Ship Cove is situated on the west shore of Queen Charlotte Sound near the entrance and directly opposite Motuara Island. It is part of the drowned-valley system of the Marlborough Sounds. Captain Cook named the cove after anchoring his ship Endeavour there on 15 January 1770. He hoisted the British flag at the cove and on the high point of Motuara Island. Cook made this spot his headquarters, establishing vegetable gardens, landing pigs, and distributing seeds to the Maoris. He visited the cove five times altogether and spent about 100 days there. In 1820 Thaddeus Bellinghausen also landed there; in 1827 d'Urville, and in 1839 Colonel Wakefield in the Tory also visited the bay. A monument at the cove and another at Motuara Island commemorate Cook's visit. A scenic reserve of 1,700 acres (created by statute in memory of Captain Cook) encloses the area. Together with a number of scenic and historic reserves, it is administered by the Ship Cove Scenic Reserves Board. The Maori name for the spot is Meretoto, and on several maps the name Totaranui (“the big totara tree”) is given.

by Susan Bailey, B.A., Research Officer, Department of Industries and Commerce, Wellington.

(1848–1934).

Social reformer.

A new biography of Sheppard, Katherine Wilson appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Katherine Wilson Malcolm was born in Liverpool in 1848 but was reared and educated in Scotland. Her father, Francis Malcolm, has been described as a banker and lawyer. In 1869 Kate Malcolm came to New Zealand with her mother and sisters. The family settled at Christchurch where Kate, two years later, married Walter Allen Sheppard, a member of the first Christchurch City Council.

Mrs Sheppard was active in social work in connection with the Trinity Congregational Church. In 1885 she was one of the first to join the newly established Women's Christian Temperance Union. Two years later she was appointed superintendent of the Franchise Department of the W.C.T.U. For the next six years Mrs Sheppard led the campaign for votes for women. She prepared and circulated leaflets, corresponded with sympathisers in New Zealand and overseas, wrote letters to the press, and prodded branches of the W.C.T.U., church meetings, and debating societies to discuss the subject of women's franchise.

In 1888 Mrs Sheppard prepared the first of five parliamentary petitions submitted by the W.C.T.U., praying that the definition of “elector” in the Electoral Act be altered to include women. The petition was presented by Sir John Hall who led the attack in succeeding years.

The second and third petitions, in 1890 and 1891, bore more than 10,000 signatures, and the fourth, in 1892, more than 20,000. In that latter year Franchise Leagues were formed in many centres on the initiative of the W.C.T.U. The campaign gathered momentum and the 1893 petition obtained the record number of 31,872 signatures, “genuine and all of women”, which was nearly a third of the adult female population of New Zealand.

While Mrs Sheppard successfully roused public opinion, supporters of the cause fought the battle in Parliament. A suggestion to give the vote to women property holders only was rejected by the W.C.T.U. In 1893, after several setbacks, an Electoral Act with the desired amendment at last obtained a majority. On 19 September it received the Governor's assent and, in the general elections later that year, New Zealand women for the first time exercised the vote.

In June 1891 Mrs Sheppard had inaugurated a women's page in the Prohibitionist, using the pen-name “Penelope”. Four years later, she was appointed editor of the White Ribbon, the new journal of the W.C.T.U. The women's organisations had high hopes of using the franchise to gain prohibition and other social reforms. In April 1896 a conference in Christchurch formed a National Council of the Women of New Zealand, with Mrs Sheppard as president. She retained this office (apart from one term as vice-president in 1898–99) until the turn of the century when she left New Zealand to travel abroad.

In Britain and on the continent of Europe, Mrs Sheppard met many leaders of feminism. After her return to New Zealand she was re-elected president of the National Council in 1905, but the organisation, which had come into sharp conflict with the Liberal Government, went out of existence soon afterwards. It was revived during the First World War when Mrs Sheppard was again elected president.

Her first husband having died in 1915, Mrs Sheppard, 10 years later, married William Sidney Lovell Smith, the author of Outlines of the Women's Franchise Movement in New Zealand (Christchurch, 1905). On 13 July 1934 she died at her home in Riccarton. Her close friend, Jessie Mackay, paid tribute to her as “the woman whose life and personality made the deepest mark upon New Zealand's history”.

by Herbert Otto Roth, B.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S., Deputy Librarian, University of Auckland.

• Woman Today, Vol. 1, No. 1, April 1937, “Pioneer Women”, Mackay, J.

Of special interest in the reconstruction of the past is the evidence afforded by our quite considerable fauna of native land snails particularly two genera, Paryphanta and Placostylus. Paryphantid snails have large, flatly coiled shells ranging from 2–3 ½ in. in diameter. The animal is carnivorous, feeding on earthworms and living in damp leaf mould on the forest floor, mostly at high altitudes. These snails belong to an ancient and primitive southern family that now ranges from South Africa to Melanesia. Their main distribution was probably achieved during the early Tertiary or even Cretaceous times. New Zealand has the largest number of species of this interesting group, and they could very well have originated in this part of the world. The fact that these snails produce large shelled eggs, resembling those of birds, and that these eggs will not survive dryness or immersion in water makes the distributional patterns of the Paryphanta species of special significance in the reconstruction of former geographical features and past land connections.

Similarly, the other genus of large New Zealand snails, Placostylus, is of equal significance in the reconstruction of the past. Placostylus snails are vegetarian, feeding on the dead leaves off coastal trees, mostly karaka. They grow up to 3 in. or more in length, and in shape are narrow and tall spired. They have been found in New Zealand only in Northland and outlying islands, never far from the sea and on the East Coast, not below Whangarei.

The special significance of Placostylus is that the genus is known elsewhere only from the islands of Melanesia, and northwards to the Solomons and eastwards as far as Fiji. This indicates some connection between New Zealand and the Melanesian area within comparatively recent times. This does not necessarily mean continuous land at any one time, but rather it suggests a series of give and take connections between island groups, and the gradual emergence of the present distributional pattern. The distribution of the kauri tree (Agathis) and of another plant (Xeronema), known only from New Caledonia and on islands of the Northland coast, lends support to this connection.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

• Shells of New Zealand, Powell, A. W. B. (1957)
• Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Vol. 66 (1937), “Animal Communities of the Sea-bottom in Auckland and Manukau Harbours”, Powell, A. W. B.
• ibid., Vol. 54 (1923), “Marine Littoral Plant and Animal Communities in New Zealand”, Oliver, W. R. B.;
• New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology (B) Vol. 33 (1951), “Some Animal Communities of the Sea Bottom from Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand”, Dell, R. K.

