[Being frequently asked about the best colonies to which gardeners should emigrate, we publish the following:]

The Rev. A. J. Campbell (late of Melrose) gives the following, in the ' Geelong News,' as his impression of Otago, on a recent visit there. "The people of Dunedin are full of activity, very comfortable, and in all respects, I should say, prosperous. They are busy in all kinds of industries. Wages are higher than in Victoria - 7s. for labour work, 10s. and 12s. for skilled labour: other things, however, are also higher. But the workman has almost constant employment, and the eight-hours system has been in operation since the foundation of the colony. As most of the tradesmen seem to be owners of their own cottages, you will see at once how well off they ought to be. Add to these the advantages of a bracing climate and a well-ordered administration of the law, you will be inclined to think that Otago is, what it claims to be, the poor man's paradise. I haven't seen a beggar on the streets, nor a drunken man, although I learn that drunkenness, with its bitter home-miseries, is not unknown. There is much less of the pride of life, much less of the show and ostentation of wealth, than you might expect in the capital of the province. There are persons who have risen to position and wealth, but they don't affect that style and luxury which is corrupting the upper stratum of Melbourne society.

Hard work and happy homes seem to be the two conditions of life; and there still survives among them the recollection of the early struggles of settlement, which is a source of much good feeling and helpfulness.

After emerging from the mountain-ranges in "Waikouaita, we passed for 30 miles through a rich belt of country of various breadths, and well planted with farm-steadings; here again there were abundant proofs of a thriving and well-to-do community. Many of the buildings are of stone: when of wood, they are invariably painted white, and tidily roofed with corrugated iron. The feeling one had in looking at them was - "these people mean to make their homes there;" and one could not wonder, for on that golden summer day the fields were alive with men and horses, busily gathering the kindly fruits of a rich harvest into their barns and stackyards. I found in the dreary pass of Pigroot four persons, besides the keeper of the inn: one of them, whilst engaged in work, had got his leg broken, and as he could not be transported to Dunedin hospital, his friends built a house for him, and helped him to a few cows and sheep - a nobler way of disposing of him, I think, than shoving him over on public charity: the other three were roadmen, who for seven years had been living and working in that solitude.

They were Scotsmen, and two of them, I was glad to find, were making regular remittances to a widowed mother and a widowed sister; each of them had sent home in ten years £150. I found almost the whole interior of the country parcelled out into large sheep-stations; and as the administration of the land is now taken out of the political sphere, and placed in the hands of a permanent board, that will shut the door against land-jobbing to a large extent. The Government are parting with the public estate very leisurely. What they do sell is put up to auction at a pound per acre, with the exception of those upland pastures, 1200 feet or more above the level of the sea, which are now to be set up at 10s.

The Autumn Show of the Royal Horticultural Society of Otago was held in Dunedin on the 13th March. The exhibits were on the whole good, though not so numerous as those of last season. The attendance was not up to the average, but this may be accounted for by the strauge absence of any effort to procure publicity. The exhibits of.fruit were very fine, the Peaches being unusually good; Apples and Pears were also large and sound. Some Peaches grown by Mr Fulton, and a number of Pears, Apples, Plums, Peaches, Strawberries, Blackberries, Currants, Cucumbers, exhibited by Mr M'Ardle, occupied a prominent place among the fruit. A pyramid, composed of various fruits, grown and arranged by Mr James Gebbie, was well worthy of inspection. The vegetables shown were very fair, and there were some fine Cabbages, Carrots, and Turnips among them. Although the season has been rather unfavourable for the flowers, there were some good ones produced. A fine collection of Coniferos was exhibited. Some pretty foliage-plants, tricolor Geraniums, were shown by Mr C. Reid, and a splendid collection of Gladioli by Law, Somner, & Co.

Notes From New Zealand #1

The annual general meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society of Otago, was held at the Athenaeum, Dunedin, on the 30th of April, when the seventh annual report was read. The Committee had to regret a falling off in the success of the Society. Three exhibitions were held during the past year, the first in October, the second in December, and the third in March. The exhibits were scarcely equal to former ones; and there had been a considerable falling off in the sums collected at the doors. The October show, held in the Masonic Hall, in so far as exhibits were concerned, was a decided success, but financially it was a total failure, on account of the inclemency of the weather. The show in December was much inferior, both in quantity and quality of exhibits, as compared with shows of former years. At the March show held in the Headquarters Drill-shed, there was a falling off in the takings, as compared with that of the previous year, to the amount of £24. The balance sheet was read, and showed a balance to the credit of the society of £5, l1s. 5d. The amount taken at the three shows of the season was £40, Is. 6d.