LIMING IN OTAGO.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4870, 26 September 1877, Page 7

LIMING IN OTAGO.

'a visit to mr edward men love's estate, windsor park, \ waiareka.

(From the Otago Witness.)

Mr Edward Menlove, who stands in •-the yan of progressive farmers, is an old Victorian. He arrived in Dunedin in a 1863, where he carried on business until >1872. In 1865 he purchased, in company with another gentleman, four thousand • acres of Crown land in the Waiareka Valley, nine or ten miles from it wa3 covered with toumata- • kauri and tussocks, but yielded excellent pasturage for sheep and cattle, and ; proved to be valuable agricultural land. Having dissolved partnership, Mr Mentlove purchased land from time to time, -and the estate now contains fourteen thousand acres of freehold. He was, •we believe, the first single individual ■■"who went largely into cultivation in Otago —companies having set the example in 'this respect. Por the last five years he .has never had less than two thousand five hundred acres in grain. In 1874, he i.liarvested one hundred thousand bushels sixty thousand bushels of wheat alone. This. last season he had two thousand • acres of white crops, seven hundred of nrape, five hundred of turnips, and three hundred of mangolds. Next season, he ■will have one thousand three hundred -nacres in wheat, one thousand one hundred -iri barley ancl oats, six hundred iin.turnips, six hundred in rape, Ttwo hundred in mangolds, ten in potatoes, and seven thousaud in English -grass. There are eighty draught horses ■besides the young stock, two hundred head •of. horned cattle, twenty-one thousand . .-sheep, aud over one hundred and fifty pigs, 3?6rty to fifty of. the horses are brood mares. La3t year there were twenty-four -Clydesdale foals, and this year the. same :number. To obtain a good horse we vinust havo a good sire and dam. Mr Menlove has been fortunate in this respect, aud is turning out a splendid lot of ;young ones. He has in his stud Crown . Prince, bought as a two-year old, and two ;mares out of Mrs Mmino's famous prize anare Prince Albert, a four-year old out -of.. Marchioness, one of his own prize snares ; and the famous prize mare Heather. Bell, which beat all the imported <-stock in Australia except Glasgow Meggy, which sold at .auction for 830 guineas. -He has lately purchased from Dr Murphy ~tmd'; added to hia stud for breeding, the Tvell-known racing-mare Mabel. She has -a,foal by Mr Dodson's Cassivelaunus, now I -aeven or eight montlis old, and a real beauty. Mr Menlove has taken a number <of r prizes for horses at Timaru, which .grace his sideboards and'mantelpieces in the shape of valuable cup 3 and splendid "Clocks and vases. -In fact he has never been beaten at the Timaru shows in this -description of stock. He is devoting himself with enthusiasm to the business ■of ', improving horses, cattle, and sheep, -and we are assured that what he has done is nothing to what he will do. There are in the herd at Windsor Park 'fifty or sixty choice Shorthorn cows and Ttwo or three fine bulls. One of the latter was bred by Mr George Bell of the Waimea Plains, Southland. There are !£ew better judges of cattle in Ofcago than JMj Menlove, and in the management of his stock he follows the well-known principles of the mosfc famous breeders. He .maintains that the object of the breeder is not to raise a ■'.' bag o' bones," but -abundance of beef—that the value lies in •the barrel arid not in the legs, arid he attains the point at which the flesh is of ■sthe"best quality and the frame most valuable, by pairing the best specimens. He follows like principles in breeding sheep, having a due regard for the carcase, the •wool,, and the suitability of the animal to "the country and climate. He paid for the firsfc lot of imported'Kirkham ewes 45 guineas each, and has a splendid lot of y -about one hundred pure-bred imported Xincoln rams. The.Lincoln stud rams "which he breeds and sells have gained a .iigh reputation, and the careful system -of feeding and selection which he has adopted,is producing long-wooled sheep which are really more valuable than the pure-bred imported. The produce is now yielding finely. Some of the hoggets out twenty-five pounds to the fleece—far more than can be had at home—the feed ihere being as good as that to be had in ■England and the climate much better. One of his Lincoln rams which took the; .first prize at Oamaru cut twenty-six jpounds of wool, the second prize sheep Jhaving cut twenty-four, pounds. He ihas taken the cup two years at Oamaru Lincoln sheep. Some of his sheep are half-bred between the Merino and the ILeicegter, and he .is crossing the threequarter bred with Lincoln rams. Some .of these three-quarter bred fat sheep, ■which hs sends to market in Dunedin, •-average' severity to seventy-five, pounds •weight each. Eleven thousand of the

