"CYBIL.**
IMPORTATION OF CATTLE.
STORY OF THE EARLY SET-BACKS.
The health and condition of the cattle have been dominating factors in the operations of the Dairy Farm, and the story of the Company's early misfortunes can only excite wonder that success was ever attained. Those who are in any way acquainted with the difficulties of securing a constant yield of milk all the year round from the same herd of cows, when reinforce- ments can only be obtained after a long sea voyage entailing much risk, must be quite amazed at the tremendous task performed by the Company in the face of its succession of disheartening happenings. Infectious diseases, climatic conditions, stall feeding, the high cost of imported animals, serious loss on sales of useless animals all have combined, with their separate anxieties and problems, to make definite progress a matter of extreme difficulty. It should be noted that fully one-third of the deaths among the stock are caused by rinderpest; also that the average useful life of a cow is but from three to four years. These facts alone create a difficult problem.
The following table, prepared from statistics kept since the reconstruc- tion of the Company in 1896, is informative:-
Animals bought Calves kept
Abortions
1,289
3,882
1.204
Calves sold Deaths
1,831
1.403
LE
I AM A DAIRY Cow. My name is CYBIL. My master says I AM "IN THE HEIGHT OF FASHION, WELL POLISHED AND GOOD TO LOOK UPON. Being the
FOSTER MOTHER OF THE HUMAN RACE" I pay no heed to his flattering twaddle. My business is to eat grass, silage, hay, straw, grain, cakes and roots and convert these into MILK, BUTTER AND FAT-NATURE'S MOST PERFECT FOOD. Last year I was exceedingly busy producing milk. It was very trying during the warm months but I hope to do the same this year along with my sisters. I am sure you appreciate the good we do in producing more ECONOMICAL HUMAN FOOD than any other animal on earth. We shudder and tremble when we hear a harsh word, but, oh, how happy and comfortable we feel when a kind word is whispered or a caressing pat is given us. USE MORE OF THE VALUABLE FOOD WE PRODUCE. Treat us kindly and we serve you well.
The first lot of cows imported from America in 1886 proving to be practically worthless the Company had to borrow funds from the then directors to purchase other animals. Happily, these turned out to be more useful than the initial batch. After this, small shipments of cattle were obtained periodically from America until the spring of 1893.
In that year
the herd was insufficient to cope with the now greater call for the Company's milk, and the directors decided to send the manager to Australia to purchase more stock. Sixty-three head were bought. Forty-three of the animals were shipped on the S/S "Airlie," owned by Messrs. Gibbs, Bright & Co., Sydney, whose local agents are Messrs. Gibb, Livingston & Co. The "Airlie" encountered a typhoon when crossing the China Sea between Manila and Hong Kong, where many another good ship has had a stormy passage, and but precariously won through. This, of course, was bad for the live stock. The ship's commander, Captain Ellis, did everything that he could to save them, but with little success. The heavy seas broke over the deck, smashed the stalls, and washed the cattle down the alley-ways. Only
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