RYE-GROWING IN OTAGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 1906, 21 August 1890, Page 11

RYE-GROWING IN OTAGO.

HARVESTING A OROP OF RYE ON THE WANAKA STATION, AND SKETCHES OF STATION LIFE AND CHARACTER IN CONNECTION THEREWITH. By. Riohabd Nobman, Albkrtown. A few seasons ago I had a contract to reap 40 acres of rye on the Wanaka station, during Mr Robert Stewart's management, at a place locally known aa Damper Bay, which is picturesquely situated on the shores of Lake Wanaka, about four miles from Pembroke. This was about the most difficult reaping ever I had or ever anyone could imagine, and fur worse than the harvesters ever saw during their sovoral yearn' harvesting experience in different parts of New Zealand. The orop was very high and think, but the straw being different to other kinds and Pfraeu and without spring, was very limp, and consequently on two sides of the paddock it would arch ovor for about a foot into the stubhio, and the heads would touch the ground. I*, required much labour and expert tilling to pruveut tbe reaper from cutting off these bonds and losing them on tbe ground. Every atroke of the tilting rake bad to be given w ith full power to lay the sheaf off the tilt board, and often the sheaf would coma off in a heap, and tbe reaper (Bamlett's) could therefore only take about 2ft wide each round, I have since thought that the best way to reap a crop of this kind is to take the tilt board off and hold the rake ('gainst the crop to make tbo sheaveu, and let them fall to tbe ground them/ielves. The orop waß very full of tbietles, whioh also added considerably to the discomforts of the harvesters. It wa* no uncommon thing to see a man dancing on a t-hoaf and nursing his hand, and to hoar " swear words " wafted across the waving corn, at whinh we oan hardly wonder, as a severe prick from a thistle thorn will often benumb the whole arm, even to tbe bottom of the shouldfirblad9. Such "growling" was never before hoard on a harvest field. One man took it all very quietly, but at last he ventured to remonstrate, and everyone eagerly listened to hear what he might say. He slowly and solemnly remarked that sooner than bind thiatlea any more be would fix a wooden beak on his nose and scratch like a hen for his living. The last six or eight acres were half laid down, so that we could only out on one Bide, and while cutting here the Bwlett was always full, and tben it took the six men all their time to keep this stage clear. Although we laboured under bo many difficulties, life bad its humorous side. Tbe party lived in three tents at tbe lake edge, and we always dined out on the grass, which was very pleasant in fine weather, aud wo wore lucky in having only one showery, windy night, when the overseer remarked to me tbat he was afraid that tbe wind would blow " doon oor wee bit cloot hoosie." One of tbe harvesters was a man of refinement and culture, quite capable of composing an elegant Latin poem in memory of the event. Then there was another man who, before administering corporal punishment to one of his horses with a swingletree or a screwwrench or anything tbat came handy, would exclaim, or rather vociferate (of course, for obvious reasons, I translate his remarks into drawing-room English), " Sarah-hh 1 May Apollyn divide you into two beautiful halves, you beautiful young virgin I " And 3arab and her mates always kept a nervously apprehensive eye on him, ready to flinob at any time from a kick or a blow. Another was a lad just verging on manhood, whose adventures, of the kind to be found in a French edition of tba " Arabian Nights Entertainment," would fill an equally large volume. He was consequently very weak and easily jaded and dispirited, and frequently we had to admoDisb bim to exert himself. A lot of valuablo information is often unexpectedly picked up in these out of tho way corners. One dinner-time one of tho mon remarked tbat where we washed ourselves on the edge of tbe lake a year previously a young man named White fell in wbile in a fit and was drowned. Whereupon another man, in his own peculiar phraseology, whioh I do not reproduce for obvious reasons, remarked that a drowned man floated on his stomach and a drowned woman floated on her back. Then my mind instantly harked back over a period of 10 to 12 years, to a story I then road explaining bow a couple of tourists were sailing round a Victorian laeoon, and noticed a magpie perched apparently upon the water, utterinc harsh discordant ories, and when they came near found bis support was the breast of a drowned woman, who barely floated, and was held in position by her long hair hanging down and catching in something. Her feet were lower in the water than ber body. They brought her to tbe landing, and by cbance the man who was tho primary cause of the poor creature's self-destruction happened to come into tbe village a day or two previously, and he met them on tboir arrival. The gruesome and unanticipated spectacle was such a shock to his nervous system that shortly afterwards he died a raving maniac, thus verifying once more the correctness of the old adage : The mills of God grind slowly, But they grind exceeding small. One of [the men, who subsequently helped to thrash this rye, told me that durinp the previoun year ho waß carrying his " drum " in Australia in company with a man who was formerly one 'of the leading medical men in Berlin, but who drank himßelf down to the level of a sundowner. In due time we finished reaping the rye, and on a Saturday morning we shifted into the homestead and repitched the tents. A3 it was too late to begin reaping again in the afternoon the company went out for a half-holiday, mostly to the hotels. Such hurrying and bustling there was to get ready and away in good time, Such hurried toilets performed, and buttons stitched on hastily. If any one wanted anything he would stand at bis tent door, and call out, " Can anyone lend me a clothes brush," or eoented soap, or needle and thread, according to his wants. " Here you are," someone would call out, and perhaps throw it at him, Everything was lent with the freest spirit imaginable. Every one wanted a clothes brush at once, and it passed round very rapidly. The youth previously mentioned was almost inconsolable because he had lost his razor, though its utility Was a matter of grave doubt in his case, On the following Monday we started reaping again, this time in a crop of oatß, part of which was quite as hea\ y and tall as the rye, but we reaped it without any trouble, except that one morning after a boavy shower the "flags " or " ribbons " at the bottom of the stalks in the heavy part were wet and very tough, and would wedge the sections so tight in the finger bars that the reaper would be stopped. We had a visit from a clergyman who showed himself to be an expert tilter, and in tbe early days he was just as handy with the bullock whip. A couple of ladies also visited us, one of whom was as expert a tilter as tbe parson.

•Before the oata were finished the tenta Were wanted, so we "struck" them and shifted into the homestead. Our bedroom was about 30 by 12, with beds all round tho sides. Generally speaking, every half hour up till midnight, some one would stagger in with tbe tread of a horßa, and generally wake up, or at least disturb, everyone, anl then perhaps would talk in a vory loud voice to someone aoross tho room, and never for one moment appear to have the slightest atom of consideration for anyone, who, if awakeood, would be tewing and turning for hours before going to plaop again, and then feel out of Boris all the next day. On a station one often sees curious phases of life. The dejected air and manner of unsuccessful applicants for a job iB very noticeable, and meekly they will ask tbe cook for some lunch to carry them on the road, for, as it. rule, they are " hard up," and selling spare clothing to make their "swag" lighter and raise the wind. One would think that when again in work they would remember the days of their poverty, and provide against the recurrence of a similar state of affairs j but that is not tbe case, and a burst of extravagance usually follows a stroke of good luck, Tbe severest trial that oan befall a working man, after getting the " sack," is to have to hang around the office ah hour or two waiting for the manager to give him his cheque, Per haps he has indulged in hard living, or has been out of sorts, which makes matters worse ; but in any case a very severe demand is made upon his nervous system, and he feels it to the fullest extent. _^___