ON THE SHEEP FARM

Te Ao Hou, March 1960, Page 55

ON THE SHEEP FARM The rams will have been with the ewes now for almost a month, so the flock should be mustered and the rams carefully checked and any poor conditioned rams replaced with fresh rams held for this purpose. At this stage one fresh ram per 100 ewes should be sufficient if the ewes are periodically mustered and held in a corner. After a period of 8 weeks all rams should be removed from the ewes. Crutching of the dry sheep could be done in early June and the ewes could follow later, but the ewe crutching should not be done too soon before lambing otherwise the wool would have again grown around the udder making it difficult for the lambs to find their food. The weaning of run calves should be attended to right away. Select a well-grassed paddock which is securely fenced for the newly weaned calves. The cows should be held in an adjacent paddock for three or four days or until the calves become accustomed to being on their own. If calves just weaned are kept too far from their mothers they become upset and are liable to force their way through fences and other obstacles in an endeavour to reach their mothers. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ The Governor-General, Viscount Cobham, recently became one of the few Europeans to fish in the Maori-owned Lake Rotoaira. Accompanied by Mr Feeron Grace, who has recently been appointed by the trustees as official ranger for the lake, Lord Cobham was on a brief visit to the lake as the guest of Ngati Tuwharetoa. During a short but enjoyable period on the lake, the Governor-General took four rainbow trout in excellent condition, weighing up to five and a half pounds. To fulfil the growing need for youth leaders in the Maori community, a scheme based broadly on the British Outward Bound organisation is being drafted in Northland. The men behind the idea are the Education Department's two physical education organisers stationed in Whangarei, Messrs P. MacPherson and R. Mackmurdie, and their Kaikohe counterpart, Mr Junior Mataiara. The idea is to seek out and train suitable young men who are close to school leaving age. As well as being taught the fundamentals of youth leadership, these youngsters will be given what Mr Mackmurdie describes as a “severe self-testing.” As an example, he says the men could be taken into the bush with little money or equipment. They would then be expected to fend for themselves for a given period. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ A new Maori school has been opened at Te Tii on the Bay of Islands coast near Keri Keri. The old block was moved by tractor and modernised and a new block added to hold the 116 pupils, 40 of whom go to school each day by launch. A fete day was held to mark the opening of the new school and was attended by some 400 people. The school was opened by Mr K. I. Robertson, Education Dept. Officer for Maori Education.