AKITIO.

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

AKITIO.

• i JUT BACK ON THE-COAST. ' TYPICAL SHEEP & CATTLE STATIONS. STOCK FARMING AND SMLM.

It is possiblo to meet men who "have travelled every inch of New Zealand." They havo been up tho Main Trunk, right- up north of Auckland, down to Milford Sound.- They know .that New Zealand thoroughly. But there is another New Zealand —a Now Zealand little heard of, quiet, peaceful, remote, contented, productive,, and prosperous. This New Zealand isn't all. in ono spot,, but scattered over tlio country in tiny, isolated worlds. And this Now Zealand is important. Yet more than half the population of the country goes from ono year to' another without seeming to be sensible of the-fact of the. existence (if this lessef-known New ■ Zealand. They seem to think that New Zealand is a narrow strip of land habitable in the vicinity of'several railway lines, and that a person of good hearing standing on the East Coast can hear the roar going up from the waves of the ocean lashing the shores of tho west. • They ride "along a railway line, and thoy think that the farms on -the right-hand sido, and those on the left-hand sido look very fresh and green, and must grow, a' lot of wool and feed a lot of aninials. They.look at'that long rango of blue hills, and thero their vision ends, and with their vision their knowledge of their country. But beyond tho• blue range lies tho other New Zealand, away,- away in a world of its own. 1 From these Out-back holdings comes" much of tho golden fleece and much of tho country's gold in tho semblanco of fattened' stock, and in many other forms. v ' And when the aforesaid "much travelled" person hears of an Out-back station ho pictures a large holding with a rough but cosy hut-, where no white woman treads, and whence men appear once every six months to replenish the larder and tho tobacco chest. Tho picturo is true to tho yarns in Australian novels, but untrue of life and conditions of living; on-the back-country holdings of New Zealand. There are few NewZealand homes moro comfortable, and more attractive than the far-back station homestead. • Out on tha Coast. On tho East Coast of this island area number of fine sheep stations, a typical property' is Akitio, owned by Mr. Frank Armstrong, one of tho known settlers in 'Southern Hawke's Bay. ■ Akitio is fifty miles from Dannevirko and right on the' East Coast;. Akitio was tho name of the station'which was taken ui> by Mr. Frank Armstrong's father in 1875. Mr. Armstrong, .senr., had bought the property from Sir Donald M'Lean, father of Mr. R. D. D. M'Leaii, of Maraekakaho.' Sir Donald had acquired the place, from tho' Natives, and at Akitio Mr. R. D. D. M'Lean lived as a"boy. 1 ' V The station" lias undergone' 'many changes since 1875. After Mr. Armstrong, senr., had been there, twd years ho renewed a .'partnership with Messrs. Smith and Elder, of Fowler's Bay, South Australia, with whom ho had previously been connected. Ho had sold his interests in South Australia to-come to New Zealand, and had then bought Akitio. Those wero tho days of largo holdings, and tho original property of Akitio was soon considerably added to. At the same time that he purchased the property, Mr. Armstrong bought the lease of Dr. Robertson's property, on tho south sido rjf Akitio, Dr. Grace's lease' of Ohanga, aud the freehold of Glencoe. In all, there wero ninety thousand acres. These additional properties wero not long attached to Akitio. In 1880, five years after his purchase of tho station, Mr. Armstrong met his death. He was drowned while shipping cattle from ono sido of tho Akitio River to the .other. The fatality occurred, close to the mouth of tho river, through tho horso getting into quicksand. Changes at tho Station. The leases bought of Dr. Graco and Dr. Robertson, and tho freehold of Glencoe, were not retained long after tho death of Mr. Armstrong, senior; They wero submitted to auction and bought by Messrs. Handyside, Roberts, and C 0.," and then known as Marainanga. Messrs. Handyside, Roberts, iyul Co. held tho land till three years ago, when it v.-as cut up. , Being tho eldest of tho family, Mr; Frank Armstrong took charge of tho property when he-was twenty-one years of ago. Ho 'managed tho station for tho trustees for nine years, until his brother Ja'mes came of age. Oil Mr. James Armstrong reaching tlio age of twenty-one years", .tlio brothers entered into partnership. During the partnership tlio property known as Glengarry, ncar'Daimcvirke, was purchased.-' Four years ago the partnership was dissolved: Mr. James Armstrong took Glengarry, and Mr. .Frank Armstrong Akitio. Originally the. area of Akitio. was 34,000 acres, but sinco ho took it over Mr. Frank Armstrong has sold 8000 acres. Tho acreage, therefore, is now 26,000. Akitio is said to havo been named after a species of large shellfish, resembling mussel, plentiful there. A better idea of location of the placo than merely saying it is on the East Coast, fifty miles from Dannevirko, may bo given by stating that it lies twenty-five miles north of Castlopoint, and ten miles south of Capo Turnagain. "The Last Road." Mr. Armstrong says that Akitio was the last station between-Napier and Wellington to havo a road put to it. "Tho -first. occasion," ho' said,- "oh which I' could -get te 1 tho homestead through; tlio -property- by- vehicle was somo, time- last year."--' Tho road is not all metalled yet, - and may not bo very -pleasant -in • winter. -It presents difficulties at any time, for tlio hills aro exceptionally long and stiff, and- the turns aro sharp. Nevertheless, the big white motor from Akitio .covers - tho fifty miles ill a few'hours.' Tho somewhat belated highway- will never..lend, itself to fast transit. Some of tlio grades are'worse 1 than those encountered on the way over the Tararuas from Palmcrston North, to Pahiatua. Tlio absence of roading facilities.has always been severely., felt by the settlers in the district, but tho seaboard, has served them well, and to a very great extent they havo overcome difficulties respecting communication aud carriage for them*".- •> •' ■ • <

