and Finschhafen however tick fever caused many losses. Eventually the Malahang mission sold cattle to locals for $70 per head. In 1914 the mission purchased land for their plantation and gave a gift of cattle to the local people. In 1954, Australian farmers assisted the mission further establish their herd; "Twenty five Shorthorn heifers have been flown from Cairns in North Queensland, to Lae in New Guinea, to form the nucleus of a beef herd at the Lutheran Mission there. The heifers were donated to the mission by Mr. A.W Anderson and were aged from 11 to 13 months. They averaged 400 lb. each. Two trips were made by an especially chartered DC3 to get the cattle to New Guinea. The cattle were brought from Julia Creek to Mackay and then taken to the Atherton Tableland where they were rested and inoculated. Twelve head were taken on the first trip. The landed cost of the heifers in Lae, which is about 650 miles from Cairns, was approximately £60 per head compared with £110 for the estimated cost of shipping. Charter fees for the DC3 were £1200. Mr, W. W. Meuser. who came to Cairns to supervise the loading of the shipment, said that Mr. P. Kidd, of Malanda, in North Queensland, would buy a Santa Gertrudis bull to mate with the heifers. The European and native staffs of the mission consume considerable amounts of beef" On 24 October 1959 the first Lae Agricultural show was run; In the livestock section, dairy cattle were the strongest exhibit. The cattle came from the Lutheran Mission at Malahang, Mrs. Jensen's dairy, both near Lae and the Department of Agriculture and Stock and Fisheries' (DASF) property Erap The mission owned 1250 acres of Coconut plantations, produced copra, grew vegetables, raised poultry, cattle and other animals and operated sawmills. The cattle herd was built up to more than 150 head and a dairy was established. In 1955 Tropical Dairies became the first in PNG to supply pasteurised milk in cartons. By 1961 Malahang was producing some 32000 gallons of milk per year. Aircraft The Mission owned and operated a Junkers F.1313ke tri-motor aircraft named "Papua" (VH-UTS). In August 1939, German pilots Werner Garms and Paul Raabe from Malahang took off en route to the Ogelgeng Lutheran Mission station near Mt. Hagen. After learning of the start of World War II in Europe, the two pilots