This district was founded as a special settlement under the auspices of what was called the "Canterbury Association." The first settlers arrived in 1841, under conditions that gave the enterprise for some time the aspect of an isolated colony. As the first settlers of Otago were essentially Scottish, so the first ones of Canterbury were [unclear: sentially] English. But, with improved means of communication and the multiplication of interests and employments, Canterbury, like Otago, has become cosmopolitan. The population of Canterbury is now about 124,000, of which 41,205 reside in the chief town, Christchurch, and suburbs. There are 454 miles of railway; and a throughly efficient telegraph service extends to every point of any importance There are in the district 206 separate state schools with a total of 25,091 children on the rolls. Of the settlers in this, as indeed in almost every other part of the Colony, it may be said in truth that they enjoy an average degree of prosperity and general comfort, equal to if not above that which is the lot of any other community in the world. In Canterbury, enterprise and capital are more exclusively devoted to agricultural and pastoral interests than is the case elsewhere in the Colony. It may be fairly said that Canterbury is the "cornfield" of New Zealand. In no other part of it is there such a large area so suitable for and so easy of tillage. The extent of the Canterbury plains proper is about 3,000,000 acres. The ares of open land under 2,000 feet above sea-level is actually [unclear: 06.690] acres. The extent of open land above 2,000 feet above [unclear: -level] is 4,494,207 acres. The total area between the boundaries of the Hurunui and the Waitaki is 8,693,027 acres; and of this, 6,375,569 acres are classed as agricultural and pastoral.

The productive capacity of these lands is best illustrated by statistics showing that on the 31st May last there were 4,594,577 sheep in Canterbury, while the Agricultural figures for this district are as fellows:—

And it should be borne in mind that these figures take no account the large numbers of cattle, pigs, and horses.

Table I.—the Average Yield of Grain Per Acre, and the Total Years During the Last 14 Years, for Whole of N.Z., have been as Follows.

The value of agricultural land on the Canterbury Plains ranges from £3 10s., to £30 per acre; while the average value of such land, reckoned within easy distance of a railway, may be taken as £8 per acre. The land is in general firmly held; and there are still many large block of freehold of excellent quality, in the possession of one individual People in Australia and elsewhere have not unfrequently [unclear: expre] their surprise at the prices at which our farming land is held. But [unclear: the] surprise disappears when one becomes acquainted with the combined advantages of soil and climate which Canterbury enjoys. Here the land is like the mill that grinds every day of the year. There [unclear: is] month in which the farmer may not sow something. This is true to a large extent of the whole of New Zealand. But in [unclear: Canterbury] presented the happy medium between the wetter and colder [unclear: climate] Southern Otago, and the hotter and drier one of the North Island Canterbury is the only district that is so far able to produce fat sheep for freezing, in equal numbers all the year round. This [unclear: becom] practicable by the suitableness of the climate for growing and maturing turnips as well as grasses.

The Canterbury plains present exceptional facilities for irrigation. They have a regular fall of about thirty feet per mile towards the [unclear: and] the great rivers run west to east directly with the fall. These may he tapped at almost any point, and their water conducted [unclear: to] the land lying at a lower level. These conditions have been taken advantage of so far as to lead the water for the purpose of watering stock, &c., and the many miles of water-races over the country supply nearly every farm. This supply has undoubtedly [unclear: eased] the stock carrying capacity of many districts, but, under [unclear: gation] proper, the country would present a very different aspect. This however, is a prospect of the future, as the grading of lands [unclear: irrigation] purposes is a costly operation, even under such [unclear: excepcually] favourable circumstances as are obtained here,

Partial irrigation, or the watering of grass lands may be more [unclear: ly] carried out, and good results have been obtained at the [unclear: bburton] experimental irrigation farms, and at that of the School of [unclear: griculture] at Lincoln.