Akitio is a very different place now from what it was when the late Mr. Armstrong purchased it, and even in the last twenty years it has undergone many ..changes. The present owner has made numerous improvements, and has seen the big property evolve from almost its natural state to a well-im-proved holding. Since. Mr. Frank Armstrong has, been on tlio place fourteen thousand acres have been cleared, and two hundred miles of fencing have been put up. Those figures merely give an idea of. tho extent of tho improvements. The First Sheep. ' As was the case in many other parts, of New Zealand, tho first sheep used wero merino, but as-in .the other districts, also,' the breed was superseded. Tlio fa'to'of tho merino almost everywhere in Now Zealand, was te be superseded either by being bred out in a process of crossing or by being totally displaced. The merinos Mr. Armstrong senior took to Akitio were, descondeu from Murray rams, a South Australian strain. Ono of the difficulties of sheepraising in the earlier days was that few' varieties of sheep wero available. Another was that each settlor had to experiment for himself in order to discover which breed of sheep was the most suitable for the country he was working. \ Mr. Armstrong afterwards crossed his merino with : Lincolus, and- ton years later Romnoys wero crossed into the flock. The Kent breed went, thero to stay;. and no other has, been introduced since, for tho Romneys have been .found to suit the country far and away , the best-. ' - The original herd of cattle wore Shorthorns, Mt. Herbert Estate' strain, but quite a variety of tho beef breeds have been tried. ' At tho selling of . tho Marainanga Estate, most of .the Marainanga .stud of Polled Angus wero purchased for Akitio. For a time, also, a Red Polled herd was used, hut it was ! • sold' before tlio Polled Angus were bought. Lately a new herd has been founded of Hereford stud, purchased from -Mr. Frank Moore, of Kai Iwi. ' Crossing breeds has been tried with good results. Tho polls are' being crossed with,the Shorthorns. The result is a beast, which, taken all round, is a- bettor animal than animals of either of tho pure breeds. Crossing a Polled ■Angus- bull .with a Shorthorn, cow lias been .found' to . produce progeny of greater constitution than the Shorthorn possesses. All told thero are 2000.head of cattle on the station. Eight hundred of them are breeding cows. Wool is naturally Akitio's chief product, and, the station presents" a busy sceiio • at : 'shearing - time, -when' tho annual harvest is gathered. The clip, onco it 'js, shorn, classed,, and baled, is shipped by the coastal steamers to Wellington, and. thence transferred to the big liners for London. There is a wool store and a jetty on the property, and the bales are carried off by launch to tho steamer lying out. in the offifng.", On an exposed coast this is a slow and often hazardous process. :J The handling of the flock entails tho employment of many men, and among the permanent staff aro seven shepherds.-' . There, are, of course, big _ additions to the staff at' shearing time. Tho woolshod is fitted with sixteen Wolseley shearing machines, and . a 12 horse-power Homsby engine supplies tho power for the shearing, the pressing, and the dumping. Sawmilling. •Akitio is not simply a stock- run. Sawmilling is, andjlias been for many years, an important industry . there. There are still vast areas of timbered land, and tho cork of clearing is being

