Carolyn Hunt

Carolyn Joyce Hunt ("née" Leonard; born July 3, 1937) is an American educator and politician who, as the wife of Jim Hunt, served as the Second Lady of North Carolina from 1973 to 1977 and twice-served as the First Lady of North Carolina, from 1977 to 1985 and again from 1993 to 2001. She is the longest serving first lady in North Carolina history and she and her husband were the first governor and first lady to serve two four-year terms in North Carolina. As first lady, she served as the Chairwoman of the advisory council for the Governor's Office of Citizen Affairs, which promoted volunteerism throughout the state, and as Chairwoman of the North Carolina Friendship Force Program, a chapter of Friendship Force International, which promoted international student exchange programs in state public schools. In between her terms as first lady, she served on the board of directors and the executive committee of Friendship Force International and, in 1986, was elected to the Wilson County Public School Board.
Early life and education.
Hunt was born Carolyn Joyce Leonard on July 3, 1937 in Mingo, Iowa to Carl Avery Leonard and Norma Henderson Leonard. In her youth, she spent time living in Germany as an exchange student. She met her future husband, James Baxter Hunt II, at a National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry Youth Conference in Hamilton, Ohio. She was a member of the National Grange Youth Committee and he was serving as the president of the North Carolina Grange Youth Chapter. Hunt attended Iowa State Teachers College until she became engaged. She moved to Raleigh, North Carolina where she earned a bachelor's degree in primary education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Career and public life.
In 1964 the Hunt family moved to the Kingdom of Nepal, where her husband served as a Ford Foundation economic adviser to the government. The family lived there until 1966. During this time, Hunt worked as a teacher at an international school. When they returned to the United States, Hunt continued to teach while her husband practiced law.
In 1972 her husband was elected lieutenant governor of North Carolina. In 1976 her husband was elected to his first term as governor. Her inauguration gown, a dress of pale gold organza designed by Mary Dixon, was placed in a collection of the North Carolina Museum of History. During her time as first lady, Hunt inspired her husband to create the Governor's Office of Citizen Affairs, in order to promote volunteer initiatives across the state. She was named chairwoman of the advisory council of the office, and promoted volunteerism throughout North Carolina. Hunt organized the "Right to Read" project in Wilson County, promoting child literacy in public schools. Once a week, she assisted fifth-graders in reading and comprehension skills at Wiley Elementary School in Raleigh. In 1977, while attending the National Governor's Conference, Hunt was introduced to the Friendship Force International, an international exchange project promoting world peace through sharing cultures. In 1979 she was appointed as the North Carolina Friendship Force Program's Chairwoman. Through the program, Hunt and her youngest daughter spent ten days with a family in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England, before hosting the family in North Carolina.
Hunt did not initially make many changes to the North Carolina Executive Mansion during her husband's first term, with the exception of adding storm windows to the exterior and dampers in the fireplaces. She later proposed a revision to the North Carolina General Assembly's statute governing the Executive Mansion Fine Arts Committee, which was approved. After the passing of the proposal, Hunt renovated and redecorated the governor's library and had the screen porch made into a glass-enclosed morning room. She oversaw renovations to the institutional kitchen, added a first-floor waiting room, installed an automated lift at the front porch for handicapped guests, and restored and repaired antique furniture. Hunt also acquired new pieces for the mansion, including twelve Chippendale-style side chairs featuring needlepoint seats made by women throughout North Carolina. She located and framed photographs of all former North Carolinian first ladies who had lived in the mansion, putting them on display on a gallery wall.
On October 20, 1979, the Hunt's oldest daughter, Rebecca, married Jimmy Hawley at the Executive Mansion. Hunt sewed the bridesmaids dresses that were worn during the ceremony. She had previously designed and made two of her daughters' dresses for her husband's first inaugural ball. When their youngest daughter, Elizabeth, married Kevin Amigh on September 9, 1995 at the mansion, Hunt designed the outfits for the bridal attendants. Hunt established the Bailey-Tucker House, a historic mansion near downtown Raleigh, as the state's official guest residence. During the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Roanoke Island, she christened a replica ship of "Queen Elizabeth 2" and hosted Anne, Princess Royal.
After his first term, her husband was succeeded by Republican James G. Martin. Returning to life as a private citizen, Hunt continued to work with the Friendship Force and led a student exchange to Russia. She also served on the board of directors and the executive committee for Friendship Force International. In 1986 she was elected to the Wilson County Public School Board and served in that capacity until 1990.
When her husband was reelected as governor in 1993, Hunt used her position as first lady to focus on education, early childhood health, volunteerism, and women's health issues. She volunteered weekly in local soup kitchens, hosted volunteering events at the Executive Mansion, and volunteered as a tutor and mentor at Lucille Hunter Elementary School and Fred J. Carnage Middle School in Raleigh. As a supporter of Smart Start, a statewide school-readiness initiative started by her husband, Hunt traveled to counties throughout North Carolina to visit daycare centers and preschools to meet with care providers and early childhood educators. Because of her efforts to improve early childhood education resources, she was appointed as the honorary chair of the North Carolina Partnership for Children. In 1993 she had an official portrait of her predecessor, First Lady Dottie Martin, removed from the Executive Mansion and sent to the North Carolina Museum of Art. She replaced the portrait with another of former First Lady Jeanelle C. Moore.
Hunt displayed schoolchildren's artwork during tours of the Executive Mansion and, in 1993, implemented tours of the residence for blind visitors. In 1996 she served as a member of the advisory committee for the U.S. Women's Open Golf Tournament in Pinehurst, North Carolina. She and her husband made international visits to promote education. While in Israel, she met with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his wife, Leah Rabin, to discuss children's education and rights. She visited several schools in Israel, and began a cultural exchange between an Israeli elementary school and a Raleigh school.
Personal life.
Hunt married Jim Hunt on August 20, 1958 and had four children: Rebecca Joyce Hunt, James Baxter Hunt III, Rachel Henderson Hunt, and Elizabeth Brame Hunt. The family owned a farm near Rock Ridge in Wilson County, North Carolina, where she and her children would spend at least two months every summer to have time away from the North Carolina Executive Mansion in Raleigh. On their farm, the family maintained two gardens, and Hunt would freeze and can vegetables grown in their gardens.
In 2015, Hunt and her husband received the Public School Forum of North Carolina’s Annual Jay Robinson Education Leadership Award.


John Scott (MSP)

William John Graham Scott (born 7 June 1951) is a Scottish farmer and former Scottish Conservative politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ayr from 2000 to 2021.
Background.
Born in Girvan, Scott was educated at Barrhill Primary in South Ayrshire and George Watson's College in Edinburgh. He has a Bachelor of Science degree for Civil Engineering from the University of Edinburgh.
Scott played for the Wigtownshire Rugby Club from 1969–73, a hobby he enjoys to this day.
Scott established the Ayrshire Farmers Market in 1999 and founded the Scottish Association for Farmers in 2001. He tends to his farm in Balkissock outside of Ballantrae in South Ayrshire, whilst also owning a flat in the town of Ayr.
Political career.
Scott stood as the Conservative candidate for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, finishing third behind Labour and the Scottish National Party with 8,123 votes (19.8%). He has served as constituency MSP for Ayr since winning the constituency in a by-election in 2000. He was returned to Parliament at the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary election and again, with an increased majority, at the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary election. At the 2011 and 2016 elections he retained the constituency with a reduced majority, despite seeing his vote increase by 3,564 between 2007 and 2016.
Scott declared his support for Ruth Davidson in the Scottish Conservative leader election. On 11 May 2011, he was elected by MSPs to serve as one of the two Deputy Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament. He served until 2016 when he was unsuccessful in his attempt to become Presiding Officer.
Scott is the Scottish Conservative spokesperson for sustainable development, having previously served as spokesperson for the environment from 2001 until 2003 and as spokesperson on rural affairs from 2007 until 2011. He was appointed as the convener of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee of the Scottish Parliament in June 2016. In 2021, he lost his seat to the Scottish National Party's Siobhian Brown.
Controversy.
Scott came under fire after it emerged that he profited from wind energy investments – despite his party having previously opposed the development of such projects. The Register of Interests for Mr Scott states: “From 6 March 2009 part of the Farm’s income comes from a contract with CRE Energy Ltd to provide access over the farm for the purpose of building and maintaining a windfarm”.


