: ; The. export-oflive stock, from this part i of >the province has been unusually large this .year,; and during the last three or four months. it has. been found neces sary to add to the number of steamers carrying 'supplies to Auckland and , /the Middle Island. 'Not only has an .unusual number of cattle found its way ~ to those markets, but sheep have also i been taken there in proportionate numbers, and - have been sold at ...apparently equally satisfactory rates. In addition to this there have been other sources calculated to drain the i. market ;of store as well'as fat stock. Large numbers of the former have been taken tojHawke's Bay. and the Muri mptu v country, where the buyers expect t i to«.fatten them more readily' than here. n Whether the speculators will realize ■; their anticipations ;in this respect is I questionable, h Lit .has not proved so 0 successful in the case ;of Hawke's Bay as was /at jfirst' anticipated, nor is it likely that cattle taken from cultivated

pastures to the Miirimota will fill out so readily as might have been antici pated by those who risked their capital in the venture. Considerable droves otf'at cattle have also foiind their way overland to Wellington, thus reopening a market chat had been given up as unfavorable some years ag-o. Sheep have also found their way there, the coasting steamers having- taken down several loads ; but the numbers have been comparatively small, and at present the fact serves merely to point "out what markets are really, available, .to breeders. It will therefore be seen that live stock is being exported to places extending along nearly the whole of the Avest"coast of the Colony as well as to a neighbour ing province in the east, and to an embryo settlement inland. No district in the Colony can boast of such an extensive trade. Any attempt to give a table showing *lie actual number of cattle and sheep taken to other markets would necessarily prove futile, as records of shipping reports only are available, 1 But while the district has so largely expanded its trade it is worth while to enquire what other parts of the Colony are doing.or are likely to do. We find then that this Province and Hawke's Bay are the only exporters to any great extent. 