Sale of the Sherwood Estate.

The Sherwood Estate, near the Makikihi Railway Station, in the Waimate County, was submitted at auction on May 10, by Mr. R. Turnbull. The property is a magnificent one in every respect, consisting of low rolling downs, with well-watered valleys between. The soil could not be surpassed for grain-growing purposes, and the few wheat crops already grown on it have been exceptionally heavy. It comprises 6,500 acres, which were divided into farms in size from 54 to 327 acres.

The sale was held in Messrs. Miles, Archer and Co.'s new buildings, in Strathallan Street, in a room 80 ft. by 40 ft. This, during the middle of the day, was almost crammed with people, the greater portion of whom were intending buyers. Amongst them we noticed persons from all parts of South Canterbury, as well as from the north of the provincial district and from Otago. The bidding, all through, was more animated than any we have seen before, and the excitement over some of the best sections was most intense. Offers advanced rapidly, and a perfect mania seems to have taken possession of many buyers. Nor did the auctioneer fail to take advantage of the land-fever, the symptoms of which were so plainly visible on every face. On the contrary, he lost no opportunity of increasing its intensity, and the result was that exceptional, not to say more than satisfactory, prices were realised.

The following is the detailed account of the sales. Owing to the names of the different purchasers being withheld, we page 44 are unable to lay them before our readers. The total amount realised was something over £87,566 :—

Lot.	Description	a	r	p	£	s.	d.
1	Farm	242	1	12	7	0	0
2	Farm	196	2	8	7	0	0
3	Farm	237	2	30	8	15	0
4	Farm	241	3	27	12	0	0
5	Farm	178	3	30	12	15	0
6	Farm	258	2	20	14	10	0
7	Farm	278	0	10	14	10	0
8	Farm	104	1	13	14	5	0
9	Farm	170	2	15	14	5	0
10	Farm	162	1	1	13	10	0
11	Farm	145	3	19	12	5	0
12	Farm Hmstd.	327	2	7	16	0	0
12a	Farm	217	2	27	16	0	0
13	Farm	182	2	20	12	5	0
14	Farm	219	0	36	13	5	0
15	Farm	192	2	29	13	5	0
16	Farm	195	3	26	13	15	0
17	Farm	166	3	33	13	5	0
18	Farm	166	1	16	13	5	0
19	Farm	152	3	26	13	5	0
20	Farm	234	1	11	14	10	0
21	Farm	182	3	0	15	0	0
22	Farm	150	1	29	15	10	0
23	Farm	178	3	39	15	10	0
24	Farm	163	0	16	15	0	0
25	Farm	131	0	27	16	5	0
26	Farm	160	2	33	16	5	0
27	Farm	264	1	37	17	10	0
27A	Farm	17	0	34	17	5	0
28	Farm	117	0	19	12	10	0
29	Farm	198	0	30	13	10	0page 45
30	Farm	107	0	19	20	10	0
31	Farm	92	1	5	20	10	0
32	Farm	77	0	17	13	10	0
33	Farm	64	3	25	16	0	0
34	Farm	115	2	20	15	0	0
35	Farm	54	2	38	15	0	0
36	Farm	90	1	21	14	10	0
37	Farm	91	1	35	13	15	0