Agricultural Report.

Southland Times, Issue 909, 2 March 1868, Page 1

Agricultural Report.

PROGRESS OF THE EASTEBN DISTRICT OF SOmHUSD-COMPMTS FARMS E 1868. BY OUK SPECIAL EEPOETEE.

In an article on subjects purely bucolic it is somewhat difficult to be botl: amusing and instructive, — instructive to the farmer, amusing to your othei readers — difficult in fact, while interesting the few, to avoid boring the many ; however, I will do my best. Do your readers really understand the principal object and aim of this greal " John Company?" Not all of them I am certain, for I often have heard such remarks as " 0 the Company is coming to a dead-lock — funds are running 1 short — they are discharging a number of men at Morton Mains." It will be seen by-and-by that thisisa proof of success, not failure. Briefly, the object is the growth of wool on freehold runs, whose pastoral capabilities have been increased tenfold by the cultivation of artificial grasses. The breeding of cattle and pigs, the production of wheat, barley, &c. form most valuable adjuncts when the markets are favorable, but the grand end and aim of their existence is wool. At present the road thither is tolerably good, but a few days rain would speed'ly render it an impassible quagmire. The contractors are hard at work macadamising, but began so late in the' season that unless with an exceptional autumn it cannot be finished very far out of town. The importance of this matter to the Company may be seen, when it is stated that their cartage from town alone amounts to 2000 tons yearly. Had the Eastern Bailway been made, the tonnage both, ways soon would have been nearly 10,000 tons, an amount almost impracticable to cart. Should the Company carry out the scheme often mooted by them, of running a light railway from their stations to the Bluff (to which port they are quite as near) thus removing all their traffic and business from Tnvercargill and its railway, and in fact diverting that of the whole Eastern District, those of the townspeople who voted against the ? railways, will dearly rue their- folly. :&aM short-sightedness. ' ' Heveuons a nos moutons. After travelling by the Dunedin road as far as the east end of Long Bush, casting a passing glance of admiration at the pretty farms by the roadside, you enter on the Company's magnificent estate, perhaps the largest farming establishment the world yet has seen. It extends on both sides of the Dunedin road. Woodlands (manager, Mr Adam Brown) on the left, Remington (Mr Dugald Napier) on the right. At present your readers will turn to the right and accompany me through Plemington to the head station, Morton Mains. Let us stop for a moment and look around. Nine years ago I rode from Dunedin to Invercargill passing over this "very spot, Then it was indeed a howling ■wilderness ; in fact, if I may.be allowed the expression, a very howling wilderness. A dreary expanse of brown tussock grass, sombre, melancholy patches of bush and bottomless swamps, so bottomless that when travellers from opposite directions met on different sides of one of these ghastly bogs, (seldom more than 20 or j 30 yards wide) one could only exclaim to j the other. " Friend, between thee and me is a great gulf fixed, so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot." Again six years ago I passed by and there was little difference ; now everything is is changed. All the dry land cultivated, the swamps drained, rich clover and grasses where the old tussocks used to grow, massive comfortable looking shorthorns and compact little Aryshires, replacing the wild and bony wretches which then infested the plain, to the inconvenience of travellers, and not to the profit of the owner, substantial, imposing houses for the managers, and hosts of cozy little white cottages for the laborers, vast ranges of stabling, granaries, wool sheds, sheeppens, and every possible appliance. Nothing strikes one so forcibly as the fact that everything is complete — nothing left undone — even the gates are well and carefully managed to form no impedi ment to horsemen, no small matter when you have to pass through some dozens. There is a simple contrivance worthy the inspection of the practical farmer. Without even stooping, you put out your hand and raise a light vertical bolt : released, the gate flies open, you drop the bolt and pass through, merely give a push to the gate, which shuts and fastens itself, and on you go again. This is indeed an improvement upon the antiquated "slip panels." A capital wooden roadway, on the "grating" principle, is laid down in front of the stables and offices, thus winter there has no terrors— so far as mud goes. The gardens are beautifully kept, but of course are only in embryo. We will leave our horses in an equine palace which a few yearsbackwouldhavebeendeemedashamefully luxurious habitation for a family of Christians, and take a walk with Mr Robert Hamilton, the able manager, to whose energy and skill, in conjunction with the other managers, is mainly owing the success which hitherto has attended

