THE STORY OF "GLEN= SIDE."

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 984, 26 November 1910, Page 22

THE STORY OF "GLEN= SIDE."

f:-i 61R. JOHN STRANG'S CLADSTONE |;;>;^;.. v ';-. : /'-.; property. ■ r ;■ ■';■' : One of tho prettiest drives in the. Waip' '■ .: rarapa is.down'from Masterton through K- ■ i;Tb:Whiti; over the,Taueru and Ruania- ; Rivers, through .tho Gladstone , p: '.('Valley, and on. to Martinborough. Tho J : . V; ; ,ecenery, . between ; To Whiti'arid the iy. iLpngbush Road is of a varied nature. [■■:'._■;,.. Itabounds in undulating, country, hills |: ,Vand flats, rivers, streams, and planta'-' i;■■■'..' '.tion-s, with homesteads here arid there,- ):■ 'and one of tie finest views is from tic p'.;:•':. .private residence of Mr. J. Strang, the. ivy:- 'lyell-kriown. owner of "Glenside." The (;■; •■■. homestead, a- fine, handsome- building, £■•'..■; -lies' on an eminence, from which, look-. [_';.' ; :ing- northwards, the eye-:takes a wealth f: ; ... )Of landscape. Here • and thoro one

■ eatches a glimpse of the deep bank? of, ' the Ruamahanga, while; ■ flanking *the iroad fronting, tho house, rims a line of low-lying tills partly covered to tho flats with one of the last forests of the . .Wairarapa, tiro hundred and fifty.acres. , .in_ extent. A woolshe'd near by with" sheep.and cattle browsing on flats ■ anil farm .hands moving about amongst .the. plantations, give the whole scene a.pas- ■ ioral.simplicity.'. ' •■■■--- •'•■-.- ;.f Intho Beginning.,: i< • ~ Tho. foregoing 13; something like a . description of.what "Glenside" is now, and talking with Mr. J; "String one ■ gets an, idea of what it was nearly Falf a'Vjsentury ago, when iis .father,. Mr., Jaines . Strang, took• it. up after ten years of 1 shepherd and overseer life at : Tupurupuru,; then :owned : by r Mr;- D. M'Mastbr. James Strang, sen. 1 , was one of the "strenuous men who >-fib' V things." and he'had a. good helpmeet in.his wife. He, was born two..years.be-. ,V"fore the battle,fof...Waterloo", como-:; ip' : ; .;NW' Zealand,,with his-'wife and ,;fwb- ■ small children, and, after.i^§ing.. ' at Port Chalmers' and Christchureh for .a year or two, lio came on .to-Welling-- .-. ton. "With their two small children, L Sir., and Mrs. Strang walked"round by: . . the beach from Wellington to tho Wai- - rarapa,.. whore- they, parted' iwjth their .:.;,.last., remaining half-sovereign to the Maoris for the purpose of being rowed /: over the ferry. To Us,last day (ho died .. in 1805) Mr. Strang never forgot that. -; ; 'occurrence. -, Shepherding in.j.the.^early. • days on Tupurupur'u 'was somewhat' ; dif- ; ■■ ferent to what it is now. James Strang, :. •Ben., hardy- man that he- was, footed ,it. '■; ,ov<ir the hills arid valleys without boots. ■ For ho'toiled at thie work, ' eventually, rising'to be overseer of.the . run, arid then he got an.opportunity to ■acquire "Glenside," "a property within •. three or foui miles from- Tapurupuru.' •-. j- Fnivious to that time,. he had been ■.■■.■■' presented with ten merino rams by Mr. p.; Si'Jlaster, - and these "evient-ually formed the nucleus : of the very fine /flocks now possessed by Messrs. J7 and ' -W. Strang. ■ ■;.■.■ ■;■-.;■ - . '.. . : ij- : ■-■■ SheopDroedlng.. ;'At Mr.. James Strang's' death, "GlenBid«s" was subdivided.amongst the two brothers, James and- William Strang. . Mr; James. Strang makes a specialty^of breeding fat stock, and the farm now runs about 14,000 sheep and 700 Shorthorn cattle. So far as sheep-breeding is : concerned, Mr. Strang runs on Lincoln, and then on Roinney rams every alternate- three years, and every. year :.