AFTER HALF A CENTURY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1031, 21 January 1911, Page 19

AFTER HALF A CENTURY.

JRUA-WHARO. fISIYEI. ■ A SPLENDID lAKAPU 'PROPERTY. 1 ' i/ise lambs abound.

i Two miles and-a half out from Takapau Hallway St&tion -stands' the home-,-6tead:,of. OruarWharo, the fine -property-l |of;Mr". Sydney Johnston,' ono of South|ern .Hawko's Bay's best-known- settlers'. |The;hbmestead"grounds form one of the;' Jmost beautiful spots in the proyince. It •fIV r ,to"aiiyo!i'e'to have the sur-.iibundiiigs-of' a :; home beautified.'as : this jpiace';is.; The'dwelling : is,, far. back jfrbmythe road; and seems to be situJa ! tcd;6n .a clearihg in a forest; of pines l and acacias; '. As-in; many' other: parts Sof New Zealand the watiles thrive. The iwallsiof "wattle; along .'the drive ; present 'jjust now an appearance.which resembles, ifhe colour effects we expect to see in Ithe fall of the year. -The ', seed pods, .'ripened and browned, are hanging in j mantles from the trees, and, viewed Ifrom' a little distance, the effect is "mmiiir" to'.ihae' 'created - "by ""autumii Seaves. ' i r The flower gardens-add beauty to a /loharming home. Thero is quite an '•extensive area'bearag a big variety of (the flowers in season, and a casual | glance suggests that the ground de|voted".to flowers is large enough'to accommodate a few dozen city gardens. ' : ( in the Early Days. ' , r The property was originally taken iip fby.the Hon. John. Johnston,-of Wcl-' jlington, father • of • Mr. , Sydney Johnjston? in about t-lio year'lßs6. THo estato |-was obtained from ttb Government-, and icofisisted '.tlien of. about 15,000 acres, lit' is'not so extorsive n'ow, Mr. Sydney | Johnston having sold and leased, several thousand aciesj, The 'present) owner, Mr. Sydney Johnston,'went on t-o tlie property-very soon

after it was purchased by his father; 'and has, therefore, been, associated with 'its growth and improvement almost from the beginning, and, at the samo time, as-ono of tho.earliest Hawko's 'Bay-'settlers, has witnessed the ev'olu-. t-ion froiri.its natural condition to great prosperity ; of ono.'of; the. fairest., provinces, ill the country. ... ThoVyear''in 'which'' Mr." Johnston wont'.td live on. the station,.was 1859,three -years , after -the purchase of .the placo by his father. ' In those days tlio outlook; was not altogether'cheering, and.; -a. pessimistwould have called it decidedly gloomy. Thero were no roads, and if there had been'there was-no railway for the. road to lead to., ■ Peace .with the Aboriginals. Just about, : Takapau-thoro was~ a" much lesser proportion' of bush encountered than pioneers ill other parts had to contend with. Tho bulb of the country was covered with-fern and scrub, and those were tho growths which abounded on Mr. Johnston's property in tho "early dayg.. Unlike some other parts of Hawke's Bay, and New Zealnad in general, tho Takapau district never had any Maori troubles. Tho steady -progress of tho locality in the -hardest days, .of tlie pioneers was, therefore, "uninterrupted by anything in' any way resembling the stern struggles . for ,lifo oand 'property which hampered the pioneering workof Europeans in' other, districts. The Natives .were always .friendly towards the Pakelia, and, as tho good feelings by the broivn man were reciprocatca 'by .tho white, tho two races lived'in the one; neighbourhood, in, harmony. The

