PIG BREEDING IN NEW ZEALAND.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2953, 18 June 1891, Page 4

PIG BREEDING IN NEW ZEALAND.

iMii ,l.\:.ii:s Row k, of ('luistehnrch, New Zi.ilaml, who exhibited ut the Centennial aud oilier shows uf : Iil; Metropolitan Agriuiiltiiral .Soeiety, gives the following iiitfrest'iig account of his career as a )■....!-r tn thu Live Stock Journal: — '■.iiiit twenty years ago the Governlnrnl ot New Zealand determined to add to the then sparse population of the colony l".y issuing free tickets to such persons as their agents considered would become desirable colonists. Havinj> heard some good accounts of New Zealauil, I applied ii.r a pass for myself and my wife. In due course the order arrived, when with aoio hearts w<: bid farewell to the land of our birth. We sailed from Plymouth, uud after a ninety days' voyage (not considered very lor.g in those days) we arrived at Port Lytttlton, the seaport '.own of the provincial district of Canterbury. I was much taken with the place. I had not been lon:r ashore when I had the good fortune to meet a conn tryman who had been for some years in the colony. This man i-.trnngly advised me to take up my .iboi'u in (.'liristchurch, "the City of the Plains," situated seven liiilcii from Lyttelton, inl-.'ud. I took hi.! advice, and here 1 am today, well '.Ita-cl with the step 1 took twenty ve.irij .ign. Before, I had been a year in the colony, myself and my uife had Limed enough to purchase thu .stock and leii'.i' of a Miiiill retail i,'ioi;;:i's shop. By constant and elo e attention to our bmiiii'B.i, it soon grew li'Vond our expectation, so. oiueli mi thiil I'ttir ;i sear or two I telt ile:;iiuii:i of addiiit' a branch to our liii..iiiL\-:i. Aβ Ion;; ;, •* ' '-'an rcinrmber tny father wan a miller and a hruedcr of pi:;.-', for which he rreiiv.d nutiioruus 11ri/os. It was my duty as a lad to look al'i.T these pigs, and to attend the local nhriws. Hence it is that I acquired a t.iste for the hiidhiefs of pig breeding, and grnv.'ing weary of flu , monotony of thi town lmsine.'s witlinul my pigs, I at, last decided to purchase a farm, and go into the business again. 1 was successful in pnnairiutr a suitable one at Wiudsor, just two miles from my place of business. .My next step was to procure the best specimens of the leaning breeds then in tin: colony, the Berkshire and Yorkshire. \\ itli these I produced some excellent crosses suitable for bacon purposes, which proved to boa profitable business, for the reason that New Zealand bacon commanded the highest price in each of the Australian markets. Succeeding so well in the bacon curing, I determined to try my hand at breeding for sale aud for exhibition. My next step was to send to Kngland for the best blood I could procure. I commissioned my brother to purchase and ship to my order a number cif Berkshire and Yorkshire pigs from the 11si known breeders. He accordingly ■-jjlt'-wud vjiiii; sows aua boars fron; the

.-,■!■ -l.nitr.l Iht.'.s of tin- ivirl i.f Klh-smi-re, .1 ;i,,,l I', llmv.u.l, and C. K. Din-k.'riiig. ..1 i.iiuMilnslmv. Isnliiu tinu- tln-<« shipments iMii.r |» Iriml, and lln: tir-t, ye:ir 1 siiovlcl in tiUinj.' two fitnr prizes with rlit'ir pny ny. Th"-,'! pig* lurmcd tin: mieieii-s n> i In' hi-rd willi which 1 have h.'1.l iny'.vvji .i-iin.-.t all comers to tin: pie i lit liiii' , , having won more pri/ru than any utln-r exliilntor in Now Zi'jlaud an.l I tiiink 1 may fairly claim lint I h:.ve (loin: .-Dim' U'VJ'I to my adopter

lioin: l>y imiii-.'A-iipj llii- 'lin I'd of ;.:;;■■ in " the 'l i!<my. The change :hi L h.is l.iiUi'ii plii.'i- smci: tin- nil lai.'e of pig->. hiKjwn ii.-t '' Captain (.'.ioli'.*," pi-ciloiiiiii'iti'd, is very givat. A word of (■Apl.,ii--ilii>n niiiv here lio iiLOi:.<sfLry. ll was (':ipt..'iiu Cook who first iiitrn.luci'.l tin , pi:.' to New Zealand. They increased rnpiilly, but limy also degent-rated, and the animal which was found and still is found in tho wild bush is a lanky, lonjjsnoutod creature, hence the term " Captain Cook's " is applied to all ill-bred animals. My successes in the show-rings throiiL'hotit New Zealand inspired me with the idea of trying my luck in New South Wales and Victoria. Accordingly, in 18S7, I took a!few animals and pome hams and bacon to Sydney and exhibited them there, receiving two first prizes for my pins and a first prize, for my hams and bacon. From Sydney I took my remaining stock to Biliarat, 000 miles from .Sydney, where they realised good prices, as well as in Sydney. Thu followiug year I visited Sydney again (being the centennial year) with a set of pigs, and secured six champion and eight firat and second prizes. I there sold 35 at satis factory prices. Tlio same year I took a hatch to Melbourne, when I gained the Inrgear number of points in the pig classes of any exhibitor, securing 13 prizes. The same year I took 6- prizes in New Zealand, making a grand total for ISSS, of 91 prizes. In ISBD I confined myself to New Zealand shows, taking 84 prizes in six shows, making a grand total of 428 prizes since, the year ISSO. For some years past my time has been fully occupied in breeding, exhibiting and forwarding my pigs by rail and by boat all over New Zealand and the Australian colonies. For many years I attended the shows of the Bath and West of England, ■ind the score of local shows held throughout Cornwall; and the more I see and read of agricultural shows the more convinced I become of thair great value to any country. Most men think their own animals the best in the world ; it is only when they come to rub shoulders with others that they find out that there is room for improvement. By-and bye I shall have to relegate the matter of breeding to other and younger men, but so long as I am able I shall endeavour, if not tio improve, to at least keep up the standard of perfection to which I have arrived. I have at present in my possession a Yorkshire sow from one of C. E. Diickcring's imported sows (imported in ISS2), which has gone over no less than 6000 miles in 1888, travelling from show to show ; she is now eight years old, and heavy in pig. The climate in New Zealand is preferable to the West of England for pig breeding.