IN FOREIGN FIELDS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 31 December 1924, Page 7

IN FOREIGN FIELDS.

— 4 , _— ■- NEW ZEALAND STOCK THE 1924 INTERNATIONAL

SHOW AT PALERMO ARGENTINE

(By C. E. Robertson, Honorary Commissioner to the Dominion’s Societies.) The success of. the shipment of the New Zealand dairy stock to the Argentime for-competition in the great International Snow has been quite remarkable and has -been most favourably commented upon by Sir Herbert Gibson, who was one of the most insistent advocates of the representation at Palermo. In the course of the letter he says 1 ‘New Zealand has come to the limelight as the stud farm in the Southern Hemisphere of dairy breeds and of sheep breeds. By the exhibits of large stock .' inspected, by tens of thousands of Argentine breeders, the New Zealand Pavilion ivith its displays of trophies, seeds, photos, rugs, newspapers, catalogues, etc., which was quite a feature of.the show and by the numerous Press notices. New Zealand has successfully made itself known; and favourably known, up and down the Argentine.” . The greatest stock show in the world is the only title that can be fittingly applied to the 1924 International Show conducted during the month of September at Palermo by the Argentine Rural Sbciety. Annually this society, the Soeiedad Rural Argentina, to give its local, title, holds in September a great exliibitibn of ■ stock bred _ solely in the country, while each fourth year an International Show is: held. An attempt has been made to draw a comparison betiveen this great exhibition and- the English Royal. It is impossible. In many breeds ’ the English Royal provides the standard, but as an exhibition the two cannot be compared. This International Show' at Palermo drew not only the . cream of the Eng-lish-bred stock, but large numbers of different breeds from such countries as France, Holland, Germany, United States, -Uruguay, and New Zealand, while in . the Argentine representation of huge dimensions was included the direct descendants ■ of many English Royal w’imiers and champions, and of notable sheep imported from New Zealand and Australia. The English Royal is confined entirely to. Britishbred stock. Thus ;it is only at the Palermo International that the stock of all countries can be compared. England was represented in Shorthorns, Herefords, Aberdeen Angus and Jersey cattle, Berkshire pigs, Shire and light horses, Lincoln, Romney Maijsh and Blackface sheep ,- Scotland in Shorthorn and Aberdeen Angus cattle and Clydesdale horses; Ireland in Shorthorn cattle; Urugay in Shorthorn and Hereford cattle; France in Percheron horses and Normandos and Flemish cattle, while of French Shorthorns also .figured in the prize list; Holland contributed Friesian,s, as did Gerniany and the United States. The latter country at a previous International exhibited largely of ; its Shorthorns and Friesians and its various breeds of pigs The progeny of these are very much in evidence. Th© United States was, however, unrepresented in the Jersey section, in w r hich English, Jersey Island, and New Zealand-bred stock contested against stock bred in the Argentine. Our own representation, extended to Friesian and Jersey cattle, and to Romney, Corriedale, Merino, and Lincoln sheep, and that we should win 31 awards and championships was excellent.

The Palermo Show- of 1924 was therefore truly international. Its feature,, .even the flavour of the inter-; national contests, was the number and si ip.erl ative quality of the Shorthorns. A leading Argentine judge who has attended this show for nearly 19 years told me that for several years the quality of the Shorthorns deteriorated, but for the last few years the standard had been rising rapidly, and this year’s exhibition undoubtedly proyidea the finest display they had seen at Palermo. Mr. Hornsby, the English, judge, afterwards endorsed this view, as h© said the standard was much higher than on the occasion of four years previously, when he also had judged. It was, he said, the greatest display of Shorthorns that had ever been 'made. I will try to give some idea of the comprehensive nature of this display, for this breed is undoubtedly the foundation of the Argentine beef trade. In reality the Shorthorns of th© Argentine are an object lesson to (both breeders, and steck-raisers of all countries, for there has been a concerted effort made to raise the standard of the stock of the who!© country, by importing and breeding on a very large scale the best Shorthorn cattle in the world. As a result ive have to-day the Argentine , quality of beef in full control of the world’s markets. The assisting factors have been the proximity to the market, the remarkable extent of rich land and its suitability for lucerne growing; arid the enterprise of both American and British meat • interests. Now the Argentine stock-raiser is able to. sell to the. freezing works two and a-half-year-old'steers in prime condition of the pasture, and this beef, by the. modern process o.f chilling, is on the English market in considerably less than one month from the time it leaves the paddockl It is a remarkably profitable system, and is a great 'exmaple of what rthe work of the breeder means, to the stock-raiser and how ultimately his constructive efforts add so materially to the wealth of the country. • MAGNIFICENT SHORTHORNS. The total entry of Shorthorn cattle at this, year’s show was 1128. Eightyfive only of these were females, and in oraer tb convey, to the mind to what extent the development of the early maturing character has been carried it can be recorded that no- less than 872 of the bulls ivere under two."and a-lialf years of age. At a New Zealand show 1 10 would be eligible to compete in the two-year-old class. In the Argentine everything of importance is practised on a large scale. Individual owners

