, 1877-03-31

to these latter as conducive, perhaps, to
sectarian strife and contention, then take
repose in the inexhaustible field of agri~
culture. It ought not to be difficult for
the energetic journalist to get information
from every estate In the island, of all that
is important in agriculture, of the different
kinds Of soil and their treatment in the
past and 10 the present, Of the amount Of
manure, stable and artificial, that has been
and is employed, the rainfall, tilIage, and
consequent crops, both past and present,
the planting of trees, where, when, what
kind, and what effects observed, the dam
ming up Of water, where, how much and
with what objects in view, and how far
attained, etc. etc. Gd igfnitum. But ia all
those respects venture to say that not
even the administration, who, however,
have a more or less trained staff at their
command, are always supplied with the
necessary information in timo to have
fresh interest. AS for matters connected
With agriculture in its various branches,
and the manufacture of our staple, l
have been alive To the vast importance of
these questions, and they have received
much attention at my hands. Whether
my endeavours in this and other respects
have been of any use to anybody is ano-
ther Question.-Again, in another direction,
perhaps not much less interesting and
important than more high-souuding sub.
jects, Prices Current" should be publish
ed, and could easily be had, says our
supposed interlocutor, if in no other way
at least by means Of a well-trained
staff of spies and reporters Of the
"don't care q d-n type, who should
have been paid partly by the Company, and
partly by those who never subscribed for
but always read, the paper, a class of"para-
sitical varmint who seem to thrive best
in warm cljmates.-Then there might be o
kind of Court Circular, for who will deny
the propriety Of peoples getting informed
Of the movements in high life. Even the
80 called Proceedings of the Colonial
Council might be improved on, and the
speeches of honorable members should be
reported verbatim. Certainly the phrase:
-" From reasons which | am prepared TO
Law before the honorable Council, l beg to
dissent from the sentiments expressed by
the honorable so and so''-carries much
more weight with it than the simple: $50
and so dissented from so and SOY but | am
sorry to say that perhaps nine people out
OF ten seem to make it a point of honour
not to read the Proceedings, or at least say
that they don't, where, however, matters
of the greatest local interests are dis
cussed, at the same time that they
complain OF the scantiness of such matters
in the paper. Consistency is not the most
common quality to be met with.
But all the foregoing, whatever impor-
lance may be attached to it, is not in its es-
sence superior to what many papers poke
into o column under the modest heading
Ladies' Chit Chat, or the like. Here is a
ehance for the ladies', and it would be an
outrage to suppose that any ono would
take ever the most abstract remark as
personal, at least it ought to be.
For fear of being called prosy I stop
short. IF it had not been for that consi-
deration, I-might have gone on further ;
I might have pointed out how much
could be made out of the medical cases
also from the Journalistic point Of view,
not to speak of the veterinary and phar-
maceutic, and, according to our supposed
wiseacres, it could of course easily be
obtainsd.-Also other literary productions
Of local interest and origin would be
appreciated, we are sometimes told, and
lant thonch MT loaat. those n~Olitical con.