Visiting U.S. Couple Had “Tough” Start

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28792, 13 January 1959, Page 2

Visiting U.S. Couple Had “Tough” Start

Any one who has read the late Betty Macdonald’s best-seller) “The Egg and I” will have some idea of how Mr and Mrs Virgil Sikkink began married life on their small farm in South Dakota in the early 1930’5. “It was not quite as primitive as ‘The Egg and I* farm,” said Mrs Sikkink in Christchurch last evening, laughing at the thought of it. “But it was tough enough.” The economic depression had the United States in its merciless grip. Worse still, a serious drought hit the South Dakota countryside as soon as Mr and Mrs Sikkink settled on their agricultural farm. The old farm house had no water laid on, no electricity, no bathroom. The elderly stove was heated by any fuel available. Tin Bath Tub Water was carried in and boiled up for the old tin tub in which the family bathed on Saturday nights. "For three years we burnt corn cobs and straw to keep warm in the cold winters; for five years we endured the most awful poverty,” she said. Mrs Sikkink had been a school teacher before her marriage. She had not been trained for this. But she had inherited a pioneer spirit from Norwegian forbears and went to work with a will to help her husband improve their lot They battled against odds until the farm gradually began to pay a few returns, the economic tide turned, and their hard work eventually brought its rewards. Now, on a visit to New Zealand with a party of United States sheepfarmers, Mr and Mrs Sikkink can relax somewhat anc look back together with satisfaction on a hard fight finished. The standard of living in rura: areas in the United states hac been greatly improved by th< Rural Electrification Administration, Mrs Sikkink said. Nearly al districts, even the most sparsely settled, now had electric power which considerably helped theii development arid eased the housewife’s burden. This was one ol the Government’s greatest feats for rural communities. Drift to Towns “Even so, many small farmers are leaving the land in our pan of the country,” she said. “I fee it is a tragedy. Big farmers witl thousands of acres are buying oui the small farmers, who are moving into the towns uhqualifiec for . anything but unskilled laboui and are living in slums.” When told that there was also a drift from the land to the cities in New Zealand, among young people, Mrs Sikkink was surprised. “I had the impression that young men on New Zealand farms wanted to stay there because they liked the land," she said. “Another point I have noticed when visiting your farms is that the people have much more culture

and refinement than farmer! In other parts of the world. No wonder they are sometimes called ‘landed gentry’.” On their farm of 440 acres, Mr and Mrs Sikkink grow wheat, oats, barley and flax, for seed. Their flock of sheep, about 100 ewes, is considered only a sideline. The old farm house has been modernised, with all conveniences, into a really comfortable home. Most of the work, including the plumbing, Mr Sikkink did himself. Grows Flowers For a hobby Mrs Sikkink grows i flowers. "Not for sale, mostly to give away for weddings in the district,” she said, folding her strong, capable and well-groomed hands. “I love all the beautiful hydrangeas you grow in home gardens in New Zealand. They remind me of my lilac bushes at home, which we always hope will be in bloom round about May 10 or 12 for Mother’s Day,” she said. “The scent from our lilac on an early summer evening makes me feel I never want to go to bed.” Mr and Mrs Sikkink have four children. Two have been through college and a third will enter soon. Their eldest son is training to be a Lutheran minister in California.