possess as many ais 200.000 cattle; quite a number.of breeders breed and sell from 1000 to 2000 bulls per year; whole lines of prime steers up. to 10,000 and 12,000 have been bought from one lattener at the one time, and so on.' At Palermo each class i\ limited to 50 bulls, and the two-year-old section, is subdivided into many classes according to the exact age of the animal. Thus bulls born in the first two weeks of September provide one class, those born in the. second two. weeks of that month provide another; similarly those born in October are divided into two classes, and so on until the classes for winter-born calves are reached,- when the date is extended to cover a full month’s calving. By this system the classes are not allowed to become unwieldy, and the judge is able to classify the bulls according to. their development with a great deal more ease. The quality of these two-year-olds is quite remarkable, aud as each, class files out into the ring one can quite easily fealiste what a task the judge is set. it is a process of elimination, for, after the individual classes are judged a championship and reserve, is awarded for mature hulls (over two years old), the same awards for the two-year-olds, and a junior, championship and reserve for yearlings. The champions and reserve winners in the three sections then meet to. decide the grand champion of the breed, and also- the reserve grand champion. Judging of the Shorthorns

commenced on the second day of September, and was completed on the seventh day, the great event—judging of the champion—being held' on the afternoon of the latter day. - During that time thirty-eight classes, with an average entry of thirty head, included m which were four classes for polled Shorthorns (introduced from the United States), in which the total entry was just ten. cam© before the judge'. In addition there were innumerable group classes extending up to a class for the best ten bulls in the show the property of one owner. These group classes all drew large fields. The most interesting classes were, however, those for two-year-elds, and the judging of these in classes averaging nearly fifty apiece proceeded over the best part of four days. They ivere magnificent animals, almost all conforming to the type we know as the Scotch Shorthorn—thick, low-set, deeply fleshed cattle, with grand coats of thick, mossy hair. No man interested in stock of any description could fail to he impressed by the wonderful quality and exceptional development for the ag© displayed by these bulls. The purpose of the Shorthorn of to-day is to die young. 'The figures already quoted prove howuniversal is this quality among the Shorthorn herds of the Argentine: Even in the class for aged bulls twenty out of the twenty-seven were three-year olds. As the judging proceeded interest became more intense, and on the final days much excitement was manifested, and generally the winners were vigorouslv applauded. ,Iri such high-quality fields there was ample room for keen discussion in respect to the merits of the placed animals, but although there would naturally be many disappointments the judgements were accepted in the very best spirit. The senior championship went to Senor Pascualte two years land ten months’ old bull, Prince of Sofia, a grand coloured roan bv Climsla-nd Clarion (54464) from Lady Cloud (023132), and the. reserve to another roan in Senor Juan J. Baurin’s Mar'avilla Ostrolenka, two years and eight months old, by Ostrolenko (511504) from Maravilla Acorn B. (053178). The winning two-year-olds made a great class. Senor -.Enrique Santamarina’s roan Chamberlain, six weeks over two years of age, by Talleyrand (61662) from Fortuna’s Delight (056544) was chosen champion with Senor Pedro T. Page’s Magnus Star, a red and white by Magnus (5768) from Countess Waterloo (033800) as reserve. This latter bull was bred by the President of the Rural Society, and showed extraordinary development for his age, being less than one month over two years of age. The twenty-months-old bull Tatay Damocles, exhibited by Sir Samuel B. Hale Compania, Ltd., Avon the junior championship with Senor F. Seegerte eighteen-months-old bull, Faithful 20, as reserve . Both of these Aver© roans , but there were quite a good proportion of Avbites among the prize Avinners. A special day is set apart for the selection of the champions, and on that day, the sixth day of judging, th e attendance was very large indeed, practically every breeder of note being in attendance, and a glance round the members’ stands conveyed to one an impression tnat the breeders of the Argentine are men of both intellingence arid keenness. Mr. Robert Hornsby, who hails from Cumberland, has judged on more than one occasion at the English Royal, and it was an education to Avatch him at work. After a feAv classes one could select the fbest of , the bulls- in the parade, but so evenly Avere the tops matched that few even of the experts around the ring could agree as to hoAV these best bulls should be graded into position. The judge had the advantage of close contact AAuth the animals, and his handling and final placing of them was undoubtedly a matter for congratulation./ It was a sight avc Avill never forget, on© that impressed itself on our minds as one of the remarkable things in the Avorld, for at almost any time during the days set apart for judging one could turn t 6 the main ring and see there nearly 100 magnificent Shorthorn bulls all of an age and evenly developed. The shoAV Avas splendidly organised, and as far as the cattle sections A\ T ere concerned there Avere no delays. As one class of about 50 Shorthorn, bulls paraded before the judge tAvo more long lines of bulls stood waiting at the foot of the ring ready to parade in the subsequent class. (To be continued.)