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produce for conveyance to the markets at the metropolis, while it 

 will stimulate the settlers all round that district to greater efforts 

 in cultivating their laud. I entertain the most sanguine hopes for 

 the future of that portion of the colony to which 1 have referred. 

 The soil there is of a splendid character ; it is seven feet deep and 

 is capable of producing anything we require in the country. I look 

 forward hopefully to the time when this railway will be run through 

 that country beyond it, even as far as the magnificent port of 

 Albany. In view of the rapid strides which the colony is making, 

 I do not think that my hopes will renurn unrealised for any 

 lengthened period." Mr. A. Forrest in supporting the Bill bore 

 testimony from personal knowledge, that should be very reassuring 

 to intending settlers, as follows : " In the Blackwood district 

 we have a great fruitgrowing country, where the present produc- 

 tion could be increased a thousandfold, and though there are 

 only a few hundred acres under crop, yet, if hon. members visited it 

 in the fruit season they would see the trees breaking down with loads 

 of fruit, and would be convinced that the district is capable of 

 supporting a large population in fruit growing. Another important 

 factor in building this railway is that the whole of the land through 

 which the line passes is Crown land. The railways in other agricul- 

 tural districts have been made entirely through freehold land, 

 whereas along this railway there is no freehold land worth speaking 

 of perhaps a few thousand acres in the whole length of 46 miles." 

 Mr. A. R. Richardson, who then held the portfolio of Commissioner 

 of Crown Lands, and who knows the country through which the 

 railway will go as well as any man in the colony, put in a strong plea 

 for the acceptance of the scheme. His speech is so full of instructive 

 matter as to the recommendations of the soil, that some of the points 

 he made ought not to be missed. He said : u What I particularly 

 wish to point out are some peculiar circumstances in the agricultural 

 conditions of this district. Fortunately for us ,it is a district that is 

 capable of yielding those kind of products which other parts of the 

 colony are not suitable for producing. We have a large amount of 

 agricultural country opened up by railways now, and I think if this 

 railway was to pass through agricultural country under exactly 

 similar conditions, I should be inclined to say we were not justified 

 in making this railway. But the other districts are wheat-growing, 

 or mainly cereal producing districts, whereas in the Blackwood 

 district we have a climate and soil which are favorable to the 

 reproduction of many other kinds of products, such as potatoes, 

 onions, English fruits, dairy produce, cheese, pork, bacon, and a large 

 variety of agricultural products, which, to our disgrace be it said, 

 we are importing from other countries in large quantities. Indeed, 

 we are now sending away thousands of pounds annually to pay for 

 agricultural products which the Blackwood district is particularly 

 suitable for producing; but I do not think we shall ever produce these 

 things in that, or other districts, in sufficient quantities for supplying 



