THE HASTINGS SHOW.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 335, 23 October 1908, Page 5

THE HASTINGS SHOW.

SECOND DAY'S AWARDS, (from our special reporter.) ' Hastings, October 22. ) Excellent weather favoured the Hastings Show for the closing day to-day, and there was an enormous attendance. The Hon. R. M'Nab, Mr. Ritchie (Secretary for Agriculture), and many other visitors of note were observed among tho crowd. _ Farmers generally are inclined to discern in the keen competition at this show a sign that thero will bo largo entries in very close fights, also at Carterton, Palmerston, and other' big shows; Tho wedging of the Carterton Show between those of Hastings and Palmerston will be good in some way 3, but perhaps bad in others. Extra careful exhibitors, who aro anxious to win championships at Palmerston, may hesitate to keep their best animals on exhibition for two and perhaps three weeks in succession, but there is an advantage from another point of view, in being able to follow straight from one: show to another. On this aspect a good many Hawke's Bay entries aro said to have been gathered in at the AVairarapa Secretary's tent on the Hastings ground. Mr. Moss, the secretary,: states that among the chief of these are entries of Southdowns from one of the principal Hawke's Bay breeders, light horses from Messrs. Glazebrook, W. H. C. Donnelly, Troutbeck, and J. _ Scoon; Shorthorn cattle from Messrs.. Dalziell Bros., W. D. M'Lean; Angus cattle from A. S. Carlyon; black-faced sheep from Ellis Bros., of Feilding; and quite a number of dogs. Show' Secretaries Busy.' • It- will bo the first year that black cattle have been seen at Wairarapa Show, so that the Angus entries will make a new feature. There, aro, in addition, numerous promises of entries for the show of next year, covering. Lincolns, Southdowns, and Leicester sheep, : and additional Angus cattle. It is quite possible that some of Mr. M'Farlane's Angus stock from Ben Lomond will be brought over next year, so that between bim and Mr. W. Carlyon the two Hastings champions may be on view 'to Wairarapa people; 'Following after the Carterton Show, there will be new Hawke's Bay entries at Palmerston North, and the. secretary, Mr. J. C. Lane, has been ■ a busy man in this connection during the two days here. Mr. Sykes, secretary of, the Masterton Show, has also been in evidence. The Hastings meeting seems to givo these important officials a change for a little, preliminary training for their own events later on. Thero is certainly . reason to anticipate a _ busy season, from sthci show secretary's point of view.' . . The Machinery Exhibits. - The side-shows ■ have increased considerably, > and the noise at . some _ parts of the: ground is quite ; deafening. The machinery has returned in its old force. This is a matter of the greatest importance to •the fanners, affording, a. splendid opportunity of comparing notes about the modern implements. The cost of exhibiting is, of course, very great to the implement firms, and it was on that account that the arrangemeht last year, 'not to send stuff to the showsi was entered into. Several firms, however, disapproved of the arrangement, and broke it down, with the result; that the other firms finally agreed to cancel tho arrangement and return to the old. system. •This applies to all the shows. Whether exhibiting machinery Ms a paying proposition or not must always be a matter for speculation, for no one can say how much less'money a farmer might spend on new. plant if he were not tempted by what he sees at the shows. In any . case, the show authorities, the farmers, and • the general 1 visitors are pleased ,at the change that has happened. FURTHER AWARDS. . The great crowd which thronged tho ground to-day was. deeply interested,, in the competitions,' for ■> Hawke's ;Bay has produced great horsemen and horsewomen. Like all good things, tho leaping match for £20 and'the society's ten guineas challengo cup, was left to the last. There were second and third prizes of. £15 and £5. It was a hard contest, with .twenty candidates. The final result is as follows: —Mr. H. Machiven's brown gelding Pickpocket, .1; Mrs. C. Hart's roan gelding Playboy, 2; Mrs, H. E, Troutbeck's brown gelding Pirato, 3. , In other competitions the results were <as follow; — " ' ■ . ' _ .Turning Contest. —C. C. Giblin, 1; J. A. Alexander, 2; W. C. Mackenzie, 3. . Pony Leaping (ridden by boys under, IS).— J. A. Blair, 1;. Miss Mackersey, 2; Miss Grace Twist, 3. '' y ' J n • In the ordinary horse classes Mrs. T. H. Lowry won Hon. J. D. Ormond's five guinea prize for the best yearling thoroughbred colt, and. Mr. 0. Nelson the championship for hacks with Montana., • • _ ! In the poultry classes, Mr. John Currie, 6f Brooklyn, won tho special for silver wyandottes; Mr. T. H. Stewart,' of Hastings, tho special for buff orpingtons; and Messrs. Soler Bros, won outright th'e special trophy for Indian runners, having already won this special of Mr. Paul Hunter's in the last two years.. ■ ; The sheep shearing contests on the two dajjs aroused great competition. There were 59 ontries for the first day, and 58 for the second'. The results were as follow:— Sheep Shearing Contests by Machine.—Pat Hokianga (11 points), 1; M. Hawkins (10 points), 2; Peiti, (10 points), 3; Turangi (10 points), 4. Sheep Shearing for Speed.—A. Hamor (Te Aute), omin. 55sec., 1; Auranga (Te Aute), 6min.'ssec, 2; Pieti (Hastings), 6min. 33sec., 3. SALES OF STUD STOCK. Numerous private- sales of stud stock took place. Mr. U. C. Allen's Romney ram hogget, second in his class, was bought by Mr. A. H. Russell at 75 guineas. ' Tho same breeder also sold to Mr. J. N. Williams a second prize six-tooth ram for 40 guineas, and three of the second prize pen of five ram hoggets at twenty guineas each, two going to Mr. J. N. Williams, and one to Mr: W. Gibson.' Mr. Mason Chambers purchased Mr. George Wheeler's first prize yearling Heroford bull at 40 guineas,. and a four-tooth Romney ram of the same breeder's will join tho stud, flock of Mr. J. C. Field, of Gisborno. Among Mr. Perry's sales of Lincolns, tho first prize pair of four-tooth rams and some of the ram hoggets were sold for Dannevirke. The first prize pair were the first year's progeny of tho champion ram. This ram's progeny were conspicuous in the show pens, and evoked keen inquiry from Lincoln men. On some of those animals, however, Mr. Perry refused to put a price, as they are wanted at Home. Mr. Paul Hunter refused £100 for the champion Jersey cow. Six bulls from this breeder's herd were recently sent to Taranaki to Mr. Newton King. These transactions are encouraging to the settlers, in view of tho general feeling that money is rather scarce among buyers just now, particularly among tho sheep men. As ail actual fact, tho amount of importing done this season is exceedingly low, in sharp contrast to tho record amount of purchasing of foreign stock done last year. This fact' may result in increased local purchasing. From many points of view, tho Hastings show has been a very successful one. The work of the secretary, Mr. Charles Douglas, and officers gave decided satisfaction. Considerable interest was shown in tho bee driving of the Government apiarist, Mr., Hopkins, and his assistant, Miss Kent. Kerosene box frame hives wero used, and the display was educative.