The Mackenkie Country.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13673, 15 August 1908, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Mackenkie Country.

ITS CLIMATIC '- DHAWBACKS. The August number of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association's "Journal" contains the following interesting article by " Ovis," an the management of high country: At the present moment there are tens of thousands of sheep snowed up,' and starving,'and unless a good thaw sets in at an early date the result will be very serious indeed. Thos living on agricultural country where snow xarely, if ever, amounts to more than a passing inconvenience, have no conception of the enormour difficulties! and the harassing anxiety experienced by pastoralists on high country when a heavy fall of snow occurs, and especially when it comes in the dead of winter," and consequently with little prospect of an early thaw. One disastrous winter niay, and not infrequently does, make away withHhe gilt of the profits made in several preceding good years. Some of our politicians talk a good deal about cutting up the runs. Most of the better class of -pastoral country has already been cub tip, and with beneficial; results' to the country, generally ;, but in • cutting up -the higher and more dangerous class of country a good deal. of circumspection will need to be exercised, otherwise" the Government may find itself in 'the position occasionally of having a good many bankrupt tenants. No ;doubt a good deal of the high -country is capable of being cut up into smaller areas than it is at. present, but at the best it can only carry a very scanty population. For nine lnonths in the year the whole of our back country may . be', considered safe for sheep, and the obvious ; suggestion would .appear, to, be that, the sheep should all be brought down on to safe country during the three dangerous months. This is feasible to some \jxtent, and is done by Rome station-owners with regard to a portion . .of their flocks! But, unfortunately, the area of our high country is so r large, and the extent of lowcountry available for additional sheep during the winter on anything like a s»'°eping scale presents what appeai-s to be insuperable practical difficulties. A u?mdr'ed acres, of good turnips may tepresent mmv feeding value than some thousands of acres of mountainous', country, even when it is not covered by snow; but to bring Merino sheep from, high, country down on to turnips would. not, improbably mean that, they-would--starve- in. the midst of plenty. 1 Merino sheep -from the hills do not .take readily to -turnips, -and yet it seems hardly likely that the present; sys-i tem will continue for. all•,time withoutmodification. Practically all ■ 1 hat, i« doi.e at present is to. get sheep: as nuch as L j possible on ..the;'lower-or warmer places 'before t be winter sets in, and then "hope for a; fine winter. .There may be. seviijiaL, "wintie'rs running in.'which the"loss fi'misnow is little or. nothing,, and, niiiiaj... profit's'" are,' considerable. ' The : 1 "unii-il .1 its'. may •.thus : be. placed in.:a .position t'rrncially to stand a ."severe; winter'' with ' its consequent loss,' but it- is largely, -i game of chance. All .pastoral and •\agricnlf.ii. , al. pperations. involve a considerable rlcr/ient • ,of chance,, but when the- chance involvesithe possibility of, hundreds of. Ihou-f.wJs of the sheep, stock of the country being starved.out of existence'inthe. course o' a few,weeks it is certain-that there should be some remedy or partial remedy sought for. From a humanitarian point of v:ew it is painful to think of the ..amount of lo'ig draWn out suffering endured by PVrh large numbers • of sheep when there u a heavy fall of snow on the- high country. Under the present system-all- that can be; done after a heavy snow fall'is to send put as many men as can be got together, generally an insufficient number, to getthe sheep on to the sunny places, where a certain amount .of thaw, may have taken place, or, at any rate, where the snowis likely to thaw first. This-is wliat is colloquially known as 'snow-raking.' And most toilsome, tedious work it is,' and at the same.time, most unsatisfactory to the owners of the sheep..' The days- are short, long distances■-. have -to bo traversed to. get at the sheep,' grid. the.fi'ost at high altitudes, when -the; j whole - surrounding country is- all under-snow, moist .intense. The' sheep are solnetim-cs '1! frozen to the ground : . orj.',.!'to in their camps. Peotile'.'living . on.; the low country, and having had-no experience of hill country in the --winter, and perhaps admiring the beauty of the - snow-clad rangee sparkling -under a winter sun, have very little- idea of what all that ethereal beauty of-landscape involves to the unfortunate hill country sheepowner, | or to his still more unfortunate'flocks.; It is a pitiful sight' to go over country that has been devastated by an unusually f.evere fall of snow after'the snow has e'eared away, and to come- across the remains of sheep .lying. in their "camps in ' I ens, twenties, and even hundreds,, and- knowing that those sheep Were probably if me weeks in starving to death-, It may »ouod improbable to those who have never-seen' anything of the kind, but it is not at all unusual to find .that snowed-up sheep, in. the agony of extreme hunger, have eaten the wool off each other's backs. It is remarkable the length "of time- it takes, to 6tarve a. menpn sheep to_ death-in. the B now, providing that it is in good strong condition ■ " when the snow falls. After a week' of starvation, it will time out as fresli and lively as ever, and, -one hears occasionally some remarkable stones of the length of time •during which sl-<ep have been known' to! be absolutely without food, and still survive. The'liability^to "loss from ?»vere rw-w varies considerably on different parts of the back country ; "Some runs are much more liable to snow than others of an .equal or even-greater, altitude,, but nuch of course, depends on the "aspect. If a heavy fall of'snow ; was a thing to be looked for every, winter, tho present tystem of management of the high country could not continue If New Zealand were in the same latitude' South that Great Britain is North heavy snow .above a certain altitude, would probably be. an annual:occurrence. But we are in a latitude nearly" corresponding to; that of Italy, and latitude and altitude'-.taken together renders our •winters very erratic. Take the Mackenzie country',; for .example, which 'is tlio '.coldest, part : of; Canterbury.. Heavy snow falls, every winter on the summits' qf the higher ranges, bnt the sheep are never, left up. there during the -winter.' but below a certain, altitude there, may-be "no destructiyel snow for several [winters. - running. ■'„ There. is,'; .therefore,, : a W»at' temptation, to ,qnance;'the ..weather. iCTimate "always; repeate; itself, bub the ■repetitions come .round.at uncertain and iunforseen intervals, but seasons, good or,

bad, appear to have tt tendency to run in groups. A man may,, if it were possible [to make the necessary arrangiein>nbs," bring all his sheep down to low country -luring the dangerous months, and by up jloing save the greater part of his flock trom destruction; , but, •' on tho other. Jiand. the winter may remain bo mild oft liis hill country that all his trouble and expense ' would, be trouble and money thrown away. Whiter after winter, may remain mild, but there is bound to bo heavy losses at intervals,. and then tho loss may- be so great that at will take the profits of perhaps two or three good years or more to make it up. The practical question *is whether there are any means' 1 by which this great uncertainty involved in a considerable branch of -our most important industry can be substantially avoided or modified. There is conconsiderably more than the welfare of the present occupiers involved, • for the extent of our high back 1 country is large, and it is important to the community'as a whole, that it should be put to the best possible use, and it is a question for all time. It can. • scarcelv' be questioned that Merino sheepi or sheep containing a large strain of the Merino, will always be the most, suitable of stock for. the claßs of country under consideration.. The only other class of stock likely to thrive' there are deer, chamois, or various breeds' of wild Asiatic goats with, uripronouncab'o names. The percentage of fine winters is largo enough to render ; the .ruiilioldm verv reluctant to incur any large expensiß in bringing the stock down to low country every winter, as a regular thing, but if it were customary to' bring a portion of the stock, say the hogcefs, down,, much of the sweeping loss which occasionally takes iplii.ee. tinder the present system would b* 'avoided. It is'possible that the losses from enow jnight be reduced by the (subdivision of runs with .smaller areaß, but mi'ich would depend on the way in; which the country.was divided. If one man got most of the warm faces, and another most of the back faces, it would not tend "to improve matters .much.' It is possible, , however,'that with smaller runs, and with better tenure,' so far as' compensation for improvements is concerned, more might be'done in the way of growing fodder for .emergencies on the. valleys and flats, and with smaller flocks there would be a better chance of getting the fodder to the sheep or the sheep to the foddrr. And' it mayfbo supposed that a.man with a smaller flock and. a. lower , area of country Would -'"bo all the- better able to look after his sheep. There would also be more owners actively, employed in times of difficulty,, and,' witbpul wishing to cast any reflection, on the'men. who engage in the arduous, and sometimes dangerous work of " snow-raking,'' 'ft .is only to be supposed, human nature being which it is, that a man whose solvency \ depends on getting his sheep' out- of the snow, will exert'himself more-effectively, than men employed by the d?y or the week, and < especially if the hours, the, work, and the wages of the latter'are regulated by a Union and an Arbitration Court. ' " ...-'. -