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| Alex Henderson |
Alex
Henderson was born on the family farm, called ‘Barelees’ near Forde in Northumberland, 30 miles
from the Scottish Border where he worked as a shepherd for four years after he
left school. To earn some money, as farmers’ sons only got their keep but never
proper wages, he went to work for six months on the dairy farm run by the
Edinburgh University Veterinary School, milking their herd of 40 Ayrshire cows.
He
didn’t like the dormitory arrangements living with the young students, so he got
a job at Market Weighton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, on a farm milking a
herd of Jersey cows.
Alex
was 24 by this time, and had a desire to travel. Canada was a possibility, but a friend who had moved there
advised him to go elsewhere, as the winters were cold resulting in long periods
without work.
Herd testers needed in NZ
While
in Yorkshire he saw an advertisement in the British Farmers Weekly for herd
testers in New Zealand. He put in
an application which was successful, subject to the required health tests which
he had in Leeds. All went well,
and when he wrote home to tell the family that he was leaving for New Zealand,
he had the one and only letter from his father (which he still has) asking if
he realised how far away he was going!
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| The Captain Cook |
Farewell from Glasgow
So on July 13 1954, Alex set sail from
Glasgow for New Zealand on the ‘Captain Cook’ with 1000 immigrants aged 17-30,
segregated on board, with females forward and males aft. But Alex remembers that this didn’t
stop them having a good trip!
There
were 42 other single men going to New Zealand as herd testers, all of them from
farming backgrounds. They all had
a memorable voyage, sailing from the Atlantic into the Pacific via the Panama
Canal, and a memorable stop at Pitcairn, where the ship stood off while the
visiting passengers were landed in longboats.
Wellington arrival
They
arrived in Wellington at 8am on 17 August 1954, with only those going to local
jobs being allowed off the ship. Those going North had to remain on board till 4pm
when it was time to board the ‘overnight limited stopping train’ to head north
leaving at 6pm. Alex said that the
authorities must have taken this precaution incase any new arrivals did a
runner. Alex remembers that the train was packed, and it was a fight at stops
like Taumarunui where passengers were got off to get a pie and cup of tea
before the train moved on.
The biggest
group of future herd testers got off at Frankton Junction to work for the
Auckland Herd Improvement Association, but Alex and his six herd testing mates
stayed on the train for Auckland, arriving there at 6pm on Friday 18th
August.
They
were allowed a day to recover, spending a night crammed into small hotel, and finally
arrived by bus at Whangarei to be met by Mr Taylor who had arranged their
accommodation in a local boarding house.
Start work in Northland
Because
the herd-testing season had already started in Northland a few weeks before the
new staff arrived, there were no jobs available, so Alex and the others got
work on local dairy farms. Alex worked on a farm at Kaiwaka where part of the
condition of employment was that he had the morning off when the herd tester
arrived, to get some practice using a pipette to learn how to suck up (by
mouth!) Sulphuric acid and amyl alcohol for the Gerber butterfat test, and see
what was involved in the process.
Kawakawa
Alex
stayed on that farm until the 1st of November, when a herd testing
vacancy became available at Kawakawa.
He was met there by a supervisor and taken to a farm for the first night
to start testing where the 30 cows all had names. He tested the herd evening
and morning, and had his work checked by the supervisor who had also stayed on
the farm. He decided Alex was competent so was to be on his own.
Horse and cart
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| Horse and cart ready for the day's action |
Alex
collected his horse, cart with rubber wheels, and all the gear needed, before he
went on his way to the next farm. The gear included buckets, lids, a hand-cranked
centrifuge, Sulphuric acid and amyl alcohol in large containers, butyrometer
tubes for fat testing, scales, bottles for samples, crates and much more. A
cover was provided for all this gear in the cart, but not for the driver Alex said.
After the first test on his own, Alex was told not to tip the next morning’s milk as the supervisor returned to check the work. Everything was found to be in order, so he was given a map and list of 26 farms for the month. He never saw a supervisor for the next 2 years, and only contacted him by phone if necessary. As it was November, Alex worked through until December 23rd, and then had time off until January 3rd. From then on, work was continuous until the end of March as February was a short month.
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| Walk-through milking shed |
Walk-through sheds
Milking
was done in double-up walk-through sheds, and on his first farm there were 120
Jersey cows to be milked and recorded.
This was a much bigger farming operation than Alex had worked on in
England, and he said that he was amazed at the large amount of milk produced
which had to be weighed, sampled and tested for butter fat night and morning
with the two tests added together.
The
milk was separated on the farm, where the cream went to the factory and the
skim milk was fed to pigs, which were kept on all dairy farms and added greatly
to their income.