Apart from these broad faunal divisions, our marine shallow-water fauna can be readily grouped ecologically into distinctive zones relevant to tide level and in association with different kinds and combinations of substrate materials, such as sand, mud, soft or hard rock, gravel, shingle, and rock pools, further modified by water salinity and the degree of exposure to wave action.

Three papers serve to introduce these topics. One, Marine Littoral Plant and Animal Communities in New Zealand (Oliver, 1926) attempts to classify the main associations of marine plants and animals in New Zealand. Many of the more striking ones are named; for example, the Corallina-Hormosira Association, which is a common mid-tidal community developed on clean to silty rock platforms in fairly sheltered situations. It is characterised by a low, stiff, limy seaweed, Corallina officinalis and the grape-like seaweed, Hormosira banksii. The most abundant mollusc of this association is the cat's-eye periwinkle, Lunella smaragda.

In deeper water below the strong influence of tides, different animal communities occur and for these the reader is referred to Animal Communities of the Sea Bottom in Auckland and Manukau Harbours (Powell, 1937) and a later paper, Some Animal Communities of the Sea Bottom from Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand (Dell, 1951).

In the Auckland Harbour and vicinity four main communities are recognised: (1) Echinocardium formation; (2) Maoricolpus formation; (3) Tawera and Glycymeris formation; and (4) Arachnoides formation. The dominant animals in (1) are the heart urchin, Echinocardium australe, the bivalve Dosinia lambata, and the brittle star Amphiura rosea which develops only in soft mud where the salinity of the water does not fall below 34 per mille. This means that it is absent under estuarine conditions. The dominant animal for (2) is the mollusc Maoricolpus roseus which in Auckland waters is thickly strewn over the current-swept shelly bottom within the harbour. Outside the harbour limits, on clean-swept, shelly bottom in the channels, (3) occurs, the dominant animals being the molluscs Tawera spissa, Glycymeris laticostata, Perna canaliculus, and the crab Petrolisthes elongatus. This is the richest fauna of the four main communities both for number of species and for number of individuals. (4) develops on a substratum that is 95 per cent fine sand with practically no silt, and is found in sheltered areas of relatively high salinity, usually just within a harbour entrance. The dominants are the cake-urchin Arachnoides zelandiae and the mollusc Zethalia zelandica. These four communities have since been found in other parts of New Zealand, and several are clearly recognisable in the Pleistocene and Tertiary beds of the Wanganui district.

Although relatively small in area, New Zealand is long and narrow, spreading over 13 degrees of latitude. This alone accounts for a wide variety of species, many with a restricted range determined by water temperatures. The fact that New Zealand straddles two great and distinctive water masses, the subtropical and the sub-Antarctic, makes for relatively sharp faunal distinctions between north and south. Other factors – ocean currents, both warm and cold, coupled with geographic and physical features – make it relatively easy to divide the shallow water faunas into five distinct marine faunal provinces. These, with their salient characteristics, are as follows:

Aupourian

Aupourian, Northland to East Cape and on the west coast, a division of some elasticity between Ahipara and Manukau Heads. It lies within the subtropical zone of surface waters and is even influenced by extropical warm currents, notably the East Australian Current which originates in the vicinity of New Caledonia, sweeps down the East Australian coast and thence in an upwardly deflected arc across the Tasman to New Zealand.

This current is responsible for occasional and even regular wanderings of certain larger marine animals to our shores. Instances are a number of species of fish, two species of sea-snakes, and occasional turtles. The East Australian Current also functions effectively in bringing to our shores, in their minute larval form, many species of invertebrates, particularly shellfish. The majority of these have become acclimatised and have thus introduced an element characteristic of warmer waters. Conversely, limited upwelling of cold water of sub-Antarctic origin on the Northland west coast brings in a small number of organisms characteristic of colder seas.

Cookian

Cookian, southern part of the North Island and northern part of the South Island. This is a mixed zone of subtropical and sub-Antarctic waters and supports a mixed fauna from these two zones plus sufficient regionally distinct species to make the area recognisable as a marine province.

Forsterian

Forsterian, lower part of the South Island, Stewart Island, and the Snares Islands. This province is greatly influenced by sub-Antarctic waters and in particular by the active West Wind Drift, which sweeps the Southern Ocean. The province is made up of a high percentage of restricted species and many stragglers from the southern islands.

Moriorian

Moriorian, the Chatham Islands, which lie over 400 miles almost due east of Banks Peninsula. The fauna owing to long isolation, contains a high percentage of endemic species and is particularly noted for the absence of a number of species common on the mainland. In general, the fauna is most like that of the Cookian but there are northern and southern influences as well, the latter the more marked.

Antipodean

Antipodean, the southern islands of New Zealand, Antipodes, Bounty, Auckland, and Campbell Islands. These groups lie well within the zone of sub-Antarctic waters. The fauna is composed largely of the more temperature-tolerant mainland species and the endemic forms of these, with a strong admixture of restricted sub-Antarctic genera. It is an impoverished fauna suggesting many extinctions in the past, due to adverse conditions.

New Zealand has a rich and varied shellfish fauna, although most of the species lack the brilliance of colouring and the polish of those from the tropical Pacific.

This country is but a remnant of a once continental land mass. Today over 1,200 miles of deep ocean separate it from Australia, the nearest existing continental mass. Conditions of more or less isolation from other lands have pertained during most of the Tertiary, that is, for a period of 40 million years or more. Fluctuations in climate have undoubtedly resulted not only in many extinctions but also in adaptations to changing conditions, without the stabilising influence, to any great extent, of the advent of new stock from outside areas. One looks in vain for the colourful cones and highly enamelled cowries of the tropical Pacific, yet both occurred here in the Oligocene and Miocene when the climate was considerably warmer than that of today. Nevertheless, despite these several adverse factors, New Zealand has developed a shellfish fauna almost unique in respect to the very high percentage of truly endemic species. Including land and freshwater forms, our shellfish fauna now numbers over 2,200 different species and subspecies belonging to 646 recognised genera.

