CANTERBURY A. AND P. ASSOCIATION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVII, Issue 11231, 31 March 1897, Page 6

CANTERBURY A. AND P. ASSOCIATION.

FAREWELL TO SIR JOHN HALL. A special meeting of the members of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association was held at the Association's rooms yesterday morning for the_ purpose of bidding farewell to the Hon Sir John Hall, patron of the Association, on his departure on a visit to England. There was a. good representative attendance. The chair was occupied by Mr W. Reece, vice-president, who read the following letter from the president, Mr D. M’Millan “ I sincerely retrret my inability to bo present at tho meeting to-morrow morning to do honour to our patron. Sir John Hall, on his departure for the Old Country, and I desire to express a hope that he and Paly Hall will experience a pleasant trip and icuiim both with greatly improved'health. Kindly make my apology to John, and assure him of my good wishes for, his and Lady Hall’s welfare. I have to be at Timaru on Land Board business, which is the cause of my absence. Mr Reece also read letters of apology from several other gentlemen, and said that Sir John Hall had spent many of the best years of his life in the service of the colony ; ho was going to say as a New Zealander, but from what had transpired lately he thought that it ■was not always safe to say that one was a New Zealander, either here or at Home. However, he could sum up his opinion of Sir John by saying that he was in every sense of the word a true gentleman. (Hear, hear.) Sir John had been elected a life member of the Association in 1872, and a member of the committeee in 1873, and pati’on in 1888. He had taken the Greatest interest in the Association, and had worked for it with tho greatest assiduity and pains. He had earned the respect of all the members, and all would heartily wish that he and Lady Hall might have a prosperous voyage, and return completely restored to health. He (Mr Reece) did not know vbat there was any special thin o, they could ask Sir John to do for them while in England; but he was glad that Sir John would he able to witness the celebration of her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, imd lie wished more colonists could go Home and do the same, for he felt proud of belonging to such an empire and being tinder the dominion ot such, n Queen. He proposed—■“ Long life and renewed health to Sir John and Lady Hall, with a safe journey and a quick return.” The toast was drunk in champagne. Mr E. G. Staveley wished to add his testimony to the extreme interest Sir John Hall had taken in the Association, and the infinite pains he had bestowed upon his work for it. Mr H. Overton said that no work was too hard for Sir John Hall to do ic the interests of the Association, and as a neighbour and friend one could not say enough about him. Sir John Hall, who was heartily applauded, said that it had been most pleasant to be associated with tho work of the Association, firstly because of its great importance. The man ivho made two blades of grass grow where only ono grew before was a greater benefactor to the country than any legislator, and the work of the Association was not only to do that, but to improve the agricultural and pastoral capabilities of tho district to a very large extent. Secondly, it had been very pleasant because he had a set of colleagues with whom it was a real pleasvire to work. There was a proposal in Parlia-. ment to abolish party government, estal> lish an eleentive Executive, and, on occasion, revert to tho referendum. In this Association there was no party government, they had an elective executive, tho committee, elected by the members, and they had the referendum,; for if their proceedings were disapproved of by the members, they were plainly told so at a general moating. Politicians might, therefore, draw a little lesson from the working of this Association. He was very proud to be able to say at Home that he was patron of this Association, the loading Agricultural and Pastoral Association of the colony. Perhaps, however, as Mr Overton had said at a recent meeting, they had confined themselves rather too much to the show business, and there was more work which they might have done. , Papers should bo read and investigations made, as by kindred Associations in the Mother Country. A very useful experiment had been made as to the comparative usefulness of different cultivators, and another as to tho usefulness of various sheep dips. Another subject deserving attention was the quality of the different manures employed tor root crops. Why should not the Association experiment'to a. r .certain which really was tho best. He was making an experiment onasmall scale at Hororata with the Belfast, Islington and P. and P. Co.’s fertilisers, and if any of tho committee, or the whole of it, would favour him with a vist, his manager would be delighted to entertain them, and show them the results. The manures had been tried under exactly similar circumstances, and already he could perceive a decided difference. Whether they liked it or not. Parliamentary action would affect various industries more and more. It had affected them already, in some cases very beneficially. Several industries bad organised bodies to represent their interests before Parliament. Agriculture, the greatest of all, had no national organisation to speak on its behalf generally. He hoped that tho subject -would be mentioned at the next Agricultural Conference, and such an organisation formed, perhaps located in Wellington. It would be worth while for the various Associations to make a contribution to provide for it. Sir John Hall concluded by warmly thanking the members oh behalf of Lady Hall, and saying that he hoped to have the pleasure of meeting them ail at the November show. • Mr J. Anderson, jnn., proposed the health of the vice-president, thanked him for the admirable manner in which he had discharged his functions, and expressed the hope that it would not be the last time they would see Mr Reece in the chair. Sir John Hall cordially endorsed the remarks of Mr Anderson. The toast was drunk, and fittingly acknowledged by Mr Reece.