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NEW ZEALAND MUTTON . THE MERRYVALE ESTATE AND STOCK COMPANY , LIMITED .

Incorporated under the Companies Acts , 1862 to 1880 .

Capital , £ 150 , 000 , in 30 , 000 Ordinary Shares of £ 5 each .

Of which 4000 Ordinary Shares , fully paid up , will be taken by tho Vendor under the purchase agreement . Issue of the remaining Share Capital , £ 130 , 000 , in 2 G , 000 Ordinary Shares of £ 5 each , and of £ 100 , 000 iu 2000 Debentures of £ 50 each , bearing interest at 6 per cent , per annum . The amount due on the Shares now offered for subscription is payable as follows , viz .: —10 s on application , £ 1 on allotment , 10 s in threo months , £ 1 in six months . The balance of £ 2 will probably be spread over two or more years . Mve per cent , per annum will be allowed on amounts paid in advance of calls .

Directors . JAMES ASHBTJRY , D . L ., of Brighton , ancl Carlton Club , London , and Merryvale , Ofcago , N . Z ., Chairman and Managing Director ( wil join the Board after allotment ) . Late M . P . for Brighton , lato Chairman of tho Denbigh , Ruthin , and Corweu Railway , and late Director of the Smyrna and Cassaba Railway , & o ., & c . COLONEL SIR ROBERT HARLEY , K . C . M . G ., C . B ., 16 Vickeraae Gardens , Kensington , late Administrator-in-Chief West Coast of Africa and Windward Islands ; and late Lieutenant-Governor of Tobago , Grenada , and British Honduras .

GENERAL SHUTE , C . B ., D . L ., J . P . ( late M . P . for Brighton ) , Hovo , Brighton . LT .-COLONEL KEMMIS-BETTY , 13 Grosvenor Square , W . GEORGE F . BROOKE , Leadenhall Market , and The Hall , Rotherfield , Sussex . Trustees for Debenture Holders . COLONEL SIR ROBERT HARLEY , K . C . M . G ., C . B . GENERAL SHUTE , C . B . ¦

Banters to tne uompany . THE BANK OF AUSTRALASIA , Threadneedle Street , London , E . G ., and Ivercargill , New Zealand . THE NATIONAL BANK , 10 Charing Cross , London , S . W . Bankers to the Trustees . —THE NATIONAL BANK , 10 Charing Cross , London , S . W .

Solicitors . —JOHN VERNON & CO ., 36 Coleman Street , London , E . C . Broker . —P . MEADOWS TAYLOR , 21 Threadneedle Street , E . G ., and of the Stock Exchange . Auditors . —CHADWICKS , BOARD MAN & CO ., 36 Coleman Street , London , E . G . ; and 64 Cross Street , Manchester , Secretary ( pro ten ) . —JOHN DELILLE . OFFICES ( pro tem ) . —H GREAT GEORGE STREET , WESTMINSTER , LONDON , S . W .

MERRYVALE ESTATE . ACREAGE , & c . THIS Company has beeu formed to purchase the MERRYVALE ESTATE and SOUTHLAND , in the province of OTAGO , NEW ZEALAND , containing 26 , 390 acres of freehold land and 454 acres leashold , or about 41 square miles , with the homestead , stock , and implements , & c , thereou , the property of Jamea Ashbui-y , Esq ., of Merryvale and Brighton , and principally to carry on the business

of sheep-farming , with a special view to tho export oi wool ancl irozen mutton . The Estate is about 7 miles from the railvvay-station at Otautau , wh . ch is 31 miles from the town of Invercargill , and 48 from tho shipping port ( the Bluff ) , where steamers from 3000 to 4000 tons can go alongside the wharf . The railway also connects with the towns of Dunedin , Lytfc ' eton , and Chrisfcchurch , and the entire railway system in the South Island .

The situation of the Estate is exceptionally good , being surrounded by timbered ranges of hills , and bounded or traversed by the Rivers Waiau , Orawia , Merry , Fenham Creek , and various tributaries . The surface is undulatory , and affords excellent shelter . Water is abundant at all seasons of the year , consequently there are no droughts , snch as have proved so disastrous to stock in Australia and the River Plate . The drop of lambs last year was 84 per cent ., but it is expected

that by improved management the per centage may reach 100 per cent ., or one lamb per ewe . Owing to the natural shelter on the Estate , the loss of lambs is very small . The public County main road runs about 15 i miles through the Estate ; and the post and wire boundary and paddock fences measnre about 60 miles . In November 1885 , abonfc 12 , 260 acres wore in English grasses or nnder cultivation for turnips or oats ; 5413 acres were Bush ( forest );

and 9171 tussock ( native grass ) and iern . The Vendor estimates that with an average annnal expenditure of about £ 5 , 500 the area in English grasses or under cultivation for turnips or oats will be increased by the 31 st March 1891 to 16 , 743 acres , and the nnmber of sheep on the Estate to about 41 , 000 . LIVE STOCK , TIMBER . AND MINERALS .

