The close of the cocksfoot harvest on Banks Peninsula
The close of the cocksfoot harvest on Banks Peninsula
[1910]
Cocksfoot was brought to New Zealand in the very early days of settlement by the Hay family of Pigeon Bay. It was used in a mixture of seeds for growing grass after the bush was felled and only stubble was left and was also used to grow grass used as fodder for stock. Akaroa cocksfoot was exported to other countries and producing it was a major industry on Banks Peninsula. Harvesting began early in January and the whole operation of reaping, threshing and cleaning the seed took about a month to six weeks. The industry died out on Banks Peninsula in the 1930s when a disease attacked the crop, plus it was being harvested much more cheaply by machine on the Canterbury Plains. See Recollections of the cocksfoot industry on Banks Peninsula / F.C. Newton
Flailers are shown at work at Le Bons Bay. For many years the threshing was done with a flail, a homemade beating instrument
File Reference CCL-KPCD05-0064
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