HORTICULTURE IN WESTLAND,

West Coast Times, Issue 230, 14 June 1866, Page 2

HORTICULTURE IN WESTLAND,

It has been a common practice m other parts of the Australasias, especially amongst these communities who are the longest settled to speak disparagingly of Westland, and deliberately and wilfully undervalue its climate nd and resources, and at the same time to exaggerate a hundredfold the dangers of its approaches by water. We must needs confess that this feeling of antagonism is not to be wondered at, if we only consider that the West Coast gold-fields have to a certain extent and still aid draining other provinces and colonies of their population^ unsettling; by the glowing accounts' of Heavy yields and exportations, the minds or those wh6 may be ternicd the floatiiigf residue, and who arc not in a position through their poverty, (wliich uufortif nately istoo prevalent,) to follow. In spite, however, of all that our detractors would fain say, they cannot altogether ignoro actual occurrences and successful results* The Customs returns prove beyond cavil, the wondrous gold producing powers of this portion of the province, and we are content to rely on their testimony alone, feeling sure that comment on our part would be merely superfluous. There are, however, other industries slowly developing, that require a little fostering care and kindly, truthful notioe to duly encourage them. Amongst these the most important is Horticulture, which labors under immense disadvantages through the heavy growth of timber which encumbers the land, and the excessive humidity of t;he climate. When the question of reclaiming and cultivating the country was first mooted there were not a few who prognosticated that at the best it would be only partially successful, and that garden esculents which flourished elsewhere would never attain the same_ perfection in the crude sour soil of Western Canterbury, which they had no hesitation in declaring was not worth clearing. But, notwithstanding such gloomy forebodings, there were many who believed to' the contrary, and at their own risk and cost took up land, cleared and cultivated it, the result being a triumphant assertion of the soundness of their judgement, and a well-deserved tribute to the pereeverence and skill they displayed. At the same time these pioneers had difficulties of no ordinary kind to battle with ; for, after clearing the land by painful and patient labor, and then cropping it, they were almost entirely robbed of the first fruits by that pest, the black caterpillar, which fairly covered the ground and destroyed nearly every green thing. This scourge- prevailed during the first two months of this year, and then suddenly disappeared, and since that time we are happy to state that the efforts of gardiners to supply an abundance of excellent vegetables have been most successful. - We were quite astonished the other day at the appearance of the gardens between Woodstock and Hokitika on the south bank of the river ; for notwithstanding that we are now in midwinter, and have been deluged with rain during the past few weeks, they were all in full'orop and looked exceedingly healthy. Large beds of cabbages, turnips, and salad, ready for the market, attested to the care of the cultivator, who informed us that the first crop of potatoes turned out wonderfully well, much better iv met than was anticipated. Mr Bathe who has cleared and cultivated about three and a half acres, deolar^ed that ho counted eighty-five potatoes on one root, some of them exceedingly large. In his garden we observed a fine bed of oats, which he intends cutting for groen feed, and in another part , he pointed out a number of fruit v trees lately planted, all of them looking strong and healthy. A plot is also devoted to Floriculture, and although there is not yet a very large variety of flowers, the appearance of the few that were in blossom denoted that both the soil and climate were suitable to their growth. Besides the ground already in hand a large extent is now in the course of clearing iv the Maori reserve,' and we have no hesitation in asserting •that by next Christmas there will be not less than fifty .or sixty acres of market gardens in full crop on the banks of thp Hokitika river alone, /

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