(1884–1961).

Educationalist, university professor, Director of Broadcasting.

A new biography of Shelley, James appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Sir James was born at Coventry on 3 September 1884, the son of James Shelley and Ellen, née Walton. He was educated at Bablake School, Coventry, and at Christ's College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. (1907) and M.A. (1913). He was assistant master at Heanor Technical College (1907–08), assistant lecturer in education at Chester Training College (1908–10), and similarly at Manchester University (1910–13). Appointed Professor of Education at Southhampton University College (1913–20), he served in the Royal Field Artillery (1917–18), attaining the rank of major. From 1918 to 1920 he was Chief Instructor at the Army School of Education, which he reorganised on novel lines. From 1920 to 1936 he held the Chair of Education at Canterbury University College and, by the brilliance of his lectures and wide scholarship, did much to raise the academic status of his subject. Shelley was also founder of the Canterbury Repertory Society and the Country Library Service. On the abolition of the New Zealand Broadcasting Board in 1936, he became first Director of the National Broadcasting Service, which post he occupied until 1949. On his retirement he was created K.B.E. for his services to education and broadcasting.

Shelley retired to England, where he was elected fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (1950), and was appointed Adviser to Overseas Students at London University (1952). He also represented New Zealand at the UNESCO Conference on Radio, and sat on the UNESCO Experts' Committee on Art in Education.

On 28 December 1910, Shelley married Mabel Winifred (died 1948), daughter of Richard Booth, of Coventry, by whom he had one son; and, secondly, on 5 April 1952, Mary, daughter of Ernest Willmott, of Great Missenden, Bucks. He died at his home, 3 Brays Close, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on the night of 18 March 1961.

Shelley was a man whose impressive personality and voice reflected something of his life-long interest in the theatre. He had a wide knowledge of art and was a sound critic within somewhat narrow limits. In Christchurch he took a prominent part in cultural affairs and was a highly popular lecturer on many topics. As a public administrator he was less successful and his influence on the development of broadcasting in New Zealand was not strongly marked. Today his reputation rests on his pioneering work in the field of modern education.

by Alexander Hare McLintock, C.B.E., M.A., DIP.ED. (N.Z.), PH.D.(LOND.), Parliamentary Historian, Wellington.

• New Zealand Listener, 7 Apr 1961 (Obit).

The changes in the breed composition of the national flock have been noted by reference to a few breeds which have dominated breeding practices. The following is a summary of the breeds, their origin, importation, production characteristics, and fate in New Zealand sheep farming.

Merino

This is an old-established Spanish breed with European and United States distribution about 1800. Massive importations from Australia of commercial flock sheep (1840–60) were reinforced in later years by smaller importations of selected stud sheep from Europe, the United States, New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania. The breed was dominant in New Zealand until 1880; it accounted for about one-third of the sheep population in 1890, but since then has declined to about 3 per cent of the total sheep. Merino produces superfine wool of 60s to 64s count, but has primitive body shape.

Lincoln

The breed originated in Lincolnshire, England, during the early 1800s and is noted for big body size and heavyweight fleeces of long-stapled lustrous ‘coarse wool of 36s to 40s count. It was probably improved by infusion of the improved English Leicester about 1800. First arrivals reached New Zealand in 1840, but the first effective importation was made by New Zealand and Australian Land Co. in 1862. The breed was used extensively for crossing with the merino to produce successive top-cross generations, colonial half-bred (wool 50s count). three-quarter bred (wool 46s), and crossbred (wool 40s to 44s count). Lincoln rams dominated North Island sheep breeding until the 1890s but lost popularity because of the difficulty of rearing young crossbred sheep in the heavy rainfall areas. Today it is represented only by a few stud flocks and is used in commercial sheep breeding only for crossing with other breeds.

Corriedale

This breed originated in Canterbury by interbreeding the half-bred type of sheep resulting from crossing Lincoln and English Leicester rams with Merino ewes. The breed was named by an early breeder, James Little, because he carried out his early experimental breeding with Romney-Merino half-breds on the Corriedale station in North Otago. The name was adopted by the Conference of Agricultural and Pastoral Association in 1902. The breed, which was based on Lincoln – English Leicester Merino half-breds, was recognised by the New Zealand Sheepbreeders' Association in 1903 and was given full flock-book status in 1911. In 1923 breeders formed their own association and, in 1924, published the first volume of the Corriedale Flock Book. Meanwhile the breed had received international recognition and a regular trade had developed in the export of Canterbury sheep to the South American countries. the United States, Australia, Japan, and South Africa. Stud flocks at present number about 160. and mate about 29,000 ewes. Commercial Corriedale sheep number one and a half million, most being in Canterbury, Otago, and Marlborough. The fleece (about 50s and 56s counts) is intermediate between the coarse long-wool and fine Merino type, while the body shape is mutton type. Under good grazing conditions, Corriedale lambs grade as prime export carcasses.

The Half-bred

Half-breds (which are correctly the progeny of long-wool rams – Lincoln and Leicester – and Merino ewes) are also bred by mating first generation half-bred rams to half-bred-type ewes. In general, the production characteristics of the breed and its distribution are similar to the Corriedale.

Romney Marsh

The breed was developed on the rich pastures of the Romney Marsh in Kent. They were first imported to New Zealand (Wellington) in 1853, followed in 1864 by an importation to the South Island. The use of Romney rams on the crossbred ewe flocks in Wairarapa and Manawatu demonstrated the ability of the progeny to thrive in wet regions. By 1900 there were some 100 stud flocks and 23,000 stud ewes, but during the succeeding half century flocks exceeded 1,000 and ewes 206,000. This is a reflection of the increasing demand for Romney rams for use in the commercial hill flocks which at present can be classed as grade Romney in all sheep-raising areas except the light rainfall country in Marlborough, Canterbury, and Otago, where the fine-wool sheep still predominate. The fleece is about 46s count while the body shape is mutton type. The breed has been criticised as not being prolific, but records from various parts of New Zealand tend to show that low lambing percentages may be the result of environment rather than heredity.