Henry Watkins Allen

Henry Watkins Allen (April 29, 1820April 22, 1866) was an American soldier and politician. He made it to the rank of brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
Elected as the 17th Governor of Louisiana late in the war, Allen served from January 1864 to May 1865. He was the last governor elected under Constitutional law to the post until the end of Reconstruction. He escaped to Mexico, and lived and worked there until his death due to a stomach disorder. He was returned to the United States and buried in New Orleans.
Early life and career.
Allen was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia. After attending local schools, he was educated at Marion College, Missouri. He moved to Mississippi, where he taught school and practiced law.
He served in the Texas Revolution against Mexico as a private and later as captain. He was elected as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1846, after which he studied law at Harvard University.
He later moved to Louisiana, where he acquired a sugar cane plantation, dependent on the labor of enslaved African Americans. He was elected to the Louisiana Legislature in 1853. In 1859, he went to Europe with the intention of taking part in the Italian struggle for independence but arrived too late. He toured through Europe, the incidents of which he recounted in his memoir, "Travels of a Sugar Planter".
He was re-elected to the legislature during his absence. After his return, he took a prominent part in the business of that body. Allen had been a Know Nothing (American Party) in politics but joined the Democratic Party when Buchanan was nominated for president in 1856.
Civil War service.
Allen enlisted as a private in the 4th Louisiana Infantry Regiment but was quickly promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on August 15, 1861. Allen became the regiment's Colonel on March 1, 1862. He was seriously wounded at Shiloh and Baton Rouge.
Colonel Allen met Sarah Morgan on November 2, 1862, when he was still unable to walk due to receiving wounds in both legs at the Battle of Baton Rouge. She described him as a "wee little man" with a "dough face" in her diary which was published posthumously in the late 20th century.
In early 1863, while recuperating, Allen served as military judge of Pemberton's Army of Mississippi, at the same time also serving as Major General of the Louisiana Militia. In June 1863, he suffered further injury while escaping a hotel fire at Jackson, Mississippi.
He was promoted to a Brigadier General on August 19, 1863. He agreed to run and was elected Governor of Louisiana, taking office in January 1864; his tenure ended when the Confederacy collapsed in the spring of 1865.
As governor, Allen secured legislative passage of a law to prevent illegal impressment by Confederate agents. Another law allowed Allen to purchase medicine and to distribute it to the needy. Disabled soldiers were provided with $11 per month. Allen established new hospitals based on a combination of public and private funding. Recognizing the lack of manufacturing industry in Louisiana, he established a system of state stores, foundries, and factories with the goal of converting the works to civilian production after the war.
Because the lack of medicine was acute in the Confederacy, Allen devoted extensive time and resources toward establishing a large intelligence and covert action service which could secretly procure vital supplies, especially medicine such as quinine, from behind Union lines in New Orleans or from Mexico. Having established the state's military-industrial complex in a short twelve months, state laboratories were soon manufacturing turpentine, castor oil, medicinal alcohol, and carbonate of soda.
Allen made arrangement with General Edmund Kirby-Smith to transfer to the state large amounts of cotton and sugar collected by Confederate agents as tax-in-kind until the Confederate debt could be retired. He tried to make the state self-sufficient and also guarded the civil liberties of the citizens from infringement by military authorities.
Post-bellum career.
As the Union army forces started taking over Confederate Louisiana, military authorities declared Governor Allen an outlaw, punishable by death upon his capture. Historian John D. Winters wrote about Allen's leaving Louisiana to take refuge in Mexico:
"Before leaving he addressed a long letter to the people of Louisiana begging them to keep the peace and 'submit to the inevitable' and 'begin life anew' without whining or despair. The crippled governor then got into his ambulance while a group of friends, tears streaming from their eyes, told him good-by."
In 1865, James Madison Wells, Louisiana's first reconstruction governor, succeeded Allen.
After the war, Allen moved to Mexico City and edited the "Mexico Times". He assisted in the opening of trade between Texas and Mexico. He died in Mexico City, of a stomach disorder.
His body was returned to New Orleans for burial at Lafayette Cemetery. In 1885, his remains were reinterred on the grounds in front of the Old Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. The grave is marked by a rose-colored obelisk.
Honors.
Allen Parish in western Louisiana is named for him, as is Port Allen, a small city on the west bank of the Mississippi River across from Baton Rouge.
The Henry Watkins Allen Camp #133 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is named in his honor. The neighborhood in which he lived in while in Shreveport was later named as Allendale.
Camp #435, Sons of Confederate Veterans, was chartered in 1903 as the Kirby Smith Camp, but the name was changed prior to 1935 to the Henry Watkins Allen Camp #435 in honor of Shreveport's famous resident. The camp is no longer in existence.
Henry W. Allen Elementary School, a public school in New Orleans, is named for him.
A statue of Allen by sculptor Angela Gregory is located near the West Baton Rouge Parish Courthouse in Port Allen. A maquette of this statue can be seen on display at the West Baton Rouge Museum.
A bust of Allen, along with Lee, Jackson and Beauregard, is located on the Confederate memorial in front of the Caddo Parish Courthouse in Shreveport.


Gordon Setter

The Gordon Setter is a large breed of dog, a member of the setter family that also includes both the better-known Irish Setter and the English Setter. Setter breeds are classified as members of either the Sporting or Gundog Group depending on the national kennel club or council. The original purpose of the breed was to hunt gamebirds. Their quarry in the United Kingdom, may be partridge or grouse, pheasant, ptarmigan, blackgame, snipe or woodcock: whilst overseas bird dogs are worked on quail, willow grouse, sand grouse, guinea fowl, sagehen, francolin and any other bird that will sit to a dog—that is to say, will attempt to avoid a potential predator by concealment rather than by taking to the wing at the first sign of danger. It is this combination of a bird that will sit fast in front of a dog that will remain on point that makes bird dog work possible.
Description.
Appearance.
Gordon Setters, also known as "black and tans", have a coal-black coat with distinctive markings of a rich chestnut or mahogany colour on their paws and lower legs, vents, throat, and muzzles; one spot above each eye; and two spots on their chest. A small amount of white is allowed on the chest. Although uncommon, red Gordons are occasionally born to normal-coloured parents, the result of expression of a recessive red gene. Predominantly tan, red, or buff dogs are ineligible for showing. A Gordon's coat is straight or slightly waved (but not curly), long and silky, with chest, stomach, ear, leg, and tail feathering. According to the AKC breed standard, "the bearing is intelligent, noble, and dignified". They are the heaviest of the setter breeds, with males reaching at the withers and up to in weight.
Temperament.
The AKC describes the Gordon Setter temperament as "alert, interested, and confident. He is fearless and willing, intelligent, and capable. He is loyal and affectionate, and strong-minded enough to stand the rigors of training". Gordons are intensely loyal to their owners; thrive in an attentive, loving environment; and are good family dogs. Puppies and adult dogs can be quite boisterous, and although they are patient by nature, may not be suitable for households with very young children. Gordons are sensitive and empathic, eager to learn, and need firm but gentle handling. Early socialisation and obedience training is important. The breed is one of the slowest to mature, not hitting prime until three years of age or more, and will show puppy-like characteristics well into their older years.
Gordons were bred to run, and require 60 to 80 minutes of vigorous exercise daily. Young dogs should not be over-exercised or begin agility training until they are at least 18 months old, to avoid joint problems later in life. Because of their hunting instincts, Gordons should not be allowed to roam freely if unsupervised, as they are apt to wander into a potentially dangerous traffic situation while following a scent.
Health.
Although not as prone to hip dysplasia as many of the larger breeds, Gordons can suffer from the condition. Other health issues can include hypothyroidism, gastric torsion (bloat) and eye diseases such as progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), and cataracts. Life expectancy for the breed is generally about 10 to 12 years.
At the beginning of 2009, a report was issued to all of the Breed Clubs in the UK concerning cases of late onset PRA in Gordon Setters.
On March 14, 2011, Animal Health Trust (AHT) made a DNA test available. The mutation is termed rcd4 (for rod-cone degeneration 4) to distinguish it from other, previously described forms of rod-cone degeneration. It is recessive, and 19 out of the 21 Gordons in their study who had clinical signs of PRA were homozygous for this mutation, indicating it is the major cause of PRA in the breed.
As many as 50% of Gordon Setters may be carriers.
Origin.
Many of the gun dogs described by Stonehenge are no longer to be found in the United Kingdom or have been absorbed into one of the other breeds. The Russian Setter, the Welsh Setter, Northern Irish Water Spaniel, Southern Irish Water Spaniel and English Water Spaniel, the Spanish Pointer and the Portuguese Pointer have all disappeared in the past hundred and fifty years, and the pictures of some of the breeds that are still with us show considerable differences to the breed as we see them today.
Edward Laverick wrote in "The Setter", published in 1872: "the setter is but an improved spaniel"; while the Rev Pearce in "The Dog", published in the same year, said, 'he is a direct descendant of the Spaniel: "a Setting Spaniel" was the first Setter'. Since then this is the generally agreed with conclusion that the Setter was primarily derived from the old Land Spaniel, so called so as to distinguish it from the Water Spaniel. It is however likely that outside crosses with Hounds or Pointers did influence its development. William Taplin in "The Sportsman's Cabinet" (1803–04) maintained that it was "originally produced by a commixture between the Spanish pointer and the larger breed of the English spaniel".
We now really need not to go back to the Spaniel and its specialised development into the setting-dog, as it was called, and can be found in the work by the famous French sportsman, Gaston de Foix, Vicomte de Béarn (1331–91), who it is said owned about 1500 dogs 'brought from all countries of Europe' and was known as 'Gaston Phèbus' owing to his love for the chase. This work is called "Livre de Chasse" or "Miroir de Phèbus", and was started in 1387. This work was the bases of "The Master of Game" written between 1406 and 1413 by Edward III's grandson, Edward, second Duke of York, who acknowledged his debt to de Foix. Below is the main passage referring to the Spaniel and the Setting-dog, as republished in 1904:
<poem>Another kind of dog is that is called falcon-dog or spaniel ["espaignols" in the French original] because it comes from Spain, notwithstanding that there are many in other countries...
A good spaniel should not be too rough, though his tail should be rough. The good qualities that such a dogs are these: They love well their masters and follow them without losing, although they be in a great crowd of men, and commonly they go before their master, running and wagging their tail, and raise or start fowl and wild beasts. But their right craft is of the partridge and of the quail. It is good for a man that has a noble goshawk, or a tierecel, or a sparrowhawk for the partridges to have such dogs; and also, when they are taught to be couchers ("chiens couchants" in the original French—ed.), they are good for taking partridge and quail with the net...</poem>
The modern Gordon Setter is a predominantly black dog with rich tan marking on the muzzle, legs and chest. A little bigger and heavier than either the Irish or English, he is nevertheless descended from the same genetic mixing pot, which undoubtedly has its origins among those setting spaniels we met earlier. The Kennel Club applied the name 'Gordon Setter' to the breed in 1924. Before that they were known as black and tan setters, and were found in many kennels beside those of the Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon (1743–1827). Indeed, as we shall see, there is plenty of evidence that the majority of the setters at Gordon Castle during the Duke's time were tri-coloured rather than pure black and tan.
The breed was brought to the United States by George Blunt and Daniel Webster in 1842, with the purchase of two dogs named Rake and Rachel from the Duke's kennels. The American Kennel Club officially recognised the breed in 1892.
Breed development.
As a gundog in the UK.
Among the many changes which took place in sport and country affairs during the 20th century were those concerned with the method of shooting and consequent role of the gundog. These changes were accelerated after World War II, prior to which there were many "dogging moors" in the north of the UK, especially in Scotland. Walking up game became largely superseded by driving and field-craft by marksmanship. The function of the gundog was as a result limited to the recovery of dead or wounded birds and — in the age of specialisation — this meant that the Labrador Retriever came to the forefront while the number of working pointers and setters declined year after year.
Besides the modernisation of the style of shooting and the work required of gundogs, the situation was altered by the new developments that also took place in farming, which helped to bring about a marked reduction in the partridge population. Factors include the introduction of modernisation such as early cutting of silage, the use of fast-moving mechanical equipment, the burning or ploughing of stubble-fields soon after harvest, the destruction of hedgerows, and the use of chemical sprays for weed-killing. The hedgerows had provided shelter and nesting sites; the weeds and other herbage supplied food and cover; whilst the stubble-fields had been a primary source of winter food; so the partridges were deprived of some important assets, whilst the wide use of chemicals on the land exercised a direct harmful effect. These changes significantly affected the status of setters and pointers. Though often used as a general purpose gundog, the Gordon Setter has been a wide-ranging dog employed in the UK to locate red grouse and ptarmigan on the Scottish or North of England moors and partridges on the stubble-fields of the south of England. Up to the late 1930s, most Gordons were kept for this type of work, so that the majority were to be found in Scotland and the north of England; but now they are more evenly distributed and there are no large working kennels.
The function of the setter is well summarised by Captain Blaine:
Two Gordon Setters have achieved the title of Dual Champion. The Kennel Club regulations state this title can only be claimed by dogs who have achieved the title of Show Champion and Field Trial Champion.The first was a bitch, Amscot Irresista Belle; her pet name was Trisca. The second was Trisca's relative, Boyers Scarlatti.
Gordon Castle and other historically important kennels.
Alexander, the 4th Duke of Gordon (1743–1827), established his kennel of Black and Tan Setters at Gordon Castle, which was situated near Fochabers, not far from the River Spey and a few miles from the coast of Moray. The exact date when this occurred is not known. A Colonel Thornton visited the place during his tour of the Highlands in 1786. He makes no mention of any kennel of Setters at that time, although he does note that "The Duke of Gordon still keeps up a diversion of falconry….I saw, also, here a true Highland greyhound, which is now become very scarce…." The Duke was indeed devoted to country pursuits and was among the last of his day in Scotland to keep hawks and practise falconry; he was celebrated for his Scottish Deerhounds as well as his Setters. However all that can be inferred from the Colonel's remarks is that there are unlikely to have been any Setters of note at the Castle in 1786.
There is much on record that seems reliable about the origin or derivation of the Duke of Gordon's Setters, though verification at this late date is of course impossible. Most of this evidence comes from Samuel Brown, the Veterinary Surgeon of Melton Mowbray, who was a great authority on the breed. In a letter to "The Field" in 1864, Samuel Brown stated:
Five years later, in another letter to the same journal, the Rev F. W. Adye wrote:
These facts were well known to J. H. Walsh (‘Stonehenge’), Editor of "The Field" and a leading authority on sporting dogs, for it is he who mentions in the first chapter of his book "The Dogs of the British Islands" (1867) that a Setter "from Mr Coke of Norfolk and doubtless related to the late Duke of Gordon’s kennel, as Mr Coke and the duke bred together and interchanged setters frequently." Therefore, it does appear to be reasonably established that Mr Coke provided most of the original Setters for the Duke's kennel. The Rev Hutchinson, who wrote under the pseudonym ‘Sixty-one’, insisted that "the original setter taken or sent to Gordon Castle by the first Marquis of Anglesea", however what has been seen is that, according to Samuel Brown’s ‘old gentleman sportsman’, the Marquees of Anglesey likewise had his original stock of Setters at Beaudesart from Mr Coke – probably, although this cannot be confirmed, some years before the Gordon Castle kennel was founded; for in 1869 the Beaudesart Setters were said to have been maintained ‘for sixty years pure and unmixed with any blood’. It is most unlikely that the Duke obtained his setters from only one source, we know that he interbreed with other kennels besides Mr Coke’s, notably with Lord Lovat’s.


