TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7948, 25 January 1906, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

Daring the course of his speech at thd welcome home to him afc Elgin (South Canterbury), on Friday, Mr John Coohraue stated that he had bought lamb in London at a half-penny per lb less than he had sold his own lambs for the previous year, and Mr Cooharne also gleaned the information that a "ring" had been formed to "bear" the lamb market, and in this connection an expert had tdld him that there would be a. decline in the price of lamb. This, Mr Ooohrane added, be had found to be only too true since hi« return to the colony from his own experience of the price of lambs sent to the freezing works, and Mr Cochrane, also, stated the method of displaying the lair b in the London shops does not tend to its retaining to the full its proper flavour or flrmeas of texture. The people of Westland are extremely anxious that railways should be extended in their distriot. While Mr Seddon was at Ross, a few days ago, be was met by hundreds

of school children bearing bannerettes, upon which were printed the following modest reauests:-—"Please give ua the railway to Ross in 1906." "Please don't refuse our request, dear Mr Seddon." "We want a ride in the iailway to Ross this year<" "Hurrah for the ra>l»vay to Ross, in 1906." ''Oh! dear Mr Seddon, do give us a ride in the train this year." "Promise us the railway in 1906." A sandwich man carried a board reading, "Welcome to the Pre nier," and on the reverse aide "Hustle the iron horse to Ross in 1906." Across a road bung a large motto, "Wei come to the district," and on the reverse side—"We want the railway in 1906." The Dotato blight and the consequent loss aud privation ocaasioned and suffered therefrom by the European and Maori settlers, and chiefly by those who can least afford the loss or escape frcm the suffering entailed upon them by. this new disease, has led Mr W. A. Graham, of Hamilton, to re open the question of the cultivation of the sugar beetroot in Waikato, as an indua try most valuable for the district and as most suitable for the Maori peasuntry at the present time. He suggests that Sugar Beetroot Growers' Associations be formed at every oreamery in Waikato, and the Maoris bo asked to take a band, and to do their part in the cultivation, under European guidance. The Stock Department has. sent for pure sugar beet seed, to the Agricultural Department in America, and on its arrival Mr Melville, of the Hamilton branch of the Farmers' Union, has agreed to co-oper-ate and receive the seed for distribution. The first State apiary has just been established at the Government experimental farm at Ruakura, in the Waikato, by Mr Hopkins, Government apiarist. There are thirty-one hives occupied by bees, and this number it is hoped to shortly increase to a huidred, as soon as it is ascertained what number of hives the locality will carry. Mr Hopkins upeaks hopefully of the prospects of *he bee industry. "The country in the north," he remarked, the other day, "is. looking exceedingly well. What pleases me is that; old identities, that is, those who have been engaged in the industry for the last twenty years, are more than doubling their operations. There are, in addition, a large number of beginners. The difficulty at pre3ent is in getting the bees. In the North Island the largest producing districts are Hawke's Bay and the Upper Wa\kato. At the present time there is a good demand for first-class table honey, of which aDout 600 tons could be absorbed annually in New Zealand, if it were available." Mr Hopkins has placed on view In the museum of the Department of Agriculture a collection of samples of honey from the various districts throughout the colony, and also samples from various parts of the world. The bridge'of the Zambesi, at the Victoria Palls,is said to be the highest bridge in the world; but it is no more than a picturesque detail in an enterprise of a magnitude which few away from the scene of operations realise. Superficially and immediately, it means that a number of distinguished scientists have been able to travel, in the course of a few days, and in all the luxury of modern railway ooaches, from Durban to Johannesburg, Pretoria, Kimberley, Buluwayo and tbe Victoria Falls, a journey which a few short years ago would have involved weeks of laborious and perilous marching. Seventy years ago H. M. S. Beagle, with Professor Darwin's yet more famous father on board, touohed on the coast of Natal, and Charles Darwia, who was still a young man, and had not yet given to the world his theory of natural selection, desired to land and proceed to Cape Town by land, on horseback, or best might. What may our childern not see in South Africa in another seventy years if only racial jealousies and unworthy greed can be held in cheoK by honest men, of all nationalities and opinions, working for the common good? An attempt is now being made to foster cotton-gtowing in Fiji, and the pro 3 lects are encouraging. Mr T. • F. Burness, a well-known resi dent of that colony, who is at present in Auckland, was interviewed by a New Zealand Herald reporter, a few days ago, on the subect. He asid that he had been experimenting in cotton-growing in Fiji for three years past, with a view to ascertain ing what kind of cotton plant would produce the best results. He had produced 20 distinct varieties, and out of theso he had seleoted the ten best, and had sent samples to various parts of the world. In each case he had received most favourable replies. A Manchester firm, to whom he sent a sample, advised him that there was a great future before that particular line, while a Japanese firm said that they would take all Mr Burness could send, prefering it to the American.