By 30 june 1965 the new zealand total was 53.6 million. (no further details available, august 1965 -ed.)

Cheviot

This breed developed in the Cheviot Hills of the border country between England and Scotland. On the hill-country farms of Scotland, Cheviot ewes mated to border rams produced the Scottish half-bred. The wether lambs are fattened, but the ewe lambs are carried over and eventually mated to various fat-lamb rams to produce fat lambs. The Cheviot fleece is fine, short in the staple, and very light in weight. The breed first arrived in new zealand in 1845, but the effective importations were made in 1857 and 1866. It enjoyed short-lived popularity in Southland but had almost disappeared by 1910. Just before 1940 two flocks were re-established, and during the 1940 experimental work carried out by Massey College on inferior hill country it was demonstrated that the Cheviot-Romney crosses could be useful under unfavourable grazing conditions. This led to increasing use of Cheviot rams in restricted suitable areas and also to the development of a new breed, the Perendale. The Cheviot has also been used as a fat-lamb sire, but results indicate the place of the breed is on the less favoured hill-country farms.

Southdown

The breed was developed on the South Downs of Sussex before 1800 and was the first of the improved “down-type” breeds. It is noted for its superbly developed mutton carcass and early maturity. The fleece is fine, short stapled, and very light in weight. The breed arrived in New Zealand in 1842, but it was not until 1863 that a persisting importation was made, though it was little used until after 1910. In 1920 there were still only 265 stud flocks and 59,000 ewes. By 1957, however, flocks had increased to 1,518 and ewes to 786,000, the result of an overseas demand for early maturing, lightweight lamb carcasses. It is at present a universal fat-lamb sire.

Ryeland

This is a down-type sheep bred in Hereford, England. The first importations did not arrive until 1902 and since then have continued in small numbers. The breed is intermediate in body size between the small Southdown and the large down-type breeds, such as the Suffolk.

Suffolk

This breed developed in Suffolk early last century by crossing Southdown rams with the local Norfolk horned ewes. It has big body size of mutton shape, but a light, fine, down-type fleece. It did not arrive in New Zealand until 1913 and thus missed the 1890–1910 period when the big fat-lamb sires were popular. It has persisted in small numbers.

South Suffolk

This is a new breed produced in Canterbury by interbreeding the progeny of Suffolk-Southdown crosses. The first flocks were recognised by the New Zealand Sheepbreeders' Association in 1940, and by 1958 there were 43 flocks and 2,200 ewes with full flock-book status, and 76 flocks and 4,400 ewes were still entered in the appendix. Body size is intermediate and the wool down type.

Dorset Down

Developed in Dorsetshire by mingling the Southdown with several other breeds, this is a true down type. It did not reach New Zealand until 1921, disappeared a few years later, was reintroduced in 1947, and still remains in small numbers.

Dorset Horn

This is a down-type, horned breed from Dorset. The ewes have the unusual characteristic (shared by the Merino) of a very long breeding season and, for this reason, will produce two crops of lambs in one year. Most of the British breeds are seasonal breeders and the ewes will mate only in the autumn. It was imported in 1897 and again in 1903, but had little attention given to it. A further importation in 1937 marked a period of breed increase, but numbers are still small. The recent use of polled rams developed in Australia may help to popularise the breed.

Hampshire Down

Another of the down-type breeds evolved by using Southdown rams on local ewes in Hampshire and the neighbouring counties, it is one of the biggest of the down-type breeds, but carries a light, fine fleece. The first importations arrived in 1863 and, although there were further importations during the eighties and later, the breed disappeared by 1903. It was reintroduced in 1951 and, since then, has attracted increasing interest.

Shropshire

A big-bodied, down-type breed developed in Shropshire, it arrived in Canterbury in 1863 and rapidly increased, but did not come into full use until after the export frozen-meat trade had begun. For 20 years (1885–1905) it competed with the Border Leicester in popularity as a fat-lamb sire, but both were gradually replaced by the southdown. A few small flocks are still maintained.

Border Leicester

Developed in the “border country” of England and Scotland by the use of the improved English Leicester on local Cheviot-type ewes, the breed is popular in scotland for crossing purposes. It was imported from 1859 onwards. It was used to mate to Merino ewes in competition with the English Leicester and Lincoln, but failed to become popular because of the light fleece clipped by the progeny. It was the dominant fat-lamb sire until 1910, but after that replaced by the Southdown. the breed has persisted in large numbers because of considerable exports to Australia (a market now closed to New Zealand breeders) and in recent years because of an increased use in hill-country flocks in an attempt to breed ewes which will produce more lambs. Border-Romney cross ewes in the North Island and Border-Corriedale cross ewes in the South Island have increased in recent years. High fertility is a strongly marked characteristic of the Border-Leicester breed. Along with the Shropshire, it was the size of the original “prime Canterbury” lamb.

English Leicester

This was the first of the British long-wool breeds to be improved; later it was used extensively in Britain to improve other local long-wool breeds. A true mutton-type sheep, growing a heavy fleece of long-stapled, coarse wool, it arrived in New Zealand in 1843 and was imported heavily for a long time. It was used freely to produce half-breds from Merino ewes and also as a fat-lamb sire. It continued in popularity until about 1910, but was then eclipsed by the rise of the Romney and the Southdown. A few flocks are still bred in Canterbury, the home of the breed in New Zealand.

Other breeds have from time to time appeared in New Zealand. Some remained for a few years without gaining a place in the industry, but all have disappeared without trace.

The Wensleydale (a Leicester type) was imported in 1894 and again in 1920; the Tunis, an American version of a North African breed and valued for carcass production in the United States, arrived in 1900, but failed to find a home; the Dartmoor (1864), the Roscommon (1904), and the Cotswold (1863) (three long-wool breeds showing Leicester influence), were made use of for a short time only; the Oxford Down (akin to the Shropshire) arrived too late in 1904; the Kerry Hill from Wales, a late arrival in 1937, remained restricted to one flock in Hawke's bay; while the fate of the Scotch Blackface (the only true mountain breed), imported in 1908, and the Chinese rams (whatever they were) which arrived in 1864, is unrecorded.

