About six years since we erected on the "Home Farm"--our first selection--Residence No. 3, a superior brick house, which cost about £500, and very desirable now and appreciated, as wife and I are growing old--self, 74; wife, a few years younger. The bush furniture has given place to as good a suite of furniture as anyone could wish for in sitting, bedrooms, etc., also a superior organ, with which to praise and glorify the good God who has blessed and prospered us. I have, besides, taken the brush in hand again to adorn the walls, and leave some of my handiwork behind me for the children. In fact, for the last eight years I have done a few paintings, sold a few landscapes, and exhibited them at various places in the colonies; also sent a large one to the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London, for which I got a certificate and medal. Heavy, laborious work, of course, begins to tell upon me now if long continued, so that this "soft-handed" work is a relaxation. My department now in the firm is principally in the garden and orchard, of which we have now a large one, both fancy and useful. We have also an orangery recently planted, have also a good many old trees, which bear wonderfully well. We irrigate with a horse-pump. We are all still working together in partnership, as it has always been my policy to give my sons a direct interest in all our undertakings and property, and this is only right and just, as to them mainly, under God's blessing, I must attribute our success; anyhow, the labor portion has largely devolved upon them. We stand now (1891), after 25 years on the farms, thus:-- Amount of Land, 2,523 acres At a fair valuation, free £6,150 Stock, cattle, horses, etc. 1,500 Plants, Machinery, etc. 550 ------ £8,200 Thus I have shown, as I promised, how £6 8s., or, if you like, £76 8s., has increased to £8,000. It must be remembered, although this looks a nice sum of money, that if divided between six sons and four daughters, the amount for each would not be large; say among the six sons, the amount to each would only be about £1,350. However, by still holding together in partnership, they can increase it much more than if they divided; in fact, they are just doing so by purchasing a property in New South Wales of 3,000 acres, mainly for sheep-farming. Besides, I have known steady, single farm-men, as hired hands at £1 per week and "found," and £1 10s. per week for harvest work, who have banked at least £40 per year, for over 20 years, which, with compound interest, I presume would total up to the above sum. Not that I am an advocate for this style of saving, as, when the money was about half that sum, they would have the means to marry and settle down; thus be better citizens, and add more to the prosperity of the colony.