A Tour in New Zealand.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 949, 4 June 1881, Page 1 (Supplement)

A Tour in New Zealand.

No. XI. — The Oamaru District (Continued). f Fi-ore the Melbourne Leader}. Vi indsor Park, the property of Mr. E. Menlove, is the adjoining estate to Elderslie, which was described in the last paper. Similar to Elderslie, in soil, Windsor Park, like Elderslie, is also devoted to cultivation and the ♦reeding of stud sheep, cattle and horses. Although Mr. Menlove’s freehold amounts to 14,000 acres, it has all been cultivated, sown with grasses, fenced and otherwise highly improved. As showing the value of land in this district, it may be stated that about a year ago, after a serious fall had taken place in the value of land, Mr. Menlove sold 2,100 acres to a farmer for .£l4 per acre, while 50s per acre has been offered as the rental of farms on Windsor Park for the next year’s

crop. A herd of pure shorthorn cattle has been carefully bred at Windsor Park for many years. The herds of Messrs Samuel Gardiner and Joel llorwood, of Victoria, are well represented among Mr. Menlove’s fine cattle, and the stock of the Duke of Alvie and other w’ell known sires, are turning out well in their southern home. Alvie’s Hero, by Gardiner’s Duke of Alvie, is a very fine white bull, showing grand form and quality; and Alvie’s characteristics are also well stamped on a good many of the young stock. The cows and heifers are a very admirable lot, some of the finest being Elower of Brunswick, by Duke of Alvie, a very handsome roan ; Lady Jane, by Oxfoed Cherry Duke ; Queen Mary, by Prince Imperial; Flower of Brunswick 2nd, by Duke of Alvie, and, perhaps the grandest cow in the herd, Queen Mary, by Alphonso. It is seldom in Australia that a farmer devotes his attention to the breeding of stud sheep, cattle and horses, the general rule being for each estate to be stocked with only one kind of stock, but in New Zealand, as will be seen from this article and the one which appeared last week, it is not uncommon for three departments of stud breeding to be carried on upon one estate. Mr. Menlove’s draught horse stud is so large and valuable that one would not have expected to find pure bred sheep and shorthorn cattle occupying his attention. To see thirty-five grand brood mares with their foals upon a single farm is not often possible in a lifetime, and those who are acquainted with the care and risks involved in keeping three or four draught mares will appreciate the magnitude of Mr. Menlove’s undertaking. The mares are of a high class, including the famous one Heather Belie, by Mr. John Reid’s Heather Jock, and the foals are in most cases

what their breeding would lead one to expect. The stud stallion Prince Victor is an exceedingly handsome dapple brown, being heavy, compact, symmetrica’, and showing very fine quality. Lord Clyde, by Duke of Edinburgh, is also a well-bred horse which has with advantage been used in the stud. The sheep consist of a pure flock of Lincolns, bred from imported Kirkhams, and a general flock of about 18,000 crossbreds. The stud Lincoln ewes number about 1000, and the clip from the rams is about 27fts. each. From 160 hoggets an average of 21fts. of wool was obtained last year. In the general flock, the breeding is about three-quarter Lincoln, and these sheep possess a good carcase, while giving a heavy fleece. The general average of the flock is from 10 to per sheep, and the price of the wool from ll|d to Is, some samples bringing as high as 14|d per ft. The land, which if all sown down with English grasses, carries from 21 to 3 of these large sheep to the acre all the year round, without taking into account the extra stock that can be fattened off upon the turnip crop.

Ito cultivate 2000 acres a year is in itself an extensive undertaking, but Mr. Menlove manages this in addition to his sheep, cattle and horse breeding The land is allowed to lie for seven or eight years in artificial pasture, and then it is broken up the second time ; but as the whole 14,000 acres have been cultivated, very little of the farm has yet been broken up out of pasture. The system of farming is much the same as that already described, and the productiveness of the soil is shown by the same astonishing results Wheat generally yields 40 bushels to the acre; oats, 60 to 70 bushels; bai ley, 40 to 50 bushels ; while the tin nip and mangold crops grow