Bihar Animal Sciences University

Bihar Animal Sciences University (BASU) is a state agricultural university located at Patna, Bihar, India. It has jurisdiction over the field of veterinary and animal sciences in Bihar.
History.
The formal proposal for establishing an animal sciences university in Bihar was made as part of the "Bihar Agricultural Road Map 2012–2017", the second agriculture road map for Bihar, which was launched by the then President of India Pranab Mukherjee in October 2012. The roadmap set it as one of its targets that "A new University for Animal Husbadry, Dairy and Fisheries shall be set up in the state." However, no specific budget was set aside for setting the university, and the budget was to come out of the general animal husbandry budget.
The university was established in 2016 through the "Bihar Animal Sciences University Act, 2016", which was passed as a Bill in August 2016 and notified later that month. The university was formed by transferring two colleges, Bihar Veterinary College and Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Dairy Technology, from Bihar Agricultural University, as well as six other institutes transferred from Bihar Agricultural University and Rajendra Agricultural University. An additional college, the College of Fisheries, Kishanganj, was also to be established. The college was officially approved two years later, in May 2018 and established in August 2018. The university became operational in June 2017 with the appointment of its first Vice-Chancellor, Rameshwar Singh, one of four state universities and six private universities established in Bihar in 2017–2018.
Academics.
The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and diploma degrees in three fields, veterinary science & animal husbandry, dairy technology, and fisheries management.
Constituent colleges and institutes.
The university has three constituent colleges:
It runs six other institutes:


Len Evans (wine)

Leonard Paul Evans AO OBE (31 August 193017 August 2006) was an English-born Australian promoter, maker, judge, taster, teacher and drinker of wine. "The Oxford Companion to Wine" writes that he did "... more to advance the cause of wine in Australia than any other individual." Others have referred to him as "the godfather of the Australian wine industry" and "Australia's leading ambassador of wine."
Biography.
Evans was born in Felixstowe, England, of Welsh parents and was educated at Framlingham College. He migrated to New Zealand in 1953, then to Australia in 1955. After various experiences, he became the first regular wine columnist in Australia (1962), he was the founding director of the Australian Wine Bureau (1965), and he wrote the first major encyclopedia of Australian wine (1973). He was one of the first leaders to recognise that the future of Australian wine lay in table wines rather than in the sweet fortified wines in which the country then specialized.
In 1967, Evans co-authored a book with expert gourmet Graham Kerr, "The Galloping Gourmets". The two got their nickname from a 35-day worldwide trek to the finest restaurants around the globe. The "Galloping Gourmet" persona, however, became more associated with Kerr, who would later host a globally syndicated cooking show, "The Galloping Gourmet".
Evans was chairman of Rothbury Wines since its founding in 1969 until 1996, and Petaluma from 1978 until 1992. He was chairman of Evans Wine Company since 1996, Evans Family Wines from 1980 and Tower Estate since its founding in 1998. Tower Estate and lodge is now owned by Michael Hope, owner of the adjacent Hope Estate amongst other wineries and vineyards throughout Australia.
Len Evans transformed the blind tasting of wine into a competition sport through his creating and developing the options game in which competitors attempt to identify wines.
Because of his achievements, he received many awards, including the Epicurean Award for services to the Wine and Food Industry, the Charles Heidsieck Award for Wine Writing, Personalité de l'Année, (1986) Paris (Oenology section – Gastronomy), Chevalier de l'Ordre Merite Agricole (French government), first life member of the Society Of Wine Educators (1995), and elected member of the College of Patrons of the Australian Wine Industry, Restaurant Association Hall of Fame, "Decanter' Magazine" – International Award for "Man of the Year".
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1982 and an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1999.
After a history of heart disease dating from 1976, Len Evans died of a heart attack on 17 August 2006, in Newcastle, New South Wales.
Writing on wine.
Len Evans felt that it was important that wine be demystified, and that an appreciation and basic understanding of it be available to everyone, not just to an educated elite. To this end, he wrote a column for wine in "The Australian Women's Weekly" for years, discussing various wines, usually very reasonably priced, in an open, relatively jargon-free manner.
Legacy.
On Friday 12 September 2014 the Len Evans Memorial Lookout was unveiled by his widow Trish. The lookout, commemorating the immense contribution Len made to the Australian wine industry, is located in the heart of his beloved Hunter Valley at Constable Estate.


Napier Downs

Napier Downs Station, commonly referred to as Napier Downs, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Kimberley region in Western Australia.
Napier Downs is situated about east of Derby and north west of Fitzroy Crossing and is accessed via the Gibb River Road. The property is mostly composed of black soil plains with the rocky ridges of the Napier Range running through the property. The plains are savannah country with many gorges found between the ridges at the southern end of the range.
The station stocked with 20,000 head of Red Brahman cattle was acquired by Kerry Stokes from Peter Leutenegger in 2015 for an estimated 23 million to 40 million. Leutenegger, a former helicopter pilot, had worked in the region since 1980, and had acquired the property in 1992 after the Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication program in the Kimberleys in the 1980s had led to many stations having to destock.
The property was established in the early 1880s by M. C. Davies and the Kimberley Pastoral Company also owned neighbouring Kimberley Downs Station. In 1910 Napier Downs occupied an area of , was stocked with 9,000 cattle, and was still owned by M. C. Davies.
The area was struck by drought in 1953, the station only receiving rain when it normally received . The grass was burnt beyond recovery resulting tin losses of stock.
In 1988 the homestead was the base camp for an expedition was carried out in the Napier Range by the Royal Geographical Society and the Linnaean Society involving 30 scientists.


August Christian Niemann

August Christian Niemann (30 January 1761 – 21 May 1832) was a German forestry engineer and political economist.
He is known as a composer and collector of student songs.
Born in Altona, he studied law in Jena and Kiel.
Serving as Hofmeister for a fellow student of noble background, he moved to the University of Göttingen in 1782.
He returned to Kiel in 1783, where he received his PhD, and lectured on statistics and political science from 1785.
His "academic songbook" ("Akademisches Liederbuch"), published in 1782, contained some of his own compositions. It was successful, a second volume being published in 1795. Niemann's song "Landesvater, Schutz und Rater" became standard part of the "Landesvater" ceremony, a ritual pledge of friendship practiced by German academic fraternities.
He was also the first to set German-language lyrics to the tune of "God Save the King", in his "Heil, unserm Bunde Heil", a patriotic song and early expression of Pan-German nationalism. This example would be imitated in various German patriotic songs and anthems during the 19th century, most notably in "Heil dir im Siegerkranz", the royal anthem of Prussia and later the imperial anthem of the German Empire.
Niemann became extraordinary professor at Kiel University, director of the newly formed forestry institute, in 1787.
He was made ordinary professor in 1794, and he served as rector of Kiel University in the academic years 1811/12 and 1829/30.
Niemann established the Kiel tree nursery ("Forstbaumschule Kiel") in 1788.
Niemann was active co-founder of a charitable organisation supporting the poor, the "Gesellschaft freiwilliger Armenfreunde".
The city of Kiel named " Niemannsweg" in his honour, on 4 June 1869.


