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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 9, Issue 8 (November 1, 1934)

The Work on the Land

The Work on the Land.

Sir Douglas Maclean was only twenty-five when his father died, worn out by the strain of public affairs and prematurely aged by the unscrupulous attacks of his political opponents, and he had to unravel the tangle of native leases and incomplete titles and build up the estate that Sir Donald had pioneered. Maraekakaho stood for many a year as the best example of a great all-round station for pure-bred sheep, cattle and horses in the Island. Sir Douglas grew old with the growth of his fine estate, and as he grew old he delighted to see his many employees happy and contented. I have never heard of a more generous employer among the big estate owners. He was no niggard with his wealth, and he expended it to a very large degree in helping on his fellow men. Many a farmer in Hawkes' Bay and outside it to-day owes his start in life to the chief of Maraekakaho.

The estate was not a mere sheep-run, but was steadily developed as a pedigree stock farm on a large scale; the purebred sheep, cattle and horses from Maraekakaho were celebrated in Australia as well as the Dominion. The general management of the estate was on a generous scale, and a great deal of capital was expended in bringing the place up to a high grade of efficiency as a stock-raising establishment. From time to time Sir Douglas Maclean sold parts of the level lands suitable for small farming, and he liberally assisted old employees and others whom he trusted to embark in farming for themselves. He was a patriarchal employer of the best type, who did a great deal for his employees beyond the mere duty of paying their wages.