CO129-473 - Individuals - 1921 — Page 328

MR. JAMES WALKER.

LATE MANAGER.

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MR. A. STEVENSON, SINCE APPOINTED MANAGER

Mr. JAMES WALKER, Manager.

Father of the Dairy

If to Sir Patrick Manson belongs the title of Farm Company, on Mr. James Walker may well be conferred the title of 'Foster Mother." The Dairy Farm has been Mr. Walker's child for thirty years. He found it struggling through the difficult and uncertain period of babyhood and with the tender natural aptitude and professional skill of a true foster mother he nursed it to health and sturdy maturity.

It is no more than a coincidence that Mr. Walker belongs to the same part of the world as Sir Patrick Manson-Aberdeenshire. Son of Mr. James Walker, farmer, West Side, Kildrummy, he was brought up to cattle in a famous cattle breeding country. Long before the School of Agriculture was started in Aberdeen, Mr. Walker had the honour, two years in succession, of being nominated by the educational authorities of the county to attend special lecture courses on Agriculture at the University of Aberdeen. He had been nominated a third time when chance brought him the opportunity to proceed to Hong Kong. A tip from a friendly neighbour and a desire to see the world influenced him, at the age of twenty-five, to accept a position with the Dairy Farm Company. Just prior to launching upon his new career, however, he spent a term with the Aylesbury Dairy Company, in London. His object was to obtain a thorough understanding of dairy methods on a larger scale than he had been accustomed to, and the ex- perience subsequently proved of the greatest value. Mr. Walker arrived in Hong Kong in February, 1890. On his first impressions he prefers to draw a veil. The language difficulty was a great handicap, and his chief care at the outset was to acquire a working knowledge of Chinese. His appoint- ment as Manager came two years later. By steady and painstaking applica- tion Mr. Walker mastered the manifold mysteries of cattle-keeping, disease fighting and successful dairying on the barren rock of Hong Kong. As the Dairy Farm developed he surrounded himself with a loyal and highly efficient staff, without whose assistance, to quote himself, the monumental success achieved by the Company to-day could never have been.

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