Alex
says he worked one week each month on a back block at Mototau with no
telephone, and sometimes no power, so the herd was milked by hand. These were
mostly Maori farms and again, and Alex said they couldn’t do enough for you –
welcoming the tester into their home and Alex was treated as one of the family.
He worked in the Kawakawa group for 2 years which stretched from Towai in the
south to Kaikohe in the north, Kawakawa being the centre.
Challenges of roads and weather
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| Transport challenges facing herd testers |
Alex
said it was mostly metal roads and has travelled them since by car wondering
how he did it, but others were similarly employed. There were floods in the
spring and droughts in the summer. Alex’s largest herd was 120 and the smallest
20 cows – all of them making a living and raising a family. It was the people
he met who made the job.
Alex
left herd testing to work on a dairy farm at Maromaku, (near Towai) for two years
– again, the family made the job so satisfying, and treated me as their immigrant
son. He remained in contact with them during all his years in NZ, spending
every Christmas with them, and now continues in contact with their extended
family.
Alex remembers
the home-made pikelets for afternoon teas, and he knew that once he started on
his round of 26 farms, he’d have 25 roast dinners ahead of him for the
month. Some farmers took the
opportunity when the herd tester arrived for them all to go to the movies in
the local town. One night he
remembers telling the farmer’s wife who was helping with the milking that he
was going to the movies at 7.30 with a neighbouring farmer. So she rushed home
to cook an early tea, and even ran a hot bath for him!
No TV
There
was no TV in those days, so Alex played cards every night, with 500 being the most
popular game. The farmers and
their families always enjoyed a bit of new company so there were plenty of late
nights. Herd testers were a key
part of the farming community and their social life included most events
including Christmas parties. Lifelong friendships were made.
Alex
did two seasons at Kawakawa and then worked on farms before going back on the
Rangitoto to England in 1958 for one year, returning to New Zealand on the
Rangitani in May 1959 where he got a job as a builder’s labourer at Pukekohe
for six weeks.
Alex
then started herd testing again on the 1 August in the Pukekohe Group where he
did 1959/60 in Pukekohe, 1960/61 in Pokeno/Mangatauwhiri, 1961/62 in Orini,
1962/63 in Te Kawa, 1963/64 in Piopio, and 1964/65 in Waihi. Alex said that he certainly saw a real variety of sheds and
farmers – all of whom provided memorable hospitality.
Herringbone sheds
When
Alex left for the UK in 1965 there were no herringbone sheds, but by the time
he returned in 1966 there had been massive changes away from walk-through to
herringbone sheds. Herringbone milking sheds had been developed at Gordonton,
and had become very popular and made the job of milking and herd testing much
easier for all involved. They spread rapidly through the country and after
1979, Alex noted big changes where herds were increasing in size; farmers
could no longer make a good living from 20-120 cows on a 100-acre farm.
After
Alex returned to New Zealand in 1966, he returned to the Mark family in
Ngaruawahia (where he’d had a base since 1959) and worked for the Hurricane
Wire Company in Te Rapa, Hamilton. During this time he met Ken Stone of the
Auckland Herd Improvement Association in Hamilton at the Te Rapa racecourse,
who invited him to return to herd testing. Alex was interested in training for
the newly expanding Artificial Breeding (AB) side of dairy farming, but Selwyn
Sheaf the AHIA manager was keen to have Alex back herd testing.
Photo
shows modern (2013) herringbone miking shed, with 30 sets of cups.
After about 50 sets, farmers today would then opt for a rotary - with 80
bail rotaries now common on large 1000 cow herds
Alex returned to
the LIC in 1966 and worked as a supervisor for 14 years, with trips home in
1969, 1972, 1978 and 1984. His last 10 years of employment were spent as Weigh Station
Manager at Morrinsville. This involved
training new herd testers on the farm, keeping a check on their results based
on the composite sample from each farm, and dealing with any issues that may
arise.
Herd testers conference and ball
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| Testers and AHIA staff all dressed up for the Conference |
Each
year, the Auckland Herd Improvement Association held its annual herd testers’
ball, followed the next day by the herd testers conference, held at their London
Street office organised by Selwyn Sheaf. At the end of the conference, the new
testing areas were handed out –which Alex says always created a lot of interest
to see who got what. Some testers
wanted to swap clients as they had developed such friendships with them, but
that was not allowed.
Women in dairy farming
Alex
said that looking back, 1954-58 when he travelled Northland with a horse and
cart herd testing were some of the best years of his life, due to the warm
hospitality and the friendship he experienced on New Zealand farms. He said that the calibre of the women
in dairying was fantastic, and the hard work they contributed to the dairy industry,
as well as running a busy house and rearing a family, was never fully
appreciated. They would even wash
and iron the herd tester’s clothes!
Alex retired
in 1990 and said that New Zealand was a country of great opportunity if you
worked hard. Alex died on 14 July, 2017 aged 88.
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