Constantinsborg

Constantinsborg is a manor in Aarhus Municipality, Denmark which has existed since at least 1400. It is situated on the southern shore of Årslev Engsø, a newly created nature reserve and shallow lake extension of Brabrand Lake, in Viby J 10 km. south-west of Aarhus. The manor and estate are privately owned today and run as a farm. Constantinsborg was originally known as Stadsgaard but was later renamed for Constantin Marselis who owned the estate in the 1600s. In the 1800s the Pontoppidan family owned the estate and came to have a large impact on Danish agriculture and the transformation of the Jutland moors into agricultural land. The current main manor building was constructed in the early 1800s while adjoining farm buildings date back to 1870 and the 20th century.
History.
Present day Constantinsborg dates back to around 1400 when it was owned by Erik Jensen Munk and known as Stadsgaard. In 1210 there was a forest named "Stad" in the area and is mentioned in the records of the Ancient See of Aarhus which owned the forest at the time. It is therefore possible the original farm dates back to an even earlier time. When Erik Jensen Mun died, his son Peder Lykke, inherited the estate and managed it until his death in 1464. The manor stayed in the Lykke family until 1583 when Valdemar Parsberg sold it to King Frederik II.
King Frederik II bought the manor in order to expand his hunting grounds around Skanderborg Palace. When Constantinsborg became crown land it was made a part of Havreballegård fiefdom. In 1661 the fiefdom - and Constantinsborg - were given to the Dutch merchant Gabriel Marselis in part-payment for debts incurred by the Danish state during the Second Northern War. In 1667 Gabriel Marselis' son, Constantin Marselis, moved to Denmark to manage his father's many new estates. He moved into Constantinsborg which he named after himself. In 1683 Constantinsborg was officially recognized as a manor with privileges which indicates it was a substantial estate at the time.
In 1699, Constantin Marselis died and his widow Sophie Elisabeth Charisius took over the manor and had it turned into a fee tail. She married Peder Rodsteen who was made a Baron. When Rodsteen died in 1714 the manor passed to Sophie Elisabeth Charisius' nephew Christian Charisius who was married to Dorothea Cathrine Rosenlund. He died in 1724 and she the following year, after which the manor was inherited by their son Constantin August Charisius. Constantin dedicated himself to the administration of Constantinsborg during the 52 years he owned it. He managed to expand the estate, although it left him heavily in debt at this death in 1776.
In 1787, Hans Frederik Fædder-Charisius took over Constantinsborg and was given permission to divide and sell the manor estate provided all profits were set aside for his descendants. The manor was auctioned in 1799. Fædder-Charisius himself bought the main building and lands while most of the attached farms and lands were sold off. When Fædder-Charisius died the manor was sold to Peder Jacob Møller in 1832 who in turn sold it in 1867 to Hendrik Pontoppidan.
After purchasing Constantinsborg Hendrik Pontoppidan became heavily involved in agriculture and "Hedeselskabet". He had become wealthy through his trading in Manchester and Hamburg. In the 1840s Hendrik Pontoppidan was a representative for the National Bank of Denmark. In 1851 he was made Consul of the Danish state and he co-founded Aarhus Privatbank which eventually became one of the largest banks in Denmark. Hendrik Pontoppidan died in 1901 but he had already passed the manor on to his son Alfred Pontoppidan who had studied agriculture in Scotland and Hannover. Alfred Pontoppidan's management of Constantinsborg was a success and it became a centre for agricultural education in the area.
In 1999, a Pontoppidan descendant sold Constantinsborg to Bestseller founder, Troels Holch Povlsen.
Architecture.
The present main building was constructed in 1801 in Neoclassical style and consists of a single, long brick structure. It has one storey above a deep basement and is characterized by a large frontispiece of two floors with richly decorated portals. The north end of the frontispiece is finished with a low wall in Attic style. The previous building had been constructed by Constantin Marselis in 1677. It is recorded as having been "expensive" and "detailed" and about three times larger than the present manor house. It had been designed in the Baroque style with a three-winged main building facing three-winged stables. The middle section of the main building was a two storey house, inspired by Dutch styles.
The farm buildings at Constantinsborg are situated directly in front of the main building forming a large complex. The oldest part was built by Hendrik Pontoppidan Constantinsborg in 1870 and now stands next to a number of modern buildings from the 2000s, used for offices and administration. The remodelling of 1677 also involved new farm buildings. They have since been replaced using the original basic outline.
The garden was probably created by Constantin Marselis in Baroque style with hedges, boulevards and ponds spread out across three terraces. When Hendrik Pontoppidan took over Constantinsborg in 1867 the garden was altered in the English style with free standing trees and large lawns, although the terraces were preserved.


Asturian Valley cattle

Asturian Valley cattle originate from the valleys of Asturias, Spain. They are mostly raised in the northern coastal areas on the Bay of Biscay and the river valleys at the foot of the Cordillera Cantábrica mountain range. This breed belongs to an exclusive bovine group in Spain known as the "tronco Cantábrico" ('Cantabric trunk') that only includes breeds native to northern Spain; it also includes the Asturian Valley cattle. of all those breeds, Asturian Valley maintain the largest number. Traditionally the cattle were used for milk, meat, and work. Since other milk breeds have been introduced to Spain, their prominence has declined in the dairy industry. They remain one of three breeds that may be used to produce Casín cheese.
History.
Asturian Valley cattle are native to northern Spain and are thought to have been bred and raised in the valleys of Asturias, Spain. By the 19th century, they were the most abundant breed in northern Spain. At the beginning of the 20th century, a massive invasion of foreign breeds dangerously lowered the numbers of Asturian Valley to about 22,000 head. During the 1980s, the (ASEAVA, 'Spanish Association of breeders of selected cattle of the Asturian Valley breed', founded in 1981) and the Spanish government initiated motions to protect the breed. Now the breed is once again prominent in northern areas and spreading to other parts of Spain.
Description.
A typical animal weigh between 600 and 700 kilograms. Their color varies from dark brown to a light golden brown sometimes with a white head (apart from the eyes), underside of the abdomen. They are most appreciated for high quality of meat and milk rich in fat and protein.


Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or SPCA New Zealand (abbreviated as RNZSPCA or SPCA) is a New Zealand charitable society who work to promote the humane treatment of animals. The society consists of 41 animal shelters around New Zealand, including many in rural areas. Under the Animal Welfare Act 1999, SPCA inspectors have the exclusive power to investigate animal welfare complaints and prosecute abusers when necessary.
The Royal NZ SPCA has initiated a range of animal welfare campaigns. It has launched public education campaigns about the humane treatment of animals, and has encouraged people to change their behaviour towards animals. SPCA has also run politically motivated campaigns aimed at promoting law changes or questioning the legality of certain practices. A 2007 Reader's Digest ranked the SPCA as the second most trusted charity, behind the Cancer Society.
History.
The New Zealand SPCA was formed by settlers from England in 1882, inspired by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in England which was formed in 1824 after the passing of the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822 and which lobbied for the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835. This law was later replaced by the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, a law which the settlers brought with them during the colonisation of New Zealand. The English society received royal patronage in 1840.
The New Zealand society first formed in Dunedin, and was followed by the establishment of the Auckland and Wellington branches in 1883 and 1884 respectively. From this point onwards, smaller communities began to establish their own branches of the society. In 1933 the separate local societies joined together to form the national New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. There are now 47 individual branches across New Zealand. In 2008 the society celebrated 125 years of continued service with a march up Queen Street in Auckland.
On 17 June 2017, SPCA delegates voted to form one national organisation from 41 of its independent centres to create a unified and future-focused national entity. This change came into effect on 1 November 2017.
Campaigns.
Agricultural and entertainment animals.
The group has also been involved in campaigns against alleged mistreatment of livestock. This includes campaigns against battery hens and pregnant sow pigs kept in "sow stalls" for up to 16 weeks without being able to move or turn around.
Individual branches of the group have also been involved in unofficial campaigns, not directly recognised by the national body. A successful campaign by the Auckland arm of the organisation seen an end to rodeos at the Auckland Easter Show. There has also been moves to have rodeos outlawed altogether.
Domestic pets.
The charity group has collaborated with the New Zealand Veterinary Association on a campaign against the tail docking of dogs. The SPCA claimed tail docking was an outdated and cosmetic practice which offered no benefits but causes unnecessary pain to the animal. The New Zealand Kennel Club purported there was no scientific evidence to support any of the SPCA's claims and said tail docking should be up to owners' preference. No decision was ever passed into law.
In late 2012 an SPCA campaign which involved teaching dogs was featured on TV3 current affairs show Campbell Live. The campaign received international attention, and was covered by "The Guardian", "BBC News", "Metro UK", "Huffington Post", and the "Financial Times".
Family violence.
The SPCA also works in conjunction with the New Zealand Department of Child, Youth and Family Services to ensure that in households where animal abuse is occurring, possible indications of child abuse are looked into and in return where child abuse is found to be occurring, animals are looked into for possible maltreatment. The Society's "One of the family" empathy education programme was started in 2007, backed by New Zealand celebrity Norm Hewitt, in response to research indicating that a large percentage of criminals begin abusing animals in early life.
One of the SPCA's recurring campaigns is an annual "List of Shame", exemplifying the worst cases of animal abuse in New Zealand. The list is designed to bring public awareness to the abuse of animals and to alert the public to the close link between animal cruelty and domestic and family violence.
Funding.
The SPCA receives almost no government funding to run its campaigns and programmes, and relies on fundraising campaigns, public donations and bequests for its operational income. In 2010, the Society was granted $1.2 million from the Ministry for Primary Industries (New Zealand) to deal with animal welfare cases involving large-scale farming operations, to be split over four years. The organisation's main sponsors are Purina and Southern Cross Pet Insurance.
Fines for animal welfare abuse prosecution are often directed to be paid to the SPCA, and the society often seeks the cost of food and veterinary bills from offenders during legal proceedings. The SPCA also has partnerships with various New Zealand businesses to generate funding. For example, pet store chain Animates has encouraged customers to make a donation to the SPCA in return for an ornament that they can hang on an in-store Christmas tree.


