TEA. AND SILK FAEMIXG IN NEW ZEALA.ND. 



187 



grow profusely iu the open air; that moderate and vivifying 

 showers, to the extent of forty-seven inches, fall during one 

 hundred to one hundred and eighty-six days of the year ; that 

 the mean of the coldest month is 51°, and that of the warmest 

 68'' Fahr. ; that the grape, vine, and olive are frequently found 

 intermingled with the ordinary fences ; and the hot, blighting 

 winds and dust-storms of Australia and parts of Asia, so inimical 

 to tea and mulberry culture and so fatal to the silkworm, are 

 unknown. Probably no better certificate of excellence could be 

 quoted in favour of this enticing province than the following 

 diagram compiled from Dr. Hector's handbook prepared for 

 visitors at the Sydney International Exhibition of 1879 : — 



Seasons and Climate of Auckland, Neio Zealand.. 



Equally attractive are the sanitary temptations which Auck- 

 land ofiers to the weakly and toilworn, as well as to the robust 

 and vigorous searchers after a pleasant home. The " Official 

 Handbook " (1875), at page 244, informs us that " tlie percentage 

 of deaths to births the previous year was only 17"75, a very 

 much lower average than prevails in England and other Euro- 

 pean countries. . . . Serious epidemics of any kind have liappily 

 been unknown ; cases of measles and scarlatina are also of rare 

 occurrence. . . . The climate of Auckland is specially beneficial 

 to asthmatic patients, and the northern portions of the province, 

 particularly the Bay of Ishmds, are recommended by medical 

 men for persons su fieri ng from diseases of tlio lungs. The warm 

 lakes and sulphur springs in the Kotorua district have become 

 famous for the cure of rlieumatism and kindred diseases." 



Such are some of the many advantages and allurements whicli 



