FARMING PIONEER PASSES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 173, 9 August 1937, Page 7

FARMING PIONEER PASSES

Mr. J. J. Patterson, Own«r of 3000 Cows ' One of ihe most sdceessful pioneers of the TarhnAki dairy industry and a. ,mAn frequehtly referred to :as the .'"world 's greatest dairy fariner-?' m the . person of Mr J. J.- Patterson passed away at his home near Manaia, Sduth Taranaki, on Friday. Thg.t,the activities of "J; J.," as he, was f amiliarly known in all parts of th© North, Island, .were widespread is revealed by the facts that h© employed jover' 30 sharemilkers in the Taranaki |and Waikato districts and oWned apjproximately 3000 dairy cows. He rose jto eminence in the dairy industry by |his owh sfrenuotxs ,|fiorts, and, to quote (a friend When, apprised of his death, he was "a man. self-made and entireljr just. " He was also a man of xemark-j ble • physical and mental strength, ftj staunch supporter of the Eeform Party? •and an ar dent ' prohibitionist, (stateS the | Hawera' Star.j His knowledge of the jlaw affectihg his' particular work was I'unique.and sOund— unique in that his [education, as far as the three B's were 'concernCd was' completed at iO years of ,age, and soUnd because he had made it his business, in later years to 'learh ,a subject thoroughly. Born ia 1858 at New Plymouth,,. Mr Patterson was lef t an. oxphan when his. father was killed by the Maoris' at FrankMgh road.' 'At 12 years of ago young Patterson began cattle droving trips i'rom the south, which first brought hhn to -South..Tai-anaki. When he first saw Hawera it cousisted of about 15 houses, two stores, a few tbnts, two hoiels aud the blockhouse, After serving, his apprenticeship Mr Patterson foufided a blacksmithihg bu'siness at Manaia. He combined farming and contracting with tho business until 30 years ago, when he gave up the "smithy" and devoted tho whole of his. onergie3 to farming. Mr Patterson ;s dairy farming activities covered a wide hrea, extending over all parts of Taranaki and a wide area in the Waikato district. It is an ihdication of tho exteht of his activities in the latter district that itt one locality he at one time was instrumental in erecting a dairy f detory, this suhsequontly being takeii over by the New ' Zealand Co-opcration Dairy Co. His Tatuanui estate in the Waikato district supported seveu years ago nine fahiilies with 900 cows, and covered 1800 acres. All the entployoes on the property at ' that time Were ex-Taranaki people. It is also wortliy of mention that of the feharemilker's in his employ several have been with him for 20 years, and some for lottger periods than that. Although so exteusively interested in dairyiiig, Mr Patterson playod little part in the industry as a eompany dircctor or in the district in an admin- . istrative capacity. He was well-know/i and held in the highest regard in the districts where his interdsts lay, gave • help quietly whei'e it was needed and ,was renowued for his fund of anecdotes of the early da^-s of settlement in South Taranaki. His wife died some yearc ago, bUt he leavcs a family of eight daugiitcrs, six of whom are married. ^4, ,1 I I >■! I'.lllM