Fish farming in South Australia

Fish farming in South Australia is a major economic contributor to the state's seafood sector. The most valuable species is the Southern bluefin tuna, which is caught in the wild then transferred into sea cages in southern Spencer Gulf where they are fed locally caught sardines. The second most valuable species is the Yellowtail kingfish, which is farmed near Port Lincoln and Arno Bay. A tourist venture called Oceanic Victor located in Encounter Bay allows paying customers the opportunity to swim in a sea cage with the Southern bluefin tuna and handfeed the fish. Some prominent companies in the fish farming sector in South Australia include Clean Seas and Tony's Tuna International.
Economics.
The highest value fish in South Australia's seafood sector, and its major export earner is the Southern bluefin tuna. Market competition for South Australian tuna comes from fish farms in the Mediterranean.
History.
Sea cage fish farming in South Australia began at an experimental scale in the 1990s.
Kingston Council encouraged PIRSA to permit sea cages closer to shore in 2004.
In 2006, three new aquaculture zones became available for finfish farming in Lacepede Bay. Another three were created by new regulations designating zones in Anxious Bay, on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula, Port Neill on the Spencer Gulf, and at Rivoli Bay in the state's south-east.
In 2006, Adelaide hosted the Australasian Aquaculture Conference.
Between 2008 and 2011, tuna baron and kingfish farmer Hagen Stehr expressed his view that desalination brine from a proposed desalination plant would have widespread impacts on fish farming, wild fisheries and the giant Australian cuttlefish aggregation. He also warned of a huge compensation claim should the water quality be impacted by mining-related activities. His concerns were shared by other aquaculture and commercial fishing interests and supported by research by oceanographer, Jochen Kaempf.
In 2011, a new 10,000 hectare zone for fish farming was proposed off Tumby Bay in southern Spencer Gulf.
In 2012, Clean Seas yellowtail kingfish leases were abandoned after elevated fish mortalities from 2009 to 2011. The fish were suffering from a form of gut enteritis and secondary infections.
In 2013, an additional 7500 hectares of lease area was made available for the farming of southern bluefin tuna, mussels and abalone south of Port Lincoln. Farms in the new lease area would benefit from deeper water and better flushing conditions than those closer inshore.
In 2016, SARDI announced that they had developed a new feeding regime for yellowtail kingfish farmers that would help them maintain animal health during the winter to mitigate potential stock and financial losses.
In the late 2010s, aquaculture quotas in South Australia were being leased to long-line Southern bluefin tuna fishers on Australia's east coast as that activity was proving more profitable than ranching.
In the summer of 2020-2021, the tuna fleet had difficulty catching their quota.
Criticism.
Former Greens MLC Mark Parnell raised concerns that the industry and the way aquaculture zones were being managed was effectively privatising the coastline.
In 2005, conservationists raised concerns about the growing prospect of the aquaculture industry taking precedence over the establishment of state managed marine parks and the conservation of threatened species. The Conservation Council of South Australia called for a moratorium on new aquaculture developments, but was unsuccessful. The Wilderness Society also supported the moratorium call after marine debris from an abalone farm was distributed along 170 km of coastline following a storm event.
In 2006, two casually-employed fish farm workers from Whyalla were told to go home by their employer SAAMS after participating in a protected industrial action.
Since the early 2000s, occasional escapes of yellowtail kingfish have occurred. These are often reported by fishermen before the growers, and can number in the tens of thousands per event. On one occasion, fish farmers suspected an act of sabotage resulted in the release of 10,000 kingfish.
Fish farm nutrient pollution has impacted Louth Bay in southern Spencer Gulf, where it lead to seagrass loss and algal blooms in the mid 2000s. Residents argued that the bay, which is semi-enclused by Louth Island and Rabbit Island is a slow flushing system unsuitable for fish farming.
In 2008, some recreational anglers expressed their disapproval of the industry, noting escapes of farmed fish, marine debris and the loss of amenity.
The use of wild caught fish can impact the wider ecosystem by prey depletion. South Australian biotechnologist Andrew Ward has researched ways to mimic natural systems to derive feedstock from waste streams from other animal industries that could reduce or eliminate the need for wild caught fish in farmed fish feed.
Marine debris is another form of pollution stemming from fish farming operations. While this cannot be mitigated entirely, operators engage with local communities with coast care projects and beach clean-ups as a means of offsetting their environmental impact. A Fitzgerald Bay resident described the smell of dead fish and marine debris as major disappointments of the industry's activity in upper Spencer Gulf between the late 1990s and 2012.


Allan Hookings

Allan Charles Hookings (6 September 1913 – 31 October 1962) was a farmer and politician in the State of South Australia.
Allan was born in Riverton, the only son of Thomas Charles Hookings and Ivy Doris Hookings (née Pickering) (ca.1890 – 25 October 1928) of "Oaklands" sheep stud, Tarlee, later of Winchester Street, Malvern. On 26 February 1930 Thomas Hookings married again, to Alice Babidge (ca.1865 – 8 January 1944). By 1930 they had moved to a farm at Tantanoola. Allan continued farming in the Tantanoola area.
He was elected for the Liberal and Country League to a Southern district seat in the Legislative Council in February 1959, and died in office. He was succeeded by Ren DeGaris.


Sergiu Cunescu

Sergiu Cunescu (March 16, 1923—March 16, 2005) was a Romanian social democratic politician, the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Romania (PSDR) between 1990 and 2001.
Biography.
Born in Bucharest, he graduated from the Electromagnetics branch of the Polytechnic Institute. Although his father was a prominent PSDR member, Sergiu Cunescu was initially sympathetic of the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ), and led the latter party's Polytechnic group for a period. For a while after 1948, he was a political prisoner in Communist Romania, before being allowed to return to his engineering career.
In January 1990, soon after the Romanian Revolution, Cunescu was instrumental in the recreation of the PSDR as an independent group (it had been absorbed into the Romanian Communist Party in November 1947). He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) in 1990, 1992 and 1996, and was a member of the Joint Romania-European Union Parliamentary Committee, and later of the Chamber's External Policies and European Integration Committee - under the PSDR-backed Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR) governments.
He retreated from public life after the subsequent union of the PSDR with the Romanian Party of Social Democracy (PDSR), which he had voted against.
Political activity.
In January 1990, together with Adrian Dimitriu (the former secretary general of the Independent Social Democratic Party) chaired by Constantin Titel Petrescu), Mira Moscovici, Constantin Avramescu, Mircea Iscru Stanescu (the veterans of the old party active in 1946) they established the new PSDR party. The PSDR claimed to be the legitimate and unique successor of the Independent Social Democratic Party (PSDI) and, together with the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD) and National Liberal Party (PNL), parties established in 1990 also claiming the legacy of pre-1948 parties, formed the political opposition against the ruling National Salvation Front (FSN).
In 1990–2000, Cunescu was the chairperson of the PSDR. In 1992 and in 1996, he was re-elected within the Congresses. In 1990–2000, he was a member of the Romanian Parliament, being a parliamentary group leader. In 2000, at the party's Congress, which by that time had merged with the Socialist Party led by Tudor Mohora, Alexandru Athanasiu was elected as an executive chairperson, and Sergiu Cunescu became the honorary chairperson of the party. In 2000, he resigned from the position and left the party. His resignation came shortly after merging by absorption of PSDR by PDSR, the former FSN, which became the Social Democratic Party (PSD).
Cunescu succeeded to join the PSDR to the Socialist International. Initially an observer party and afterwards with the a consultative role, the party eventually became a full-fledged member. Sergiu Cunescu was a supporter of modern social democracy, of the Franco-German origin, mastering Bad Godesberg’s reformist theses, who delineated the European left-wing movement of Marxism. Among his most important comrades were Radu Dimitrescu, Constantin Avramescu (until 1997), Smaranda Dobrescu, etc.
On 16 March 2005, Cunescu died, at age 82. In 2006, in memory of his conceptions, democratic principles and social solidarity the book “Social Democracy, Illusion and Reality” by Smaranda Dobrescu was published by Niculescu Publishing House. He is buried in the Cunescu family's cave at the Orthodox Bellu Cemetery.


Richard Gross (sculptor)

Richard Oliver Gross (10 January 1882 – 27 December 1964) was a New Zealand farmer and sculptor. He was born in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England, on 10 January 1882.
Gross sculpted the following works:
In the 1938 King's Birthday Honours, Gross was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, in recognition of his services as a sculptor.


Dickinson Museum Center

The Dickinson Museum Center is an organization that preserves and presents history through a museum complex in Dickinson, North Dakota. The organization operates the museum center, which serves as a history museum for the city of Dickinson, Stark County, and Southwest North Dakota.
The museum consists of a city-owned, park that includes multiple buildings and is managed in part by several non-profit organizations.
Badlands Dinosaur Museum.
This museum houses thousands of rock, mineral, and fossil specimens including a complete Triceratops skeleton, and award-winning feathered dinosaur models by artist Boban Filipovic. It was privately run from 1993-2015 during which time it was called "Dakota Dinosaur Museum". Since December 2015 it has been owned and operated by the City of Dickinson, and was renamed "Badlands Dinosaur Museum" in 2017.
Joachim Regional Museum.
The Joachim Regional Museum features local art and history exhibits, and is managed by the Southwestern North Dakota Museum Foundation. Permanent exhibits include a Western art gallery and a dollhouse. The building includes the Osborn Reading and Research Room.
Prairie Outpost Park.
Five historic and five reproduction buildings are located in the park east of the museum. Several other groups manage buildings and/or host events in the park throughout the year including Czech, Scandinavian, and Germans from Russia heritage organizations.
The historic buildings include a house, train depot, general store, church, and school. The reproduced buildings include a print shop, an ethnic German-Russian stone house, a Czech town hall, a Scandinavian Stabbur, and a blacksmith shop. Other structures in the park include the Heritage Pavilion picnic shelter, a veteran's chapel, an oil pumpjack, a coal car, a Northern Pacific train caboose, a windmill, and restrooms.
Pioneer Machinery Hall.
This museum focuses on the early agricultural and ranching history of Stark County, and includes threshing machines, tractors and other horse-drawn and mechanized farm equipment. The museum is operated by the Stark County Historical Society, and is located in Prairie Outpost Park.
Other sites.
Dickinson Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The visitor’s bureau provides information about local and regional attractions and events. The CVB is a separately managed organization from the Dickinson Museum Center.
Historic Preservation Commission.
The director of the Dickinson Museum Center also serves as Historic Preservationist for the city of Dickinson. The Historic Preservationist serves as staff liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission for the city.