To learn how the farming land of Canterbury acquires its great [unclear: suetive] value, it is only necessary to compare the conditions of [unclear: ate] with those of less favoured countries. In the United States [unclear: d] Canada, the land will be found sealed up by frost for about five [unclear: ths] of the year, while in Australia all vegetation withers for long [unclear: ods] under a scorching sun. It is easy to show that in Canterbury [unclear: average] profit per acre to the farmer is as great as the value of the [unclear: bole] average yield per acre in South Australia and Victoria. For simple, in Canterbury, land of the value of £10 per acre, produces on [unclear: average] 28 bushels per acre, at 3s., equal to £4 4s. Therefore taking [unclear: rest] or rent at 14s., and charges at 34s., the net profit is 36s. per [unclear: which] represents the whole value of the average yield per acre in [unclear: th], Australia, namely of 9 bushels at 4s, equal to £1 16s. To give [unclear: ther] actual case: a light land farm five miles from a railway station [unclear: t] year produced 20 bushels of wheat per acre which was raised and page 6 delivered at a cost of 1s. 6d. per bushel including every charge except interest or rent. The market value of this land is about £4 per acre. These cases show that grain growing in Canterbury is still a very profitable business with average seasons and the price about 3s. per bushel for wheat. It has to be remembered that a dry season will come occasionally, and in such case the product of the light land would be very small. But when a farmer has an average of 25 bushels wheat per acre, for six consecutive years, as is the case of Canterbury for the last six years, he must be an improvident man if he cannot afford to go for one year without a crop. The risks incidental to grain growing here are probably much the same in extent as in England. The greatest fear of the Canterbury farmer arises from North-west winds, more or less prevalent in the end of summer and autumn. But the danger of having grain shaken out by wind is much less since improved harvesting machinery has become available.

Soil.

The soils occupied vary very considerably in quality and composition. Even on the great plain the widest diversity is found, due here chiefly to the action of the rapid waters of the large rivers, and also to a considerable extent to the effects of wind. For there can be no doubt but that the poorness of some of the central part of the plain—through most of which, unfortunately for the credit of the country the main trunk line of railway runs—is due to the action of strong westerly winds upon the river deposited silt. Thus the finer particles being carried seaward, accounts for the richness of the land toward the sea coast, where we find this deposit—loess—presenting us with soils of the greatest fertility.

These deposits being to seaward, have in many cases to receive the waters of the easterly running streams, the result being often swampy lands, which on being drained prove to be exceedingly rich, the accumulated vegetable matter having added to the natural fertility of the wind deposited loess.

It is from these lands the astonishing results that appear in the public prints from time to time, are obtained—results [unclear: which] often thought to be exaggerations by persons unacquainted with the productiveness of these soils.

On the low downs, both South and North, is land above average quality of that of most of the plain. And [unclear: the] here also are very diverse in character, being in some localities more or less calcareous, in others a stiff or less adhesive clay. page 7 Again we find that friable volcanic soil so conducive to the [unclear: pid] growth of good grass, having in abundance all the elements of [unclear: t] food, And all these lands are exceedingly well watered and [unclear: ined]

Towards the scientific examination of soils much has been done in the laboratory of the School of Agriculture, at Lincoln.

The following table of the chemical analyses of some soils, may prove of interest.

Table No. II.—Analyses of Some Canterbury Soils.

Climate.

[unclear: To] the suitability of our climate is undoubtedly chiefly duo, not [unclear: ly] the high average yield of Canterbury, but more particularly [unclear: maintenance] of that average over a number of years, as set forth [unclear: table] No. 1. A glance at this table will show, amongst other [unclear: how] slight the fluctuation in the average yield per acre has [unclear: throughout] the period dealt with.

[unclear: A] few particulars as to rainfall and temperature will prove of [unclear: and] are given hereunder with a view of drawing attention to [unclear: equability] of our climate.

Table No. III., Showing the Monthly Rainfall, and the Number of Days upon which Rain Fell at Lincoln, for the 10 Years 1880/89.

The most noticeable features in this record are the even distribution of the rainfall throughout the year, and the suitability of the averages for the particular month of the year.

A glance at the return of rainy days during each month shows even more forcibly than does the amount of rain, our freedom from drought, and from excessive rainfall.

