THIRD PRIZE ESSAYS.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 58, 25 June 1908, Page 3

THIRD PRIZE ESSAYS.

SEKiOK DIVISION-(By Mac). Norman Smith, Milburn. On the 30th May, 1908, the Farmers' Glub held their twelfth annual winter show of farm, dairy, and garden produce in the Skating Rink. These shows give a stimulus to industry and gardening through people seeing how their neighbors make and cultivate the exhibits they send to the show. For instance, a gardener brings to the show what he thinks to be the finest best obtainable, but when he comes there he sees that another man has got better than he has, and by talking experimenting he learns the most favorable • ,; tionsfor the growth of the plant.

hows help the country to become richer and more prosperous, through people meeting and competing with each other, and so finding out the best methods of making butter and cheese, and the best ways of rearing sheep and other animals.

Let us now take a walk round the show, On the left hand, as I went in I saw Mr Johnstone's exhibit of furniture, which consisted of duchesses, a piano, a suite of furniture, a tile mantelpiece, and a finely-polished table. On the top of the table there were two balls for ornamenting gates—one a giant and the other a dwarf, like the Philistines' champion Goliath and Jesse's son David.

Then you go through a door, and on the left-hand side Marshall arid Summers had their exhibit of bikes, some of which were in the course of construction, and the rest were finished, a motor in the making, and a monster of a motor car, which, when it was being brought in, discharged an explosion of gas, which sounded like the report of a musket, and made the car quiver like a thing of Jife, Next to Marshall and Summers' exhibit was Hitchon Bros.' display of hams, sides, and six tins of lard. They had a number of branches of broad leaf above them, which were very green and pretty. Beside Hitchon Bros.' stall was Mr Drake's fine display 01* sauces, lemonade, raspberry, vinegar, and herbalirie, which were nicely arranged in the form of af pyramid. Beside Mr Drake's exhibit was the platform for tne garden vegetables, which were the following:—The marrows were fairly large, but not so good as the ones shown at former shows; the leeks were remarkably long in the white flesh and they had very big leaves \ the savoys were green, big, well-shaped, and firm; the cabbages were big, white, and firm leaved; the prize-taking onion was Ailsa Craig, which was big and no point; the beet had concentric rings, were large and' tapered evenly to a point; the red and white carrots were big, smooth, and they tapered evenly to a point; the potatoes were smooth, the eyes were well made, and the skin was clean.

Along the floor beside the vegetables was placed *he cereals, which consisted of: Black jats, which were longer and bigger than the other kinds of oats, they had a spear of white at the end of them ; the Short Tartarian oats were small and well-formed; the barley was big and round ; the Fed Tuscan is a long and dark colored grain, the other kinds were rounder and smaller, except Velvet Ear, which is long and full; the perennial ryegrass big and well cleaned; the cocksfoot was of a medium size and good quality; the chaff was finely cut, well browned, and had a nice smell of new mown hay. At the end of the Rink the Bruce Woollen Company had their splendid exhibit of the following: wool from the sheep's back, then the cleaned, next the dyed, and then the thread for weaving. Next came the finished ■article, whiph consisted of; plaids of tartan, which were as good as the ones made in Stirling in Scotland; they were of six patterns; rugs of many colors and patterns, shawls of all colors and kinds, blankets of a good quality, nice cloth and coverlets tor beds, They were well arranged, and the colors gave a pleasing effect to the eye. Next to the Woollen Company's exhibit was Mr P. M'Gill's exhibit of the following different kinds of wheat, red and white Tuscan, Fultz, Velvet Ear and Pearl. Velvet, which when mixed make the best flour, because red Tuscan makes a dark-colored flour, and people do not like it, so millers have to make it not so dark-colored by putting in some white Tuscan > four or five kinds of offal, flaked rice and barley, which are got by steaming and then rolling them, six different, stages of flour, which is got

by taking the flour off at different machines. He had scones made of wheat flour and oat flour, oatcake made of oatmeal in its last stage, and sponge cake made from the finest flour, For a background he had a cloth picture of the mill, with a ma;; ! . .idin?; ilv -rse and the words "Peace and Ticnty" on it, a prize for the best flour which he won at the Dunedin Exhibition, and some pictures. Beside it Mr Jones had his display of pipes of all kinds, bricks for corners, etc., trellised bricks for pavements and stables, and clay.

Along the wall were mangels, which were big, heavy, and had their rings regular; potatoes for weight, which averaged two and six-sevenths pounds each, turnips sound and big, and large carrots. Then next was the Milton pottery exhibit, which consisted of chicken fonts, foot warmers, jars, dishes, and many other things too numerous to mention. They were all beautitullyfinished, showing what things could be made in Milton.

