MR. G. H. B. LILL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 266, 22 August 1936, Page 8

MR. G. H. B. LILL

DEVELOPMENT AT WILLOWBY. } GOOD HERD OF SHORTHORNS. ENGLISH LEICESTERS AND SOUTHDOWNS. (Specially written for tho “Guardian” by John Brown). G. H. B. Lill is the immediate past president of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association and the honour conferred upon him by the members is well merited in so far as he has been a consistent supporter of the Association for a. great many years—his cattle in late years taking a very prominent place in the show ring both here and in Christchurch. His administrative ability had been tested two years before in his chairmanship of the County Farmers’ Union, and in both positions he carried out his duties capably. He could hardly liefp taking a great interest in the Farmers’ Union because his father Mr W . T. Lill is such a stalwart that he must have had the rights and wrongs of farmers well dinned into him in tho old home. A younger son, Steve, is now holding the presidency in Ashburton and his father on State occasions wears the distinguished service order of the N.J£. Farmers’ Union — the Gold Badge of life membership, awarded for long and faithful service in the farmers’ cause. W. T. Lill signed on at the first meeting held in Ashburton by Mr Glass—the first organiser of the Union, and he still attends regularly the monthly meetings of the executive. All being well, lie intends to celebrate liis 90th birthday on the last day of this year. He looks quite 20 years less than his age and is seen every week in Ashburton transacting business, greeting friends and enjoying talks over the happenings of long ago. For it is many years since he came to this country frorii Lincolnshire in tho “Mermaid,” and landed at Lyttelton after a 90 days voyage—in 1867. The emigrants on this vessel were the first to travel through the Lyttelton tunnel so lie lias no difficulty in remembering tho year tho tunnel was opened for traffic. A brother had come to New Zealand before this and was settled at Templeton so W. T. Lill went straight there from the boat. Ho was 21 years of age and active and strong from the toil of the farm life at Home, so it was not long before lie “landed” a. job at 25s a week and found. After some, time at this he went out on Mr Sam Bailey’s threshing mill —receiving £1 a thousand bushels, and “found,” and making £l5O in 12 months. He was later, however, to suffer grievous injury when feeding the combine on this same mill. He heard a “knocking” in the drum and got down to attend to it. He was holding on to a stay with one hand and screwing up a nut with the other. The spanner slipped off the nut and he lost his balance. His arm was caught in the' belting and his elbow joint was so badly smashed that it led to the loss of his arm. In spite of this terrible injury he tackled shepherding on W. B. 'Tosswill’s farm and was with him for some years. While with him lie suggested sowing rape on one of Ins paddocks to fatten the old ewes that wore being sold at Is a head. After working the land the seed was sown broadcast and a good crop grew in spite of the rough and ready method of putting it in. In two months time the first 200 owes went to the butchers in Christchurch at 14s each ,and were highly praised by them. Thus was rape established on Mr Tosswill’s light plains country. A position as Bridge keeper on the new bridge over the Ashburton river—which was built not only tp carry

trains but ordinary vehicular traffic—was given to Mr Lill' after he had interviewed the traffic manager. For three years lie guarded this bridge. But seeing an opportunity to become a farmer on bis own account lie bought 240 acres at Newlands, and later added another, 400 to them—bought from Mr E. G. Wright. He married a Miss Taylor, of Ashburton, and Bert Lill was bom in the new home. After 13 years at Newlands he sold out and bought in 1890 the farm of 186 acres on which lie. now lives. When his neighbour Edwin Horsey sold out Mr Lill bought that land also. ' Rather an interesting bit of history was told to me by Mr Lill and amplified by Mr Tom Chapman. The latter’s father, Henry and bis brother, Stephen Chapman were settled in Willowby before the railway line was extended south from Ashburton. At that time a settler, Ben Ede, had; established himself on a small tariff that had the old Moore and Kermode Longbeach Homestead on it—later James Stoddart’s and just opposite the Chapmans’—and; while breaking in bis farm lie did finite a business in flic provision line with some hundreds of workmen — contractors and others who wore draining both Longbeach and Chatmoss. Mr Ede bad several well grown sons and be established a waggon service' between Christchurch, Ashburton and: Willowby. It was called “Edo’s Waggon Service” and the requirements for the store were carried by this service. On one of their trips to Christchurch they brought hack and planted on Mr Erie’s farm some slips of willows obtained from willows grown on the banks of the Avon. These willows were from trees grown by the French who settled on Banks Peninsula. On the way out from Fi ance the ship with these emigrants on board bad called at St. Helena, and from Napoleon Bona-

