The Father of our Grain Export

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6759, 24 January 1890, Page 1

The Father of our Grain Export

»s»FABMEE BLUETT. The following interesting sketch oE a Canterbury celebrity is from Mr Wakefield's hook oa New Zealand : — For many years New Zealand imported all its hreadstuffa from Chili or South Australia, and, after this import ceased, grew no more than waa required for ita own consumption. At length aMr Bluett propounded a theory of exporting grain to Europe. This Bluett deserves a word to hia memory hero, as the father of the New Zealand grain trade. He was a Devonshire man of good family, a young clergyman ■who was brought out by the Bishop of Christchurch as specially suited for Colonial work; and so he proved to be, though in a different sense from that iv which tho worthy prelate regarded him. Commissioned to the cure of souls in the Selwyn district, in Canterbury, one of the best farming districts in the Colony, and having the command of considerable means, ho bought land, acquired flocks other than the flock committed bythe Bishop to his care, and devoted himself to high farming. He became, in fact, what Sidney Smith called a "squarson" — a cross, that is, between a squire and a "parson — and, being a jolly fellow, was universally known throughout his country-side, and far beyond ib, as Friar Tuck. His ideas of the proper combination of the functions of a clergyman and of a farmer, however, did not coincide with those of his spiritual superiors. For instance, it was a common thing for him to drive to church on the top of a cartload of Bhecpakins, ,and, after conducting the service in a most impressive manner, administering the Sacrament, baptising tho babies, aud doing all that was necessary within tho sacred edifice, to hold & sort of market outside, dispose of hia skins, make a deal for a colt or a calf, .advise the farmers about their crop 3, hire a ploughman or some reapers,, and, in short, do aljl the agricultural buoinoas for the week. The simple country folk saw no harm in this, but, on the contrary, became Btrongly attached to their farmer-priest and very much influenced by him in their worldly as well as in their spiritual affairs. The Bishop-did not see things in the same light. . His./Loi'iship recommended. Mr

Bluett to resign his cure aud stick to his sheepskins, which he cheerfully did. From that time nntil his death in 1888 he applied himself exclusively to rural pursuits, sitting for some years as the representative of Selwyn in the Colonial Parliament, where hia bnrly figure, still attired in clerical black, with the straight-cut Oxford collar and white "choker,' 5 was always prominent wherever a Fencing Bill, or a Cattle Bill, or a Thistle Bill, or any other measure affecting the agricultural industry was before the House. It web he who first made the calculation and proved it by experiment, that wheat might he shipped to England at a profit. The first quotation of New Zealand wheat on the London market, waa treated as a joke. It was supposed to refer not to wheat from New Zealand, but to a new wheat from Zealand, which is quite a different thing. Bluett, however, knew very , well what he was about, and nnder his strenuous advice tho Selwyn farmers, believing, yet half afraid, pnb great areas of grass land into wheat, and sent it to England. The results were" perfectly satisfactory,, and within a very few years the esport had risen to three or four hundred thousand pounds a year. The quickest and best method, moreover, had been arrived at of converting the native tussock grass land into permanent artificial pasture, carrying three times as many stock as the tussock carried before ; and also of securing a rotation of crops. The grateful farmers gave their beloved friar, a banquet and a splendid service of plate ; and to the ond he was their guide, philosopher, and friend. This one man's intelligence and foresight changed the whole character of a great part of the Colony, and influenced the future of its commerce in an incalculable degree.