The tables hereunder give the temperature recorded by exposed self-recording thermometers at the Lincoln School of Agriculture.

Table No. IV., Showing the Highest and Lowest Temperature on the Grass as Recorded by the Terrestrial Radiation Thermometer at the School of Agriculture, Lincoln.

Table No. V., Showing Monthly Record of Highest and Lowest Temperature in the Sun as Taken at the School of Agriculture, Lincoln

The Canterbury A & P. Association.

This Institution was founded in the year 1863, having for its object the development of the agricultural and pastoral resources of Canterbury. With the exception of a small grant of money made by the late Provincial Council, the Society is supported by voluntary contributions.

The healthy rivalry which takes place from year to year at the annual shows of stock, &c., held by the Association, has been productive of immense advantage to the Provincial District of Canterbury in the general improvement of all classes of stock, implements, and page 11 manufactures. The work of the Association is not confined to the holding of annual shows. They publish a journal of agriculture (known as the "New Zealand Country Journal"); a "Draught Horse Stud Book"; a "Herd Book of Shorthorn Cattle"; and a "Herd Book for Other Breeds of Cattle." Trials of new machinery are also held, the results being published for the benefit of farmers. Prizes are also offered for the best kept small and medium sized dairy and tillage farms with a view of encouraging a better system of farm management, The Association's rooms are furnished with a valuable library for the the use of members. Indeed, it may be claimed for the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, that they are performing most efficiently in this district, all the functions of a State Department of Agriculture.

Lincoln Agricultural College.

The School of Agriculture at Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand, is one of the Institutions under the control of the Canterbury College, and is the outcome of endowments of land, reserved by the Provincial Government of Canterbury, for the purpose of affording to succeeding generations of farmers, such an education, as would best fit them for the pursuit of their calling, under the conditions likely to obtain in this country in the future.

The course of instruction, therefore, whilst being eminently practical, embraces also a thorough study of theoretical agriculture, and also of the sciences bearing thereon, these being also dealt with practically in the laboratories attached to the institution. Land surveying, levelling, and book-keeping also form part of the course.

The farm is 660 acres in extent, comprising soils of various qualities, It serves principally for the purpose of initiating students into the performance of all descriptions of farm work, they taking part in the regular daily work. It also serves for illustrating the teaching of the lecture rooms, and for experimental purpose.

The farm buildings have been planned to be as complete as possible, the requirements of the country being, however, kept in view. The dairy contains the latest appliances; there are also blacksmith's and carpenter's shops, in which students take their turn at work.

The school-buildings (shown in the illustration) are of brick and stone, and provide accommodation for about forty-five students, each having a separate bedroom, and contain also, all necessary lecture and class rooms, laboratories, &c.

The course of instruction extends over two years, the year being divided into two terms. The fee payable being £20 per term, or £40 per annum. This payment includes everything but books, and the small quantity of apparatus required.

The prospectus, which contains very full particulars of the Institution, the scope of the teaching, &c., may be obtained, on application, from the Director, Lincoln, or from the Registrar of the Canterbury College, Christchurch.

Industries and Manufactures.

page 14

Commerce.

With the foregoing outline of the producing and industrial interests of Canterbury one should have no difficulty in judging of the nature of its commerce. The main business of the merchants is, of course, to find a profitable outlet abroad for produce, and to import id distribute commodities for consumption and materials for developing the resources of the district. The value of the foreign trade of Lyttelton last year (to 30th June) was £3,411,843, consisting of exports, £2,266,569, and imports, £1,145,274. At Timaru, the second port of Canterbury, the value of the foreign trade for the same period was £642,720, made up by exports, £566,429, and imports, £76,291 Those figures furnish an eloquent commentary on the wonderful expansion of the Canterbury export trade, in the fact that the exports represent 70 per cent, of the foreign trade. In other words, the relative values of exports and imports are as 7 to 3. In Canterbury: therefore, is presented the extraordinary feature: of a total population of only 124,000, having a foreign trade of £4,054,563 in valid Besides dealing with produce and merchandise the commercial interest in Canterbury has always been an important channel for the introduction of capital for promoting enterprise in the district. In concluding this sketch, it is due to the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce to say that it has always devoted its influence, with zest and with no small success, to the promotion, not only of what lay nearest to the commercial interest, but to every measure likely It promote the prosperity of the district as a whole.