parte’s grave slips of .the willows growing there were given to them. These they kept alive till New Zealand was reached. So that tho willows on Ben ICde’s farm were from historic stock. And it is from these willows, too, that Willowby got its name. At a very early meeting of settlers, over which Mr Stephen Chapman presided, Mr Edo moved "that the district he called ‘Willowbank’ ” after his farm. The chairman suggested the amendment that it be called "Willowby”—the ‘by’ being the ending to many village names in Lincolnshire from which the Chapmans came—notably "Willoughby” a village four miles from their birthplace. This name was spelt differently, and Willowby is therefore not named after 'Willoughby in Lincolnshire. Sentiment and a desire to save the clash of names for farm and district changed‘‘bank” to "by” and so Mr Chapman’s suggested amendment was carried and the district was thereafter known as "Willow-by.” The first stud sheep that W. T. Liu had on his farm were Lincolns. These he bought from Mr John Withell, of Loweliffe, and they were originally from the farm of Mr Chas. Withell, of Brook-side, his father. But the English Leicester was coming into strong favour at that time and he determined to start a stud Hock of these. His foundation ewes were bought from Mr Thomas Djgby of Ashburton, close on 40 years ago, and they were mated with stud rams from Sowden’s, and George Lill’s flocks. As the years went by and his sons had to bo thought of, W/T. Li 11, who was prospering, bought large blocks of light country above the railway line and by 1012 he had over 4000 acres of land, was cropping extensively and fattening up to 4000 lambs. He had his own threshing plant and in one year threshed over 36,000 bushels of grain off Ins own ground. His sons could drive the traction engine and in the off season, Wilf. Li 11 ploughed much of the lighter country with the engine. Wilf., too, supervised the Westerfield property of 2118 acres before lie went to the war in 1914, and after lie came hack married one of Joseph Watson’s daughters, and settled on the same block. Arthur Lill, farmed 1 another block, at Lismore for a time until it was sold, and now farms at Greenstreet. Meantime Bert Lill, who had married Miss Hayman, the daughter of another old settler o? Willowby, had gone to live on the farm now occupied by his brother Steve on tho Maronan Road, just above the line. When E. Horsey’s farm was bought, W. T. Lill and his family shifted "out of their old homestead to the Horsey Homestead, while the large Lill family was growing up. Later, as tho different members married there was another change round. Mr and Mrs W. T. Lill went hack to their old home on the farm, Mr and Mrs Bert and their family of three girls came down to the Horsey homestead. Steve married and went to the Maronan Road farm, and that is how they stand at present. W. T. Lill’s daughters are all married—six of them—Mrs Gorman, Mrs Sutherland, Mrs Harrison, Mrs F. Grossman, and two Mrs Clothiers and he is proud of his family of sons and daughters, of his grandchildren, a goodly number, and of his two great grandsons and two great grand daughters —bonnie children. When Bert Lill took over the Willowby farms lie reduced the numbers in the flock of Leicesters and began to.use rams from Walter Letham’s stud and has continued to huv from the. same stud when he wanted rams. His aim in breeding is to stick Jo the true type of English Leicester hut to increase the size of the. sheep. He thought that the English Leicester sheep that was being bred; was inclined to he getting smaller —hence his object. His rams are well-built, strong woolled and considerably bigger than the average English Leicester, and the progeny from the ordinary \ bred ewe is a particularly attractive $ hrptl. On these 3 bred ewes lie uses Southdown rams which ho breeds himself. His small flock of Southdown ewes was bought about 15 years ago from Mr P. Lysaght, of Fail-field, and the mips used have been from the stud flocks of Messrs Griu-g, Campion and Findlay. He is particularly'pleased with the lambs he (r cts from his f bred ewes by the Southdown rams. The lambing percentage averages round tho 100 per cent mark.

and the lambs fatten quickly and! are good weights. As an example of tins from his 1000 ewes he sent away this year liis last draft of fat lambs on the 3rd of April—out of the 400 left to pick from, 370 were taken and all went first grade and the average weight was 40.91b5.

