THE POSITION AT HAWKDUN. HEAVY LOSS ANTICIPATED.

Otago Witness, Issue 2842, 2 September 1908, Page 24

THE POSITION AT HAWKDUN. HEAVY LOSS ANTICIPATED.

J _ l The Hawkdun Station, which, rouahly, comprises the slopes of the Hawkdun Mountains and extends from the St. Bathans road right over the tops into the Omarama Gorge, is the most iheavily stooked station in the district, and is one of the principal stations which have suffered most severely by the snowstorms. I heard rumours of fearful damage at Hawkdun and incredible .hardships suffered by the manager (Mr W. • M. Wilson), and subsequent investigations showed that those rumours were to some extent justified. I was most hospitably received at the homestead by Mr Wilson, who courteously placed all possible information at my disposal. The violence of the storm was illustrated to me as I approached the homestead. For a long time Hawkdun has boaeted one of the finest plantations in Central Otago, and despite several storms the trees have grown and flourished; but the last fall came suddenly, and piled itself in the fir trees in such quantities that the plantation is become a wreck. Great branches have been stripped off in every direction, ani have made chaos in what was formerly an orderly and well-kept plantation. Tho manager told me there w&e several weeks' work for men in putting it. to rights again. In this connection he also told me -that the weight of snow had seriously bent tho woolshed roof, and that at least one of the homestead walls would .have to be removed in order that the roof of that building^ might be straightened. Naturally, my first inquiries were regarding the position of the stock. Hawkdun comprises 75,000 acres, and has been carrying about 20,000 sheep and some 500 head of cattle. When the storm oame there were 3000 hoggets on two farms on flat country down Idaburn way, and although they were in a position comparatively easy to reach, they were deeply snowed in. These animals received the attention of the manager as soon as it was po=sible to move out, and he commenced to feed them. The remainder of -the flocks were principally made up by 6000 breeding ewes and 10,000 wethers. The fall of snow over the whole run averaged about 4ft, and Mr Wilson de- . , scribed it as a oold. wet snow that settled «

. down hard and firm as it fell. For me nr^; ■ few days the whole of the manager's time . was taken up by carrying out duties about i the station, but as soon as a crust formed , and it was possible to force a way through : the deep drifts, he and his men were away i out on the run on the work of rescue, i "And, by Jove!" declared the manager enthusiastically. " there are no men -in the world would have eturfc by their bosses as i those men did by me during that time.- I : have got a splendid lot of fellows." Ac- ; cording to all I could learn, both master • and men toiled like galley slaves to save the sheep before it was too late. So oon- ;* stantly has Mr Wilson been out on the snow that his eight and hearing have been seriously affected. Had the snow thawed > and disappeared at the end of four or five w<?eke their efforts must have resulted in a minimum loss of sheep, for they contrived to reach almost every corner of the run. At first there was not a black piece of country showing over the whole of the 75,000 acres, but about a fortnight after the fall there came a most welcome thaw, which lasted lontj enough to clear many of the tops about the run. Snow-raknig proceeded vigorously, and the rescued sheen were put cut on the black country wherever possible. A great proportion of those actually buried were thus found and relieved. Two thousand rescued ewes were conveyed to a suitable place, and are now being fed, so that altogether 5000 sheep are being fed on Hawkdun. There are yet, however, a large number of sheep out on the run still miserably buried. After the lapse of eight weeks it is very unlikely that any now in this condition will remain alive, even if discovered, and these appears to be little more difficult than finding buried sheep. Mr Wilson told me of' how he took a large number of sheep out of a 600-acre paddock, and, with a snow plough and horses made a track for them to 6traw stacks in another paddock. Some time afterwards, passing along the track, he noticed the wool of a sheep sticking out of the snow. Investigation showed that there were no less titan 40 buried there, over which they must have passed again and again. The sheep were aU dead, of course. On another occasion, a shepherd passing through a camp that had been emptied a few days before, noticed a sheep's wool. He pulled the animal out, and discovered another 12, all completely buried, but j alive. ' Yet another case. In one paddock whero 120 valuable rams, and all except 13 were removed. A careful search disclosed another seven buried, but the remainder could not be found. One day a man, walking across, suddenly fell through the crust of the snow, and found himself among- five of the mod; valuable of those stud sheep. They also had been completely buried in a corner of the paddeck. A fair proportion of the cattle were diecovered, and brought with great, labour through the- snow to more accessible places where they could be fed. Mr Wilson estimates that his less in cattle will probably be 20 per cent. THE POSITION CLEARLY STATED. I "And, now," I asked, "what do you j

estimate your loas will be in cheep-— • roughly?" " Possibly the loss will not reach 50 per cent," said the manager. "Three weeks ago I said the probable loss would be 25 per cent, — but that was three weeks ago. It would be quite safe now to add to that 10 or 15 per cent." / Mr Wilson then went, on to speak interestingly of the snowfall generally. He explained how every week" that the snow lay their chances of saving the flocks grew less. The sheep were dying from cold and from hunger. They died if they got wet, and were frozen ; they perished if they lay for six week 6 in a snowdrift; they died if they ate each other's wool. The sheep might subsist on the sparse tussocks of the limited black country for a time,— but they became so low in condition that tfte bitter cold of the winter might kill them. But, if things were bad now among sheepfarmers, they would be worse, he thought, later on. In the first place, as soon as the snow melted, and the sheep got to the youngspring- grass, they" would scour badly, and the mortality amongst them could not but be high. Every farmer. I may mention, •with whom I talked, was agreed on that point. Secondly, lambing would be very .. seriously interfered with, and the annual increase in the flocks must this year be very much less. In the third plage,- eaid ' Mr Andrews, there would be a break in the wool. Theintense cold had already had such an effect on the sheep's skins that the wool was loosened, and came away in great handfuls. The result must be,' Mr Andrews thoug/Rt. that this year the same prices could not be obtained for their cliv. BLACKSTONE HILLS. I have not yet been among the new Blackstone Hills settlers; but * am told their losses are very heavy. It is unfortunate, for this is the first year they have farmed the newly-acquired land, and their present losses must prove a serious handicap. t . I hear a petition is in circulation among them, praying the Government to grant them the remission of a year's rent.