-' he puts 1500 Romney-Lincoln or Lincolu- '■•: Romney ewes with Southdown rams, for . the! purpose of breeding fat lambs. In ' this he has been eminently successful. :.; At. the inception of the freezing industry; ; New Zealand farmers (says Mr. .Strang) experimented-.first with the merino-Lincoln,; then with tho Border V Leicester, then English Leicester/ and ■ nnElly with Southdown and Shronshiro ..-. Down for breeding fat stock. These and come nest to I the Southdown. The Romnoy was.an ■ -excellent..sheep in many ways, for the tat lamb trade,, as sho was a good mother ; and hardy, and lambs fattened' quickly With- her..; At the -commencement of .'■. things' in. '.'Glenside"' there'. were first thej.merino sheep',' , , then the ' Romney- • menno, which -': evolved ■a' poley" sheep" ."■ sometliing..like a Cprriedale, then Lin-' . coln,-and finally Lihcolns, Romnevs, arid :'. Sputhdovns.-"'. : , . '■ .. ' ■ . :■ Tbe 'merinos passed out of tho Waira- . rapabecause they were subject to foot- ' rot,.'T,AVhen the poley and. Lincoln aneqp.were in vogue..farmers were breeding only for, woqh Lincolns .were tried on :ineruio3, but their, progeny seemed to be too,heavy. • ■ ~. ,-. . ; ' ■' Type of Freezers; '.'.'.'■... . :.- Regarding the best type of "freeze ers;" "Mr. Strang considers that they should be short on the logs, well let down on the thighs, good, long, fleshy ' ]oin.>,.fairly short neck, fleshy .shoulders,; short head,'-broad at the back of the ears, and a general appearance^of fineness. They should not bo sinewy, and should weigh/from 58 to 60 pounds. The type described was the Down or Down cross rnovo than anything else.. Mr. ; Strang considers that farmers are often placed in a quandary regarding ■ tho proper weights: at which freezers are to be sold. Some people, he says, ask.for a.58 or 60. pound sheep, but if . one-can get as much per pound for a ;. 64 or 70 pound sheep, that would ap- ■--' pear to be the most profitable sheep to breed. Of course, it had to be rememberid.thiit ireeiers hsd to be fattened quickly, «one to produce nico tender nesll, but the demand for very light freecers was not the best profitable nro- . position tor the breeder. At tho last : ;' Moi.t-erton Show" Blr. Strang's freezers ...': B'ew awarded first prize, when alive, . acdi the award was confirmed by tho London authorities 'when the carcasses of the slaughtered animals were sent to the Old Country. It was a much move . V difficult matter to judge "live" than "dead" freezers, because when alive one «oiild not see tbe defects, if any, .which.

might be so apparent in tlio carcass. Mr. Strang usually sends Homo MOO lambs on his own account. In the freezing of fat. bullocks, ho'inclines to a weight between 750..t0,510, pounds, but bo says that lie has known of a- caso whero the London authorities awarded first prize- iii one'of the New Zealand competitions to a bullock which weighed 1010 pounds." ■:■■■• ■■: >■ ■ ■

Shearing,

"Glerisido" possesses a very neat woolshed with seven' "stands,", and capablo -of.holding a,' thousand sheep. It. has machine uppliauces, and owing to its geographical;'.position tho shed was, at one tiniet i.-used for shearing purposes by, , several, farmer's residing, in tho distriot.V Ono':ycar there wer'o nearly "40,000 sheep (shorn, and "Glenside" rang tho Wairarapa with its seven fast shearers, who wero averaging 1500.sheep, per day. v, Labour conditions provented , a continuation of the co-oper-ative shearing operations, owing '.to increased expense, when tho shearing dragged. :, Mr. Strang says that the total cost of shearing sheep is something liko, fifty-three shillings per hundred. •:■■• ■/ ■..- ; ~ :