Association of Beef Cattle With Sheep Farming

The association of beef cattle with sheep farming is shown in the following table, which gives for each land district the beef-breeding cows, the number of steers per 100 beef cows, and the number of ewes per beef cow.

Important points from the table are:

1. South Auckland, Hawke's Bay, and Wellington all have more breeding cows than the whole of the South Island.

2. The small figure for steers per 100 cows in Gisborne. Gisborne is a breeding, not a fattening area, and supplies store cattle to Auckland, Hawke's Bay, and Wellington.

3. The high figure for steers per 100 cows, both in Hawke's Bay and in Wellington, shows that despite large breeding herds they import young store cattle from Gisborne.

4. The high ratio of ewes per breeding cow for the major South Island districts indicates the small use made of beef cattle. The light rainfall in Marlborough, Canterbury, and Otago, and the longer winter period in all districts, makes the need for beef cattle less urgent than in the North Island. Because of the relatively short period of vigorous pasture growth supplementary feeding is necessary during a considerable part of the year and this increases the cost of beef production.

Beef-cow numbers doubled between 1920–24 and 1950–54 periods, but the yearly output of beef carcasses fluctuated from 83,000, the average for the 1930–34 period, to 220,000, which was the average for the 1943–49 period. On the average about 54 per cent of the beef produced is exported, which compares with 94 per cent for lamb and 49 per cent for mutton. The value of beef, veal, and hides exported in 1963–64 was as follows:

It is important to remember that the dairy industry contributes to the meat, veal, and hides income. For the same year the export value of wool was £138,324,000; of lamb, £47,136,000; and of mutton, £6,398,000.

by Percival George Stevens, DIP.AGR., formerly Senior Lecturer in Animal Science, Lincoln Agricultural College.

Pioneering Era

It is of historical significance only that Captain Cook, on 20 May 1773, set ashore at Queen Charlotte Sound a ram and a ewe – the survivors of six sheep brought from Cape of Good Hope. The attempted introduction failed with the death of both sheep in a few days. Sheep were not successfully introduced until 60 years later. In 1834 Bell, on Mana Island (near Wellington), had 100 head, the missionaries at Waimate had some 200 in 1840, and at about the same time the whalers at Port Underwood (and probably other stations around the coastline) had unspecified numbers. These pioneers were not sheep farmers, but they had every inducement to introduce sheep, cattle, pigs, and poultry. The mild climate gave an abundance of suitable natural pasture and the pressing need for supplies of fresh animal products encouraged the introduction of domestic animals associated with the European environment.

The earliest pioneers had little interest in farming. But the farmers soon followed, and during the early 1840s pastoral farming began in Nelson, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Canterbury, and Otago. In 1843 C. R. Bidwill imported 1,600 sheep from Sydney. These were landed at Nelson, where half were sold and, of the remainder, about 350 were transhipped the following year to Wellington. Bidwill drove them along the coastline to Wairarapa and, at the Lake Ferry, met another flock owned by Clifford, Weld, and Vavasour. Three years later (1847) this trio, having heard from the whalers of open tussock country in the South Island, left Wairarapa. They obtained further shipments of some 3,000 sheep from Sydney and landed them at Port Underwood. After droving south along the coastline of Cloudy Bay to Cape Campbell for 19 days, they occupied (or “squatted”) the area which later became Flaxbourne, around the township of Ward. Meanwhile other flocks had been moving into Marl-borough over Tophouse (discovered by surveyor Cotterell in 1842) from the bush-clad Nelson area to the open, tussock-covered Wairau Valley. George Duppa moved both sheep and cattle from the Wai-iti Valley through Tophouse in 1844, but by 1849 he was only one of the 30 squatters in the Wairau. By 1850 both the Wairau and Awatere Valleys were regarded as fully occupied – at least for the time being — and the squatters were already looking for outlets for surplus sheep. Canterbury, with considerable areas of suitable open sheep, country, was the obvious choice, but it was not until 1852 that a practicable route through the mountains to the west of Kaikoura was discovered.

At that time there were already some sheep in Canterbury. The Deans brothers, who settled at Riccarton near Christchurch, brought their first shipment from Sydney in 1843; and in the following year the Greenwood brothers had a flock at Purau on Lyttelton Harbour. Further south at Waikouaiti in Otago, whaler-farmer Johnny Jones had a flock of 1,000 head in 1844. The pastoralists had arrived, and sheep numbers increased quickly so that by 1855 the national total had reached 763,000. During the 1860s the totals jumped from 2.8 million in 1861 to 4.9 million in 1864 and 8.4 million in 1867. During this time Canterbury and Otago each pastured about one-third of the colony's total flock. (Samuel Butler, who arrived in Christchurch in 1860, wrote at that time — “The all engrossing topic of conversation in Christchurch was sheep, horses, cattle, dogs, English grasses, paddocks, bush and so forth. I was amused at dinner by a certain sailor and others who maintained that the end of the world was likely to arrive shortly, the principal argument being that there was no more sheep country to be found in Canterbury. As for farming as we do in England, it is invariably agreed that it does not pay”.) The sheep population continued to increase and by 1880 had reached 13 million, of which 3.6 million were in Canterbury, 3.9 in Otago, 1.9 in Hawke's Bay, and 1.6 in Wellington.

