FARMER’S LIFE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 May 1938, Page 3

FARMER’S LIFE

SUITABLE FOR OXFORD MAN. ADVICE OF EXPERIENCE. ‘■The life of a New Zealand sheepfarmer is one of physical rather than mental effort. Is it, however, any less intellectual than many honoured professions. Is a sheep-farmer wasting the effects of his education more than a stockbroker? An Oxford man who can adapt himself and who will love his land will not regret his choice. Nor, in some cases, will New Zealand. This concludes an article in the spring number of the Oxford Society’s journal, “Oxford,” in which a Balliolman, Mr R. Pinney, sums up his own experiences of farming in New Zealand under the title "New Zealand Life for the Oxford Man.” Examining the circumstances of an Oxford undergraduate who intends to farm in New Zealand, with little capiI tai and still less experience of colonial farming, he strongly advises against the immediate purchase of property. “It is often possible from England to get a job as cadet or apprentice on a New Zealand station,” he writes. "Although a cadet lives more or less under working conditions, he is admitted into the squatters’ society, receiving invitations for dances and Sunday visits, and being allowed occasional games on Saturdays. During the week he is made to work, and very often at jobs from which he thinks no experience is to be gained. He may for months be cutting scrub, digging drains, or grubbing gorse. This is not waste of time, as he will probably think. He will be overcome with joy when he is allowed to own a sheep-dog. Gradually he will

learn.” Even when he has become competent as a cadet, the would-be farmer is recommended to take a job as a shepherd or ploughman—foregoing the social side of the cadet’s life, working hard from dawn to dark, “without those odd moments which Oxford men love to spend glancing at papers or ruminating.” From his own experience, Mr Pinney advises against the 20,000-acre proposition with 6000 sheep, huge expenses, greater labour difficulties, and, not least, a big initial outlay. “A small property is often more profitable than a larger one. . . . The bigger properties are more expensive to run, and make the owner too dependent upon outside labour for peace of mind in the New Zealand Socialist State.”

Mr Pinney himself has 600 acres of first-class coastal hills, runs 1000 sheep and 100 beef cattle. “No ploughing is done but all lambs are sold fat, the cattle can be treated as scavengers, and yet be sold in very forward condition, and the wool clip averages over 101 b a sheep. He can muster his sheep and cattle single-handed and only employs a married couple.” Nor does he regret the disrepair of the property and homestead, since it has enabled him personally to plan and carry out every improvement.