PLAGUE OF WILD PIGS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 68, 17 September 1926, Page 4

PLAGUE OF WILD PIGS

TRIALS OF SHEEPFARMERS.

Hardships akin to those that tested tho mettle of New Zealand's pioneers are the daily portion of tho settlers of To Tuhi, a sheep-raising district about five miles up the Wanganui River, and, according to a recent visitor, the depredations of wild pigs threaten to intensify the plight of tho runholdcrs, slates the "New Zealand Herald." Some time ago it was announced that to help in eradicating tho wild pigs hunters were offered one sliilling'a snout. "I do not think it will prove very effective," remarked the informant. "I would want £_ a snout before considering it a payable proposition to hunt these marauders." Tho great difficulty in stalking the pigs was the fact that they prowled by night and slunk at dawn into thick, almost impenetrable jungle. , The poor state of the country made tho rearing of sheep for breeding purposes out of tho question under normal conditions. The settlers depended mainly on the sale of wool, for which tho market was poor, thus constituting an additional hardship, but the presence of tho pigs was tho chief handicap. "It is like ono of the seven plagues," tho visitor said: "The herds not only destroy sheep, but also distribute in their rooting 3 hosts of seeds from the dreaded utuwai, which simply chokc3 tho growth of the pastures. The pigs havo made away with scores of lambs. The seriousness of this will bo realised from the experience of one settler, who awoke one morning to find that out of 2S lambs ho had only two loft." Many of the settlers were iv straitened circumstances, aud the education of the children was consequently gravely handicapped. There were two alternatives: cither the children had to be sent to boarding schools in Wanganui, which were often beyond the means of the parents, or a family of two or four could engage a governess, whoso salary was subsidised by the Government to tho extent of £-15 a year. "But in' spite of all their difficulties it would be hard to find a better type of people," the visitor added. "Troubled To Tuhi breathes tho true pioneer spirit, and tho women are as courageous as tho men. The flnverriiienl'. could not find a more deserving rase for encouragement and assistance."