THE ROYAL VICTORIAN SHOW

North Otago Times, Volume C, Issue 13178, 6 October 1914, Page 6

THE ROYAL VICTORIAN SHOW

» ' ' ' ii ut «QP,f JBIJBB. . 'AND BQMB.BIDEUOHTP ,' Mr C J l . Cowan, of Haydowns, Kin Oin, who loturncd Inst Thmsdft) from Melbourne, wheio ho 6flleintod as judge of Ajislinc cnttlo at tlio foityfomth "\ietomu floral Show, stated, when m teniewcd b> n <'Tunes" repoiter, that lie hid cnjoud i splendid passige going o\cr iiom Wellington to Sjdnoj Ho was foituintc in hivmg for a fellow tia\ellei <Mi J Dnuson, of Tmiaiu, the 'judge appointcil foi the dnnght hoi so stock, and who had officiated m i similii eapicih two uni liefol o In Svliioa, hade wis latlier dull, but the town wis full of Temtoinls Ho lett S\ «lnc\ foi Melbourne In the oven mgtiain, and consequcuth did not sec imieh of the countn until the ne\t inoiiiing \fter pissing Wiggn Wag howover, the, country was in a (Very■had"state, There was not a vestige 1 ' of grass and the.land'was completely parched, though he thought the quality .unequal to inferior New Zealand land, The wheat crop, he noticed,'was grcenj. and very short, and there was scarcely _iiiiy..,sigu of. live stock. One could go i'oMiiiles'niid sec but a few horses.-p

,• Oil avrivnl they took up their quar--Id',s {it Scott 'a Hotel, oiic of the leading hotels of the city. As; the-Show A'u\. not commence until the following 'Mdii- 1 day, lie had four days to look around the city.- Tie paid n visit to the Show Ground on Thursday, "It was libtp said Mr Cowan. "T thought I had a contract before me in judging in such lieat, but happily rain fell next day, and during the rest of my stay the weather-was/ no-liotter -than in Now Zealand." •■• ■-- ,>>--

"Yes," said Mr"Cowan, of oiir'aiitl-tted-plailthig' faddists'" could' see Melbourne they would receive an eye'-ppenei','" 'Several" of 'the niaiii streets, including Collins street, 1 are planted, and they arc a fine sight, Talking of trees, a well-known Austra; lian fanner-told me that in blueguni country when the trees were, cut down' the wattle trees sprung up" in their sfcul, even though there might, bo no other wattle trees for miles. The seed evidently remains in the ground perhaps half a century, and only germinates when exposed to heat."

On the Sunday Mr Cowan visited tlie Melbourne Zoo, and was lnncli impressed ivit-li tlio large and varied collection of animals, Two hippopotami caused li'iich interest, as well as a large baboon which' attired' itself in a sack and I lagged for nuts. . "At .5 o'clock one morning," remarked Mr Cowan, "I visited the fruit markets, and was much struck by the number of expresses and carts. There were at least eight platforms, and the expresses were so crowded that one could scarcely pass. Melbourne streets presented a martial appearance, there being groups of soldiers everywhere. Melbourne is the home of many picture palaces, and they seemed to enjoy fairly good patronage.

"There are some weird and wonderful styles of female dress," said Mr CWnii,.i'.',lnit4 will not touch on thorn." : : Mm Cowmr !Oid> MwDavjson visited ! n."librs'e l 'sale;'where' ; »'l)i{f breeder offered about forty three-year-old 1111lirolvcn horses, which brought prices ranging from £2 10s to £5, and in an exception!!] ease £ll. Ah theso horites had been brought from Adclaido at a cost of £4 per head, the breeder eervainly ■ could not have gained a largo margin qf profit. Horses in Adelaide were sold as low as 10s each, and when he returned to New Zealand he was told Hint safes at Is n head had actually been effected. The price of. chaff in Adelaide was no-less than £lO per Inn. He hail seen trucldoads of bullocks being removed to better pastures. Many were dying in the trucks, and all looked lean. On the whole the position in Australia is very serious, and the drought is the chief topic of conversation. Prom district accounts, it was shown _thnt in some parts of the country, after three months' sowing, no crops had shown! There was practically no prop in South Australia, and verv little in Western Australia,

