Tribulations of Dairymen

in BSI

ON one of its trips to the Solomons from Auckland, NZ, two years ago, the former Tank

Landing Ship Rawhiti (since sold to Peru) carried a consignment of dairy cattle for Methodist Mission stations.

That dairyfarming in BSI is not all plain sailing can be seen from extracts from the report of the Rev.

A. W. E. Silvester, who, with his wife, has been on Vella Lavella for 18 years—they intend to retire this year.

Mr. Silvester says: “There have been deaths among the cattle, but we have lost none by alligators.

The young stock have settled in much better than the old, but three mysterious deaths from poisoning have caused us much worry.

“The Department of Agriculture in BSI rules out poisoning from plants as most unlikely, but we are sending two plants for inspection to enable us to secure final authority.

There has been natural increase in our dairy cattle to offset our losses, so that the numbers remain the same.

“Three young heifers have been sent to Choiseul Island. Miles of fencing have been erected so that the cattle cannot get into native gardens.

“At the mission we have a good supply of fresh milk, although yield is not comparable with that of cows on NZ pastures.”

Among recent visitors to BSI for the Methodist Mission golden jubilee celebrations was Mr. P.

Rushton, an experienced dairy farmer from the Waikato district of NZ. He was able to give mission staff helpful hints about the management of the cattle.