*>he Company's opeiations. "We now glean a few particulars, ia the form ol definite statistics. At the beginning of this year 1868, there are nearly 10,000 acres in cultivation of which almost all is sown with English grasses. 1000 acres of oats, nearly 300 of wheat, a little barley, and a vast extent of turnips (for the sheep in winter) and potatoes. Although the past summer has been the coldest, and one of the wettest known since the settlement of the province, everything loots fairly — wr.eat, some good, some poor, potatoes ditto — oats very fair throughout — turnips excellent. A large quantity of grass has been laid down in conjunction with rape. This is a most successful plan ; the rape shelters the young grass at first, then the sheep eat the t rape, at the same time manuriug the grass and treading the earth round its roots with a regularity and firmness no roller could attain. And now" we come to the main point, how does the grass answer ? lam happy to say that a full and careful inspection enables me to give a most satisfactory reply. The grass looks well everywhere, its goodness increasing with age. The quality differs greatly; in some places clover (red, white, and alsyke) predominates ; in others the fescues prevail, but in all cases a capital " sole " and a most excellent permanent pasture has been obtained. The sheep — of which there are already some 4000, chiefly Leicester, Lincoln and half-brcds — are thriving admirably. This year's clip averaged 81bs of wool against 6J last year. Some of the Leicester rams clipped 201bs. The ram paddock is a very interesting one. You are introduced in the most unconcerned manner to a number of woolly giants and told " that one cost £300, that £95, that £SO," and so on, and a few are pointed out rather slightingly as having cost " only " £50 or £60 a-piece. Certainly they are splendid animals, great size of carcase and most astonishing length of wool (as to the latter I speak of them as they appeared at the Show) a striking contrast to the diminutive merino. Probably these rams are some of the finest of their sort in the world ; they have taken the first prize everywhere in the Australian colonies, with only one partial exception, and that was in Southland, where the first

prize for Lincolns was awarded to Messrs Sutton Bros., of "Waianiwa. In another paddock are some fine cows of the small Ayrshire breed ; one especially, a beautiful model, with all the points of a dairy cow — the small neck, light fore quarters, narrow chest, and shoulders, very deep hind quarters, which dairy farmers love to see. There are, too, some splendid shorthorns — recent importation — exactly opposite in characteristics, and suited in every way to the grazier and butcher. I also noticed some good specimens of the polled Angus breed : the young stock ' were surprisingly mature for their age. Enough has been said about the horses on other occasions, but I must bestow a passing word on the prize fat pig, a ridiculous object, with stupendous carcase, but eyes, nose, and legs hardly to be discerned without a microscope. The prize boar, too, is a noble fellow. After seeing the live stock, our attention is directed to the fences : these are of various descriptions — 1st — sod wall 5 feet high and 6 feet wide at base; 2nd — post, two rails and two wires ; 3rd — post, one rail and four wires ; 4th — post and six wires ; in every case a double ditch and bank and live fences (quick or furze) are sown along the banks, and are doing well. All the posts and rails are sawn in a mill belonging to the Company, a great saving of expense. Next we come to the grand feature of all — the steam-ploughs. So much has been written about these machines that the subject is almost exhausted, and I will only notice what they perform. There are no fewer than seven at work on the farms, six of twenty horse-power, turning up seven to ten acres per day, and one of thirty horse-power, doing twelve to fifteen acres daily. The cost of ploughing is 10s to 15s per acre. Then there are steam harrows — rollers of all sorts — clodcrushers — scarifiers — reaping machines — threshing machines — and so on ad infinitum. So much for the modus operandi. The result is that the whole of Morton Mains is cultivated, and a large portion of the other stations. You may ride for miles, north, south, east, or west, yet always be in paddocks of rich artificial grasses. The discharge of men from Morton Mains simply means that the preliminary work is completed, the grass is sown, and now the shareholders will reap the fruits in unlimited bales of wool and constantly increasing profit as the pasture improves year by year. Morton Mains is especially fortunate in possessing numerous little clumps of bush, so that combined with the undulating nature of the ground, the stock are always sheltered. In some of the more exposed paddocks ingenious break winds have been "rigged up," and on the lee side are portable racks for nay, thus all the wants of the woolly tribe are provided for. Altogether the arrangements are really perfect, and show what may be accomplished with capital directed by intellect, energy, and practical experience. I must not forget to notice that there is a school for the children on the station, mustering between 20 and 30 scholars, superintended by a gentleman of unusual scholastic attainments. .Tour readers will next accompany *me in a flying progress through the other

