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323 CHAPTER XXIV. Cultivable productions of New Zealand—Vines—Kumeras—Potatoes —Maize—Clearing of land—Choice of Seeds—New Zealand flax— Its utility — Timber — Feathered tribes — Absence of Reptiles — Dogs—Wild pigs—Early migration of the New Zealanders—Colo nial cadetships. The vine thrives well at the Bay of Islands, under the rude culture of the natives, and at Hokianga, bunches of grapes of great weight have been gathered, although its climate is proverbially moist. At Wellington, and other southern localities, there is not yet sufficient evidence to shew that it can arrive at the same perfection. Those who are expe rienced in its cultivation will form their own opinion from the fact, that the mean weekly temperature at Wellington, taken at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., from April 1840 to April 1841, ranged between 42° Fahrenheit in the end of July, and 72° Fahrenheit in January; and that it never continued so low as 50° throughout the day even in the depth of winter. It is said that the vines planted by the French settlers at Akaroa promise to succeed. North of the Bay of Islands, orange and fig trees have been reared ; but it is doubtful whether their fruits can arrive at the same perfection as in New Holland. The aloe, the cactus, and the acacia, adorn the gardens of the missionaries; and the tobacco plant I have seen in flower on the island of Waiheke, in