G. H. 13. Lilt’s Shorthorn cattle are coming into favour in Canterbury, and as his aim with these cattle is to combine the Shorthorn characteristics with good milking records, he is likely to nrofit thereby. He thinks that all herds of cows should undergo the group test as it is only by so doing that the poor milk cows can he eliminated. In breeding and show work lie insists that the show points in a Shorthorn may he such as to win a prize hut it is only testing that will show the animal to breed from. All his Shorthorns are registered. The first cows were bought from Pannett and: John Small, and t' hulls used were from Robert Reach and Jan Peach, of Sefton. The herd sire is now “Sefton’s Rutter Roy,” whose dam had a butter fat record of 709.33 lbs.. C.O.R. He has been group-test-ing for four years, and the herd average is 31 .'ilbs of butler fat and this herd includes live two-year-old heifers. “Princess” whose photo is on this page was champion in the Ashburton show for three years, reserve champion in Christchurch the year before last and champion last year. Both, the sire and the grandsiro of this animal were bred by Mr Lill. Another cow, Snowy, bred by the same bull as Princess has in the last two years given respectively 5-17 and 541 lbs of butter fat in 300 days. The soil on this farm at Willowby is peat on clay—the neat having settled down now to a foot or more. of good soil on the clay. To work it Mr Lill uses a six-horse team and an electric tractor. The team came originally,

from a registered mare, Pride, that W. T: Lill had mated with King's Record. The foal, Queen, was Bert’s foundation mare and from her and her progeny -aIL the draught horses on the farm but one have been bred. After seven months’ experience with the electric tractor lie says lie is wellsatisfied with the work it does and with the cost of farm operations compared with other units of power which ho has already used. This tractor'is the patent of Mr Kemp, engineer to the Ashburton Electric Power Board. The machinery is fitted to a Hart-Pail chassis and the wheels have pneumatic tyres —the first to he fitted to any electric tractor in the County. Mr Lill has done all farm operations with it, barring reaping, and the average cost per hour over some hundreds of hours is Is 4d. Using a three-iurrow plough he has done llacres of ploughing in UJ hours, -and 18 acres of drilling in o hours. Ho uses a 19-tync Cultivatoi and in drilling lie has the harrows on behind the drill for covering up, and he can, if lie so wishes, pull the ordinary heavy harrows behind the roller. Mrs W. T. Lill was just as prominent in public life as her husband. She was for 21 years president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and most ably she Jed them —such was her gift of oratory. While able m public life she was equally able in her home life as a mother and as a farmer’s wife.'Mr W. T. Lill has filled with distinction many public positions. He has always been an original thinker and a fearless speaker. The County Council had his services for somewhere about 20 years and* he occupied the chair for a period. On the Hospital Board lie served, for many years, also occupying tho chair for a time. On both the Wakanui and tho Longbeach Road Boards he did good work. He was on tho Technical School Board andi lie is still a member of the High School Board—the oldest member, in point ot service, on the Board. His knowledge of the past history of the transactions of the Board, and his knowledge, too, of the High School reserves have been of great value to the Board. For 20 years or more he was on the Willowby School Committee —for some years its chairman. He is a. foundation member of tho Ashburton Dairy Board and is still on the directorate. The members of the Lill family are staunch Methodists —Bert' has been in charge of the Sunday School for 20 years—and many times have they been helpers to those who have been in want, and to those who have liad sickness in their homes. . I, myself, gratefully .remember the visit of Miami Mrs W. T. lill to our home at Loweliffe during the influenza epidemic of 1918 when I was stricken with tho disease. They brought oranges to us when they wero very hard indeed to get and when people feared to come near us. The first drink made from these oranges 1 will ever remember—the sweet,cooling., healing drink to one just through the fever stage —jt was as "nectar from the gods.” Eighteen months later when again attacked by pneumonia Mr Lill came all. the way down to see me. My wife did not like to show him into my room because ot possible infection, but lie asked l to see me. . When she said, 1 are you not afraid to go in?” he answered characteristically. "Me afraid! I’m afraid of nothing.” His is an absolutely fearless spirit, and there is not a truer gentleman in the land than W. T. Lill —my friend.