peace which reigned assisted in tlio quick development of tho district, and thoro is 110 doubt that had tho aboriginals opposed tho immigrants tho progross of the country thereabouts would havo boon considerably delayed, for thero is"no reason for doubting that tho Maoris wore capnblo of affecting and maintaining an opposition tho ov ? r ~ coming of which would havo occupied considerable tiino and entailed great losses and, hardships. So much, then, is duo to the Maori for tho way ill which ho received tlio white man. Aboard the Prince of Wales. Tho property which adjoins Mr. Johnston's in the earlier, clays-belonged to Mr. Purvis .Russell. It was known . as Ilatuma, and was taken by tho Government somo years ago. Mr. Purvis Russell and tho late Hon. John Johnston cams out to New Zealand'together in a'vessel called tho Prince of Wales, which arrived in 18-12, fourteen years before, the Takttpau property was acquired by Mr. Johnston. . Tho .resideuco of tho family, has not always been where tho present homestead stands. The first homestead erected on the placo was built on a sito about two miles from the present dwelling. The older dwelling was nearer the hills, and further away from where tho present road runs. Tho premises now in occupation were built just thirty years ago. Shelter, Shade, and ..Ornamentation. Mr. Johnston is one of the too few settlers who have realised tho true value of shelter and shade. A great deal of planting.lias been, done on the p'roperty with a view'to "providing'shado and, shelter, and ■ for ornamental purposes. • Even a trip through Hawke's Bay in a train brings forcibly before the notice of people tho remarkably fine willows and poplars which have been raised on the property, and the numbers of them which grow in almost every paddock. Mr. Johnston has gone in largely for weeping willows and wattles. 'The value of such trees on tho stations is far beyond what. many assess it at. The great walls of wattle stretching across the fields aro great shelter ■ from tho storms which harass cattle in flat, treeless country. The refugo is eagerly sought by ewes, and is a .big thing "for the young lambs. , Shade, also, is necessary for stock, and besides being necessary is a good asset. Sheep will thrive better ill wellshaded paddocks than in fields in which' circumstances compel themv to . spend tho wholo day exposed to a fierce summer sun! There is generally a -saving in' grazing' on well-shaded farms. Sheep; Trill ofteii lie contentedly in the shado most of the. day in the very trying weather, and stroll out to food in tho cool of tho evening .and tho very early morning. In such'circumstances they. eat. less,. and - thrive' as .well as animals . that aro exposed to the sun all day aiid eat considerably more, i As ornamentation .thero aro few things which help to beautify tho landscape' more, than weeping .willows do. Particularly is that true of flat country. ' Tho chief beauty of. the matter is when tho trees aro in -flower, whon the 'clusters - and waves of "wattle-gold aro a spectaclo' of rare beauty, -and approached, only by the vast wastes of broom: and gorso in, .their, -magnificent but noxious bloom. ■ ■Much, of tho- planting was done by Sir: "Johnston's former manager, the late-Mr.' 1 Janios AYorrall. .' ■' ■.< Building up the Station. As was indicated abovo in a reference to the natural state of tho district, thero was not 'much bush on the proper}' when it. was taken up. Almost tho whole of the land was covered with fern-and-sorub. These impediments had to be got out by burning, after which the soil was surfaco sown with grass. Howover, tho hardships .of pioneering wore, after all, few in this district as compared with other parts of the Dominion. North, the builders of that portion of Hawko's Bay had the swamps to fight dgainst, and soutji was the heavily-timbered land, tho land of tho heart-breaking struggle. Tho great trouble at Takapau 'was tho isolation l — no roads, then bad roads, infrequent mails, aiid that sort of thing. But they soon got to having a mail coach from Napier once a'day. ffapicr.. is about sixty miles distant. Tho' building up of- a property from what it was . when Mr. Johnston went on to it to what it is to-day . was a gradual process in which tho cliiof operations ;wcro burning off the scrub and tho fern, fencing,- and sowing- grass, and later on-ploughing tho flat land. All the land is now cleared and all ; has been, sown in grass except some of tho liills which bear the native grass.

