THE FARMER IN THE CITY

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21631, 15 November 1935, Page 12

THE FARMER IN THE CITY

♦ ; ! JUDGING DAY AT THE j SHOW .SIGHTS AND' SOUNDS ACOLT; i GROUNDS \ i The bad weather broke yesterday; ' just in time to prevent Judging Day, vt the Metropolitan Show from be- ( i in- a rather uncomfortable expert-, i . ence for all concerned. As it turned , ! out, the day was pleasant enough i when farmers from all parts of Can-, . terburv took possession of the snow ; < ! grounds for a display of their best. c stock and produce. The show days j 1 are the city's time for hospitality 10, i ! the farmers and recognition of their: < ! importance in the province; and the ( 1 J city is rewarded by an opportunity | t I for seeing in close compass the pro-j '' | ducts on which it ultimately de-1 pends. i c There are times and places lor c the city people to talk at large j about "country bumpkins." There is no place for this attitude at the ; show. All over the grounds on i judging day the farmer goes about; c Ibis own business; on that day he is r tin: real I v sophisticated person- the . f man who knows alt about every- j, tiling. City people who happen toll be standing by have nothing in par-; tieular to do and comparatively;, lililc to sav. They are the outsiders,, the kindly tolerated lookers-on. } The sun came out yesterday after- . , 'noon, and with the increasing ; , warmth and the drying of tne turl■ , underfoot the growing crowd, the■ -, : completion of the open-air exhibits, ( and rising of voices among the side- j , ' shows, the show ground became its ; i ; true «elf. In the morning cars and ; ; i trucks had been in difficulties in the i , : mud, and there was a certain dismal > -, expectation of more ram: but ; j doubts and difficulties faded into M , the life and bustle of a pleasant E judging day. '■■ i Show Sounds Sounds of activity among the exhibits were carried across the , j grounds by the light wind. Voices | calling instructions were heard everywhere. In the show-ring in : f the morning horses and cattle were, r being judged, moving sedately,> f while perhaps in another part of the 1 ring sulkies circled smartly round ; ' the judges. Not far from the ring , J were the exhibits of fa:m machin-• j cry. which always suggest the old ; ; phrase, '"all dressed up and nowhere , ( to go," in their bright new. colours, : which will some dav be stained by j , : the good soil of a Canterbury farm. ] j Among the farm implements very ■ , 'little can be heard except the clat-! ler of those which are being de-j • monslrated. Reapers and binders j , reap and bind nothing most effi-; ; ciently, and chaff-cutters cut the : ', empty space in their containers with j ■ a great show of noisy industry. A , , moralist might draw the general i ■ conclusion that where there is most • ■noise there is least, work being done., , A feature yesterday wer; several ■ ' Diesel-engined tractors, with en- J cines racing explosively. Through '■ ■ this varied din comes faintly the ■ chonc of the merry-go-round organ;; and sounds from the pig and sheep ; ; pens. City and Country On judging day there is the meet- , ine, of city and country. To-day, [ People's Day. so much of the city ' will be on the show grounds that the country will be outnumbered and indistinguishable. But yesterday the , s'uow proper, the exhibits of stock and produce, wore the principal at- ■ traction; though the city had picked ■the ground for the event, the con- : ditions wore imposed by the country. And there was certainly plenty' to interest even the person with no ■ knowledge of farming at all, the sort of person to whom the show is : nothing more than a zoo of common 1 '; animals. In the sheep pens were | the magnificent merinos with curl- 1 ling horns. Nearby, monstrous nigs. ; pink pigs, black pigs, and black-' and-tan pigs, wallowed in their straw —pigs are not thought 1o be ; the most, attractive of beasts, but !the show pig is an aristocrat whose breeding commands a certain rc- . sped. To-day they will all be ■ ticketed according to their status | decided by the judges. The dog is a cosmopolitan. He may be a companion or a pet in a I city household or an Inmost labourer 'an a farm. This may account for ; ihe universal interest in the doe.' ishijvv. All breeds from the small-' lost yapping loy dogs to the Alsatian ;are represented hero, and each adds ; his yap. bark, or even howl, to the | continual clamour. But in spite \ of the noise the dog show is one of ;the most pleasant places in the ,show, and a lover of dogs can be 1 ■ happy there for an hour or mure. i Riding in the Ring \ \ In ihe show ring, in the afternoon '< there was a change of scene'; ; Hurdles and brush fences were put: [up. and the scene was set for more' ■spectacular contests. Well turned- 1 i out horses, well mounted, were i : taken over the jumps, while those m tiie grandstands watched, and ; criticised or admired according to ; their judgment. Always the centre of a show i : whether in a city or in the farthest 1 , back country, is the riding in the' snow ring. Wherever attention mav ' j be drawn away from the ring ther~ i j is always the inclination to return to ! ; he ring to watch the horses and! ; thou- riders. \ ; So much for the show on judging! ■ day. The necessary preliminaries ! done wiln, the grounds will be'to-i iuay a place of entertainment and ■ instruct,on for all and sundrv. ' ; Afterwards the city and the coun- ■' I iv will go their separate wavs and ■ ;litera,ly. mind their own business.''