Strong Ties With Mid-Canterbury

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32351, 17 July 1970, Page 8

Strong Ties With MidCanterbury

Part of one of Mid-Canterbury’s most attractive farm properties, the homestead block of Alford station, 19 miles from Ashburton, changed hands last week when Mr J. R. Cocks took over 1580 acres from Mr M. S. Turton.

Alford station has been in the hands of Mr Turton for the last 33 years. It comprised 3000 acres when he first took it up and Mr Turton will continue to farm 560 acres. The property was originally taken up in 1854 by F. W. Delamain and the Kennaway brothers and at one time embraced 70,000 acres, including Mount Alford. With the homestead block goes the homestead, part of which is 100 years old with kauri floors, and also the woolshed, once with some 20 stands, which is more than 100 years old. An English company, the Alford estate comnany.

Auvru esuue company, owned the property from 1883 to 1902 and during this period made many improvements round the homestead, including the planting of trees and construction of a lake, which provides a sanctuary for up to 10,000 ducks. The Turton family’s assocation with the country near Alford and with Mid-Canter-bury goes back to the earliest days of the settlement of the district. Mr Turton’s grandfather, Mr William Turton, was the first settler in the town of Ashburton and a plaque erected by the Historic Places Trust near the northern approach to the Ashburton River traffic bridge on the main highway is a reminder of this. The pioneer Turton came to Ashburton 112 years ago and took up a block of 300 acres and set up the first accommodation house for travellers. In the same year he took up a block of what is now part of Double Hill station. A rugged piece of country, which is now referred to as Turton’s country, it today looks down on Alford station. It was intended to run cattle on it when it was taken up—in those days water constituted a problem down country. Mr Turton’s father also had his roots firmly in the land and few men of his time were better versed in the high country. Edwin Turton managed a number of properties in the South Island for the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile

Agency which acquired them from the bank at the time of the 1874 slump. Among these were Mount Torlesse, where Mr Melville Turton was born, and others included Wairuna and Waikaia plains in Southland, Birch Hill in Marlborough and St Helens at Hanrner Springs, which he managed from 1906 to 1917. The rabbits were not the pest on St Helens that they ultimately became and Mr Melville Turton, who worked on the property at the time, recalled recently that it was then carrying up to 46,000 sheep and he can remember that in one year there was

a natural increase of 10,500. Mr Turton remembers 16,000 wethers being mustered off the Dillon block, a task that took 12 musterers, two boundary-keepers and two packmen 10 days—the wethers made a grand sight when they had to cross a sheep bridge over the Acheron River in single file. In those days, Mr Turton said, the best of the wethers would top the fat market at Addington. After an absence of nearly 40 years Mr Turton found it hard to comprehend that the rabbit could have done so much damage to this country when he spent four days in a party that travelled over Molesworth with the manager, Mr M. M. Chisholm, more than 10 years ago. But at that time the rabbit was being brought under control again: only about a half dozen were seen in the four days. Mr Turton is an intense admirer of the way Mr Chisholm has got on top of the rabbit and has been nursing the country back to recovery, and for his energy and ability in managing the 450,000-acre property and having a herd of cattle which Mr Turton describes as being second to none. For a time Mr Turton’s father farmed on his own account at Waikari and Ealing but difficult times in the early 1920 s overwhelmed him and he again resumed his managerial role going to St James station and later to Hawke’s Bay before returning to Hakataramea station, where

he was given the credit for cleaning up the rabbit pest Mr Melville Turton stayed on for a while at St James after his father left before joining Dalgety and Company as a stockman. Those were the days when thousands of head of stock were brought down to Canterbury annually from Gis-borne-before Waikato was developed and the stock went there. Mr Turton remembers that the stock had to be carried out to the ship by lighter and came from people like the Williams, Black brothers, Murphys, Loisel and Orrs, and after being driven over the Bridle Path from Lyttelton were held in north and south Hagley Park until they were sold privately or through Addington, many eventually finding their way to Southland. After three or four years Mr Turton joined the employment of Mr Jerry Connolly, one of the great stock dealers of the day. Many people tended to look on the dealer with some suspicion but Mr Turton says he re-

members Mr Connolly as a straight and true man who did a real service to the farming community. Large numbers of stock were bought and moved over long distances—something which the ordinary farmer could not possibly contemplate because of the costs—and then sold on commission so that many mobs would be all sold by the time that they arrived. Modern transport, however, has made this form of trading no longer necessary. Mr Connelly’s business, Mr Turton recalls, was based on a constant turnover of stock and should the market fall he would take his loss and never hold out in the hope of getting a false price. Behind the scenes, Mr Turton says, Mr Connolly supplied stock to farmers who had no money to pay for it and sometimes even paid their debts for them. Mr Connolly subsequently took Mr Turton into partnership. After Mr Connolly went into Parliament in 1935 he gave up dealing and Mr Turton carried on for a while until he took over Alford. One of the biggest deals they were involved in, Mr Turton remembers, was at Wildeh station at Heriot when the propery was acquired by the Government ' and 25,000 halfbred sheep were offered at auction as they were not wanted by the incoming settlers. Altogether 23,000 sheep were bought requiring three special trains to move them.