Sheep Farming 1850–80 – The Wool Period

The 30–year period 1850–1880 encompasses the first phase in the development of New Zealand sheep farming. Sheep numbers increased rapidly by natural multiplication, with ewes lambing through most of the year. But it was the importations from Australia which contributed most during the 1850s and 1860s. There are only scattered references to these arrivals, but it is recorded that in 1864 some 13,000 sheep arrived in Canterbury from across the Tasman. In the same year 38,000 arrived overland from Nelson and Marlborough (which had about 800,000 between them) and 18,000 from Otago, where there were already more than a million sheep. At that time the Canterbury total had reached 1.5 million. The New Zealand pioneers were fortunate in having close at hand a readily available supply of a suitable breed of sheep. Because of recurring droughts in Australia, sheep could be bought at reasonable prices. Not only did Australian sheep arrive, but during the 1850–60 period many Australian squatters (disgruntled by the fickle rainfall) also sold or abandoned their properties and migrated to New Zealand. These men arrived with capital to invest, with experience in colonial farming, knowledgeable of the peculiar habits of the Merino sheep, and with whole-hearted support of a “squatting” policy of land tenure based on the occupation of large areas of grazing country at low rentals. They became known as the “Prophets” because they forecast failure for the small-area arable farm plans of the established settlements.

Early Breeds

The Australian importations were, almost without exception, the Merino breed, which had been noted through the centuries in its native Spain for producing a superfine fleece. By imposing an embargo on the export of sheep, Spain retained a monopoly of the then world supply of fine wool, and it was not until the early 1800s that the breed moved outside the country as a result of war. The first importation to Australia was from Cape Colony in 1798. These sheep were not only maintained as purebreds but were also crossed with the small hairy ewes which had arrived earlier from India and Cape Colony. The breed proved so suitable for Australian grazing conditions that the original importation was quickly reinforced with others from Europe, and by the time the New Zealand pioneer farmers needed sheep there were plenty in Australia.

The breed had the virtue of producing a high-quality superfine wool on scanty native herbage, and thus fitted neatly into the only means of pasture utilisation – wool production. That the body growth rate was slow and the carcass shape primitive was of little importance when there was no demand for meat. There were, however, other breed features which could be overlooked less easily. The ewes were not prolific breeders and produced only a few lambs; they had poorly developed maternal instincts and were indifferent milk producers, while the lambs were weakly and slow growing. During the 1850s and 60s small numbers of the various British breeds were entering the country and it was inevitable that experimental cross breeding with the Merino would follow. Two breeds, the long-stapled, coarse-woolled Lincoln and the English Leicester proved immediately successful for crossing with the Merino. The resulting progeny, the colonial half-bred, proved a superior sheep on all except the mountain pastures, but it was only partially successful in heavy rainfall areas or on the heavier soils where it was wet underfoot. The half-bred ewes were bigger than the Merino parents, grew faster, had an improved carcass shape, and grew a heavier fleece of wool intermediate for staple length and fineness between the long-stapled coarse Lincoln and Leicester and the short-stapled superfine Merino. The half-bred ewes produced more lambs, were better milkers, and better mothers. The success of the experimental crossing led to the wholesale conversion of the Merino population to half-bred. In the high rainfall areas the topcrossing with the long-wool rams (mainly Lincoln) proceeded through successive generations, producing three-quarter bred, crossbred and finally grade flocks of the long-wool type. This is what happened in the North Island, and by the early 1890s the northern sheep were almost all crossbred. In the light rainfall areas of the South Island, the crossing did not proceed beyond the first cross, half-bred type, but the resulting decline in Merino numbers led to the mating together of half-breds. This interbreeding of half-breds eventually led to the development of the Corriedale breed, which later received international recognition and distribution.

There are no figures available to show the rate at which the changes progressed, nor would it be possible to measure them accurately on a national scale. But an estimate of the breeding of the 17.5 million sheep about 1890 shows only 34 per cent Merino, 33 per cent Lincoln and crosses, 17 per cent Leicester and crosses, 7 per cent Romney Marsh and crosses, and only 9 per cent of the fat-lamb “down”-type crosses.

During the 1850–80 wool period sheep increased from 0.76 to 12.9 million; wool exports from 7.8 to over 60 million lb; and the wool income from £524,000 to £3,400,000. The country was fully stocked by the 1870s (at least for the time being) and surplus old sheep became an embarrassment. Boiling down for tallow and canning the best cuts for export gave some relief; but neither industry was ever on a sound footing and the returns at the best of times showed little profit.

There were four other factors which affected the developing industry during 1850–80:

Sheep Scab

The widespread incidence of sheep scab was caused by the mange parasite brought from Australia and quickly distributed by the large sheep movements taking place. In 1894, following a long series of ordinances which had stipulated inspection of flocks for infestation, the imposition of fines, compulsory dipping, and a sheep tax, the country was at last declared free from infestation. Meanwhile, many sheepmen had been ruined, many infested sheep had died, and in the Amuri County in 1884 some 20,000 infested and contact animals were destroyed.

Sex Ratio

There were changes in the sex-ratio composition of the flock. Because of her maternal responsibilities over a long period, the breeding ewe each year clips a lightweight fleece prone to some environmental faults (cot and break), which lower the market value of the wool. The sexless wether is the best wool grower. With wool the aim, wethers predominate, and the ewe flock is limited to the number needed to maintain the wether flock. Even by 1900, when the export meat trade was well established, there were 38 wethers per hundred ewes, compared with the present-day figure of six per hundred ewes.

Rabbits

These were deliberately introduced between 1840 and 1860, but it was not until late in the 1860s that they became well established in Otago and Southland. They then moved northwards to meet groups which had come south from Marlborough. The effects of the quick increase of rabbits affected the sheep industry in a spectacular way. In Otago sheep numbers at the Moa Flat station were reduced from 120,000 to 45,000, while in Southland, Castle Rock dropped from 50,000 to 20,000 head. By 1887 about one and a half million acres of land had been abandoned in the two provinces alone, while between 1875 and 1887 the Government lost over £315,000 in land rentals. Commercialisation of the rabbits coincided with the early invasions, and skins were exported during the early seventies, while carcasses were added when refrigeration became available. Although the peak years for the export of skins (17.6 million in 1894) and carcasses (6 million in 1901) were still in the future, incalculable damage to sheep-grazing areas had already occurred during the 1870s. Low prices for sheep products during the 1880s and 1890s served to stimulate rabbit commercialisation, and it was not until the Rabbit Destruction Council was set up in 1952 that the problem of total elimination was tackled nationally.