Geology and Topography.

The Canterbury Plains are half-moon shaped; some 120 miles long and with a greatest breadth of about 40 miles. Near the middle of the flat, or eastern side, is the cluster of volcanic hills called Bank's Peninsula. These were a group of volcanoes very many ages ago, and all signs of craters have long since been obliterated. They were active when the western islands of Scotland were also pouring out streams of lava. The curved side of the plains is bordered by high mountains to the west, but on the north and south by undulsting hills, which are, however, broken in places by high ridges too steep to plough. The plains themselves slope from the sea up to a level of about a thousand feet under the foot of the western mountains. These western mountains, as well as the high ridges that run from page 15 them on the north and south of the plains, are formed of sandstones and slates of considerable age, dating probably from the carboniferous and jurassic periods, and contain limestone but rarely. But fringing the western side of the plain as well as covering the spurs from the ridges north and south are many different kinds of much younger rocks which afford a great variety of soils and many useful minerals.

Limestones—all of them good for burning and some for building—occur from the Hurunui in the north through the Weka-pass district to Oxford, where there is a deposit of chalk. They are also found in the Malvern Hills, and again in the south near Mt. Somers, Hakahu, like Opihi and Tangawai rivers, and in the Valley of the Waihao.

Brown coals are found at the Malvern Hills, Mt. Somers, Kakahu, and Waihao, while at the Acheron, a tributary of the Rakaia, there is very good anthracite. Good pottery clays generally accompany the coal beds.

Volcanic rocks are by no means rare. Bank's Peninsula is entirely composed of basalts and andesites which decompose into valuable soils. The Malvern Hills also contains both basalts and andesites, although host of its volcanic rocks are rhyolite, which makes a comparatively poor soil; and it is the same with Mt. Somers and the Gawlar Downs. However, at Geraldine and Timaru, we again find basalts, which readily decompose.

The plains themselves are shingly near the great rivers, especially along their northern banks, bat generally the shingle is covered by a layer of silt, which towards the coast passes into rich black soil.

Much of the lower part of Bank's Peninsula, as well as the Mt. Grey and Moeraki Downs, the lower parts of the Malvern Hills and the country between Timaru and the Waitaki river is covered by a silt deposit, often of great depth, forming a loam which would make an almost perfect soil if a little lime were added; and as limestone and coal are both plentiful in many places, the cost of burning and distributing it would not be very great.

Higher Education.

The Province of Canterbury has from its foundation given great prominence to higher education. The Canterbury Association intending as it did to make it a colony of members of the Church of England, set apart a certain proportion of the proceeds of its land sales for the establishment of a church college and grammar school. And Christ's College Grammar School was started early in the history of the Province and flourished for many years as one of the best, if not the best of its kind in New Zealand, drawing a large number of its pupils from other provinces. But as the exclusively Church of England character of the district disappeared it became clear to the Provincial Council that its collegiate education must be founded on wider basis, and in 1873 large reserves were set apart, and by the Canterbury College Ordinance, vested in a Governing Body, whose twenty-three members were drawn from all sects. Thus an undenominational University College was founded, under the name of Canterbury College, and a staff of professors, able to give a complete liberal education of a university standard, was brought from England and commenced work in 1875.

Along with Otago University, the new college succeeded in gradually reforming the recently-established University of New Zealand, and putting its constitution and degrees on a more satisfactory footing; and now that institution practically consists of the three University Colleges in Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin, and has all its degree, senior scholarship, and honour examinations conducted by the most eminent examiners in the British Universities.