•Discussing the Boyal Show, Mr Cowan' said that entries reached a record number, but this was mainly due to the increased household'and school entries. Wlien the grandstand at the grounds caught fire; he and Afr' Davison were present. There was little water pressure available, and the (lames soon got' a good.hold, Before the brigade arrived the fire had spread to several exhibitors' booths, t making a cleansweep' to the railway lino. '■ "■ The Show was very well attended,' but not so largely as in previous yours.Mr Davison said that the draught! stock included several fine classes, anil 1 he was well pleased with the generajJ quality and the number of entries, There were good entries of Jersey cattle, and the standard was very high, The Kerry cattle were popular; they, arq very miniature cow**, in fact—but have the appearance of very heavy milkers; The quality of the light horses was extremely good, and the trotting and high jumping reached a fine standard. Sheep classes were weil.,'represented,, several of the prizes falling to New Zealand-bred' stocks- 'Pigs-were also woll to the fore, some good animals being exhibited. • "Here I might say," continued Mr Cowan,...','that *• the "Outbuildings and'; ..general 'equipment of the Show are ■infinitely, superior to anything in New Zealand, The-stockareroofed in, each dasslmving a separate enclosure, which. i« both capacious and' comfortable.". "To '.conic' 'to."iny own class," con-' tinned Mr Cowan, "the first section' that came forward for adjudication was the cow,'five years old or over, in milk, Ko.bM IfaH.'s Lady Violet (winner of last year's championship) was an easy winner. The dry cows section-was so' unusually' good that it seemed, ni if owners were entering their best cows for. the class." .' ; . ',;_. In most of the other classes Mr X'ownii .had little -dilliculty in picking' i tho winners, as they generally- stood out -considerably 'from the rest, A liuin--ber -of the exhibits were deficient'in'. ladder as compared with New, 2e,a}aM;

dividual .exhibits we?e oxoallont] Jio con. cows'fllilMiOt buffer by t'qinpnrlsoiU 111 tho class for aged bulls ho bid plnced ( Mi A TBoohniiaA's Triumph pf, Glcneira "first," unit'this'',iliiliiilil subsequently' gainod the oliniiipt'onsliip. Tho thico yeai old dads was well ctfntestcdj but he had to face a stiff piopositioji in the twojonrobl classes when foity eight anuiiah wci;o led into tho ring Ilot\cvei, lio eventually in soi tmg out tho w Innei Tho next class (yonthugs) pioscntcd a.biggei taßk foi the judge, as no fcmoi than 52 ontuoi' t\cic paitiled Howovei, to quote tho Melbourne Algus,->ho got tluough his woil with "eonimciidnblo expedition "

In flio'jifdgfilg of these classes a la thci cuiious (iicumstniice piesentciT it self. Soma tiinaflgQ he had sold Mi Biiclinnnii,' a wolh known exhibitor, n bull named Kin Oia, oight months old Ho undoistood the bull ' w'ns not enteieil foi tho Show, and awarded f it the flist pn/o and lesenc championship' without iccognising the annual Thcio was tathei ft mild demonstiation when' his decision was kriouiVespecially as ho had bied the bull and as It was not the piactu'e in AustinJin to nnirt a cliampionshtp to a two veil old bull lie (Ould tin lesenOdlv sayl, liowmpi, tint he had mnlgcd'flics aifii'nals "on ■their■ merits: and wasf fju'jtd,< tijiaw'are that tho bttlj oxjiibitciMwas': "of his- oivn' breeding,, if jirfv'iug altered A fouryPanilil e'my} bred by Mcss'ts W^l^e; was exhibited, but .didi.iiot.-show, to .the,best having calved hftcr rcaciiiiig llife SJjoti I .' .In' any •enso alio could iiot Jin.$ .bpaion tho winner nf tltoi event* MivT. Wtmy-'*- ,Bkio .flibhon of-01fiiigowr'ie,s tvho' also won the roserve championship. ? '''Mahy of the bulls' diitWei], foiv'jUie^ clnsses >verr!" only; exhibited- foe-sale. ~,.-.. ..'. ~,-„•, Mi" ('lowaiv'stateil' that the' following .entries' wefe received for the various dairying, (dftsse,s,:—A,yrs.Hi.?pi '%%. .Tfi'r-1 seys. lii 4, Shorthorns . r ):j. Guernseys 2i5, Dexter KoYrifts 22/ South Dcvoiis 11, 'lfolstcin's : 0; 'fted-Polled 17.' 'Hefcfring to the low entry of Holsteins, Mr'Cownn .observed that' this breed of cattle was :nq'l. very p'o]utlar iii Australia.)

'.'Before,.j,we,,left Mclbonriie,'' said Mi".Cowniif .i'it' was stated that two Gernian-crriisers were outside tliß'Heads, Nedless to'say'we were rather seared, and our.scare,;was, intensified at jSydnoyon discovering'that the Maheno, from Aucklliul;' WiiM six hours overdue 'and .had libt'taeti'sighted. She fumed up.eventually four hours and a half later, iand< 'we sailod as soon as she was signalled," To show that the officers believed 'there was "a risk, olir lights were .put out at nights, and this gave one a. rather creepy feeling sometimes. We hud an excellent' trip across the Tasman Sea. On reaching Oaniaru on Thursday, Mr -Cowan 'said almost the first question he had asked was "Have you had any rain?" and lie was, rather disappointed at tlicTnnswer. Mr Cowan expressed tho greatest satisfaction with all'show arrangements, 'and stated, that lie had 'thoroughly enjoyed himself during his visit to the Victorian capital.