THE WAIRARAPA SHOW.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 102, 27 October 1904, Page 5

THE WAIRARAPA SHOW.

OPENING DAY SPOILT BY BAIN.. (By our Special Reporter.) CARTERTON, t 26th October. The heavy southerly weather whicli , prevailed in the Wairarapa Valley as well as in Wellington yesterday seriously threatened the success of the twentyseventh annual show of the Wakarwpai and East Coast Pastoral and AgricultHral Society. Beavy rain fell in this district throughout yesterday and last night; but to the "delight of the farmers tho sun came out bright and warmly tibki morning, and, thanks to the gravel bed beneath the surface of this heavilygrassed country, the water was quickly absorbed and a fresh wind helped in tho work of obliterating the yatery effects ol' the storm. Still, the wintry weather had , a bad effect m several directions to-day. It affected the attendance aJb 'the show grounds, the number of visitors being" meagre, even for a judging day. It wan expected that a number of people would ' have come from the Manawatu and Rangitikei side, but they would not yen« ture. Again, there were many moro empty pens and stalls on the groundo than there would have been had the weather been more favourable. At titnea during the day heavy banks of cloudii rolled up and a few drops of rain, fell until 3 o'clock, when a steady fall of rain, set in, and the day closed with a.n outlook that was altogether gloomy. A number of improvements have beeni effected by the committee of the society during the year, wath the result that exhibitors of prize stock will feel moro inclined than ever to send their animalo to Carterton. The improvements include the erection of a series of softie 130 roofed stalls on the southern and eastern ■ • * sides of the ground for purebred cattle; the construction of thirty more stalls foil horses on the western side ; and a. commodious tea kiosk, equipped with over twenty small tables. The kiosk, whicli ,is situated to the south of the grandstands, and is to be managed by the society, is almost surrounded by a deep yerandah. The society, as usual, is served this year by an .energetic and very willing staff of stewards, gathered from tho whole country-side. Mr. C. J. Tully k> the President, Messrs. Quentin Donald and John Strang Vice - Presidents, Messrs. G. W. Deller and H. S. Izard Treasurer and Auditor xespectively, thera are thirty-four members on the General Committee, and Mr. H. S. Moss continues to be a courteous and efficient Secretary. , The unfavourable state of the weathei has taken away any desire to quote tbii • year's show as a record event. Even had all the entries been placed upon Jflie ground, the number would not have reached that of last year, and even last year's total came short of the record year, 1896, \vhen there were 1478 entries, an against 1312 last year, and about 1200 this year. But this year's show had a larger number of entries in the classes of sheep (286), cattle (175), and horsea (253) than were entered .in 1896, when 261 sheep, 115 cattle, and 175* horseo were entered ; last year's entries in sheep (235) were exceeded this year. As ol 1 yore, there is a large and interesting col« lection of implements, dairy appliances, and farming machinery on the ground, am well as vehicles of all kinds, from tho, • latest style of rubber-tyred gigs to tho ponderous farm dray and weighty traction engine. Tjie Cooper shearing machine in - shown in operation,- but the sheep went rather wet this afternoon. There are business exhibits, including displays by tho Singer Sewing Machine Company, tlm Wertheim Sewing Machine Company, Messrs. Jenk'inson, the Wellington Fresh Food and Ice Company, the Wairarapai Farmers' Co-operative Association, Mr. Samuel Brown, tho Massey-Harris Gom." pany, Messrs.* Levin and Co. _ Considering the conditions prevailing, stock came to hand promptly this morning, and the judges got to work as soon as possible, and pot through their work reasonably early. There were many empty pens in the various sheep classes, and the receflt storms had told upon the condition and the appearance of not a few of the sheep, with the result that th<n animals were not showing at their best. Some critics thought that local breeder* had not sent their best animals along, but were reserving them for the better competition which will be met witb at 1 almerston North next week. Breeders, however, deny this, declaring that if anything affected the look of their sheep 'ii could be put down to yesterday's storm, iaken altogether, the show of sheep waa creditable, and, in spots, interesting, (south Wairarapa. has always been a Lin-coln-growing country, but during recenli years the Romney Marsh has grown ill favour with breeders, and to-day flies, two breeds were in the lead. Rival breed, ers hung over pens disputing the pointi whether the Romney was superior £ Z Lincoln for breeding in this part of 3«. colony. It was agreed that both breeds were hardy, but the point mosfc wanmv of n a ! 7 aS £ hat lnvolved in the a«*«tion of a hading Romney man that "the Romney Marsh would fatten where the Lin- ™ 9 r uld / ta r c! " !t appeared from remarks made during the discussion that, tl,™ i r mt f J L ad * ust been P««»ed[ through by sheepbreeders in the WairaP !V ****** the'sheep had kept in good condrf.on right through. There had te^ h , eav y amongst lambs, 1« «w fai r rl J pientifu1 ' and the ™ Mas now "lots of feed in sight " Lr y i« t ' f* l "*?*™ were again to tho fore m Lmcolns, literally "scooping th« pool, uicludmg the champion medals, i H this section as well as in English Leices. •f ifl' * B - Alien (CMOTiHe) ai^ car .. ried all before him in the Romney Marsh ' oiasses, though he had more competition than had the Perry firm. In Border Lei. cesters J. B. M'Kenzie (Mastertoni was the onl x exhibitor. W. Howard Booth

