An Untrammelled Life.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 19, 17 October 1907, Page 2

An Untrammelled Life.

"■■■': « * SIDELIGHTS ON SHEEP. HOW THINGS ARE DONE IN HAWKE'S HAY., . Tho sheep furnior to-day leads an untrammelled life of liberty, ■ leisure, and much lucre. There are about four chief stages in his.existence. First comcs the stage when lie inherits his father's money or his "portion" and buys a farm; secondly, when lie buys his iirst iloclc of owes, laying out a tritle of £10,000 with the happy thrill of a small boy spending his lirst penny; thirdly, the drawing of the cheque for his first clip, accompanied by much breaking of bottles; and, lastly, the purchase of a motor-car. The Motor Age. . This is the supreme act of a lifetime. A Hawke's Bay sheep farmer is not really entitled to' admission to the full brotherhood of squatters till lie has a motor-car. And indeed lie is' not slow to pay the entrance fee. Thcro pre" more motor-cars than fat cattlo at the Hawke's "Bay Show to-day, and they are'so'thick in the streets of Hastings, .with "their'dust'and thoir snorting and their smell, and their sinuous movements, that tho ordinary puny pedestrian beconres giddy. ' A Pending Contest. . The. purchase by Mr. Donnelly of a sixty-horse-power car at the price of some thousands of,pounds—a palatial car that is half-brother,-or something to the King of England's— is; already a well-reported fact. Mr. Short,, it is ; said, is now anxious for a race "with tho mighty sixty-horser, and he visited England recently'and brought back a car of forty- horse-power. Incidentally he picked up.a.few-prize Romnoys also, but this■ is hot. worth mentioning beside the car. In addition to the "challenger," he brought out ten more 1 cars, which wore immediately absorbed- by , a syndicate of Manawatu sheep owners.! The car hunger is a new development in tho squatting profession—a counterfoil to the quietness of shepherding,- an outlet -forspent vigour, •an outlet for cash. It will certainly bo necessary next year to have a motor-car race at the show.' Men Who Handle Big Banknotes. > .They- handle big sums, these squatters. There is" a'. Hawke's Bay man who bought 10,000 or 15,000 acres of land at £47 per acre; there is another of the brothorhood who-paid a deposit of £2000 oh a Manawatu station,'and .then, changing his mind, forfeited; his deposit and bought something else. There- arc. -two brothers whoso income from wool is £60,000 a year. Thus, some farmers in New Zealand still, by careful management j' succeed in keeping tlio wolf—as represented by bad weather, low prices, clearness of luxuries, and the insatiable worker with his demands for high wages—from the door. What Is the Limit? But one. wonders how sheep farming can pay at such l 'big prices for land. Land at £47 per acre represents an annual value of at .least £2 per If it carries three sheep, to . the acre and the surplus sheep fetch 14s. ,6d. and gi vo a fleece worth 12s Gd., there is only an income of about £4 per acre to set ; : agaiiist interest on capital,'labour, depreciation,- and provision for a rainy day. land costs £100 per acre —and at the present ,rate of increase that day is not far. distant—sheep farming will bo impossible. The Partitioning ef Nev/ Zealand. .lt .would .be interesting to know how much of New' Zealand changes hands every year. There is no no doubt that many thousands of miles, • are constantly lloating from one owner ,to ; another; There are agents at til® Hawke's ,Bay Show to-day whose avowed intention'is,,, as-they put-it, "to sell Hawko's Bay. iiawke's Bay finds no lack .ofpurchasers, hut as every sale marks an increase of price; the frequent sales are not desirable. Beef Agents Active. . This show is also a sort of cattle fair. Agents for freezing companies aro here to make, big purchases for the season. The Hawke's. Bay shorthorns aro notoriously' excellent, and',agents buy at big priccs oil their reputation without actually seeing them.