TUSSOCK AND FURROW.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14407, 15 July 1912, Page 9

TUSSOCK AND FURROW.

("Weekly Fress and Referee.")

Mr Hill had some.interesting, samples r.t tlio Aloumahaki soil. It ia apparently a yery.free.ipow.dery sort of . , toil with .I'lot of iron in tlio subsoil. ».' There in also tome, bad ironstone pan when "-on got down about three feet or so that does not look very healthy. Heavy rain docs not affect tho Alouxnnhnki soil much, as it all seems to yet away in no time, but the nature of tho ground is bad for retaining any fi'rtili_iii" material that may bo put into it. for it gets washed away very rapidly indeed. I was shown somo remarkablo lucerno roots tliat were worth seeing One root had been followed down into the earth for a depth of fi'f- ' t«en feet, and then it had nnfortu'nately been broken in getting it out. , But moro remarkablo still wero the _ lumps of .rock-liko ironstone pan with ". tho lucerne roots positively growing right through tho hard substance. .1 remember I was told by an Amuri sheep-farmer that it was no good trying to grow lucerne on his place, as it , .had a lot of hard clay pap under tho subsoil. All I can say is that if . the lucerne roots will get through that ironstone they should get through tho clay, pan without a great deal of ■ -trouble. Regarding the fifteen-feet root mentioned abovo, I wonder how much it cost tho country getting it dutr, out! But to Teturri to National Dairy Show-matters. It is no real good trying to compare the Otago winter ■ fixture with the northern exhibition for tho latter is supposed to bo a dairy, . chow pure and simple, while down sou tli thry scon;—so far as interest is concerned—by having a fine exhibit of fat stock as well. The "Dunedin people i-ave a better lot of buildings for show holding. The block is two-storied, compact and complete, whereas the Palmcrston buildings, are a. bit rough and ready though very big. The best ' building up north is that which the 'butter, eheeso and fruit are shown in, but it is not so well-lighted as tho southern one, which is very good in this respect. Palmerstpn loads iri its exhibit or dairying machinery, but all shows have suffered from the decision of many machinery agents and manufacturers, that thov would not show because they consider the expenditure .not justified.- I presume they know their own business best, but it certainly is a great pity from a spaeta'tor's point of view that every manufacturer or agent does not' tako space at the shows and exhibit nil bis The officials of the Agricultural "Department were in full force at tlio show, and it is almost needless to say that tho display they mado was an excellent one. ' It was not as big a as they wero prepared to make,

because, through somo bungling, the' Department did. not get all the space the show authorities were prepared to give them- Therefore tho display did not quite come up to the very fine exhibit at- Dunedin, but it was good all the same,' and crowds of interested people visited it, and gazed with great keenness at the" multitudinous exhibits that ranged from weeds and gra.sses, to tho gruesome insides of a tuberculous pig. Two highly popular exhibits wero working models of cow sheds. The hails and doors, etc., all worked with little ropes and thousands of people must have had a pull at them. The Maoris, especially, were most enthusiastic, and 1 noticed one man thero for about an hour, opening and shutting tho doors in the shed .with a broad grin of delight on his dusky dial. Another feature of the Department's exhibit wore the fine roots and forage plants procured from the Ashburton show. For want of space these had to be shown in a tent outside, and hero they were generally admired. A good point about the National Dairy Show was the help given to th_ public school pupils towards making exhibits of all sorts. Many of the displays were very meritorious, a.nd some of the essays on natural history wero not without humour of the unconscious variety. One young person wrote about* tho tortoise, and started off by informing her public that, " The tortoisd is an .animal tliat can remain in ono place for a long time. It :s brown and yellow, underneath, and has a shell on its back, therefore it can keep still for a long time!" Another ■bndclint Buffon gravely .stated that "Tho wobdlouss "is an animal of low intelligence.' 1 There was plenty >if other points as good, and I should have much liked to have commandeered these essays, but there! were too many people about at the time, and as I am not brown and yellow underneath and had plenty to do I had to keep moving. Another good thing, in my opinion, is the milk-testing competitions for tho sons and daughters of farmers, public and high school students. Therewere seven entrants this year, as compared with eleven last year, and there ought really to have been more. However, as a "set off to the comparative paucity of entries there was a much greater interest in tho competition manifested by the public- Last year only about one person came in to lock on, while this year there must have

been oetween. twenty and thirty. This had the effect,of flustering some of the competitors, and one in particular, who : had been doing well got "rattled" and j.forgot an important point in tho testi J n « Process. &_ ollt of t he seven j boys and girls came from tlio Ashhurst school, and ono from the Boys' Train- | ins I-arm, \\eraroa. but the'Ashhurst j representatives scooped all the prizes. ! . ■"■_.,"' i - the secretary of , the Mioir tlcservcs congratulating on .the very able manner in which he carI rum out-his by no means easy duties. Ho was bucked up I JV ari -energetic lot of committeemen and .stewards, and I think practically everything went without a s.onous hitch.. *. \ n d now. why can't wo run a winter show in Christchurch.- v\e have the tincst district; in Aew Zealand round about us and some of the most progressive, and _v-> cessfnl farmers and stock breeders in The Dominion. }[~ j r) Hall, the president of tho Canterbury A. and •P. Association, says that he thinks it could be done, and that if it were properly organised it should bo a financial success. .Mr H- V. Fulton, tho secretary cf the Otago A. and P. Association, said ho was astonished that a winter .how was not held in Christchurch. 'Why, some or our most prominent exhibitors in Dunedin are Canterbury men," }»<» sa id, "and they rend stuff from n s far north as Cheviot. 1 don't think you should hare much difficulty m running one of the finest winter shows in'the Dominion." Personally, • T think getting a suitablo building would bo the hardest tLing. The Canterbury Hall would be hardly suitable to show fat stock in. though it might do for other ox l - hibits Tbe Drill Shed-.would do, but it is a bleak uncomfortable sort of building, and a lot of work would lie j needed to get it fixed up for a winter I/show. The Show ground at Addingi ton would be highly suitable, for there '. are plenty of halls and sheds, and ' jumping events, and a football match |or so could be held in the ring, but if lit was pouring wet weather T ' liao ma i doots '' about the townsfolk taking the \ trouble to suffer the tram ride out rand 1 back. And it is on the townspeople that the management would have to depend largely for support.