More Info →Cheslyn Rise article Horowhenua Chronicle 22 March 1910

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Description: CHESLYN RISE

New Zealand has for a long time occupied a premier position in the agricultural countries of the world, and within recent years, owing to its natural productiveness, and backed by an enterprising and persevering farming community and a progressive government, the country, from an agricultural point of view, has advanced "by leaps and bounds." Possibly no district has come to the front more rapidly and with more abiding evidences of permanent success than Levin, and this may be mainly attributed to the fact that it has attracted to its countryside some of the most stable elements in the agricultural communities not only of the Dominion, but of the Old Country beside. Prominent among the men who, by dint of hard, unremitting toil, working laboriously day in and day out, have achieved success may be mentioned without fear of criticism, Mr W. G. Adkin, of Cheslyn Rise, Levin.

THE FARM.
His farm is one of the best managed in the North Island, and his charming residence is picturesquely situated at the extreme end of Queen street—2 miles from the Post Office. Mr Adkin belongs to an old English agricultural family. His great grandfather, his grand father, and father, were all substantial farmers in one of England's prettiest counties—Leicester. He came to NW Zealand in 1882, with the express purpose of farming. But he did not engage in agriculture at once. As a matter of fact he started business in Wellington and confined himself for the first few years wholly and solely to his then avocation. Twenty-one years ago this week, the first sale of land for the block took place, and Mr Adkin was one who got a section in the first sale. As a start he acquired 100 acres, but by degrees bought other sections, and today he holds 545 acres of magnificent pasture land. Of course the country at the time presented an extremely different aspect from what it does to-day. Then it was covered with a very thick, dense hush, and some of the trees that had to be cleared ranged from four to eight feet in thickness. He started clearing the place, and arduous and trying as clearing work always is, he succeed in removing some most obstinate growth, and to-day, with the exception of a small area which is preserved for ornamentation, the estate is as free from bush as the best cultivated farm in the Old Country. Mr Adkin's specialty now is fattening lambs. He considers, in his case, it is the most profitable, and that in the process of time it is likely to be more profitable. He works on the most approved up-to-date lines, though he modestly admits that much of the success that has attended his efforts is the result of years of patient application and experience. For fattening purposes he simply lays down from 15 to 30 acres per annum of the best English grasses. But he is not stopping there. He is top-dressing this with chemical manures, and his experience in the matter has been eminently satisfactory. Farmers who have not experimented to any extent in this direction would do well to communicate with the owner of Cheslyn Rise; an interchange of ideas could not but be profitable to both parties. As a practical illustration of the success of what Mr Adkin is doing in the matter of top-dressing, it might be mentioned that in his opinion ten acres of well grassed top-dressed grazing land is of more value than 30 acres of the ordinary, old surface sown pastures. Mr Adkin has reduced his Romney flock of sheep for breeding purposes to 1000, as he is now devoting his attention particularly to fattening. He is enthusiastic over his system, from which he anticipates even greater results than he is already achieving. "But," he added in the course of an interview with a "Chronicle" representative, "we are only in the infancy of things yet, we have a lot to learn, and it is experience that tells." This season's wool has already been shipped to London, where a good market is promised. Mr Adkin thinks Levin a magnificent pasture growing country. This year farmers had a splendid season, the warm rains that fell earlier in the year giving the finishing touch to one of the best summers he has known. So far as the cultivating of roots is concerned, nothing to a large extent is attempted, though portion of the land produces a plentiful crop of swedes and rape for fattening purposes. At the rear of the house lies the woolshed. This is a large airy building, erected with all the latest improvements, and one, on passing through it, cannot but be struck with its extremely clean condition. Hard by is the concrete dip five feet six inches deep. No less than 10,000 sheep, belonging to the owner of Cheslyn and neighbours, have been immersed in it in one season alone. The estate also boasts of some first-class cattle branding yards, and sheep drafting yards, a repairing shop, a house for a married couple, and other conveniences to go to make up a well-appointed farm.

THE HOMESTEAD.
As has already been mentioned Cheslyn Rise and its gardens are most picturesquely situated. The house is reached by a drive a quarter of a mile in length from the main road, and is flanked on either side with a mixed avenue of trees with wide sweeps of verdant greem. Of stone-coloured body ground, picked out with dark olive, and with red roof, Cheslyn Rise stands out prominently, and from the lawns a magnificent panorama unfolds itself. On one side is the great range of mountains that sweep along from Wellington, and all around is a splendid pastoral country. Far away in the distance—l00 miles— towers up mighty Ruapehu, with its snowclad and in the serenity of the west one catches a glimpse of Mount Egmont. From the balconies seven distinct views of Horowhenua Lake may be seen, while wooded and well watered country fills the intervening space. Mr Adkin has had considerable experience in the cultivation of trees for purposes of ornamentation, and he has certainly succeeded in making Cheslyn Rise "a thing beautiful."

He specially recommends for dwarf ornamental trees the retinospera, which is a Japanese dwarf cypress tree. It grows in profusion on his lawns and in many varieties—gold and amber, and pale and dark green more particularly. He has planted specimens of Indian cedars, as well as the monkey puzzle, and paulonia imperialis. The pampas, which is just coming into its winter fronds, is very beautiful. Of the trees of larger growth there is the lawsoniana, which is about the finest for shelter and ornamentation. Another beautiful tree is the cryptomeria elegans. The best deciduous ones for planting, Mr Adkin avers, are the oriental plane and the sycamore, and those in his gardens are particularly fine specimens. In addition, he has an excellent display of weeping willows, oaks and palms, and he is growing for timber the thorny acacia. Cheslyn boasts of a fine apple orchard, a walnut orchard and a quince orchard, and a considerable area of beautiful native bush is preserved on the east side of the house. Altogether Cheslyn Rise from whatever point of view one may regard it, is an ideal farm, and men like its owner are a most valuable asset not only to Levin, but to New Zealand in general.