Strade dei vini e dei sapori

Le Strade dei vini e dei sapori ("Roads of Wines and Tastes") is the name for the collection of routes in and around Italy, that lead to and through major regional food and wine production areas.
These routes, all in Emilia Romagna, are:


List of windmills in Somme

A list of windmills in Somme, France


Ski Hi Lee

Robert E. Leedy (9 February 1921 – 1974) was a Canadian professional wrestler, boxer and actor, better known by his ring name, Ski Hi Lee (also spelled Sky Hi Lee, Sky High Lee, and Sky Hy Lee). Known for his great height and strength, he was described as the tallest professional wrestler of his era and as "among the roughest in the business".
Early life.
Leedy was born on 9 February 1921 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Professional wrestling career.
Leedy began wrestling in 1944. During the late-1940s, he wrestled for various promotions in Canada and the United States. Midget wrestler Sky Low Low, who debuted in the late-1940s, adopted his ring name in reference to Lee.
By 1950, Lee was appearing with the Calgary, Alberta-based Big Time Wrestling promotion. On 26 February 1951, Lee defeated Al Mills for the promotion's NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship. Mills regained the championship from Lee the following month. Lee won the championship from Mills a second time on 29 January 1952, once again losing the championship to Mills in a rematch the following month. On 2 April 1955, Lee and Earl McCready defeated Fritz Von Erich and Lou Sjoberg for the Alberta Tag Team Championship. They lost the championship back to Von Erich and Sjoberg later that month. On 20 May 1955, Lee defeated Von Erich and Sjoberg for the championship a second time, this time with Don Lee as his partner. Lee continued to wrestle for Big Time Wrestling until at least 1956.
In 1957, Lee wrestled 30 matches in Australia - including two bouts against NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz - followed by a single bout in New Zealand.
In late-1957, Lee began wrestling for the Honolulu, Hawaii-based promotion 50th State Big Time Wrestling. He continued to wrestle for the promotion until early 1959. During his stint in Hawaii, Lee lived in Waikiki in Honolulu.
In late-1958, Lee toured Japan with the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance, participating in the "International Competitions of the Fall" series as one-half of a tag team with Don Leo Jonathan. While in East Asia, Lee visited Formosa during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, reportedly being introduced to Chiang Kai-shek.
In the early-1960s, Lee toured South Africa. In 1961, Jeremy Taylor recorded a satirical song entitled "Ag Pleez Deddy" ("Oh Please Daddy") in which reference is made to a scheduled bout between Lee and the South African wrestler Willie Liebenberg.
After finishing his tour, Lee flew to the United Kingdom in 1962 to exchange his pay, which he had been given in sterling. He ultimately settled in the UK, working for Joint Promotions and other companies. During his time in the UK, he faced Tiger Joe Robinson in a bout that promoter Atholl Oakeley described as "one of the finest fights ever seen in London".
Leedy's last recorded bouts were in mid-1968, when he toured Japan with International Wrestling Enterprise as part of its "Big Summer Series".
Professional wrestling persona.
Early in his career Lee wrestled as a face and was billed from his hometown of Toronto. He used various ring names before settling on "Ski Hi Lee". Later in his career, Lee wrestled as a heel and was billed as being a cowboy from El Paso, Texas (or, less commonly, Houston, Texas) in the United States, with his character described as a "country bumpkin version of Jaws" and a "roughneck" and supposedly being the son of the Texas Ranger "Hi Lee". Lee was described by Pat Barrett as "one of the most hated men in wrestling, on a par with Roddy Piper"; on one occasion he was attacked by multiple audience members while leaving the ring.
Lee had a distinctive appearance, with Bob Leonard describing him as "this great big, raw-boned guy who had the look of a corpse that had been left hanging around for a couple of days [who had] long, shaggy hair [and was] always unshaven". His hair was described as a "lion-like mane". One writer described his "large head, long curly locks, sideburns, walrus moustache and 'mutton-chop' whiskers". Lee was referred to by one audience member as "the first person I ever saw who was a lean 292 pounds". He was known to wear a stetson.
Lee wrestled in a brawling style that emphasised his height and strength, with frequent choking and gouging. His finishers included a backbreaker, a knee drop, and a right-handed punch.
Boxing career.
Leedy boxed from 1945 to 1946 as a heavyweight under the ring name Robin "Tiny" Lee (sometimes referred to as simply "Tiny Lee"). Fighting out of San Francisco, California, he was billed as 6 feet 7 inches (198 cm) with an 87 inch (221 cm) reach. He is recorded by BoxRec as having fought 17 bouts between July 11, 1945 and June 25, 1946, of which he won 11, lost five, and drew one. In September 1945, he reportedly defeated Billy Gilbert by knockout in 14 seconds.
Acting career.
Leedy acted in three films: the French comedies "L'Empire de la Nuit" and "Les Bricoleurs" in 1962 and 1963 respectively, and the Indian mystery "Nasihat" in 1967.
Personal life.
Leedy suffered from acromegaly. He had a high pain tolerance and would engage in geek show feats including chewing glass and allowing people to throw darts into his bare back.
Lee owned a 200-acre dude ranch in Bolton, Ontario (the "Rocking H"), as well as a restaurant in Toronto and 1,200 acres in Alberta.
Lee was a heavy drinker, reportedly drinking a forty of whiskey for breakfast. Fellow wrestler Orig Williams described him as a "world-class drinker" who would drink three bottles of whisky daily. Fellow wrestler Al Oeming quoted Lee's aunt as bemoaning him having on one occasion drunk "a 26er of King's Straight for breakfast, a 26er at noon, and a 26er at night".
Death.
Leedy died in 1974 in his adopted home of London. His death has variously been ascribed to complications from acromegaly, alcohol intoxication, and health complications caused by a cook lacing a meal he had eaten with rat poison.


Andrew Doyle (politician)

Andrew Doyle (born 2 July 1960) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency from 2007 to 2020. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Food, Forestry and Horticulture from 2016 to 2020.
Early life and education.
Doyle graduated from Rockwell Agricultural College, in County Tipperary, in 1978, and as a young farmer in 1981, he won the Stephen Cullinane Scholarship to New Zealand, where he played rugby in Canterbury.
Personal life.
Doyle runs the family farm in County Wicklow, which has been in his family for six generations. He is married to Ann Smith and they have three sons and one daughter.
Politics.
He has been a member of Fine Gael since 1983, and first sought election to Wicklow County Council in the East Wicklow local electoral area, where he served from 1999 to 2007, and was Chairman of the Council from 2005 to 2006. He was elected to the Dáil, on his first attempt at the 2007 general election. During his first term in the Dáil, he was party Spokesperson on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from July 2010 to March 2011, having previously served as deputy Spokesperson on Agriculture, with special responsibility for Food and Horticulture from 2007 to 2010. He was re-elected to the 31st Dáil at the 2011 general election, topping the poll in the constituency, and was elected for the third time at the 2016 general election.
Doyle introduced two private member's bills in the Dáil. He introduced the Food (Fair Trade and Information) Bill 2009 to provide in the interests of the common good for the prohibition of activities which prevent, restrict or distort fair trade in grocery goods in the State. He also introduced the Electoral (Amendment) (Hours of Polling) Bill 2013, to set voting hours for Dáil elections, Dáil by-elections, Presidential elections, European Parliament elections, Local Government elections and Referendums. Neither bill was enacted.
As Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, he also produced the first parliamentary report on the Offshore Oil and Gas sector in 2012, which called for a new fiscal licensing regime in Offshore Oil and Gas exploration off the coast of Ireland. As part of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2013, he hosted a conference in Dublin Castle with EU member states Parliamentary Agriculture Committee Chairs from all 27 countries, engaging parliamentarians with speakers such as the European Commissioner for Agriculture, and then Romanian Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos and the European Commissioner for Fisheries, Maria Damanaki.
He lost his seat at the 2020 general election.