farms. Seaward Downs (Mr M'Callam manager) is the oldest established of al the stations. It was formerly under th( direction, of Mr Morton, now of Oatlands Wallaeetown, who has left marks of his ability on all sides. Here again we see famous grass and clover, better crops even than at Morton Mains, the soil being decidedly richer owing perhaps to its proximity to the Mataura. Here, too, all is prosperous, and we may say the same of Mr James Gall's station, and Mr Napier's, both ol which we pass through on our homeward course. Arriving again at Long Bush,' you will turn off with me to the left this time, and under the escort of Mr Adam BrGwn, take a w;ilk ' "through Woodands, with its splendid crops of wheat, oats, potatoes, and turnips — certainly the best I saw anywhere — and finally go over the new steam mill, erected by tue Company at the roadside, at the east end of Long B?ish. The building is a very imposing one, of four stories, and reminds one strongly of an English mill. Again, one is struck with the completeness, of every particular, however minute — no " make-shifts " — everything beautifully finished. The engine is of thirty horse-power nominal, and drives three pairs of stones. The kiln, dressing machines, lifts, and all the appliances are of the newest and most approved | plan. The eastern settlers are very fortunate to have such a mill near them, and no doubt it will pay well. And now having seen all my time will permit, and leaving the station under Mr "William Grail's management (Mataura Plains), for a future visit, grant me space for a few remarks to sum up the result of my inspection, as a practical and impartial observer, without the slightest personal interest in the undertaking. First, as regards, the Company itself, I think think the shareholders may be assured that the " back " of the difficulty is "broken," that they are over the worst, and a career of prosperity is before them. They are now all but selfsupporting — grow their own flour, potatoes, turnip-seed, grass-seed, — therefore run no risk of bad seed ; have access to unlimited fuel and fencing, in the great Seaward and Oteramika bushes. The pasture has proved a great success

already, and will constantly improve. Their vast extent of waste land at £1 "per acre, will, with the aid of their seven steam ploughs, speedily be converted into rich pastures worth £10, capable of carrying four to five sheep per acre. Their flocks already have given an average clip of 81b, and an increase nearly double that of the runs. Should corngrowing pay, they are always ready to take advantage of it, and indeed of any opening in agriculture. I therefore consider the shareholders are fully warranted in confidently anticipating a prosperous future. Next, as regards the effect of such a gigantic undertaking on the country at large. Again, my opinion is most favorable. In no other way could the resources of a country be so thoroughly tested, and it must be a source of gratification to every colonist that Southland has stood the test so well. It hns now been satisfactorily proved that the soil and climate of this province are eminently suited to the cultivation of artificial pasture and that not only on picked spots, but on an average of the whole country, for the Company's stations certainly do not represent more than the average quality of the Southland soil. Their importations of valuable and pure bred stock gives every farmer au opportunity of improving his own flocks and herds at comparatively small expense. They have built a first rate mill in a district where the privats jealousies, always found in small communities, would effectually have postponed till doomsday the erection of one by public subscription, j as was notably shown in the New JLliver j District a few years ago. Their improvements must infallibly greatly enhance the value of the neighboring farms, and lastly it must be a matter of self-congratulation and pride to every Southlander that this province can boast of the largest and best conducted farming establishment to be found in the whole world. In conclusion it only remains for me to acknowledge Mr Hamilton's extreme kindness and hospitality, and the courtesy and attention of the other managers and their subordinates. C. E. M.