The Changing Environment

Introduced pasture species quickly replaced the native plants over large areas. Steep hills were burned over and surface sown, while downlands and plains were ploughed and sown down with grasses and clovers popular in the home districts of the pioneers. The changing pastures helped to hasten the decline of the Merino, a fastidious feeder, well satisfied by the herbs and fine grasses of the sparse native pasture. The gross-feeding Merino derivatives — half-breds and crossbreds – thrived on the coarse and bulky improved pastures and produced heavy fleeces of coarser wool which, even if worth less per pound (and this was not always the case) was at least equal in total fleece value.

The position of the sheep men at this time is well summarised by Acland, who wrote of the Canterbury sheep runs: “On the whole, runholding has not been much of a business in Canterbury. Scab ruined a lot of them in the fifties. Before the scab was cleaned up, speculators and settlers began buying up the best parts of the runs. Bad times in the Eighties ruined more runholders than scab had done and rabbits became a pest before the bad times had begun to get better; and the severe snow storms each used up several years' profits. Besides, hardly one of the early squatters (except the Prophets) had any sheep-farming experience at all. A few were natural sheep men who soon learned their business but the only-thing that saved any of the others was that competent Scotch managers and shepherds were more plentiful in the old days than they have ever been since”.

The Frozen-meat Period, 1880–92

The second phase in the development of sheep farming began with the successful marketing of a cargo of frozen mutton and lamb in London in May 1882. The sheep for this shipment came from the Totara Estate in Otago, owned by the New Zealand and Australian Land Co. Slaughtering and dressing were done on the sheep station and the carcasses railed to Port Chalmers and frozen aboard the sailing ship Dunedin. Loading started on 7 December 1881, but as the refrigerating machinery failed, the carcasses already stowed aboard were unloaded and sold locally. It was not until 11 February 1882 that loading was completed, and four days later the Dunedin sailed from Port Chalmers.

The success of this pioneering shipment encouraged other sheep owners to export carcasses on their own account, or to form exporting companies. Freezing aboard ship was soon replaced by the building of processing works in which both slaughtering and freezing were carried out. Some cargoes arrived in unsaleable condition and some, although in good order, sold at very low prices, but the pioneers of the trade persisted in their efforts. In 1882 some 30,500 carcasses, mainly mutton, were exported. By 1892 the total had reached 1.9 million, and by 1900 over 3 million. The early shipments were mainly mutton carcasses, but by 1900 lamb had established itself (1.9 million mutton carcasses and 1.3 million lamb carcasses) and it was not until 1905 that lamb, with 2 million carcasses, exceeded mutton, with 1.6 million carcasses. The industry was adjusting itself to produce a prime export lamb and 30 years of wool production were giving way to an era of meat and wool production. The development of the changed policy is well illustrated by the export figures for 1960–61. The mutton killings, mainly aged ewes, totalled 7.4 million, of which 2.9 million carcasses were exported; lamb killings reached 19.8 million, of which 18.3 million carcasses were exported.

During the first 20 years of the export trade, prices both for mutton and for lamb were variable, but generally low (3d. a pound in 1893), shipping freights were high (2½d. a pound on the sailing ships reduced to 1¾d. on the steamships), and total charges (transport and selling) were about 3d. per pound. Despite the low prices and high costs, the sheep industry would have been in an even worse plight without the overseas outlet for surplus animals. The pioneers thus persisted in their efforts to establish the trade.

Three-plane System of Production

The new trade completely changed the organisation, the production aim, and the breeding policy of the sheep industry. In a short time sheep farming developed a well defined three-plane or three-tier system of production. (1) The low-plane grazing country, the high country, where pasture production was sufficient only for sheep with a slow-growing carcass, primitive in development but with a fleece of superfine wool, remained the home of the Merino. Most of this country is in mountain regions of Marlborough, Canterbury, and Otago, and the flocks were made up of a high proportion of wethers. The mountain areas are isolated and the system of sheep farming is self-sufficient and is not related to the rest of the industry. (2) The medium-plane (or middle tier) country comprises the hill areas of both islands. This is the breeding country. The ewe flock is most important. The ewes, which are bred on the farm, pass into the breeding flock, where they remain for four or five years. They then leave the farm in the autumn and appear in the ewe fairs to be bought by fat-lamb breeders as “cast for age” (or “C.F.A.”) ewes. The wether lambs also pass through the saleyards each summer as store wether lambs and are bought by fatteners to be made ready for the processing works. The ewe lambs are retained on the farm and as “one shear” or “two tooth” ewes, they enter the flock to replace the old ewes cast for age. In the heavy rainfall hill regions the increasing use of Romney Marsh rams on the crossbred flock has produced a New Zealand grade commercial Romney. In the light rainfall areas, particularly in Marlborough, Canterbury, and Otago, the fine-wool, half-bred types have persisted, and led to the development of a new breed, the internationally famous Corriedale. The sources of income on hill farms include wool (mainly ewe fleece with some hogget wool), cast for age breeding ewes, store-wether lambs, and surplus ewe lambs, also store-beef cattle. (3) The high-plane (or top-tier) farms breed export lambs. Breeding ewes (mainly C.F.A. ewes) are bought in from the hill country each year and remain on the fat-lamb farm for two years before tooth deterioration leads to a final culling and dispatch to the freezing works. These ewes provide most of the mutton carcasses. Whatever the type of ewe on the fat-lamb farm – Romney, Romney crosses, Corriedale, or half-bred – they are mated to rams of one of the recognised fat-lamb breeds. Until the early years of the century the Border Leicester and Shropshire competed for popularity, with the former the most used. The Southdown gradually won support and has become the universal fat-lamb sire since 1920, because of the market demand for lightweight prime carcasses and the introduction of differential payments which penalised heavyweight lambs.

The following table shows the proportion of income in 1961 from various sources of the three main types of sheep farms:

Between 1895 and 1960 total sheep numbers increased from 19.8 million (of which 43 per cent were ewes) to 48.4 million (of which 70 per cent were ewes), while the breed composition of the national flock changed completely and is best illustrated by the breed proportions of the rams in use. This is given in the following table for the years 1900 and 1960.

(1) Not available in statistics until 1919.