Knuthenborg

Knuthenborg is a manor house located north of Maribo on the Danish island of Lolland. Originally known as Årsmarke, it was first mentioned in 1372. Today's building was completed in 1866 to a design by Henrik Steffens Sibbern. The medieval manor of Årsmarke, with its more than 300 years of history, was once Denmark's largest private estate; it is now part of Knuthenborg Safaripark. The exotic shrubs and trees planted during the era of the Counts of Knuthenborg are situated on the grounds.
Geography.
The 2,000 acre estate is surrounded by beech forests. Since 1969, Knuthenborg Safari Park has attracted large numbers of visitors who come to see some 40 species of exotic animals and birds as well as special attractions for children.
History.
First mentioned in 1372, Aarsmarke was owned by the Urne family from 1527. Under King Frederick III, Cornelius Pederson Lerche was granted ownership of the estate in 1667. In 1677, his daughter Sister Lerche married the Mecklenberg nobleman Christoffer von Knuth who, on inheriting Aarsmarke, did much to improve it through extensions and increased prosperity. In 1714, their son Adam Christoffer von Knuth was elevated to the status of a count under Frederick IV which resulted in the change of name of the estate to Knuthenborg.
Buildings.
An older residence was still standing when the current structure was under construction. Today's manor house, also known as Enkesædet, was built by the architect Henrik Steffens Sibbern in 1866 in the Victorian style and was extended in 1886. A tower of French design with a pointed spire crowns one of its corners. Several other interesting buildings on the estate were built by Sibbern in the 1860s and 1870s, all with distinct appearances and features. Egehuset (the Oak House) in the Swiss style looks a little like a Tyrolean chalet. Flinterhuset (the Flint House), built literally in flint, is the most elaborate building with many fireplaces and chimneys true to the English tradition. The imposing Godsforvalterboligen (Forest Superintendent’s Residence) is accessed through the corner tower. Sibbern also built Maglemerporten, the majestic main gatehouse and porter's residence while Vilhelm Tvede (1826–1891) added the gatehouses at Snapind.
Park.
It was Eggert Knuth (1838–1874) who called upon the English landscape architect Edward Milner to lay out the park in the late 1860s, creating artificial lakes fed by streams running through the estate. During his travels to England, Knuth visited nurseries where he purchased rare trees, plants and seeds which he sent back to his estate. Nils Stenson was then working as the Chief Landscape Gardener to the Count of Kunthenborg. His son, Herman Stenson, who was assisting his father as a young boy and grew up in the estate's Hunting pavilion, had also made very lovely drawings of the Kunthenborg palace and the garden. Eggert Knuth died in 1870 at the young age of 36, when the basic layout had been completed as can be seen from a relatively simple map dated 1881. Many of the finer details from Milner's original design were missing but today's garden nevertheless reflects his general concept. Adam V. Knuth who succeeded Eggert added the fanciful ruin near the main entrance, typical of the follies in English gardens of the times. In 1926, the park was the first of its kind to be listed. As a result, it was opened to visitors and further developed, especially, with large displays of rhododendrons. In addition to beech, there are oak, poplar, and coniferous trees, and a "Sequoia gigantea". The property is encircled by a wall of granite, in length, and in height.
Owners.
There are full records of the owners of Knuthenborg since the 14th century:


Indian Game

The Indian Game is a British breed of game chicken, now reared either for meat or show. It originated in the early nineteenth century in the counties of Cornwall and Devon in south-west England. It is a heavy, muscular bird with an unusually broad breast; the eggs are brown.
In the United States the name was changed in the early twentieth century to Cornish. A white variant, the White Cornish, was developed there at about the same time, and is much used in modern industrial chicken meat production in many parts of the world, either for cross-breeding to produce hybrid broilers, or to produce fast-growing "game hens".
History.
The breed was developed by Sir Walter Gilbert in about 1820. It was intended to be a gamecock, but had no aptitude for cockfighting.
It was accepted by the American Poultry Association in 1893.
The Cornish is known variously as "Indian Game" or "Cornish Game" depending on country. In America it was always known as "Indian Game" until 1905 when the American Poultry Association passed a motion to rename it "Cornish Indian Game". Due to confusion caused by implying the breed came from India, and unpopularity of "Game" in the name, it was renamed to simply the "Cornish" in 1910.
In Australia they are still known solely as "Indian Game". Usage of the two varies in the United Kingdom, but it is officially the "Indian Game" according to the Poultry Club of Great Britain.
Characteristics.
The Indian Game is a large and stocky bird, short in the legs and unusually broad and deep in the breast. Some cock birds may be so short-legged and broad-breasted that they are incapable of reproducing.
Three colour variants are recognised in the United Kingdom: the dark, the original colour; the Jubilee; and the double-laced blue, which is rare. The Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture and some European countries recognise the white variant in addition to these three. In the United States, the Cornish is recognised in four colours: the original dark, added to the "Standard of Perfection" in 1893; the white, added in 1898; the white-laced red, added in 1909; and the buff, added in 1938.
It is resistant to most common diseases of poultry, but vulnerable to parasites. The feathers are thin and hard, without down; this may render the birds susceptible to cold, which may delay breeding in early Spring.
Use.
The Indian Game was bred as a gamecock, but was not successful as a fighting bird. It was found to be a good meat breed, and was much used for cross-breeding with established meat breeds such as the Dorking, Orpington and Sussex. It is a poor layer: the eggs are small and light brown; hens may lay about 80 per year.


William P. Brooks

William Penn Brooks (November 19, 1851 – March 8, 1938) was an American agricultural scientist, who worked as a foreign advisor in Meiji period Japan during the colonization project for Hokkaidō. He was the eighth president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. Brooks is remembered as one of six Founders of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity in 1873.
Biography.
Early life.
Brooks was born in South Scituate, Massachusetts, United States to Nathaniel Brooks and Rebecca Partridge (Cushing), the tenth of a family of eleven children, and born when his father was well past fifty. His father's ancestors came to North America in 1635, and his mother's belonged to the Cushings of England. He had studied in the public schools, at Assinippi Institute and at the Hanover Academy. He taught school in Hanover and Rockland, then entered college at the beginning of the third term of his freshman year.
Collegiate activities.
Brooks' collegiate activities are notable because of his role in founding Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity along with five fellow students.
While at "Aggie," Brooks was a member of the Washington Irving Literary Society, a popular pastime among the undergraduates. He was a member of the Gymnastic Association, held the military rank of captain in the College's Battalion, and was an editor of the 1875 version of the college yearbook. His peers honored Brooks by election as permanent historian of the class. He was valedictorian of the Massachusetts Agricultural College class of 1875, where he had specialized in agricultural chemistry. Yet among all these, it was his role as a Founder of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity in his Sophomore year by which his name is best remembered today.
Early career in Japan.
After a year of graduate study, Brooks was hired as a teacher for Sapporo Agricultural College (SAC), in Japan, whose head teacher at that time was Brooks' former professor, William Smith Clark. Brooks arrived in Sapporo in January 1877, shortly before Clark left the school and only a few months before the Japanese government crushed the Satsuma rebellion, the last opposition to its policy of modernization.
Immediately after his arrival, he began to deliver lectures on agricultural science and took charge of the directorship of the experimental fields. Brooks worked at the Sapporo Agricultural School for twelve years, four of which he served as the college president.
Along with his teaching, Brooks made a great number of contributions as an agricultural advisor, identifying profitable crops for the northern Japanese climate and teaching courses in botany and agricultural science. He is credited with the introduction of onions, corn, beans, forage and other plants to Hokkaidō.
Brooks stressed both the theoretical and practical in his classes. Students were assigned six hours of field work a week and paid by the hour. Brooks also contributed much to the English education. He conducted the three kinds of English classes, "English" including "Composition" and "Elocution," "Debate," and "Declamation" from 1877 to 1886. His instruction, with diligence and leadership, was intended to qualify students to write and speak English correctly and effectively; focused on the essential points, less encumbered with irrelevant matter; and improved students greatly, giving both more ability and confidence in the expression of ideas.
In 1882, Brooks traveled home on leave and married. His wife, Eva Bancroft Hall Brooks went after him to live in Sapporo until his contract expired in 1888. During this time they had two children, Rachel Bancroft Brooks and Sumner Cushing Brooks (also to become a Phi Sig, "Alpha, 1910"), who later married noted American biologist Matilda Moldenhauer Brooks.
Back to Amherst, by way of Germany.
Brooks returned to the United States in October 1888 after having received the Order of the Rising Sun (4th class) from Emperor Meiji, and accepted a position at Massachusetts Agricultural College as a lecturer, and for two years, as president (1905–06). Brooks continued graduate study at the University of Halle in Germany, where he earned his doctorate. Continuing as a lecturer at Massachusetts Agricultural, he became the director of the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station until his retirement in 1921, where he is remembered for introducing Japanese cultivars, including several Japanese varieties of soybean and millet.
In 1920, Brooks received an honorary doctorate from the Minister of Education in Japan.
Retirement.
Brooks made his retirement home in Amherst.
Brooks had maintained correspondence with, and occasional activity with his collegiate fraternity for his entire life. In 1893, at the twenty-year anniversary of the founding, Brooks was appointed a committee of one to prepare an updated constitution for the order, which was adopted unanimously. It settled a long-simmering debate on the emerging structure of the national organization. In 1902 he participated in the induction of the Fraternity's new "Omicron" chapter at M.I.T. Brooks continued to attend occasional meetings and lend his voice to policy debates during his older years.
With Founder Campbell, Brooks made a pilgrimage to Old North Hall on May 12, 1923 for the dedication of "The Shrine," a plaque honoring the fraternity that was dedicated on the wall of that building which was a classroom and dormitory where the now thriving Order had been founded 50 years prior. (Old North was razed for the construction of Machmer Hall in 1957, and The Shrine was moved to the entrance of the new building.) The two followed up this appearance by joining the 1926 Convention in Philadelphia, and to the surprise and joy of many, they both traveled nearly 3,000 miles to the 1928 San Francisco Convention of the Fraternity.
After his first wife died (1924) he married Grace L. Holden in 1927 at the age of seventy-six.
Brooks died at the age of 86 in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1938. He had been the sole surviving Founder since the death of Campbell nine years earlier.
The Brooks House, a dormitory on the UMass campus, built in 1948, was named in his honor.


Armando Maugini

Armando Maugini (May 1, 1889, Messina – 1975, Florence) was an Italian agronomist and tropicalist. Maugini shaped and directed the activities of the "Istituto agricolo coloniale italiano", presently the Istituto agronomico per l'oltremare in Florence for forty years.
After several years of agronomic field trials and extension in Libya and laboratory research in Florence, he was appointed director of the "Istituto agricolo coloniale italiano" (Italian Agricultural Colonial Institute) in 1924. He worked there through the era of Italian colonial expansion, the Second World War, and the reshaping of the institute to its current form in 1953 holding the position of director until 1964, when his collaborator and friend Ferdinando Bigi was appointed as new director until 1968.
He ran the magazine "L'agricoltura coloniale", later known as "Rivista di agricoltura tropicale e subtropicale", and published several books and hundreds of articles on the topics dealt with by his institute. He enhanced staff technical skills and material endowments and established a net of collaborations with professionals and institutions worldwide. A shy and resolute man, pressing his resolutions with the touch of the countryside gentleman, Maugini was respected by colleagues and authorities, and enjoyed the trust of the farmers as well as of the international scientific and academic community.
Trained as an agro-economist, he worked in Africa at the start of his career. He was appointed director of "Agricultural services" in the Cyrenaica colony in eastern Libya, studying the flora and agricultural traditions of the Libyan society.
Back in Italy he organized the exploration and analysis of the natural and agricultural resources of tropical regions, assisting Italian agricultural colonization initiatives in Africa and in the Eastern Mediterranean islands between the two World Wars, and later the migration of Italian farmers to Latin America. His hands-on approach to the African environment and human dynamics resulted in precious advice on the valorization of ethnic and traditional knowledge and skills and the integration of indigenous dynamics in the shaping of the plantation enclave economy, thus containing the amount of metropolitan farmers settling in the Italian colonies.
His legacy includes a rich archive and photographic documentation on the Italian presence and work in Africa, the Mediterranean islands and Latin America, as well as on the environment and agriculture of the tropical and sub-tropical regions, stored at the Documentation Center and the Photographic Archive of the Istituto agronomico per l'oltremare.


