"OAKBURNE."

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1031, 21 January 1911, Page 16

"OAKBURNE."

HR. DAVIS CANNING'S SHEEP STATION. , SCIENTIFIC BREEDING AND FAT LAIB ~ RAM. ' INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS.

"Oakburnc," the,residenoo of Mr. • Davis Canning, is one' of the prettiest r'homesteads on. the road between Waipukurau. and Porangahau. ■ It lies afew miles past Wsllingford; and on an ■eminence which admits of a splendid view—of-'the-surrounding- country. -At ,tli6 hack of the residenco is a fine plantation of piue trees, while farther down is a big orchard i'of six' hundred ' trees, : »ome of. .which'.are'' over forty year.", old. . The name of Canning is . inseparably Jinked with tho agricultural.. and pastoral history.; of Hawke's Bay.. Mr;. John /Davis Canning, ,father of Mri Da vis-.Canning,; was one of. the early

stock-breeders in the district when there were few such, and it is ho who gave a lead in tho system of using nothing but the best stock. Ho was ouo of tho ex-, liibitors at .the first agricultural and pastoral sliow held at Havelock North, ■and he specialised not only in Shorthorn cattle and sheep, but also in horses, pigs, sporting dogs, and fowls. 'A man of very ; broad and enlightened views,' and with an earnest sympathy,' which endeared liim to all who had tho good fortune of his acquaintance, John Davis Canning is described. by contemporaries as one of tho .finest types of the pioneer settlers who buiifc-..- their.

homos out in the wilderness. In his early days ho was a colleague of the late John Hardiug, of Mount Vernon, and .was employed by that equally strenuous pioneer somo'. timo in the fifties. Mr. Canning came to New Zealand in 1851, 111 the good ship Cornwall, and ho took up "Oakburhe" about, half a century ago, and held big Native leasehold sections, which, aggregated 40,000 acres. Ho was-married ,in 1868 .to a daughter of Mr. J.; M'Qucen, : of. Inverness. ' A bereavement clouded tl)c happy memories of his first years of married life jit "Oakburnc." It was in 1867 or 1868 and the Maori troubles'we're" blazing in their last insurrectionary outbursts. Davis Canning; who resided at "Oak-' ?burne"- with his brother,, was a young 'man, full of .adventure! He .was .ten with the: fever,, and one evening rode away ' with,; a , captain's . commission; , .'through, to Napier 'arid , on-. to 'Poverty .'Bay', where lie was' shot dead with Cap: :tain Carr'.at . RiiakatiVri. It appears 'that.both he and Captain Carr wero.the : 'victims of their own rashness,' and in theso days of militarism and threatened war it is interesting to rccord in what a simple manner two lives were thrown ■ away. ' i Mr. John Canning. . It is interesting to record some further particulars of Mr. John Dayis Canning. He was born at "Ogbourne," St Anurow, Marlborough, Wiltshire, Isng- , land. in the year 1822, and was tho son 'of tile lato M. Davis Canning. Tho ; Cannings of "Ogbourno". and of "Oakburnc,"in'Hawke's Bay, aro a... branch of an old English family of which Lord Canning, .a former Viceroy, of. India', was a member. Mr. John Davis Caniling . was educated in his native place. He landdd first at Lyttelton, and then came up to Hawke's Bay, where he afterwasdsselected' tho-present fine property. He introduced:, the Cotswold. variety, of sheep, -and' spent'lavish"' sums'of money on good stock.; 'Amongst his horse "im- : pprtations'' was the draught stallion Dugdale, 'said to be the 'finest.of his .class./ 1n.'1883 Mr. .Canning .went to England, to see'his'wife,.'who bad been • invalided ■ there', biit; 'the trip < resulted in ■ l his deaths ; It' is -satisfactory to record :in the .face' of- this severe:bereavement :that Mrs: panning regained her health • somo eight years later,, that-she returned to New; Zealand, . andKthat .she .now' ;-resides-ih'Ndpieiy to - Mr. Davis Ganning. Mr. Davis Canning, tho present owner of ."Oakburhe," was born there, but was I eduedted at the Marlborough Grammar School and at Clifton College, where formerly, by the way, Mr. Allan, M.P., received some of his.first instruction, Mr. Canning went to . Clifton. College in 1885, and left in 1891. Ho was an enthusiastic outxloor sportsman, and got his cap both for football and cricket, and still takes a keen interest in those pastimes. , After leaving England ho resided for' a time at Hastings, "Oakburnc" having been leased, -but when the lcaso expired he returned to his home, and took up tho study of farming and agricultural matters with the same keen interest which was evidenced in such a marked degree by his father: Mr..'C.anrinjg is one of the most active members 'of tlio Central' Agricultural and-' Pastoral Association at Waipukurau,"and'there is little do'ubt that with such enthusiasm" which he and others have displayed, the institution should have a very successful record indeed; In this .matter Mr. Canning points out that the bigger" association at Hastings will not suffer, but will rather gam '"through'"tho' ' advent of ■smaller district associations. It often happens that a stock-breeder in a small •way would'iievcr think of showing at the big institutions against the'best of .-■high-class stock, but ho is not averse to-trying lower down tho ladder. Tho spirit of emulation and competition' then enters into the business. The smaller breeder meets with- some - success, he sees tho weaknesses of his stock, when .comparing it with others, and naturally strives' for improvement. Under the pressure of further- success, ho enters the lists at bigger shows, which thus ,gain by the advent of tho' smaller institutions. There is a good deal to be said-in favour-,0f...Mr. Canning's argument,' and: the crux of tho whole thing ■lies in the hands of those governing the several institutions. It-is declared by: a great many. people, that the Wairarapa district should only run one agricultural show, and the Wellington and l'aranaki provincial districts only one winter show, but no one can honestly say that tho duplications have so far prevented first-class exhibitions, which ■form an important factor in educating our fanning population on all branches I.—agricultural, pastural, and of' stock. Scientific; Shcep-Brcsding. Mr. Davis Canning is at present making a study of sheep-breeding-upon his 10,000-acre farm at "Oakburnc." He has gone in for the Romney-Lincoln 'cross now for somo six years, and winj.lers about. 10,000 sheep.' There are J: somo farmers who say that Mr. Canning .should run'more.sheep, but ho believes in under-stocking rather, than overstocking, and in this departure lie' is merely following intuitively in' the footsteps of practical and.successful farmer. He has considerable satisfaction in knowing, that, his wool has al- ■ ways brought record prices, aiid unless ■ho farmed on properly scientific, lines it is very probable that such results could not bo-obtained. Constitution is everything, says the breeder, and you cannot have constitution''without.'adequate, .pastures. Mr. Canning's 1909 wool clip [ brought one shilling' and one shilling and three-farthings.per pound,, and this is 'sufficient 'and satisfactory cvidenco to show, that lie is farming on very good liues indeed. . Fat Lambs at Oakburne.. It is to the fat lamb trade, however, that Mr. Canning is devoting very

