230 TUTIRA 



young stud rams. During the reign of H. G.-S. and A. M. C. ranis 

 had been imported heaven only knows why from stud flocks in 

 the South Island. They had been two-tooths, their price five or six 

 guineas ; we now bought aged rams at a fifth of the cost. The saving 

 of money was great ; the older sheep with set constitutions did their 

 work better ; they lived and throve where the others had died. These 

 local sheep were at least as well bred, they had been used in famous 

 Hawke's Bay flocks, and had only been culled on account of age. We 

 believed rightly that if they had been considered good enough for 

 southern Hawke's Bay, we could scarcely go wrong in using them on 

 Tutira ; we believed that by the time a line of rams had reached the 

 age at which we purchased them their fourth tupping season they had 

 proved themselves by the best of all proofs, good condition and sound 

 feet, to be sterling stuff. The percentage of weak and feeble had died 

 off as two, four, and six, and full-mouth sheep. I have always main- 

 tained that by our procedure in this matter the Tutira flock was sired 

 by the most healthy sheep in the Province. In practice, at any rate, 

 the change from young rams to old increased our lambing from fifty 

 and sixty to over ninety per cent. 



Our next step was to save our lambs. It will be remembered that 

 about '82, immediately after the purchase of the station by H. G.-S. 

 and A. M. C., "lung- worm" had broken out on the east coast; every- 

 where it had decimated the flocks of Hawke's Bay; on Tutira at least 

 three-quarters of our weaners had perished during several successive 

 seasons. Already we had learnt a little about the nature of stock. In 

 strong reaction to "dirty" country the heroic device was attempted 

 of weaning our lambs on newly-burnt bracken, forcing them to crop 

 the springing shoots of fern ; there could be, of course, on such ground 

 no vestige of disease. That was all to the good, but the fronds had 

 not sufficient nutriment for young stock. Our weaners, though per- 

 fectly healthy, had not condition enough to withstand the cold of the 

 coming winter and the scour of young grass during the following 

 spring. It was then that the newly-created fencing proved its worth. 

 The smaller paddocks were "spelled," that is, kept empty of stock for 

 five or six weeks previous to weaning, so that we should be able to 

 turn our lambs into feed well matured, full of white clover and suckling. 

 "We took endless trouble with the " tail " of the mob, which was specially 

 nursed. The result was satisfactory : only two or three score out of 