For several years the number of students was small, though increasing, as Christ's College still adhered to its original idea of adding collegiate education to its grammar school education, and there were no other secondary schools in the province to prepare students for matriculation. But in 1877 the Girls' High School was establish with a small endowment, and in 1881 the Christchurch Boys' High School with an ample endowment, and High Schools at Timaru, Ashburton, Akaroa, and Rangiora, with portions of the former primary school reserves to support them. The two former were placed under the governing body of Canterbury College, and along with the others were intended to prepare students for that institution These schools give great prominence to practical training, although they pay special attention to preparing pupils for entering on a University course. The last few years the Boys' High School has page 17 had a workshop in full operation, for teaching the pupils skill in various mechanical trades; whilst the Girls' High School has had for five or six years a highly successful cooking class, and as successful a class scientific dress cutting. It also insists on the physical training of the girls, gymnastics, drill, and swimming being part of the curriculum. In both schools there are offered every year a number of exhibitions for pupils entering them, and a few for pupils already in them.

Canterbury College draws numbers of students from the districts of Nelson, Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Wanganui, Westland and South Canterbury. And it has become the largest of the three University Colleges, having had during last session 165 matriculated students, and 153 unmatriculated students (in all 318) attending its lectures. Some of its classes, such as English Composition, have often above 150 students in regular attendance.

Of its students the great majority are merely pursuing a liberal course of education towards a degree in arts, a few are proceeding to a degree, and still fewer to a science degree or an engineering certificate. There being a small law faculty and a small engineering faculty in the College.

One of the features of the College that has made it so great a success has been the admission of ladies, not only to the lectures, but to all the privileges of undergraduates and graduates. The consequence is, a large number of the graduates, and some of these the most successful in gaining scholarships and honours, are ladies; it was the first University College in the British dominions to have a lady graduate; and nearly half of the undergraduates and almost as large a proportion of unmatriculated students attending lectures are ladies. No difficulty has ever arisen as to the two sexes attending the same lecture at the same times, and the effect on the male undergraduates has been the almost complete absence of discourtesy or breach of discipline on their part. It is one of the few colleges in the British Empire where ladies are seen daily in the lecture-rooms and courts in cap and gown, and it undoubtedly led the way in this.

Most of the lectures are so arranged that men in business, clerks, artisans, and teachers from the country, can attend them without giving up their daily avocations; and a single lecture per week may be attended during a term of fourteen weeks for a fee of half a guinea, as there is no matriculation or entrance fee. The consequence is that every session large numbers attend and study, who have no page 18 intention of proceeding to a degree; and the influence of the College on the professions, and the general culture of the neighbourhood, is much wider than might be judged from the number of its graduates. Most of the teachers of the district and a large proportion of the young clergymen and lawyers pass through its classes.

Primary Education.

The system of elementary education embodied in the Education Act, 1877, did not, so far as Canterbury was concerned, introduce any novelty; being in its essential principles only a continuation the system which had been gradually established under the of peril of the Provincial Education Ordinances of 1864, 1871, and The subsequent increase in the number of schools and of children under instruction is attributable, not to any extraordinary stimulus to the application of improved administrative machinery, but to the steady growth of population, and to the care with which the provision of the means of education has been made to keep pace with the growing requirements of the people.

Canterbury is now divided into two educational districts under separate Boards, and the district of North Canterbury includes parts of Marlborough and Nelson. Omitting the latter, and taking the provincial district of Canterbury (i.e., the country between the rivers Hurunui and Waitaki), there were in 1863, 38 schools (28 of them

The number of teachers employed in the 208 schools is 645, viz., 417 adult and 228 pupil teachers. The expenditure on teachers' salaries is at the rate of £55,341 per annum, and the allowance for incidental expenses, £6,552; making the total cost of maintenance £81,893.

An important feature of the educational system in the North Canterbury district is the Normal School. This institution was opened on the 19th February, 1887, and has proved highly successful, There are now in our schools upwards of 240 teachers who have been trained in the Christchurch Normal school, while of 45 other ex-students who have retired from the service the great majority had previously done some years of useful work.

