Chapter 2 - Ernest Cecil Wright - Husband of Rose

Above: Cecil and Rose Wright with family 1938

From Left: Patricia - b. 1929 - d. 2000, Cecil - b. 1900 - d . 1972, Euan - b. 1920 - d. 2003, Bill - b. 1925 -, Rose - b. 1900 - d. 1992, Norma - b. 1923 - d. 2003

Cecil was born at Burnham and in 1911 moved to Willowbridge with his parents. From 1920 to 1952 he farmed at Waihao Downs (Pine Grove). In 1952 he moved to Table Hill near Elephant Hill. He was a prominent citizen in the Waimate and South Canterbury districts known for his many years of service to Young Farmers' Clubs, farming and many other local organisations

Initially Cecil was an agricultural contractor, and then he acquired a chaff cutter which he worked in with Eddie Cromie, a neighbour's son. When that partnership ended he acquired a tin mill, a Stationary threshing machine, belt-driven off any tractor over 30 hp (the two-ton was only 18 hp but had good torque as it had over square cylinders which were round but with a bore of 5" and a stroke of 4".

The threshing mills driven by the traction engine were of timber construction with a broad wooden elevator to disperse the threshed straw. The tin mill was steel framed with galvanized panels and had a steel tube for dispersing the blast assisted straw to be taken away from the mill.

The uncut sheaves were fed into the tin mill where the peg drum soon pulled them apart, whereas the wooden mill had a man called the feeder that cut the string binding the sheaves and dribbled the grain-bearing straw into the bar loaded drum. If the straw was light as a result of the grain being knocked off by the notorious nor-westerlies that could cause massive losses as the grain dried. It was on one of these occasions that Keith Turner, who was feeding Jim Urquhart's mill was pushing the straw into the feed with his foot and he over-balanced and got drawn into the machine. He lost his leg and was very lucky not to loose both legs and, indeed, his life. - There was no OSH in those days.

After 1957 there were no wooden or tin mills operating. All harvesting was done by header Harvesters or combines - in the United States jargon - There is an article in the Waimate Advertiser of 20 July 1957, noting the passing of the wooden threshing mills. Coincidentally this was printed beside an article reporting on Cecil's involvement with the young Farmers' Club and the newly formed Farm Safety Association.

The statement that Cecil was the first farmer to drive a crawler tractor was not correct, but he was the first to own and drive a Caterpillar Crawler tractor on general farm work. The other Caterpillar two-ton went to Seifert's at Shannon in the North Island where it was used for pulling flax to the skatching machine at the Mirinui mill actually crossing under the North Island Main Trunk Railway line and what is now State Highway 57 the Levin to Palmerston North Road via Shannon.

Photo at left:

Ploughing match at Stewart Meyers Farm.

Johnny Halls 22 Cat. HF plow (now in the Waimate museum).

There were 57,000 acres of flax in that part of the Manawatu but subsequent drainage development and flood control caused the demise of the flax industry. Now there is some dairy farming but the largest area of the land is in potatoes on what is claimed to be the No.1 potato growing area in New Zealand. Dairy farms of 80 acres were set up for rehab soldiers after World War II, but these have been amalgamated and there are no small dairy farms left.

Studholme -Willowbridge were also claimed to be a No.1 potato growing district but with the development of the new dairy factory at Studholme dairying has taken over. Even Waiherunga, that hilly country that Cecil ploughed in 1930 has been changed to dairying.

In 1945, after being interviewed by Herbie Caselberg, Cecil was approved as a suitable employer of Rural Field Cadets. Cecil's son, Bill, was the first cadet, spending 15 months there, followed by Murray Findlater and then came Kerry Mayo, whose laid back attitude did not fit in with Cecil's work ethic. About that time five of Cecil's farmer clients bought themselves crawler tractors which became available after the war. Also daughter Patricia, a Karitane nurse returned from her O.E. and she mixed nursing and farming until in 1968 she married Ron Goodson and they took over the farm then Cecil wife Rose retired to Waimate.

Cecil was largely responsible for the formation of the Arno Young Farmers' Club in 1946. He was elected senior advisory member, a position he held until 1972. In 1947 he was elected senior advisory member of the Waimate District Committee Young Farmers' Club, and an advisory member delegate to the Canterbury Council Young Farmers' Club. He was always very active in both these positions and held them until 1972. He took a very keen interest in the young farmers from Lincoln Agricultural College and was always willing to help and give advice whenever needed and always prepared to draw on his own depth of knowledge and experience. He was very involved in the Safety, Driving and Handling of Heavy Machinery, being National Farm Safety Officer for the Young Farmers' Club for many years from 1957.

In 1965 Cecil was made a Life Member of the Waimate District Committee Young Farmers' Club, in recognition of the service he had rendered to the organisation and for the continued activity in the Young Farmers' Club movement. In 1968 he was elected Patron of the NZ Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs, a position he jointly held with the then Governor-General and the Dominion President of Federated Farmers.

Cecil had a long association with ploughing competitions and he was a foundation committee member of the Waimate District Committee YFC Ploughing Match Association which was formed in 1947. He continued in this position until the Association withdrew from the NZ Ploughing Assoc. (Inc) in 1969 due to lack of support from the general public. This attitude was soon turned around with the introduction of the Atlantic Silver Plough Competition.

