 Coinciding with these changes was the severe reduction in stock numbers from due to cattle tick, which killed a third or more of the cattle herd, and from the drought of 1898-1902.Wairuna experienced a 50 per cent loss of stock from the disease in 1896 when it first broke out on the property.By the time of Aktinson's death and burial in Wairuna Cemetery in 1899 he was semi-retired and in equal shares partnership with his three sons - Henry John, Robert James and Thomas Joseph.