On another occasion 13,500 lambs and 850 head of cattle were bought from one man with five properties and 10,000 North Island ewes were sold to him. When Mr Turton took over Alford station of 3000 acres it was carrying 1600 ewes, 800 dry sheep and about 200 cattle. Recently on the 2140 acres he has been farming, Mr Turton has been carrying close to 7000 Romney sheep and up to 1000 cattle. At the clearing sale held on the property recently, the average for 4600 sheep sold was $9.45, with ewe hoggets bringing from $8.90 to $9.20, two-tooth ewes from $B.BO to $9.25, two, three and four-shear ewes from $8.85 to $9.40 and annual draft ewes from $B.BO to $9. At the Tinwald saleyards where 480 cattle were sold, three-year Hereford heifers in calf to a horned Hereford bull sold up to $l6O and $152 each, two-year-old Hereford heifers in calf to a black bull up to $145 to $l4B, and two-year-old Angus heifers in calf to a black bull up to $153. Some of the sheep and cattle went as far away as Southland. In the last 18 years the lambing percentage has not been below 130 on Alford. This has been the result of a deliberate policy of culling out dry ewes, including two-tooths, and also ewes that have lost lambs. The build-up in the fertility of the flock seems also to have eliminated the shy breeder or late lamber.

In the last season Mr Turton tried dry feeding on one line of ewes. The ewes were fed a little oats at tupping and later oats and lucerne hay until five weeks from lambing and then grass, turnips and a little oats. The resulting lambing percentage was 161. It is Mr Turton’s view that there could well be a place for dry feeding in the future—not in feedlots—but to tide farmers and stock over a difficult climatic period. When it comes to cattle, Mr Turton still has a soft spot for the traditional Angus, Hereford and Shorthorn breeds and he feels that a combination of these or simply as straight breeds they are hard to beat. But he adds that he could be proved wrong when new breeds are thoroughly tested in that they might have a place on good country and in the vealer trade. He says that breeders in the past may have been remiss in not paying attention to size, ability to walk and to feet, but he feels that most breeders now are conscious of the need for improvement and the improvement that has already been . made reflects credit onj them. The day of short stocky animals, whether they be sheep or cattle, he says is now past. Mr Turton feels there is a place for diversity of breeds, the important consideration being the type of stock suited to a particular farmer’s property and preference. When Mr Turton took over Alford a large area was in Raupo and niggerhead swamp and hundreds of geese were kept to help clean what drains there were. A dragline was put in at one end of the property and worked right through to the other end and with sidedrains and pipes some of this swamp has been converted into what is some of the best land on the property today. Fences have been largely rebuilt and extended so that there are no longer paddocks of 100 acres and more. The average is now 25 to 30 acres.

Pines and English trees have been planted to provide additional shelter. The property includes no fewer than 10 different soil types. On the lighter country mixtures of lucerne, cocksfoot and subterranean clover have been sown. On the better land prairie grass as well as lucerne has been used and this has given three cuts of hay as well as grazing and has been found very palatable. The Department of Agriculture has weighed swedes to demonstrate a yield of 47} tons to the acre on Alford and a crop of this stature has been grown this season. Mr Turton is appreciative of the part that men who have worked for him have played in making the property what it is today, and he says that one of the things giving him most satisfaction has been to see some of these men with their own farms. Many young men have also come to Alford to spend a year or two with him. These have been people who have been . away from college for a year and wanting to gather a little experience away from home before returning to work for their father. Even if they did not learn much from him and found that the practice on their home farm was superior, Mr Turton feels that the spell away is invaluable in that, the youngsters then go home with a better appreciation of their home farm and are more settled. Mr Turton places great I store on the part that drenches and sprays now play in improving stock health and increasing output. He was a foundation member of the committee of the Ashburton Veterinary Club and one of the first farmers in the district to' have selenium tested on his' property. He says that he has never had ill-thrift on Alford but, there is no question that! selenium has improved stock I health and in a trial parti of a line of two-tooth ewes I receiving the material gave!

an extra l}lb of wool, and a fleece of superior quality. He also feels that farmers are still too cautious with their topdressing and a great deal more fertiliser could still be used. Important, too, for thej Ashburton country, with its large area of arable land,: has been the ready avail-! ability of lime with four) works between the Rangi-i tata and Rakaia Rivers, one! of which has produced just on a million tons. With cattle and heavy sheep stocking, Mr Turton is a believer in the use of the heavy roller. Harrowing and then heavy rolling, particularly in the late autumn when paddocks are closed, means that manure is pressed down closer to the plant roots and at the same time a blow is struck against the grass grub. In point of fact there has been little trouble with grass grub on Alford and Mr Turton puts this down to high fertility, cattle and the use of the heavy roller. Mr Turton was a foundation member of the South Canterbury Catchment Board and is a former chairman and member of the Ashburton County Council.