In 1928 Cecil bought a two-ton Caterpillar tractor which replaced the Holt crawlerand was the first of its kind in the South Island. A second Caterpillar two-ton came to Seiferts at Shannon, they had the Miranui mill next to 58,000 acres of flax on the Opiki, now the No.1 potato growing area in New Zealand. Being expert in ploughing and cultivation Cecil gave many ploughing demonstrations. He taught his youngest son, Bill, to plough when Bill was 12 years of age. Bill entered the annual Morven Ploughing Competition in 1945 and won his first ploughing competition. He was to win this event four more times.

Photo at left shows the Fargo truck used to transport the TD6 tractor - sideways - to and from jobs.

Cecil became a ploughing contractor the two-ton being the motive power until 1935. The land around the Waihaorunga and Morven districts was hilly and undulating and Cecil would plough and cultivate the land for the local farmers. In 1954 son Bill had a property at Hunterville in the North Island and the tractor was sent there on the Scow. It stayed there for the next 30 years and in 1984 Bill donated it to the Waimate Agricultural Museum to be restored. The tractor is still at the museum together with the four-furrow plough.

In May 1951 Cecil was appointed by the Government to the Canterbury Lands Settlement Committee. He was also a member of Federated Farmers for more than 25 years; President of the Waimate Branch in 1951-52; Member of the South Canterbury Federated Farmers' Executive for 15 years; Provincial President 1963-64; President of the Arno Miniature Rifle Club for 44 years; Member of the Waihao Downs Tennis Club since 1934; President of the Waihao Tennis Association from 1934 to 1948; a member of the Arno Soldiers' Memorial Hall Committee for 21 years; a member of the Waihao Downs School Committee for 10 years.

Cecil was a sound, capable farmer who kept abreast of modern trends in arable farming, stock husbandry and general farm administration. His practical life-time experience combined with sound, mature judgment which he could express in lucid, fluent, self-effacing language inspired the Young Farmers' members to have respect for and confidence in all the advice and help Cecil gave them over so many years.

In 1950 he imported the first purpose-built hillside combine. It had a 16ft. Cutter bar and could operate on slopes up to 45degrees whilst keeping the grain extraction paddles perfectly level.

After his early experience with erosion and loss of top soil through continual ploughing, Cecil changed to using a grubber (or cultivator) thus avoiding the smooth plough sole which allowed the top soil to wash into the gullies and then the streams and thus be lost to farming. Ultimately he would cultivate and crop approximately 500 acres of hill country and the only land that was ploughed was after a cash crop (wheat or barley) when the residue straw was ploughed in to rot and provide humus for the next crop. All cultivation was on the contour to conserve moisture and reduce run-off.

Cecil did an agricultural course at Waitaki Boys' High School and two of his farming "Bibles" as he called them, were "Ploughman's Folly" by Ed Faulkner and the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) account of how the TVA reduced soil loss and flooding in the Mississippi.

In the 1950's Cecil regularly entered specially selected lambs for the Canterbury Fat Lamb competition. The lambs were killed and dressed and displayed on hooks. The Competition was held alternately at Smithfield near Timaru, (not London) and Pareora (south of Timaru) Cecil consistently received high places. He often gained First Place which then entailed the selected lambs being shipped as frozen carcasses to the Smithfield Market in England for final judging against lambs throughout New Zealand. I cannot remember how they were placed

When I was in my early teens I realized that the 206 acres of Pinegrove would not support a family and I suggested to my father we could run a sheep stud. His reply was that it was a precarious source of revenue though he must have changed his mind 30 years later when he set up the Dorset Down stud.

As time went on there was a resistance against the fat lambs from New Zealand because of the waste incurred removing fat from the lean meat either before cooking or after it had been cooked and dished up.

I left the Waihao Downs in 1955 and purchased a mixed dairy and sheep farm at Hunterville, and I did not know which direction Dad's thinking had taken. Then in 1965 he asked me to accompany him to Victoria, Australia where he bought more than 30 Dorset ewes from Studs that were closing down. He brought the ewes back to NZ and put his top Southdown rams over them. The Australian ewes were very gaunt and leggy having suffered drought conditions all their lives. The progeny showed promise in getting away from the compact, over fat lambs. From this breeding programme "Table Hill South Dorset Down Stud" evolved. These were not the original Dorset Downs but from Dorset ewes.

About this time another farmer from North Canterbury had bought in Dorset ewes and he and Cecil were able to exchange cross bred rams to lift the new cross breed to new heights of popularity but this has been superseded by higher fertility (higher lambing percentages ). Stock, such as Finnish Landrace, Polwarth etc, had been imported but they required intensive shepherding because of the high lambing percentage, as high as 180% with a high percentage of triplets.

For over 35 years Cecil exercised considerable influence over the agricultural, pastoral. Spiritual, sporting and social life of the Waimate District and in some fields beyond this district. His prominence in the YF movement from its early days was nationally known and his influence gave strength to the growth of the YFC organization. No individual did more or accomplished so much for the YFC's in the Waimate District.

In recognition of his wonderful and devoted service he was awarded the Member of the British Empire medal in the Queen Elizabeth II New Year's Honours List of January 1st, 1972. This honour was bestowed in Wellington New Zealand. Tragically Cecil lost his life in a car accident at Glenavy in May 1972, aged 72 years, only two weeks after his investiture. A car driven by a local farmer who had also been a member of the Arno Miniature Rifle Club for 44 years, collided with Cecil's car at a Give Way at Glenavy. How ironical being killed because he did not put on a safety belt, one of the simplest safety procedures. There was no broken glass in either car so it was not an horrendous crash.