The Estate and stock , together with crops , implements , & c , wero purchased by Mr . Ashbury iu March 1885 . The live stock , after delivery was taken , consisted of 17 , 245 sheep and lambs , 392 head of cattle , 493 hogs , and 21 horses , & c , as shown by valuation and return accounts . Considerable additions of stock have since been made . Most excellent and valuable forest timber , snch as Totara and

Black Pine , is found on the Estate . A tramway is intended to be made to connect the Ei-tute with the Railway system , by which the timber wil ] be available for sale . The Commission on the Colonial Industries of New Zealand reported to Parliament in 1880 as follows : — " The demand for foreign products is constant and unlimited . "" The wealth to be derived from an economical disposal of the forests is literally incalculable . " T ^ hoi'o id n . T 7 sllnnVilo ct-nna nnnvi'ir nn Ilia "RdKni-rt rwifl , ,. ar * avrl i-r ,

which a leading architect of Invercargill reported , in July 1882 , as follows , viz .: — " I have examined tbe building stone sent down from yonr property at Merryvale , and consider it an excellent building

material . The great drawback to its coming into general nae appears to me to be tbe heavy expense of carriage . " When the proposed tramway is completed , the difficulties of conveyance would be removed . Coal has also been reported as discovered on both sides of fche Estate . Since the pnrchase important discoveries of Gold have been made tne Eisiace

ou ana near . . Gold was first discovered in Otago in 1861 ; since then , the Otago gold district , np to 31 st March 1884 , produced 4 , 319 , 544 ounces of gold , valued at £ 17 , 026 , 320 . From the formation of the New Zealand Colony to the 31 st March 1881 , the total value of gold exported was £ 40 , 707 , 074 . In or about October 1885 alluvial gold was found in the Merryvale Bush and the adjoining Long . Wood range , belonging to the Crown , and active explorations were afc once set on foot .

On the llth March 1886 the Vendor a Agent wrote from Merryvale , as follows : — " Gold Field . ' . ' Yesterday I saw some quartz that had been brought down from the bush , richly studded with gold . Ifc is reported that ifc comes from a reef two feet wide . As soon aa I ascertain whether this is the truth I shall telegraph you . The quartz reefs that have been

tonncl all run nortn ana soutn—tnat is to say , run on to merryvale . Probably they will be deep down , bat suoh reefs are generally richer than those near the surface . " On the 20 tb March 1886 fche Agent sent the Vendor a code cablegram , expressing thafc a gold reef had been struck outside the Estate , and dipping towards it , bufc that no Assay had been made .

The place or discovery is undei-atood to be only a short distance beyond the boundary . The above telegram has since been confirmed by another to the effect that practical miners are now tunnelling to the lower part of the reef afc their own cost ; and also by letters . If the Assay should prove to be within the average of paying Quartz Gold , the advantage to the Company in fche way of royalties' or on sale might be many times fche value of the Estate .

CLIMATE OP NEW ZEALAND , INCREASE IN VALUE OF LAND , & C . The Company will not be invested wifch gold mining powers ; but , in conjunction with tho Vendor ( who reserves a moiety of the Gold rights ) , will bo able to dispose , by way of sale or lease , of any gold which may bo found on the property ; and , by assisting in tho formation of other companies for mining purposes , will also bo able to ensure fco the shareholders of the Merryvale Company who desire ifc a participation in gold mining enterprise . The climate of New Zealand is the most healthy of all the seven

Australasian Colonies ; its average Spring temperature being 55 degrees , Summer 63 , Antumn 57 , and Wiufcer 48 . Judge Bathgate , of Dunedin , in his recent work , "New Zealand : its Resom-ces and Prospects , " says : — "As society progresses in population and wealth , and as new

branches of industry develop and prosper , so will the value of land steadily increase . "— " There is every reason to expect thafc land in Now Zealand will touch a far higher price than has yefc been dreamed of . "— " No part of New Zealand is above 100 miles from the seaboard , in the South Island 75 ; and when the Crown shall have parted with the last acre of its waste lands , then the value of free-