special attention, and with such success that the "Oakburne" fat lambs have no~,v a reputation which is most creditablo to tne southern Hawke's liay district. As an experiment, Mr. Canning mado'a three-years' trial with Border Jjeieestcr and Southdown rams on Rom-ney-Lincoln fewes, in oi'der to ascertain which lambs would give the best return. The result was that he found that for fat lambs off their mothers the southdown ram was much superior to tlio Border Leicester, and ho thereupon decided that for fat lamb breeding he would have nothing but Southdown „ Last year Mr. Canning turned olt IoOQ. ewes to Southdown rams, and up till December 15 he had sold 1197 fat lambs. Ho.sold 627 at the first "cut" to the buyer on November 1, 490 on December 5, and 80 on, December 15, the average, weight being 1 from 30 to 38 pounds. ■ This is a very fine record, aiid, attained'simply by a study of physio-

logical, climatic, 3H'd conditions. It is not often that a little over 40 per cent, of tho lambs could >bo turned off to tho buyer so early as November 1, and such a satisfactory . quantity a month later, and to show the gain Mr. Canning points out that in 1009 ho had only_turned off 573 fat lambs oil December 5. Experiments In Breeding. ' ,In selecting' his -ewe's" _ for 'fat lamb breeding, Mr. Canning picks them .big, roomy, and well-uddered. He put them .on to gpod/autumn pastures,- and has them fat for the breeding season. . He keeps .his rams iu, tho best .of-condition, also, and therefore the lambs are bred when tho parents are in tho best of health. After tho mating season is over, the • ew'es are still well fed, with the result/,that tho lambs aro. well pro? vided for, 'during pregnancy, and usually make their entrance into the world ill a'most healthy state. Of" course, it has' been said by somo breeders arid also by ' veterinarians that the too prosperous condition of ewes at tho tinio they arc in lamb is responsible for much sheep mortality, but Mr. Canning has so far nover been faced with tho accuracy of this statement. ' 'To him' it appears, that .the matter is ono in a way of

eugenics— a selection of tho fittest, who are capablc of taking up and fulfilling tho duties of sheep motherhood in a .proper manner. It has bcon said somewhat cynically tbat at tho present time ■more, attention and study is bestowed upon the breeding of'tho lower animals by man than on his own species, but, of course, tho difference lies in the fact that tho human raco pursues its own initiativo, while, for very good reasons, ,it does not allow the same latitude amongst tho lower species, n'ho liavo to feed and clothe him. Similarly, Mr. Canning is making a study of breeding fat lambs from four-tooth maiden'gtfos, and hero again ho is meeting with considerable success. Tho experiments which are being conducted by Mr. Canning should prove of considerable interest to our sheep-fanning population, •and it is to bo hoped that tho results will recoive somo publicity. At tho present time, it is very well known that firimo Canterbury lamb, and mutton attains a bigger price than our own North Island production. Tho dilfercncc in price is considerable, and must •represent many thousands of pounds in tho course of a year. • If Mr. Canning ■can sho\v in what manner .North Island .breeders are missing their opportunities through inattention or ignorance of method, ho will have inferred a lasting benefit en tho forming population and the frozen muttou trade.,