ewes are vow in lamb to the im-

,ported rams. Last season there were .^dropped upon tho estate no less than mine thousand three hundred -lambs, which will .make a far better sheep *han any- that he could purchase. Mr .'Menlove assured us that his clip is not -only inproving from .'year to year in •quantity, but in-. quality, a fact which -speaks well not only, for his management, but for tlie fertile; soil and the genial •climate of the Waiareka. .We must not -omit to mention that we saw in one paddock live thousand five , hundred -sheep feeding ori. mangolds. The pad--dock was divided into lot 3 by. means of aiets, and the sheep were in all respects a -superior lofc. Mr Menlove imported a lot of pheasants -and California quail from the North, which are doing well.'. The latter pair, -find have ten to twelve in a brood, so that game will be plentiful enough in; a -shoTb time at Windsor Park. Partridges -are also rapidly increasing on the grounds, and wild ducks are plentiful. The Waiareka and the Big. Hill Creek, which -are well stocked with trout, will, ifc is -expected, be open for fishing next year. The soil upon the Windsor Park estate :is a rich chocolate . vegetable mould, varying in depth from six to twelve inches, with a strong but friable subsoil upon limestone. They" gritty "portion —always the poorest—is in small quantity, while the "dormant," which contains insoluble plant-food, is well represented, -and the " active" is in full force. It -contains a fair portion' of lime, and. is a •capital wheat and root soil. The land is .rather uneven, a good portion being level -and some rolling, but the whole, even to ';" the tops of the hillsj with-the exception of two or three rocky mounds, is arable, -and worked with the double-furrow plough. The climate is drier and a little milder than, that of the districts around "JDunedin. The soil is undoubtedly -splendid wheat laud. Mr Menlove has .had one thousand acres of wheat six feet high, and ha 3 had over fifty bushels to the acre. The average is about forty "bushels. The property is subdivided into seventy paddocks, and fenced with wire and Tasmanian posts, wire and iron posts, -and live hedges of thorn and whin. There are nearly two hundred miles of fencing and one hundred and twenty of it are live hedges. The white thorn is used in the low, damp ground. There are live homesteads, and cultivated paddocks extending for twelve miles in a" straight line. One hundred hands have been -employed on an average for several years. There are now about fifty, and in harvest time there will be one hundred and fifty. 'There are two steam threshing machines, ■twenty.double-furrow ploughs, three or four three-furrow ploughs, and reapers, sowing machines, cultivators, and other implements too numerous to mention. We inquired in vain^ here, as elsewhere, -about improved labour-saving harvest machinery. In this respect oui' farmers are behind those of Australia and Cali-

