TE AUTE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 930, 24 September 1910, Page 19

TE AUTE.

ELawbe's Bay without Te Auto is only half described. Te Ajite ■: is , a spot that appeals to people of - many | and varied interests. 'To stockbreeders throughout Australasia it. is the home of-' tho far-famed Williams Shorthoniß, •;■-■■-.■ and many a breeder across the Tasnian -: Sea is thero who would write long cheques could he persuade Mr. Williams to lot him carry away some of the : bulls > now on tho station. To cduca- . tionists, to tho: Native race, and to the public generally, To Auto is best known for its Maori College, an institution which has done more for the Maori than any other in Now Zealand. A Place of Beauty. Te Ante ..is some, thirty odd miles down on the railway from Napier. Curiously enough a misguided Railway ;. Department named a wayside.. station four miles distant Te, Aute, and on ... : ■ the station; just across: tKo road from the homestead it bestowed the name v. ■- r.:: of Pukehou,- which, • however, ■it has . now consented to change to To Aute, ■ and to rechristen, -the -present railway station bearing-that name: New Zea- ■■■•: land has many beautiful country homes, - but among the most beautiful of them all must be placed le Aute. The mam group of buildings lies some distance back from .the road, and they, are scat!M': tered among wide -lawns .and gardens, i.'. .where- paths :• and drives wind under <• . the shade of great. trees, and lead on > from i one-.delightful perspective; to-an-. - '- vt -, - other.:- ' l'e Aute homestead .takes a good \ deal of descubmg There is, to begin : with,' thehomest-ead proper, occupied vhy Mr.;; Allan'> Williams, who- controls vi'rt.the run. Near by is the station-office and. the • cadets' quarters, while back towards the hills one finds the working centre of tho-estate. Here are the cattle ; ■: house,,-the. stables]. tho. cowshed, and; «!;>"■ 60 .; and on the .right,..m approach- ■ -v.- Lng --from , the.. road; are-the: cookhouse, v '• thei men's quarters, and dining-room, v;; and -the. cadets!-,'dining-room.- The men v are •,comfortably housed .in; .a large, buildmg, two in a loom, and everybody in the place seems to bo more than usually well looked after Some disi tance further back, is a large garden; m wherein aro:;grown the- vegetables for the station' On the freehold portion of the land adjoiningv; line-a'big- shear- ■ ing'/shed"-and yards- - have 'lately been •arected.- vThe.'shearing'shed.-used, to, be fitted with a plant of sixteen Wolseley .shearing- ■machines, but owing to .the. . increased. speed .- at.', which work is got . ' through,' the: number has : been'reduced to' thirteen. -. The sheep dip . lies back r ugamst the hills .behind tho homestead. In frout of Mr Allan Williams's residence is-thG:honse i .whei , G, tlie..late Arch-.iS-ii .'ffiieacon- 'Williams,^.-founderofs.-Te■:Aute, "lived This is n6w occupied by his . eldest -daughteij- Miss Lydia -"Williams.. Borne distance , and over a creek which; passes dewh.through tho garden, is the college. Tho College. . The college buildings consist of .-a ./- /argo schoolhouse, a boardmghouse with : ■ accommodation for the 75 students now in residence, ■> the : ■ headmaster 1 s house, ■' : the: gymnasium, workshop,. and, finally, on the top of a .neighbouring. rise, the -■•J: --, college' chapel; ■ Eour. other residences : stand in grounds ,of their own. On© is occupied by .Mrs., Warren, a daughf tor of:, the ■ late . Archdeacon Williams/ : aad In . another'the late Mr. .E. M. •, i " Williams; father" of Mr. Allan Williams, ... . - and -,- brother of.; the. Archdeacon, lived nntd his death recently. The two remaining ■ residences are homes: of - the ' Eev A Williams, and Mr - W T Williams Te Auto College is described -. ■ elsewhere in this issue. - Tho Station Property. • Te Aute Station came , into existence :• ■r ■: after- the late Archdeacon. Heury -Wil- . liams -had vainly tried to leasq -the - 7000 ■ acres of land set asido as an endowment for a . Native. College.. Ho found a tenant for a while at £5 per annum, but .: even that not exorbitant rent was not to be collected, and finally he resolved- to take the land in hand ; and do what ho could with it himself. •Ihe place at this time was. covered in : dense fern'and scrub,' and the archdeacon liyed ;in a-.raupo whare. - tie cleajed tho land acre by acre, sowing a small piece and then saving the seed himself to sow his-next clearing. Like I many other settlers, -- he was much : troubled by the growth of the fern on-his clearings, and'ho was the first: to discover that the only'satisfactory method of dealing with - this serious ■nuisance was to run stock on the clearings as soon as the-first shoots of fern Appeared above ground; To-day Te Ante Station consists of 17,000 acres, most of which is hold under Native lease. An area of four thousand acres is freehold, .and .of . this no fewer than throe thousand acres is - a drained swamp ,or rather lake, on which was to be had much boating and - . ' . duck-shooting in the old..days.". The draining of this swamp was only.effectcd by turning the course of the Waipawa River that used to run across thesouthern end of the valley and banked up the svramp waters : This was . an. hcroio undertaking, for tho Waipawa: is ono of the largest rivers m the pronnce, and is not a stream to be trifled: 1 ■' '.with.' Further details of this piece of - ' : swamp drainage appear elsewhere in ' . this li-sue. Famous Shorthorns. The station now contains some of the greatest fattemng country m Now Zealand. 7 'v- Archdeacon - Williams,, was a great cattle enthusia-st, and the To Aute Shorthorn herd was founded as long ago as -1862. . Since 1899 a sy-s- ---■' : tematic.record of the show innings. of the. herd' has: been. kept, and tno fig- ; urea make impressivo reading.,. They «.re. as follow: — Champions 22 . Reserve champions 5 Firsts. 122 Seconds 83 .Tho thirds, very highly comrnendeds, etc., are too numerous to count. At tlie great show at Palmorston last yeaittie herd won the first and second prizes ■ •••fai overy class; while at Hawke's Bay Show out of a-possible of eleven, ono obampion and seven firsts wore earned off by: Te Aute. In tho last eleven shows at Hastings, T© Auto has brought borne the points prize for Shorthorns no fowor than niiie times.' Mr. Dixon, is in- charge of the herd, and who