luxuriantly without manure, providing an astonishing quantity of fodder for fattening off sheep. Farming a large area of rich soil involves much more labor than the same extent of cultivation would do in the Victorian or South Australian wheat-growing districts, for there is a heavy yield with heavy crops to cut, cart and thresh. Mr. Menlove has 14 reaping and binding machines at work in the harvest, and as he grows about 40,000 bushels of wheat alone, the threshing and carting of the crop involves a large amount of labor. In 1875 one of the paddocks of Windsor Park produced 51,000 bushels of wheat averaging 43 bushels to the acre, and the year before last Mr. Menlove loaded a ship at Oamaru entirely with grain produced upon the estate, realising 525. per quarter for the wheat — the highest price in the London market. The oat crop has recently been rather unprofitable, owing to the low price ruling. Last year the price at port was only about Is. per bushel, and there are about 30,000 bags of last year’s oats stored at Oamaru, not to speak of the present year’s crop. Less oats will be grown in New Zealand than formerly unless better prices can be obtained by shipping to England or foreign ports. Tree-planting receives a large share of attention, and hedges of gorse and whitehorn surround many of the paddocks. There are fully 150,000 trees upon the estate, which, growing rapidly in the rich soil and genial climate of Oamarta, give a pleasing appearance to the landscape; the hedges also, in addition to their usefulness, doing much to beautify the estate. I have already pointed out that, however much the desire to form large estates may have existed in the past, when land could be purchased cheap from the Crown, very few of the estate holders now wish to extend their borders. The land is capable of so much development that it does not pay to allow estates to lie in an unimproved state, and the cultivation of large areas involves so much expenditure and labor that many owners are desirous of breaking up their holdings into farms. Mr. Menlove finds that in its present state of development Windsor Park, with its various interests, is too large for him, and he is consequently offering some thousands of acres for sale in farms of different sizes to suit the requirements of purchasers. The price of the land may seem high, but the value of land is regulated by the quantity of produce which it will yield ; and when it is remembered that in face of the lowmarkets ruling for grain Mr. Menlove has been offered a rental of £2 10s. per acre for the use of the land for next year’s crop, the local farmers must consider the land highly productive.

The homestead of Windsor Park is | worthy of notice. The residence, a handsome two story house, occupies an elevated site in a plantation of pines, gums and other trees, and the orchard and garden are both extensive and well cultivated. Apples, pears and kindred fruits grow to perfection, and peaches ripen well under the system of training on trellis work which is adopted, while the glass-covered vinery produces large quantities of ripe grapes. So abundant was the crop of grapes that Mr. Ward, of Sheffield, who accompanied me to Windsor Park, considered the vines over-loaded. It was Mr. Ward’s opinion that not more than six bunches should be allowed to grow on each vine, and a brisk discussion arose between the Sheffield grower and Mr. Menlove’s gardener upon the subject. However, although the vines were loaded so that the bunches were quite close together, the grapes were large and well grown.

A large building of Oamaru stone at some distance from the residence constitutes the stables and bull stalls. The building is 160 feet long by 50 feet wide ; and the piggeries, in the same vicinity, are built of stone, and well-arranged for keeping stock clean and dry. There are on the estate four other homesteads, which are used in carrying on the various departments of work at outlying portions. ]n addition to the bull sheds and machinery sheds there is altogether stable accommodation at Windsor Park for 120 horses. I much regretted not bein" able to visit The Tables, a portion of the estate which Mr. Menlove considers the richest, and portions of which are to be sold in farms ; but I saw enough to give me a very high opinion of the fertility of the land and the excellence of the management of Windsor Park. It is evident that

much benefit is conferred upon the Colony by those who, like Mr. Menlove, bring a large amount of capital and skill to bear upon developing to such a high degree so many branches of agricultural and pastoral industry. Returning to Oamaru, and proceeding northward by train, a prosperous farming settlement is seen in all directions. The area of rolling downs, which, as already stated, extends without interruption for fifty miles, being forty miles in width, is bounded by the coast on the east, along which the railway line runs. At about 20 miles north of Oamaru the Waitaki River which forms the northern boundary of the Otago province is reached At this river the country opens out into an extensive valley, stretching away to the northward, forming the Waitaki district, one of the richest agricultural areas in Otago. A branch railway runs up this valley, so that with the branch and trunk lines the rich and extensive farming district of Oamaru is well provided with railway communication, connecting it with the Oamaru harbor. Of the harbor and the town I shall have occasion to speak when describing my return journey, and in the next paper I shall proceed to deal with the far-famed Canterbury Plains.