7Cs(tons). —Mr. Sperry, the superintendent collector of agricultural statistics for Otago, has just completed his task. According to the Guardian the results are as follows :—Number of holdings ; Freehold, 2675; rented, 1300 ; part free, part rented, 477 ; total, 4452. Extent of land broken up, but not under cultivation, 70,532 acres ; in. wheat, 40,799 ; acres—estimated yield, 1,235,893 bushels; in oats, 17,084 acres—estimated yield, 65,882 bushels ; in barley, 6051 acres—estimated yield, 183,977 bushels ; in bay, 8652 acres—estimated yield, 12,568 tons ; in sown grass, 356,131 acres ; in potatoes, 4805 acres estimated yield, 24,604 tons ; in other crops, 46,000 acres.— Total number of acres under crop, including sown grasses, 536,753. Quantity of last year’s crop remaining in hand : wheat, 1831 bushels; oats, 298,245 do. ; barley, 10,802 do. Compared with last year’s returns, there is an increase of 280 holdings, 285,351 bushels of wheat, and 3680 tons potatoes, and a decrease of 823.938 bushels oats, and 69,714 bushels barley. The total acreage under cultivation shows an increase of 84,086 acres, and grass land shows an increase of 65,006 acres. The available export of wheat this year for the whole colony will be 800,000 bushels, which in the face of the fact that Adelaide will only have 100,000 instead of 200,000 tons for export this year, and that New South Wales will be a large importer owing to the damage to her crops by drought, should be very encouraging to the fanners. The Registrar-General's report on the vital statistics of the colony for the year 1876 has jsst ; been .published. The total number of births, the actual mortality of males and females, aud the percentage of deaths to the population in the principal boroughs, are shown in the following table :

An analysis of the registered causes of death shows that 31 51 were attributable to zymotic diseases ; 14'12 to constitutional diseases ; 35 - 62 to local diseases ; 13'22 to developmental diseases ; 5‘06 to violent deaths ; while 0'47 are not specified. Dunedin stands highest in the list of zymotic diseases, being credited with 122 ; Wellington comes next with 109 ; Auckland, 107 ; Christchurch, 85 ; while the Thames, Nelson, and Hokitika managed 44 amongst them. Measles, which caused 126 deaths in the boroughs in 1875, was not the cause of one death last year ; but scarlet fever (including scarlatina), which caused only 7 deaths in 1875, caused . 78 in 1876, the majority of the cases occurring at Dunedin. Dysentery and diarrhoea were most fatal last year in Wellington and Christchurch. Typhus and typhoid fevers only caused 44 deaths in 1876, against 134 in 1875. Of the deaths in 1876, the largest numbers occurred in Auckland (14) and Wellington (12). During 1876, 93 persons died in these boroughs at the age of 65 or upwards. The number in each borough was as follows :—Auckland, 25 ; Thames, 3 ; Wellington, 20 ; Nelson, 20 ; Christchurch, 11 ; Dunedin, 13 ; and Hokitika, 1. Five deaths occurred at the higher ages of 85 and upwards ; of these, 2 males (of 85) and 1 female (of 88) died at Auckland, and 2 females (of 86 and 93) died at Nelson. The violent deaths were 75 in 1876,. against 79 in 1875. _ Of these, 4- were 'homicides, and 13 suicides. The estimates of population given in the above table differ materially from the numbers published in the monthly reports for 1876, which Mr. Brown explained by saying;—The increase of births over deaths since the census did not sufficiently show the great alteration that had taken place in the populations of the different boroughs; and as the Census Act of 1876 postponed the time at which the next census is to be taken, it became necessary to endeavor otherwise to obtain more correct estimates of the populations. The numbers estimated for the end of 1876 have been bassd upon the numbers of inhabited houses returned by the officers of the boroughs, and the respective densities of population that obtained in 1874. A proportionate increase or decrease for the difference of time has been made in estimating populations for the middle of the year. The births in the boroughs increased from 3407 in 1875 to 3637 in 1876. During the same period the deaths decreased from 1885 to 1482 —a decrease in the year of 403. The increase however in 1875 had been exceptionally large, amounting to 511, or 37‘2 per cent, on those in the previous year. The deaths have decreased in numbers in all the boroughs except Wellington, where the number has increased, but only slightly, viz., 14. This increase may only be the natural consequence of the rapidly increasing population of Wellington. The reduction in the total number of deaths may be partially attributable to the fact that in 1875 all the deaths in the respective hospitals were included, whereas in 1876 only the deaths of residents of the boroughs are included. The deaths in the boroughs of children under 1 year amounted in 1876 to 501, or 13‘77 per cent, of the births, against 18 per cent, in 1875, and 14 - 6 per cent, in 1874. The deaths under 1 year amounted to 33'8 percent, of the total deaths, the proportions having been 30'8 per cent, in 1875, and 34'7 per cent, in 1874.

The deaths of persons not residents of the boroughs, occurring at hospitals, have been excluded in all cases. The estimates of the populations of the boroughs given here are not as before merely an addition of the excess of births over deaths to the census figures for March, 1874, as it has become evident that ‘ such estimates are not sufficiently accurate. The number of persona to a house has been i assumed to be the same as when the census was taken, and the population calculated on the number of inhabited houses in each borough; at the present time, as shown in returns supplied by the municipal authorities. The births were 61 less than in January. The deaths were 27 leas in number than the deaths in January. Of the deaths, males contributed 59; females, 61: 62 of the deaths were of children under 5 years of age, being 5T67 per cent, of the whole number ; 48 of these were of children under 1 year of age. There were 7 deaths, of persons of 65 years of age and over : 4 of these persons were males and 3 females—of these, 1 male aged 81, and 2 females aged 74 and' 78, died at Auckland ; 1 female over 70 at Wellington ; 1 male aged 75 at Christchurch ; and 2 males aged 66 and 68 at Dunedin.

In, a New Zealand Gazette of March the Bth is published a comparative return of the number of telegrams forwarded, revenue received, and the value of the General Government telegrams transmitted for the quarters ending 30th Septombex - , 1875 and 1876. In the month of October, 1876, the number of telegrams forwarded decreased to the extent of 7327 ; Imt during the last two months of the

quarter there was au increase of 34,319, and the increase of cash revenue received was £1591 165.; the decrease in the month of October amounting to £6Ol 16s. lid. There was a decrease in the value of Government teb'gmms transmitted during the first two months of the quarter of 1876, £4ll 4s. 10d.; but the last month (December) shows an increase of £709 ss. lOd.

Boroughs. Estimated Mean Population for 1876. Total Births. Total Deaths. Proportion of Deaths to the 1000 of Population. Auckland ... 12,156 593 303 2493 Thames 5,105 246 60 11'70 Wellington,. 15,145 821 299 1974 Nelson 5,573 201 98 1758 Christchurch 12,371 597 280 22 63 Dunedin 22,507 995 389 17-24 Hokitika .. - 2,983 124 63 1777 Total .. 3,637 1,482

The monthly report on the vital statistics for February of the Registrar-General in brief is as follows ;— Boroughs. ’ Estimated Population Jan., 1877. Total Births. Total Deaths. Proportion of Deaths to the 1000 of Population. Auckland 12,024 45 17 1*41 Thames 4.400 19 5 1T2 Wellington .. 10,130 62 24 1*40 Nelson 5,554 11 0 1-08 Christchurch 12,815 47 23 179 Dunedin 23,865 77 38 1*03 Hokitika .. 2,805 17 7 2'41 Total .. 278 120