A valuable link between the primary and secondary schools is supplied by the scholarships, of which the Board of Education every year offers seventeen for competition, open to boys and girls attending the Board's schools and tenable for two years at any of the public high schools within the district. The large competition shows how well these scholarships are appreciated. Since 1866, when they first offered, 244 scholarships have been awarded, and the number of individual holders is 176. The practical usefulness of the scholarships is strikingly shown by the results. Aided by them a great many pupils of primary schools have been able to obtain the advantage of the superior instruction, and pass on to the University, where many of them have gained high distinction.

The Canterbury Museum.

The Canterbury Museum, an elegant edifice standing in the Domain Gardens, owes its building and great collections to the energy of the late Sir Julius von Haast. The Museum contains seven large galleries, exclusive of those devoted entirely to the exposition of the biology and geology of New Zealand, and of objects illustrating the history of the indigenes of the Colony.

The General Natural History Collections are typically very complete. The Antiquity Room contains a large and most interesting numbers of objects. In the Picture Gallery are hung many paintings by well, known English artists, as well as by the chief New Zealand painters. Here also are arranged casts of some of the most celebrated specimen of ancient sculpture. One of the largest and best lighted rooms is devoted to Ethnology, where is exhibited the comparative art of savage and civilised races. The general geology of the earth is illustrated by a very complete typical collection, and in the adjoining Technological room, an almost complete metallurgical one.

One of the chief features of the Museum is its New Zealand collections, of which the specimens, in number and completeness, of the extinct Moas are unsurpassed anywhere in the world. The specimen illustrating its Zoology and Geology are also very extensive, well displayed and exhaustively labelled. A full descriptive catalogue now under preparation, and shortly to be published, will render the Museum still more instructive to the visitor. Altogether the Canterbury Museum, in illustrating all Departments of Knowledge, can claim to be a practical Educational establishment of special importance to the Province, and a most valuable adjunct to its schools and collegia The present Curator is Henry O. Forbes, F.R.G.S., Fellow Zoologcal Society of London, &c., &c.

Sport in Canterbury.

The shooting season for ducks is generally from about April till the end of June, and good swan and duck shooting can be had in several places in the province, more especially at Lake Ellesmere, about twenty miles from Christchurch. Pheasants have become somewhat scarce, and can only be obtained in a few favoured localities. Partridges were imported some years ago, and at first increased very fast, but owing chiefly to the abundance of hawks, are now almost extinct. Hares are very abundant on the Plains.

Almost all the rivers in the Province afford the finest trout fishing be obtained anywhere in the world, the trout running extremely large. The season begins on October 1st and lasts up till April 15th, but November, December, and the early part of January are the best months. In October and November the large snow rivers afford abundance of sport, spinning with a Devon Minnow or Whitebait Phantom being the best way of making the largest bags, and a day's fishing; in some of these rivers will often give the angler from 30 lbs. to 60 lbs. weight for his day's catch. The best stations for the snow rivers; are for the Rangitata, Ealing or Rangitata Island; for the Ashburton, Ashburton; for the Rakaia, Rakaia Station on the Kin South Line; or Southbridge for the mouth of the Rakaia, but the difficulty with all these rivers when once the warm weather begins, to catch them in proper condition; the melting snow on the ranges keeping them too often muddy and in heavy flood. There is both fly and minnow fishing to be had all the summer, of first-class character, it Winchester and Temuka in the Opihi.

The finest river of all, however, in the Province is the Selwyn, about twenty miles from Christchurch, and this river not being affected by now water, is in good condition all the summer, and most excellent fishing both with fly minnow and live bait can nearly always be obtained. For the Upper Selwyn, the best places to stop are Glen-tunnel or Whitecliffs, both within easy reach of Christchurch by train; Ellesmere on the Southbridge Line, or Springston for the Lower Selwyn and the Lake, where the finest trout are caught. Last year several bags of trout weighing over 60 lbs. were caught; for the Lower Selwyn and the Lake, the angler should, however, have a tent, as there no hotel within three or four miles of the lake; by going, however, Ellesmere Station the train takes him close to the stream, and he can have a day's sport and return in the evening to Christchurch. There are also numerous smaller streams near Christchurch where first-class sport can be obtained with the fly.