accomplished by felling the trees, which are afterwards put through tho mill. Not much which can bo put to use with rcasonablo easo is allowed to waste at Akitio.. Tho methods adopted in connection with tho sawmilling • are interesting. After tho trees are felled they arc dragged to the Akitio Kiver, and they float down in tho Hoods as far as the sea beach. From the beach the logs aro hauled to the mill by a log-hauler. From the mill tho timber is run to tho wharf in trucks. There it is done up in slings and hauled out to tho vessel by the steamer's winch. Tho timber cut at present is principally wliito pine. It is sent to Sydney, to bo mado into butter-boxes. The mill is right or tho beach, about a mile and a half from tho homestead. It is a convenient placc for shipping, right alongside tho landing. ■Though thero is still a big area of bush-clad' land, the forests have, been gradually disappearing for a number of years. When the station was first taken up there was twenty thousand acrcs heavy bush liuul. Tho balance- was fern and manuka country. , Cropping. . The areas under crops at Akitio are sufficient to make 'several small farms. Of turnips alone there aro one hundred acres this year. There is a still greater area under rape—ollo hundred and fifty acres. And of oats eight acres ' arc down. The Port, Anyone with even casual experience of open roadstead ports and ports where lightering is necessary will appreciate the conditions |at Akitio.Vessels call. at such ports rarely enough, and when they aro due tho port is often unworkable.. A result is that stores aro not landed just when

wanted, and produce cannot always be i shipped away "at the time most desired. j 'l'lio oil launch is, of course, a- big I improvement on its predecessor, the j surf-boat. The old surf boat,-though I a good friendßc many early and pre-sent-day New Zealanders, had the triple -> disadvantage of being rather unstable;' j in rough Weather, slow, and dependent - j on too .much manual labour. Though j these things are mitigated with the oil . i launch, the lightering system is not al- j together satisfactory. It is, therefore, : with great pleasure that the settlere' ; look forward to tho materialisation of j j improvements, which are "in the wind."' j The port of Akitio will eventually serve i Weber, as! well, as Pongaroa. Pongaroa.: j will use the Pongaroa-Akitio Road, aud. i Weber tho -Weber-Glenora Road. , j There is a probability or "the direct -1 Home boats calling for tho wool in tho : place of the coasters. Representatives j of a company, controlling tho big liners have been to Akitio having a look, at j tho port, but their reply has not yet. j been received. Five hundred bales a ; day could bo put aboard the big steam-' i ers. Tho calling.of the direct- vessels j would do away with ; the freight by. ) coaster from Akitio to Wellington and ■ : j the transhipping at Wellington from the ' ;.j coaster to tho liner. The saving to the . • settlers would bo tremendous. | Indications of Oil. . ■ j Indications of oil have been found ! on tho property, and -the option to .. start boring has been given to a company. '.f Where Swaggers Abound. i Akitio abounds in swaggers. Th« ; gentry of, tho sundowner tribe visit the j station some seasons at the rate of four a night, which runs into nearly- fifteen .; hundred a year. • •• • -A shed has been provided-for-them to' i sleep iu..: They are costly-visitors. j