Agricultural and Horticultural Resources. 47 



be demonstrated by the fact, that a Kauri which was felled 

 eighty years ago at the Bay of Isles, ;md has since been 

 continuously exposed to the influence of wet climate, was 

 lately found, according to information of F. E. Maning, Esq., 

 of Hokinga, perfectly sound. On account of this durability, 

 the Kauri wood is recommended for telegraph posts and rail- 

 way sleepers. We may choose from amongst many other 

 trees, which it would be tedious here to enumerate, for intro- 

 duction into our forests. 



HOETICULTUEE. 



For the following valuable information on the culinary vege- 

 tables, and the orchard produce of the colony, we are indebted 

 principally to Mr. F. Smith, of Melbourne. 



During the last years our kitchen gardens have been, by 

 the introduction of improved varieties of culinary vegetables, 

 enriched to such an extent, that our assortment in point of 

 value can bear comparison to that of England. 



The climate is admirably adapted for all European ve- 

 getables, from the old Scotch kail to the delicious melon, the 

 latter surpassing those of English growth in flavor and tender- 

 ness. Yet the climate is not without drawbacks to the cul- 

 ture of vegetables at certain seasons, such as long continued 

 droughts with severe hot winds during the summer, or as 

 heavy rain during the winter, when culinary crojDS suffer 

 most severely in untrenched and undrained soils. But our 

 spring and autumn are so congenial to growth, that amazing 

 crops are produced even with the most simple modes of 

 treatment. 



The sods used for growing vegetables vary from the stiff 

 adhesive clay to the sterile sandy soils, the worst of which 

 produce crops to advantage at some season, when properly 

 managed ; but the most productive of all are either the deep 

 brown loamy or black vegetable soils, well pulverized and free 

 of stagnant water. 



The best situations are low banks, sloping to the rivers or 

 creeks, and low flats, if not subject to floods, with almost any 

 exposure, the north being the least favorable. Where the 

 site is on a declivity, the upper portion is selected for crops 

 of winter growth, and the lower portion generally for crops of 

 summer growth. 



A few remarks on some of the leading crops will assist in 



d2 