forma. In view of the large increase in area which will be under wheat next season, we think it is time for them to consider seriously the advisability of introducing some of the newly-invented wheat harvesters. In Victoria they are now beginning to use the Philadelphia reaper and binder, the Haines' header and the Adelaide stripper. The great objection to the reaper and binder is its liability to be thrown suddenly out of repair. In -America this is.guarded against by keeping a machine in reserve. The Haines header has been successfully used in California for several years. It puts the wheat direct from the knifo. into the waggon, and sends it off to the stack or threshing machine without binding. One header with three waggons, nine men, and ten horses, reap and stack forty acres a-day. The objection to the Adelaide stripper is that it leaves the straw in the field. With three horses it will take off six acres por day, putting it in heaps upon the solid ground ready for winnowing. It is said that it is chiefly owing to this implement that the South Australian grower is enabled to produce wheat so largely for exportation. It is not now too early to order for next harvest some of the machinery we have referred to. The time has come for adopting some more labour-saving machine than the usual reaper ; it couid be worked in conjunction with the threshing machine. In California the header and threshing machine travel together. Forestry has occupied a good deal of Mr Menlove's attention, "and he has invested in the propagation of timber .on his estate a large amount of money, whicli greatly increases the value of his property, and which will keep on increasing it from year to year. The first trees which he planted were blue gums, which were sot out ten or eleven years ago. The young trees were somewhat affected on the low ground by frost, but ori the whole they' have done well, and they now form excellent shelter for younger and more valuable plantations. Seven years ago he commenced, putting in English and American forest trees, and there are now on the boundaries and hills many thousands in belts and clumps. Last season, he planted out thirty thousand, and altogether, with those he is now planting, there must be fully two hundred thousand. Of the Scotch, fir, the Pinus Kalpensis, P. insignis, P. inaritima, Cupressus macrocarpa, C. goveniana, abies, the larch, oak, ash, and elm, there are thousands of each, all in different stages of growth, thriving splendidly, and apparently well adapted to the soil and climate. To give an idea of the variety, of trees planted out, ifc would be necessary to print a nurseryman's catalogue. Tliere are miles of :gum trees, great belts and groves of English and American forest trees, and the, whole of the Round Hill, to the extent of thirty-five acres, is enclosed for game, and planted .with trees. We might mention that of English forest trees, the oak and elm do best, many others which do not take so much time to get a good hold of the ground, being affected by the winds. The abies—different varieties of of the spruce—although when young of slow growth, do remarkably well. They are hardy, noble, ornamental trees, most valuable for timber, and will hereafter show to great advantage. Their pyramidal forms on the hills of the Waiareka, will hereafter be monuments to the enterprise of Mr Menlove. The larch, it has been proved, does not thrive so well! Thatmagniticeiittree, the cedar, especially the cedar of Lebanon, is in the collection, and_ does well. The cypress from ths Pacific slopes of America, which, being a quick grower,- is a favourite, luxuriates upon the soil of Windsor Park. The many shades ofthe different. species are well represented, but' that of the C. macrocarpa,' here as elsewhere, predominates. The G. lawsoiiiana, however, the most elegant of the-whole family, is well represented. Of the famous Mammoth Tree of California, the Wellingtonia, called" by the Americans the Washingtonia, there are no lesa than one thousand three years old. In fifty or a hundred years from nowy "what a magnificent display they will mate! Of the pine there ..are all the best > varieties, and. conspicuous among them here, aa elsewhere, there is the favourite Pinus insigiiis, the beautiful foliage of which maintains its bright colour at all seasons.; In seven years it ha,s attained here a height of thirty feet. Of that most symmetrical of trees the araucaria, there is only one specimen thriving. There are three or four varieties of the Italian cypress, which do well, but they are slow in growth. A fine, but very slow tree, or rather lawn bush, the Retiriospora Xihtmosa, from; Japan, is here,:as also are several other" very rare trees arid shrubs from China and Japan. We observe tliat few or none of the. native trees are grown here, .which is to;be regretted. Everything is exotic, even to the grass. Indeed the only plant we observed was that beautiful ornament for the lawn, the cabbage, tree, and: of this there were quite a number in the nursery .grown from seed. We were pleased to see that attention was given :to nut-producing trees. ■ =>

';•' Mr Menlpve's hoiise is, we believe, the finest country residence we have seen in Otago. It was built in 1873, of Oamaru st6ne—seven hundred * ton 3 having been used in its construction. There are nineteen rooms, and hot and cold Svater are laid on. It is finely situated with a lawn in front and plantations around of the rarest trees, shrubs, and plants—-a conservatory, &c. The kitchen garden and orchard, which appear to be well-c£ired for, are below the lawn, and in front of all is a.splendid park of forty acres. Fifty-five acres are comprised within these grounds. At the foot of the park are the woolshed, stables, and other buildings, all of 'stone, and most substantially built. Clumps of trees are planted in the park for shelter as well aa ornament, and in front a fine rolling country extends for miles. The Round Hill, a stony eminence which at one time, no doubt, was volcanic, rises about half-a--miie from the house. In rear and in the distance rise the Kakanui hills and Mount de Bet, at the time of our visit clothed in a silvery mantle.

The woolshed upon this station is a costly and most substantial building of cut stone,, with concrete floors and iron roof.' It is 166 x 70 feet. There are pens for ten thousand sheep, a shed of stone for woolly sheep, and commodious yards with fine stone walls. Overhead there is a granary in whicli could be stored thirty thousand bushels of grain. JJnder the same roof are the stables, with a number of fine roomy boxes of stone. There is stabling on the estate for one hundred and ten horses ; these are put in different places, so tliat tlie working of the property can be more easily earned on. A short distance from the woolshed. there is a fine stone house 60 x 30 feet, with a capital range and a large oven. A. fine stream of water runs close to the jvoolshed, and near it is the piggery of stone and zinc. We should like to refer at greater length to the out-buildings, but enough has been said to show that they ai-e on a scale commensurate with that of the whole of this extensive estate.

• We have no space to refer at length to the agricultural implements, but we might mention that the Waiareka farmers seldom think of using the swing plough. A3 for drainage there are miles of open ditches.

Turnips would be extensively cultivated in thi3 district, were it not that they are subject to blight. Mangolds are the substitute, and a good one they make, although they require more labour and are harder upon the land. A good grass is required for dry weather, and we neglected to question Mr Menlove on this point. His mixture is twenty-five pounds rye, five of Italian rye, two of cowgrass, two

of alsyke, and one pound of white clovei We see it stated that Fescue duriuscula in combination with JT. pratensis and Poa trioialis form excellent pasturage for dry weather. The Coapin grass of Angola (Panicum spectdbils) and the California alfalfa are also recommended.