LAND WITHOUT SLUMP

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18848, 28 October 1935, Page 14

LAND WITHOUT SLUMP

GALE-SWEPT SANTA CRUZ NEW ZEALAND SETTLERS .VISITOR TO GISBORNE Mortgages are almost unknown in Santa Cruz, where farmers do not feel the effects of adverse economic conditions. Their worst enemy is the rigorous climate. A statement to this effect was made Mr J. A. Jamieson, .who lives near Bahia Blanca, Santa Cruiz, who was in Gisborne to-day. He said that daring good times the landowners lived' lavishly, and invested their profits in Government bonds. When prices were low, they reduced expenditure, if necessary drew on their investments, and 1 did not consider that anything, unusual had happened. Santa Cruz comprises the southernmost part of the Argentine Republic, and where Mt Jamieson lives is only 80 to 90 miles north of the Straits of Magellan. His place is lower on the globe than the 50th parallel, and is on the same latitude as Auckland Islands, which are several hundred miles south of Stewart Island. A TWO-YHARS’ DROVE

He said that the severe winters frequently caused appalling losses among the stock. In the winter of 1926, his family lost 4Q, per dent of their stock, while some of the sheep flocks .were almost entirely annihilated. It tfras on such occasions that landowners felt themselves hard hit. Mr Jamieson’s father, the late Mr H. Jamieson, was once a farmer in> Taranaki. About 40 years ago, he went to live in the Falkland Island's, afterwards moving to the mainland of Santa Cruz, almost opposite the islands. The/ ship in which he made the crossing was wrecked on the open coast, out after returning to Falkland Islands he took his sheep with which he founded his flock, up to Buenos Ayres to attend the legalities regarding his new; holding of 156,000 acres, which he secured at an almost give-away price. . •. Then commenced a two-year drive The flock slowly moved over a journey ol‘ 4000 miles, lambing twice and being shorn twice before they reached their new home near Rio J allegos, in a gaieswept, storm-lashed country, where winter snowdrifts buried sheep, which sometimes lived under the snow for several weeks. The mean winter temperature was between 10 to 20 degrees centigrade..

150 MILE AN HOUR WIND The soil in Santa Cruz would be wonderfully fertile, Mr Jamieson added, hut for the exceptionally low rainfall of only about lOin. annually. The country .was covered mainly with tussock and native pasture. On Mr Jamieson’s holding .was an area of 50 acres which was cultivated and irrigated. Any rainfall occurring was soon dried up by the terrific winds, which reached up to over 150 miles an hour. Work during such a blow .was impossible, and large pebbles were sent flying through the air. The .wind usually observed office hours, commencing at B a.m. and concluding at 6 p.m., and most -outdoor work was done before and! after theso times.

As the summer daylight commenced at abo.ut 2 a.m. and finished at about 10.30 p.m., there was plenty of daylight left for work when the wind was quiet. In the .winter time, however, the day was only from 9.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. ? ■

N.Z, ROMNEYS FAVORED The sheep most, in demand.' in his part of the country, Mr Jamieson added, were the Corriedales, and he had just spent twq months in the South Island inspecting flocks with a view to purchase. His hrpther favored Romneys, and' found the New Zealand-bred Romneys more • suitable than the English breeds for wool yield and also, for carcase, his river valleys .being very suitable for fat lamb production. Higher up in the Buenos Ayres country, thfe Lincoln .was popular, the greater air space in the wool being an advantage because of the. hot climate. Corriedales were more suited; for Mr Jamieson’s country, because they were more hardy in a country where there was a lack of rain. He bred from Cprriedales mainly for the wool. The carcase was not disregarded, and care was taken not to allow it to deteriorate, but the •returns from the freezing works were poor. .A fat lamb brought'only 5s fe.t Swifts’ works, -This .was the only outlet for a distance of 150 miles until recently, when Chilean interests attracted business. In either case, a drive of 40 days was required! before the sheep reached the freezing works. Wool was sold “on the beach." The auction system was tried in Buenos Ayres a few years ago, ,bat growers did not consider it a success, and they went back to the old method', in which the growers bargained with-.buyers until a price was mutually agreed , upon.