WRESTED FROM FERN AND SWAMP. FAMOUS SHORTHORNS. INTERESTING STORY OF STUD SUCCESSES.

is one of the soundest judges of Shorthorns in New Zealand, has made it a hobby, to preserve the Te Auto prize .tickets. These can be seen papering • the walls of one of the farm buildings, •where they cover an area of a considerable, number of . square yards. ■ Some •idea of the extent of Te Aute showing- may be gained from the fact that 27 head of .o-zfiAe have been entered for this year's Hawke's Bay Show.

v 'imported stud stock. • The imported bulls, Comet 4nd Sir. James 11, laid the foundation of tho ■herd. • Riby Knight, Prince Stephen, iond. many other - high-class bulls havo tune to. time -been l imported: from iEngland. ■- Some -years ago Mr.' Allan .W'llhams, on behalf. of -the Archdeacon, iimported from Victoria seven heifers from .the - stud of Sir-Rupert Clarke,' and threo bred -by Mr. J. H. Angas, of :South Australia- Subsequently .'.on the - death of Mr.'Alex M'Hardy, sear.,.tho estate purchased:all his 'imported 'cows. Since then two bulls have come from: Sir :-Rupert Clarke's stud,-.- but-.. ■ the

greatest successes have come from the -mating of the Clarke-bred' cows with Te Ante-bred bulls. All the stud bulls now m.use have been, bred on the tion.., The . principal sires at present are: Te Aute 2nd, Te Aute. 11th, Royal Duko Bth, Royal Duko 10th, Royal Duke 19th, and Royal Duko 28th. To Auts Knight':llth- is a. yearling bull standing close: to the ground and showing splendid constitution and any amount of quality. Te Aute Knight 2nd is a thick-set bull by Ea/rl Suman-. ertpn. He is a very successful sire, ana among his stock are last season's champion bulls at Hastings and at Hawera. Royal Duke Bth was first at three shows as a yearling, and won two firsts

as a two-year-old.' Srnco.then ho. has not been.shown owing to an accident. Royal D'uke -lOtk is a magnificent roan, whose winnings, up to his, tlurd. year .include three championships and. five first«.. Mr., Williams.is much, averse.to any form of pampering and only tho yearlings for the show aro housed at night. " v ... . Amongst; the Stud Cows. This year there are" 270 purebred cows in "the herd, all . of which are being bred from. There aro eight purebred bulls in use in the stud. Among the!; cows' there is Buttercuil 4th; by.

Cherry Duko of Demmut,- who was shown fifteen times and got twelve firsts and six championships. A daughter of Buttercup sth, by Riby Duko of Derrimut, was a champion cow too. Other champions were Duohess of Connaught, Royal Duchess 3rd, and Buttercup .sth. Clydesdales. ' Though the Shorthorns are To Aute's great feature, the Clydesdales alone would bo the pride of many another station. The present draught stallion Royal Ben is a splendid stamp, •of animal, with plomty of bono, and substance, great girths, and:.magnificent quality. He has a beautiful temper, and has been getting stock-of the highest class. Royal Ben was bred by Mr. W. Taylor, of Te Awamutu. There are at present 25 mares in the stud. The Sheep. In sheep Te Ante has studs of Southdowns, English Leicesters, and about 300 Lincoln ewes. Loiocs tor-Lincoln rams aro used m -tho flock. The sheep are not entered at the shows, as Mr. . illiams prefers to concentrate Ins attention on making a • big showing of Shorthorns eeeh year.