Agricultural Notes.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 298, 19 June 1897, Page 2

Agricultural Notes.

[By a Practical Farmed.] . The monotony of a dull winter season in the country has been relieved by shows and calls by liquidators ; the former very pleasant, the latter a little more so — just as people feel disposed to look at the matter. Though each show is very like its neighbor, there is always some personal characteristic worthy of praise or the other thing, and a few general remarks on the subject may not be out of place at this juncture, even though it be a day or two late. A winter show demands much attention to detail on the part of stewards, and the Gore workers deserve any amount or praise for their assiduity ; "rosette" stewards are now things of the past. The exhibitor, that sine qua non, does not seem to be so plentiful an article as might be expected ; indeed, a glance at the Gore catalogue furnishes evidence that local public spirit is confined to the few, the same names appearing with surprising frequency. Strike out half-a-dozen names, and where would Gore. Show be? The matter wants overhauling^ and wants it badly. Of Invercargill the same story may be told, so there stands some prima facie proof that these exhibitions have not such a grip on the public mind as they are sometimes credited with. Whether they have come to stay is problematical, for that of Invercargill is already showing signs of premature decay. After the exhibitors come the exhibits and the judges. Judges have generally a thankless task, and to judge the judges is a piece of duty which every man feels himself qualified for. He is a very poor tool indeed who cannot find fault. To say that the decisions at either Gore or Invercargill gave general satisfaction would be stating what is incorrect, and, knocking off a liberal margin, for the feelings of unsuccessful candidates, there were in both cases abundant grounds for the dissatisfaction expressed. In grain and seeds at each place not a complaint was heard, in loots it was quite the reverse. In Gore size carried everything before it ; in Invercargill size was nowhere. In Gore some potatoes and turnips were cut, and other competing lots-left' untouched. Why was this thus? ;J should like to see the judge cut specimens , of every root exhibit placed before him, same :as cheese, butter and bread are cut up, but after all there is no code of points agreed on by judges. Seedsmen's prizes in particular ougbt to be given to recognised trueness to type and symmetry, in place of mere bulk ; and even in general purpose lots quality should receive premier place. Were I a bullock I should record my vote in favor of size and solidity, and give a wide berth to big monsters which generally turn out to be " boss eedits at the best," as the Scotsman said of the goose after he had left nothing but the bones. The difference of decisions by different judges should cause committees to formulate a scale on which awards are to be given, and were judges of turnips to be furnished with distinct instructions, such as Ist quality, 2nd shape, 3rd weight, a vast nmount of annoyance would be avoided. In selecting a green-top yellow or a purple-top yellow turnip, the man who knows his trade makes the word i yellow his first consideration, and the yellow !

must be a distinct dark yellow or out it goes. At Gore Show, in the "purple-top yellow" class, the prize went to what was almost a purpie top white; and at lavercargill the prize for the beat collection of turnips was given to the smallest-sized exhibits in the class. In Gore, a sample of potatoes got honorable mention whioh was possessed of the most immense noses and excrescences, ' with innumerable eyes, each like a burnt hole in a blanket. Such results as these demand the adoption of a system in arriving at conclusions ; otherwise, competition will inevitably become smaller by degrees. The Gore Show Committee deserve credit for the wording of the terms of the general produce table, viz., " Best collection of roots, vegetables, grain, grass seeds, and fruit grown in 1897 on competitor's farm." Invercargill committee word it " Best 'collection of general farm produce," and Dunedin uses the term " Most comprehensive collection." In this item Gore has the decided advantage of defining what is wanted, the others having the tendency of turning the affair into a cookr shop and the placing of everything and anything, even condescending to pieces of turf, plates of porridge, barley broth, tripe : haggis, and downwards to —tell it not in ' Gath — downwards to canisters of " fowl guano," commonly called hen pen, and sptcimens oL horse, cow, pig, and rabbit dung. Each item counts one, one glorious unit one vote, Jack is as good as his master, and the grand conclusion is arrived at that the whole thing is reduced to a piece of elaborate tomfoolery. A good story went the round of the Gore hall regarding the merits of certain eggs which were in competition. These eggs were dandies to look at, but the steward in placing them before the judge heard a suspicious "plunk" inside, and the lot were found to be old chestnuts, and got promptly ticketed " disqualified." Had an accident occurred, the results would have been too painful for contemplation. A couple of pelts rigged up by our enterprising wool firm did not receive the attention they merited. The one was marked " A Farmers' Pelt," the other " A Freezers' Pelt " ;. the one holey and ragged, the other dressed within an inch of its life. There was not much of an object lesson in the thing, unless it was to show the farmer's " pelt " was like his every-day coat, and the freezer's pelt like the coat of the gentleman who prepared it. Thh best feature in these shows is the opportunity given to country folk of meeting and comparing and discussing ; the . railway department run passengers at inducement fares, and the carriages to and from form splendid places for the ventilation of all sorts of subjects, politics included. The man in the train hears lots of things : he learns the outs and ins of petitions to Government to lay hands on freehold estates ; of the messes about Pomahafca ; of the modern mode of getting a good fat billet, viz., by writing to the papers, and taking up a prominent position in support of the Government party ; he nods out that rabbits are still run MatauraBluff at one-half the freight of mutton, and in the same truck, too ; he learns that frozen mutton is now charged on the gross weight and not on the average as it used to be ; he hears remarks often more plain than polite about public men and public matters ; he picks up numerous wrinkles about the fallacy of holding grain after it has reached a paying price, and generally gathers more information in a two-hours' railway ride than he would on half-a-dozen market days. Yes, the man in the train is a well-informed, intelligent person, but he don't know everything. I showed him the report of the judge of turnip field competition, which says : "As the growing of root crops is of vast importance to the colony, I would suggest that in future judges be instructed to take quantity, quality, and tillage into consideration," and to che intelligent party I put the question — i " If the cockie finds men horses and implements to plough, cross-plough, harrow, drill, sow, and thin, not to mention dung-carting and doses of artificial manures, and eats off his turnips at the current price of a penny per sheep per week, how much was likely to remain ?" He was lpft calculating, and is likely to be at it yet.