Grasses and Soil. In some parts of the property there were largo areas of native grasses quite clear of icrn. This feed was indeed useful. Somo of it resembled sorno varieties of Dunthonia. New Zealand native grasses -havo been given Jiigh praise by somo students of the subject of the food raluo of 'grasses, and some of the kinds which flourished about Takapau contained largo percentages of fattening properties. The soil varies in character. A largo part of the flat land lias light soil with a gravelly sub-soil. In other parts the soil is stiffer with a clay sub-soil. The hills aro almost entirely stiff sou on a limestonfc formation. The Ircn Horse. To-day a splendid road runs liy tho property, and the railway is but a. short distanco away. Tho change from yesterday is wonderful. "When I first camo hero I certainly never thought that I would ever seo the railway Tunning through," said Mr. Johnston tho other day. ■ But tho railway is through. It went past Tnkapau in 1877 or 1878. About here tho cost of constructing tho lino was light in comparison with the cost in somo other districts. South of Takapau it became moro expensivo on account of the bush which had to be hewn through, and tlio ravines which had to be bridged, but from Takapau to Napier thoro could hardly havo been moro suitable country. In- the sixty miles theta is only one hill worth speaking of—the Te Auto Hill. Stocking the Land. . Tho first sheep introduced at OruaWharo were Merinos,-which, in fact,, wero tho first breed on all the earlysottled Hawko's Bay holdings. Later, when it was fourifl' that the longwool breeds wero valuable for crossing purposes, they wero introduced, and gradually tho Slerinos wero displaced. Now, all Hawke's Bay sheep aro longwools of some type or. other. What helped to causo ,many to forsake Merinos.was. a very severe outbreak of footrot. about forty years ago'. ■'• • . In tho earlier days the only produce was wool,; and that had. to be taken by bullock-dray to Napier.' Before there wero any roads for the somo of tho settlors' used to take, their woo.' down the Tuki Tuki River to Clive. Each man had only a few hundred sheep in those days., and the total of wool did not amount to much. In some cases 1 it was • probably taken a good distanco packed on horseback.. . In those times, there was practically no market for fat stock. Tho, only thing tho farmers could do before'tl/e discovery of.'meat freezing was to boil tho carcasses down for the sake of the tallow. This district is probably as rich in the ruins of old boiling-down works as most New .Zealand districts are; but there was never one. on Mr. Johnston's property.. Thoro was ono at Olive, ono at Waipuluirau, and another on a farm not far away. Speaking of tho ..times when sheep were'grown for tho tallow,' Sir. Johnston remarked, "If you had really fat sheep there was a good thing in tallow when tho prico was ,£4O a ton." • .' Interesting Discoveries. , On several of tho. hills in the neighbourhood of the homestead are remains jf . Native • pas, which show , that- the Maori population 'must have been, very large in - this district .at . one'_ time. Now there, is a small pa opposite the railway station, but tho. population is not large, i , -'■-~ .Another discovery.of interest.has been made on tho station. On.tho tops of tho highest hills oyster' ■ shells havo been found embedded in tho soil. This is taken by Mr; Johnston as decided' evidence that tho country was in former times under • water. ' ■ ■ " What- the Station Produces. ' The'principal.business on tho station is sheep-raismg. Thoro is a Ilomney flock, but Mr. 'Johnston does not grow for what would be termed a very lightw'ooled Romney: it is an improved Romney. Tho acreage of tho place is now about ten thousand five hundred, and as a rule tho output per year is about three thousand five hundred fat lambs. The Jambs are sent to, Hastings and, frozen for. tho-Homo market, trade. Since portion .of the property was soldj the (locks have been reduced to about seventeen .thousand sheep. , Nine thousand of those are'owes which are'put to tho rams. Last winter was a fairly good, one, and tho stock have done very well. Catering for the fat lamb trade is a .big thing on the station, and this season a big draft was got away. Up till Christmas the lambs taken from tho mothers numbered fifteen hundred. An idea 'of tho wonderful quality of the lambs reared on the place may be gauged from tho fact that the reports froni tho freezing company show that of tho wholo fifteen hundred only three were graded second-class. ' All tho rest wero first quality. This is a most unusual thing, particularly this season. Another big draft has.been on ra'peiip to the present,and is now ready to .be sent .to the freezing works! ... . Tho averago weight of three of tho stations drafts of fat lambs works out at about tlurty-fivo pounds. Tho figures run from thirty-four and three-quarter ■pounds to thirty-six and a. quarter pounds.' These lambs were SoutlidownRomnoy cross. For tho purpose of breeding lambs for. freezing, from'two thousand iivo'hundred to thrco thousand full-mouthed Romney ewes wero put .to Southdowju rams. As elsewhere, it has been found that, the Southdown cross with tho Romney is the most profitable for getting early fat lamb's. " Generally, tho station sends away from sixty to seventy per cent, of its'fat lambs for freezing by tho beginning.of December. Tho balanco of tlie Down cross rams aro put on rape a little later. After the bulk of tho fat. lambs have been got away there are generally • very ■ few of tho Down-cross'lambs left over. It. does not pay to carry them oil till tho following season. Purebred Sheap. Within the last few years Mr. Johnston lias started a pedigree Southdown stud. Tho stud was' founded in 1907 by tho purchasing of 50 ewes at tho disposal sale of Mr. James Stuckcy's stud, Rangitumau, Masterton. Rams wero procured from. Mr. Stuckey, and sinco then others-havo been obtained from Mr. G. E. Rhodes, of Ellesmere, Canterbury. At- tho presest time, tho stud is not very, large. Eighty ewes wero put to the rams last year. Pure Romneys aro also bred. They aro not flock-book sheep, but aro considered to bo quite pure. ' Rams have been purchased from Mr.- Matthews, Mr. Wheeler, and other leading breeders: This Romney flock is limited to about 350 owes. ; Cattle and Crops. Between 700 and 800 head of cattle aro kept. About' 200 are breeding cows. The early cattle were of the Shorthorn breed, but latterly a' certain number of Shorthorns havo bopn crossed with Polled Angus. The progeny do very well, and are hardier, than the purebrcds, inheriting the fine constitution of Polled Angus.'., Tlioy' fatten well, and tho meat sells readily. Tho plough is put to good use. Rapo is grown for the,fattening of tho lambs, the quantity put down being about 100 acres. Tho fat lambs, of course, do not , use tho whole of the rape grown. Tho cull lambs aro .put on tho. rape in order to . tiring them forward .with strength enough to pull" through the winter. Sufficient turnips to , carry, through tho winter'any li'oggets which require extra feeding are also grown. A good deal of ploughing for tho renewal of tho pastures is done. The whole of the ploughing operations keep "four teamsjof horses .employed*