and Frank Wall (Martinborough) shared the Southdown honours, and H. Willis carried all before him in Shropehires. Fat sheep and lambs were particularly good, the exhibitors including W. H. Booth (who got the championship for five lambs, not stud sheep), W. C. Buchanan, F J. Dillon, W. E. Bidwill, and John Stang (who vton the championship with five wethers). Cattle were a fair exhibit, but some, especially in the dairy classes, were not up to show , condition. As a matter of fact,- one judge made the remark that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should have had something to say about the poor condition of one animal sent in., A Nelson judge considered that the Wairarapa dairy cows were not as good animals as those in Nelson. ' This judge was rather disappointed with the milkers which he inspected to-day. He expected something better. The Mount Herbert Estate's three-year-old bull Clifton Coronation again won tne medal for purebred Shorthorns'. Last year Coronation beat Archdeacon Williams's prize bull Sutmnerton at Carterton and at Hastings ; bub this year Summerton, who was not present to-day, beat Coronation at the Hastings Show. Fat cattle, which are always prominently in evidence here, were again in good form, coining from the paddocks of W. C. Buchanan, J. P. Russell, and W. .E. BidwilL J. Kyle, the wellknown Hutt breeder, took the champion honours in Ayrshires, and E. Eagle (Belvedere) took the medals for Jerseys or A'kfeneys. x Some horses were on view to-day, but the second day is the day of days for the equine display. W. Cooper's b filly, bj Seaton Delaval, was declared to be the best thoroughbred filly on the ground. There was poor entry in the miscellaneous classes. Several competitions were got off in the ring, but were affected by the heavy rain, so far as the interest wus concerned. Every year great interest centres in the competition for factory cheese. The contest for the three best white cheeses was won by the Belvedere Co-operative Factory. with the Featherston Factory in the second place. For the best three coloured cheeses, the contest was won by the Dalefield Factory, with Belvedere second. Mrs. H. R. Bunny got a first prize for her exhibit of butter prepared for export. Messrs. Cuddie (Acting-Dairy Commissioner) and Singleton, who judged these exhibits, stated that the butter exhibited was disappointing in flavour, make, and quantity of exhibits. There was not, however, a poor cheese entered, and this product showed a marked improvement in make aud flavour upon that in last year's contest. A feature of today's cheesa exhibit was the uniformity of the make and flavour. TO-DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. (From Our Special Reporter.) CARTERTON, This' Day. More rain fell last night and continued until 9 o'clock this morning, when the sky cleared and gave promise of a fine day, though there were still heavy banks of clouds about. The rain converted the ground into a quagmire. In pigs, John Jarvis, of -Palmetston North, scored heavily, taking three championships with his stock. J. Standen and T. Morgan also got championships. E. J. Fallu, of Wellington, scored Beventeen firsts in the- pigeon classes. Master John Casey, Khandallah, got six firsts in the poultry cla-sses, and the Taplin Bros., Masterton, and P. C. Anderson, Cartertoir, took many prizes. At 1 o'clock there was not much promise of a big attendance. Only a small number of people came into Carterton this morning, the roads being heavy and rivers high. The Wellington train brought up some people from the city, including the Minister of Lands, Mr. Duncan. . ,