396 



TUTIRA 



of several thousand pounds, prudence would have seemed to dictate a 

 cessation of ploughing, grass-seed sowing, fencing, and stumping ; in- 

 exorable necessity demanded, however, their full continuance, a certain 

 income was necessary to run the place, a certain-sized flock was necessary 

 to provide that income. Improvements, therefore, in half a dozen 

 different lines continued to be lavished on the run. Still, however, 

 the station books showed a loss ; it was a lesser loss about half that 

 of the previous year. 1 



Tutira was passing through a phase similar to that which had 

 proved fatal to the pioneers of the 'seventies and 'eighties the transi- 

 tion phase, when capital has been sunk and before returns have begun 

 to pour in. Wool and stock were still low ; although there was less to 

 be heard of the man who had " offered his clip at fivepence," confidence 

 was still far from having been restored. 



It was then the station books for a third sequent year continuing 

 to show a loss, though a loss of but a few hundreds that a letter arrived, 

 one of those epistles " where more is meant than meets the ear," express- 

 ing my banker's opinion that it would be advisable to sell part of the 

 run. 



Another season passed away. The expenditure on improvements 

 began to slacken : the most important operations had reached comple- 

 tion. Wool began to rise. Stock began to rise. Like Christian in 

 his celestial journey, I was able to continue on my path regardless of 

 the Bank and the Law, who could now only gnash their teeth at the 



1 Returns of the last few years are not available, but a sequence of nine years will show 

 the range in number of sheep carried, average weight of wool, death-rate, and working expenses 

 (including war taxation for last two years). 



Number of sheep carried, weight of wool, and rate of mortality hinge chiefly on the rainfall. 