(2) Included in other breeds.

The increase in total numbers resulted from the changing environment. By 1920 some 11 million acres had been surface sown in pasture and a further 5 million acres sown after cultivation. It was about this time that experimental topdressing with phosphatic fertilisers showed a way of increasing pasture production, and the era of grassland farming (as distinct from pasture-supported supplementary crops) began. By 1930 the experiments had been incorporated into farm practice, and in that year 42,600 tons of phosphate was spread over 1,410,000 acres. Some 107,000 acres received lime only, and 4,000 acres both lime and phosphate. For 1960 the comparable figures are 1,050,000 tons of phosphatic fertiliser used on 7,140,000 acres, a further 422,000 acres limed only, and 1,335,000 acres receiving both lime and phosphate, giving a total of 8,897,000 acres topdressed. Of this area 3,960,000 acres was spread by planes, an innovation which began in 1950 with seven planes distributing 5,000 tons over 49,000 acres.

Improved pasture production led to improved pasture use. Subdivision by fencing was necessary to keep more rigid control over the high-producing grasses and clovers. There are no figures available which allow this to be expressed in acres, but a sample five-year period (1945–49) shows that 50,000 tons of plain wire and 20,000 tons of barbed wire were imported, sufficient to build 50,000 miles of standard fence. The impressive change in the proportion of ewes in the total flock (43 per cent in 1895 to 70 per cent in 1960) illustrates the change in the breeding policy from wool to meat (fat lamb) plus wool. The ewe fleece is still an important consideration, but second to the prime fat lamb. Ewes provide the bulk of the mutton produced.

Sheep Population Today

In recent years there has been a steady increase in the sheep population of both Islands. Thus during the decade from 30 June 1953 to 30 June 1963 the total number of sheep increased by 38.7 per cent. At 30 June 1963 the number of breeding ewes was 34,988,968, and the total number of sheep was 50,190,284, with 27,011,903 (53.82 per cent) in the North Island, and 23,178,381 (46.18 per cent) in the South Island.

(1844–85).

Minister of the Crown.

A new biography of Sheehan, John appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

John Sheehan was born on 5 July 1844 at Auckland, the son of David Sheehan a carpenter who settled in Auckland during the early 1840s and later had a successful career in provincial politics. His mother, Ellen née Byrne, took an active part in charitable works, which made her name a household word among the citizens of Auckland. Sheehan was educated in Auckland and in 1862 was articled to the law with F. W. Merriman, the Crown Prosecutor. In the following year he served briefly as a sergeant in the Auckland Cavalry Volunteers. About this time he organised the Debating Society of the Auckland Catholic Institute and arranged for non-Catholics to take part in the society's activities. He was admitted to the Bar in 1867 and began practising on his own account, soon specialising in native lands cases. Sheehan spoke Maori fluently and gained a thorough understanding of the Maori character and customs. His first important brief was the famous Orakei Land Claim, and his handling of this earned him immense mana among the Maoris.

In 1869 Sheehan was elected to the Auckland Provincial Council. In December 1870, after helping to defeat Gillies' Executive, he took office as Secretary for the Goldfields. He remained on the Provincial Executive until May 1875, when parliamentary duties began to claim more of his time, for on 16 March 1872 he had been elected member for Rodney in the House of Representatives. This gave him the honour of being the first New Zealand born member to enter Parliament. As a confirmed provincialist he soon showed that the qualities which had carried him to prominence in provincial politics gave him even greater scope in Parliament. These, together with his expert knowledge of procedure, his skill as a tactician, and his ability as an organiser, proved invaluable to his party during the uncertain sessions following the abolition of the provinces, and he was principally responsible for engineering the majority which confirmed Grey in power in 1877. Sheehan was assigned the Justice and Native Affairs portfolios in the new Ministry and his subsequent successes with the “King” tribes at Hikurangi and Waitara, together with his diplomatic handling of the disaffected Maoris on the West Coast, showed that Grey's choice was a wise one. At the 1879 elections Grey and Sheehan were returned unopposed for Thames. After the defeat of the Ministry, Sheehan attended Parliament intermittently and, for several years, concentrated on his Native Lands Court practice. About 1875 he secured several important briefs from the Hawke's Bay tribes, which necessitated his moving to Petane. His great influence among the Maoris was revealed several years later when the famous Hawke's Bay chief, Karaitiana Tokomoana, appointed Sheehan chief executor of his estate and guardian of his son. In July 1884 he contested the Napier seat unsuccessfully, his opponent being J. D. Ormond; in May 1885, however, he was returned at the Tauranga by-election, but died before he could take his seat.

On 14 January 1882, at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland, Sheehan married Lucy Caroline, daughter of George Young, of Mahurangi. There were no children. Sheehan died at Petane on 12 June 1885 and was buried at Auckland.

From the outset of his political career Sheehan favoured free, secular, and compulsory education and in this matter did not hesitate to speak against the policy of his own church. Sheehan was an accomplished man culturally, played a number of musical instruments and spoke several languages fluently. Concurrently with his parliamentary career, he made his mark as a political journalist, and his pungent leading articles were published in many of the colony's newspapers. In Parliament he was an able debater and was considered one of the best speakers of his day, while his gift for repartee came to be appreciated by friend and foe alike. In the days when members of Parliament were expected to draw up their own Bills, Sheehan proved to be a quick and accurate draftsman; irrespective of party, he never hesitated to help members who had good ideas but lacked the power of expressing them clearly on paper. After he died the Waikato Times wrote: “In the House he commanded the attention of Members to an extent that few young men have done…. He has gone now. Let men be careful how they criticise him. Whatever faults may have been his they were never of the heart. Many a man can say with truthfulness that John Sheehan gave him a helping hand when none other was near to help”.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• N.Z.P.D., Vol. 51, 16 Jun 1885 (Obit)
• Thames Advertiser, 13 Jun 1885 (Obit)
• Waikato Times, 16 Jun 1885 (Obit)
• Evening Post, 13 Jun 1885 (Obit)
• Sir George Grey, K.C.B., Rutherford, J. (1961)
• Settlers in Depression, Norris, H. C. M. (1964).