SIR J. VOGEL AND NEW ZEALAND.

Patea Mail, Volume IV, Issue 324, 25 May 1878, Page 4

SIR J. VOG EL AND NEW ZEALAND.

■Papers by the last mail give report of lecture on ■“ The agriculture,,of New Zealand,’h delivered by. Bir Julius Vogel, at the last meeting of the Colonial Institute, in Loudon. The'-; Canterbury- ■ Times reprints portions of the' lecture, and in its. editorialcolumns, says ; —• ‘ At tins particular time when -the value of agricultural property. rules so ••■high, it.is very instructive - to compare the resources of our soil with those of our neighbours. The comparison when made will bo found particularly consoling to those .who' from. motives, of caution are inclined to greet the reports of high ... prices with. ‘.Hold, ' enough.’ Material for the comparison will bo found in an extract from a lecture on New Zealand delivered by Sir Julius, Vogel at the last . meeting... of the Colonial Institute; in London. ; This, which we published in another r column,■■will be found to contain a letter from a practical man .who evidently knows what ,ho is writing about. Tho -result of the comparison is that the soil of New Zealand is more productive than any other in tho British Empire or the United States. This, in spite of the excessively expensive and ’scientific methods of agriculture adopted in Biilaiu and parts of America, and the large quantity of virgin soil every year, brought into cultivation in the latter. The average per acre for. cereal crops is in New Z ’aland, it is noteworthy, more than double what it is in any other country outside of Great Britain. Comparing this Colony with. the oilier colonies except Canada, we find that the land here grows grass and returns a good income when not in crop, while with them it is often, and to a large extent, completely exhausted for a lime, returning nothing. In the comparison with America, onr climate tells very * greatly in our favour against their six months of winter, and snow. The inference drawn by Sir Julius Vogel and his correspondent is, that New Zealand must attract tiTe attention of agriculturists in all parts; of the world. The high prices i uiiug hero are, it is well known to those that pay them, founded on the ■ results of experience. That experience

has received the corroborative testimony of public comparison, which will justify the action founded .upon its teachings. Those who have backed their judgment by buying good farms at good prices, will not repent them that they have had Iho courage ol their convictions.