CHATHAM ISLAND

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19985, 10 July 1939, Page 4

CHATHAM ISLAND

SUPPLIER OF SHEEP STEADY TRADE WITH X.Z. Almost 20,000 sheep a year were sent to New Zealand by the 50 or more farmers on Chatham and Pitt Islands, said Mr. N. R. A. Cox, one of the most prominent of the Chatham Island sheep farmers, in an interview in Wellington. Hopes were held by the islanders, said Mr. Cox, that a more frequent shipping service between the Chatham Islands and New Zealand would be instituted. There were about 90,000 sheep on the islands, practically all of them Romneys, and there were regular shipments of them to Lyttelton for the Addington sales, where they frequently realised top prices. The two islands, Chatham of about 300,000 acres, and Pitt, some 12 miles away, of 15,000 acres, contained a variety of land, some good and some poor, but careful selection -of breeds and good management were the principal reasons for the excellence of the stock. Mr. Cox spends his time between Chatham Island and Riccarton, having a home in both places, the Riccarton one being mainly for the benefit of bi-s children, who receive their schooling .in Canterbury, though there are schools at the islands. “Te Awatea,' which .Mr. Cox translated as “the .breaking of ,tbe early dawn,” is the name of his Chatham Island home, which was established by his father in 1865. Mr. Cox was born at Chatnam Island. Romneys, the best of which were bred from stud stock purchased from Voss Brothers, of Palmerston North, in 1930, constitute the principal stock on his- farm, there being in addition a few horses and some cattle.