Near it were two samples ot scutched and unscutched flax, both about six feet long. Then I saw the bags of potatoes, which were big and clean, some seed potatoes, which were very big to be the first year from seed ; they were in boxes which were made in such a way so as to let in air and light. Beside them were four guinea pigs, two browny-white doves, two white rabbits with pink eyes, and the lamb was out with the rest of the sheep; these were all children's pets. In the centre was fruit, which looked so tempting that I would have liked to have one. There were cooking apples of large size, and dessert apples with a pretty color of pink and red on them. The scones were free and well-fired ; the butter was good, but not so good as at' past shows. Eggs were large and well-shaped, and the cakes were wellfired and light. The plum puddings were free and well boiled, and the ornamental butter was arranged in the form ot lilies, dahlias, and leaves j the honey had a fine yellow color. To make this part of the show have a good appearance the top was decorated with asparagus, ferns, and other pot plants. Then I went out and saw the sheep, which were big, thick-woolled, and healthy-looking. I went home after a very happy day.

JUNIOR DIVISION-(By Rawera). David Forsyth, Table Hill. The morning of the winter show was very good, and our hopes were high. At noon the sky was clouded and down came the rain. At about two o'clock we set out, and after a cold drive of about seven miles reached the show a little past 3 o'clock. Upon gaining admittance I had little difficulty in taking notes, as the attendance at that time was not very great. The building was decorated with fancy red, white and blue tissue paper, hung from rafter to rafter. It was also decorated with red, white and blue linen with flowers. As I went in Johnstone Brothers' fine exhibit of furniture drew my attention, The most interesting articles were two Thiirmer pianos and a tiled fireplace. were also blocks of wood showing.all the different stages of a block of wood until it is a finished article. They had also some side boards, chairs, and a fancy six-legged table. The next exhibit was two hanks of very long tow, one of which was white and the other yellow. The Pottery works had a fine ex.- j hibit of earthenware vessels, In the centre of the exhibit was a card which read as follows: " Janet, isn't this cosy ?" " Ay, Tarn, the pig in the bed mak's a' the difference." The next exhibit was from the Brittania Brick and Pipe Works, and consisted of pipes and bricks of all shapes and siaes. Some of the bricks were marked with a network of crosses. Next to this was the Flour Mill's exhibit. In the background was a painting of the mill and the horse to pull the trucks. In the foreground were wheat, qats and barley in the best of condition and showing all the different stages they have to pass through until they are the finished articles. The exhibit was decorated with paintings for the art union prizes. Next came the Woollen Mills' excellent exhibit of all sorts of woollen articles. Some qf these were hanks of wool all colors, blankets, travelling rugs and tweeds. This exhibit also was decorated with paintings for the art union prizes, There was a fine exhibit of Royal Enfield cycles. Marshall and Summers had a good exhibit of cycles, motor cycles, and a motor car with a large hood over it, With the exhibit was a table on which were two prizes won by Marshall and Summers' machines. On the same table was a clear jar in which were some young carp brought from Napier by Mr King. There was a fine exhibit of Drake's Worcester sauces and cordials. Hitchon Brothers had an excellent exhibit of ham, rolled ham, pigs' heads,

and tins of pigs' lard. The exhibit was decorated with linen and broadleaf branches.

The exhibits of turnips and mangels were not quite as good as usual, but were very fair. An old gentleman who saw me taking notes said " You can put down in your essay that the man in the white hat took nearly a' the prizes. All the potatoes shown were of excellent quality. One bag of Princess Victoria especially took my notice. - The children of the Milton High School had a very instructive exhibit of sprouted potatoes. This process toughens the. skin, and they are not so liable to rot when planted. It also causes them to come up a fortnight earlier. The ten largest potatoes in the show weighed twentynine pounds. There was a very attractive exhibit of vegetables, viz., carrots, parsnips, cabbages, onions, leeks, vegetable marrows, and beetroot. There were a good few exhibits of wheat, oats, barley, chaff, and grasses, all the samples being nice and bright. The bread, butter, cakes, apples, and honeycomb were nicely staged in the centre of the hall, and I noticed many of the exhibitors peering anxiously through the wires to see if they had won any prizes. Mr Martin, Mr Caudle, and Mr Nelson had a very fine assortment of apples in their exhibits.

In the children's competition a pet lamb took first prize, two white rah bits second, three guinea pigs third, and two doves fourth. These exhibits were very interesting to us children. There were a good few pens of sheep exhibited. Mr Tough's fat sheep were especially good, and I heard one man say that the heaviest weighed 305 lbs alive. Mr Farquharson had also some very nice sheep. The man in charge of the sheep for the guessing competition seemed to be doing a good trade and giving away many envelopes. In the evening the hall was nicely lighted up by acetylene gas, and the attendance was very much larger than in the afternoon. The 'music was supplied by Mr Brookes playing the piano, two violinists, and a trumpeter. At about half-past nine the people were listening to see who would get the art union prizes, At 10 o'clock the show for 1908 ended.