COMMERCIAL.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 942, 11 May 1881, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

M. R. MILLER’S HAWKE’S BAY STOCK AND STATION REPORT & ANNUAL REVIEW foe the Year ending April, 1881. The past, year has been a most satisfactory oik* for the staple cf this provincial district, t! ere has been a good lambing, and the clip above the average both in weight and quality, and the demand for live stock of every description has been fully equal to the supply. It is most encouraging to those settlers who have s|a,re<l neither pluck nor purse in improving' their flocks that the demand for H’iwdte’s Bay stock from other provincial districts has increased fourfold this past season — last year tlio total exports only reaching 20,000 sheep ; tl ils year, as per Sheep Inspector's returns, the exports reach 84, 167- — besides cattle in large numbers. The brokers’ reports on both longwool and merino wool continue to maifc improvement, and at the Melbourne Internal ional Exhibition high honorshave been awarded for Hawke's Ba, m both classes ; ou comparing the authorised statistics on the other side it will be found that this district maintains its pre-eminence in producing the highest average weight per fleece in the Colonies, we have exported

11.176,8791bs wool from 1,721,000 sheep and 280,000 lambs shorn, giving an average for the former of 61b. 20z., and the latter about 31b. each—further, nearly 3,000,0()01b. of this was scoured wool, a reasonable allowance for this would bring up the average equal to over 71b. greasy per sheep ; this high average is undoubtedly due, first to our soil and climate, next, to the large proport ion, two-thirds of our whole flocks, being longwools. It will further be found on the statistical fables that the

total acreage in occupation, freehold and leasehold combined, amounts to 1,942,998 acres, it now carries 2,(196.375 sheep, 36,000 cattle and 9,.>00 horses ; although only about, one-fourth of the occupied land is as vet. improved by grass seed sowing, a considerable addition has been sown this past season, but. by far the greater part, of our leasehold lands are comparatively unproductive from want, of capital to seed and fence, holdings are too large in the majority of their eases for the capital at the command of the lessors, and there is a strong tel ictanee in other cases to imp: ove their h ase'iolds too much, from the certainty of a greater rent being required for next least*—overlooking that in the meantime, and during currency of present lease, a good return would be obtained for the money invested. lhere is an immense proportion of fern lands at this moment, not averaging onequarter to one-half sheep per acre, that by an expenditure of 15s per acre under go »d management would carry in two or three years, from two to four sheep per acre. lii agricull tire we are progressing but slowly, 1 am unable to procure the RegistrarGeneral’s returne of last census in time for this issue, but the estimate does not exceed 30,000 acres under crop—wheat, oats, barley, roots and hay, inclusive of about 1000 acres under forest tree plantation.-* The great rea son for agriculture being so much behind is the difficulty farmers meet in obtaining moderate sized farms, either at convenient distances from town or adjacent to a railway—many of our large pastoral properties" so situated would be much more productive cut up into small farms, ond this I em glad to report will be the case with one or two runs soon. The wheat, and barley produced hero, it is admitted, is the best in New Zealand, and the root crops are remarkably abundant. All that is wanted is more encouragement to the agricultural class, moderate sized farms at moderate rates.