A popular event handy to the city

Press, 15 October 1976, Page 9

A popular event handy to the city

The spring show season in Canterbury will open at Leeston tomorrow, when the Ellesmere Agricultural and Pastoral Association holds its 106th annual show. A busy committee has held three working bees at the show grounds during the week preparing for what will be another big day. All it is hoping for now is fine weather. For many years the show has been one of wide variety. This year the committee has added two further sections — wood chopping and highland dancing — events which have proved popular where ever they have been staged. Ellesmere is a highly productive part of Canterbury and this is reflected annually in a complete range of livestock at the annual show. District exhibitors predominate.

However, it is the light horse and pony sections which continue to grow year by year. This year they number almost 1500, a rise of more than 170 on last year. To carry out judging to a time schedule, three pony rings will be run simultaneously. In another part of the main ring, led horses, harness events and light horses will be judged in that order. Jumping events will follow, and it will undoubtedly be a busy afternoon

One F.E.I. event has drawn 50 entries. It will as usual be staged in the main ring, while pony jumping will be staged on another part of the ground. Because of the growing classes it will not be surprising if Ellesmere, like Kirwee, decides to begin judging on the Friday, Saturday being run as the people’s day. Being the first show of the spring, Ellesmere entices more city folk along than most country shows. Situated only 20 miles from Christchurch, it is able to capitalise on this factor. Light horse and pony followers, as shown by the entries, clearly regard it as an ideal opportunity to give their charges an airing.

Ellesmere’s reputation lies in its highly productive farms. Its stud stock and dairy herds compete with success at the large metropolitan shows. As a cropping district, its yields would take a great deal of beating. As an area for small seed production, it would stand on its own; yields of more than 100 bushels of barley to the acre, and more than 80 bushels of wheat are common. Twenty tonnes (or tons) of potatoes to the acre are not out of the way. Ellesmere farms achieve a high volume of throughput, dry years and damp years, an all-important factor in the high-cost structure of farming today. This will undoubtedly be reflected again in the show this year.