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I am very sorry to know that things keep so dull and the prospect so bad. However I hope you will be able to tide over the bad times if all goes well etc. In compliance with mother's request I forward a little money to James which he will forward from Melbourne when he writes. It is all I can spare as we have had a lot to do with our savings. I need not begin to enumerate them but they have been greater, I daresay, than you would naturally think. Our bee scheme has incurred a great many necessary expenses and up to the present we have had no return. I hope however that that will go all right bye and bye. 
We would like very much to select a farm (that is an unimproved piece of land in the natural bush) as the tram work may or may not suit John's health for any length of time, so that he would have something to fall back on in the case of being unable to carry on the tram work. However at present funds will not allow of that so we cannot venture it yet a bit. I hope we will eventually be able to carry out our plans in that direction. 
Tell Susanna I am very sorry that I can't undertake to do any collecting or even give a subscription to the funds of the bazaar of which the gentleman Mr. Coates (I think the name is, I don't happen to know him) speaks of sending out collecting books. The people have to give a good deal to local churches, hospitals and charities and some of them do not get their money as easily as Mr. Coates may imagine.