Shahjalal Fertiliser Factory

The Shahjalal Fertiliser Factory is the biggest fertiliser factory in Bangladesh. It is situated at NGFF, Fenchuganj Upazila in Sylhet. The project was inaugurated by Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
History.
Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), the largest corporation in industrial sector in the country was established in 1976 vide 2nd amendment of P.0.27 upon merger of Bangladesh Paper and Board Corporation, Bangladesh Fetter, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Corporation and Bangladesh Tanneries Corporation. As present 13 (thirteen) enterprise of BCIC are in operation out of which 6 (six) are urea fertiliser factories. The total installed capacities of the above 6 (six) urea fatter factories are 2.30 million Mt per annum. Due to ageing the production capacities of 6 (six) urea fatter factories have been already decreased. Presently the demand of urea fester in the misty is about 3 million MT per annum. This demand s increasing day by day. To meet the growing demand of urea fertiliser, steps have been taken by Govt. of Bangladesh (GOB) to set up a modern technology based, energy efficient and environment friendly granular urea fertiliser factory named Shahjalal Fertilizer Project (SFP) with an annual capacity of MT at Fenchuganj.
It was hoped, the factory will be run as Commercial Operation from January 2016. After completion of construction of SFP, import of about MT. of urea fertiliser will be decreased in a year, as a result, equivalent amount of hard earned foreign currency will be saved. Besides, food security will be ensured as a result of application of urea fertiliser produced in the factory and the produced fertiliser will play a supportive role in food production.


Oxley Station

Oxley Station also once often referred to as Oxley Fork Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in north west New South Wales.
It is situated about west of Coonamble and north of Warren along the banks of the Macquarie River and the edge of the Macquarie Marshes. The station is made up of both the Oxley and Ringorah leases.
The country's territory is floodplain with river alluvial soils providing good feed. It is divided into 35 paddocks and has extensive bores and tanks to complement natural water sources.
J. J Leahy acquired Oxley at some time prior to 1939 Leahy was still in possession of the property in 1950.
Oxley was acquired by Clyde Agricultural in 1998 from the Twynham Pastoral Company. Other previous owners included the Fisher family, the Berawinnia Pastoral Company and the Naroo Pastoral Company (which was owned by British Tobacco).
Placed in the market in 2010 by the Swire Group company, Clyde Agricultural, it was expected to fetch around 24 million.
The property was acquired by the Paraway Pastoral Company in 2011 and carries approximately 10,000 head of Angus and Angus cross cattle.


Staffordshire oatcake

A Staffordshire oatcake is made from oatmeal, flour and yeast to make a dense pancake. It is cooked on a griddle, "backstone" or "baxton". The oatcake is a local speciality in the North Staffordshire area of England, specifically Stoke-on-Trent. They are normally referred to as "Staffordshire oatcakes" by non-locals, because they were made in and around Staffordshire and Cheshire; locally they are simply called "oatcakes".
History.
It was once common throughout the Potteries for oatcakes to be sold directly from the window of a house to customers on the street. The last producer in this style, the "Hole in the Wall" in Stoke-on-Trent, closed on 25 March 2012; however, there are many small commercial premises who sell oatcakes, either ready to eat, with a filling, or in batches of half a dozen or a dozen for the customer to take home. Larger commercial enterprises exist that sell oatcakes to supermarkets and other large distribution chains.
Oatcakes can be a form of fast food. Catering outlets in the area usually offer oatcakes with fillings such as cheese, tomato, onion, bacon, sausage, and egg. They can also be eaten with sweet fillings such as golden syrup, jam or banana, but this is less common and frowned upon by traditionalists. They are traditionally re-heated by steaming between two plates over a saucepan of water or nowadays by microwave, though some may prefer frying in butter or grilling.
The Staffordshire oatcake is not to be confused with the Scottish oatcake (biscuit); although both are made from oatmeal, the two types of oatcakes are very different. The Staffordshire oatcake dates back to the 19th century where it was baked on a hotplate over an open fire.
Regional variants.
Derbyshire oatcakes.
Derbyshire oatcakes are similar to Staffordshire oatcakes, but while following a similar (or even the same) recipe, they are generally larger in diameter and thicker. For example, a recipe that would make four Derbyshire oatcakes might generally make twelve of the Staffordshire.
Lancashire and Yorkshire oatcakes.
A Lancashire oatcake bears a passing resemblance to a Derbyshire oatcake, but is made without wheat flour or milk, and shaped as an approximate oval, smooth on one side and rough on the other, and traditionally cooked on a bakestone. It may be eaten moist, rolled up like a pancake with a filling, or dried hung over a rack until a crisp cracker. The dried version served with a beef and cowheel stew is known as "stew and hard". Once common throughout Lancashire, it is now rarely found. The same cake is also cooked in West Yorkshire and Craven, and is thus sometimes referred to as the Pennine oatcake, although in Yorkshire the recipe often incorporated approximately 20% buttermilk.
In Lancashire and Yorkshire, oatcake was a staple of the diet up to around 1910 Up to the 18th century, oatcakes were often called "havercakes", from "hafr", the Old Germanic word for oats, but that name only continued to be used in the North Riding of Yorkshire and Teesside for a different kind of oatcake that is thick with no yeast. The word is perpetuated in the nickname "The Havercake Lads" for the 33rd Regiment of Foot and also in the term haversack.
Cooking equipment.
In Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire the griddle was called a bakstone. Originally a bakstone was a portable flat oval flaggy sandstone approximately thick, set on an open fire. In the 19th century these were replaced with a cast-iron plate with a hooped handle, yet the name remained unchanged. In large houses they were built in next to the chimney, with a firebox under an iron plate that was approximately by , or in larger houses a pair of square plates.
In the 18th century the batter was mixed in a small wooden bucket which was not cleaned, so that the particles on the sides acted as a fermenting agent for the next baking. In the 19th century, the use of baker's yeast and porcelain containers or enamel pails became standard.
The size of the ladle varied relative to the current cost of oatmeal; for many decades, oatcakes were by tradition one penny each, or 18 for a shilling.
Before ca. 1860, the method was called "thrown oatcakes" or "riddlebread". The baker sifted oatmeal onto the "riddleboard", poured on a ladleful of batter, and then, with a circular horizontal movement, spread and leveled the batter. It was then slid onto a piece of linen covering the "spittle" board, a board with a handle. The cake was thereby "thrown" (flipped) on to the bakstone and then the linen taken up.
Baking racks were contrived by turning a chair on its side and covering the legs with a white cloth.
Oatcakes made for drying were left until crisp on a fixture called the bread flake. Flake, pronounced "fleeak", is from the Old Norse "fleki" meaning a hurdle. Flakes in Wharfedale had wooden laths; one at Ling House measured by with 23 cross bars. Those in upper Ribblesdale had strings, over two of which each cake was laid. In some areas the rack was called a bread creel.
Oatcake Day.
Stoke-on-Trent held an Oatcake Day event on Sunday, 8 August 2010. This led to other associated events such as "Oatcake Camp".


Thundelarra

Thundelarra is a conservation reserve that was previously run as a pastoral lease in Western Australia, located south east of Yalgoo and north of Dalwallinu in the Murchison region.
Description.
It was a traditional sheep station until having the lease transferred to a nature conservation estate in 2006. It is recognised as an important parcel of land that links the western and eastern end of other conservation estates, also once pastoral leases, which were purchased since 1995. The area lies in the Yalgoo IBRA region and is characterised by open mulga woodlands and sandy scrubland. The area is rich in ephemerals and is noted for its rich wildflower displays in spring.
History.
Prior to 1891 the station was owned by Samuel Eakins and S. F. Moore. These partners sold the property in 1897; at the time it occupied an area of and was carrying 1,490 sheep, 7 head of cattle and 10 horses.
Dingoes were a large problem at the station, prompting the station owner, Chas Beaton, to write to the Minister of Lands to ask that the bounty for dingoes to be increased. The station continued to prosper, selling 76 bales of wool at the Colonial Wool Sales in London in 1906, and 106 bales in 1907.
A carpenter named Philip Lothar Scheer, committed suicide at the station in 1910. Donald Beaton, E.A Marsh and H. Stanbridge were empanelled on the jury to conduct an inquest into the man's death. They determined that Scheer died as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot to the mouth while in a fit of temporary insanity.
The station sold 167 bales of wool at the London wool sales in January 1910, followed by 87 bales in December the same year then another 85 bales in February 1911 and 25 more bales in April the same year.
The flock size in 1912 was estimated at 15,000 sheep, with shearing set to commence in early September in the six-stand shearing shed.
The lessee in 2012 was the Conservation and Land Management Executive body.
Lignum Swamp.
The station also contains the Thundelarra Lignum Swamp. The wetland is a shrub dominated fresh water marsh with a sandy-clay bed. It lies in a sump that is slightly undulating interspersed with low rocky hills. The wetland receives water from a creek system that originated in a range situated about 25 km away. Filling every five to ten years the wetland reaches a depth of about 1.5m and is regarded as an important habitat and breeding ground for water birds.
Fiction.
The Quidditch team the Thundelarra Thunders has been associated with the name.