NORTH OTAGO AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL ASSOCIATION.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 181, 18 November 1876, Page 2

NORTH OTAGO AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL ASSOCIATION.

THE DINNER. The annual dinner of the Northern Agricultural and Pastoral Association took place last evening, at the Waitaki House, between thirty and forty gentlemen being present. Mr. J. Falconer (Vice-President) occupied the chair ; the vice-chair being filled by Major Steward, Mayor of Oaraaru. After the good things provided by Mr. Earle, who was the caterer, had been dispsed, of the Chairman called upon those present to charge their glasses and drink to " The Queen and Family," a toast which was received with all the honors.

The next toast proposed was that of " His Excellency the Governor," the speaker remarking that outside of his official position, or as the representative of the august lady to whom they had just dene honor, the Marquis was the possessor of those qualities found in the fine old English gentleman of whom he was the type. He (the Marquis) had been in Oamaru once, and during his visit he had created a most favorable impression by his genial manners and sterling qualities. ° Song, Mr. Honor—" The Pilot." The next toast was placed in the hands of Mr. Clowes, who, on rising, said he did not understand when he went to the dinner he would have to take such dangerous subjects as that which had been allotted him to speak to. He had been asked to propose " The Mayor and Corporation of Oamaru." Now, had he been requested to speak of the judges or visitors, it would have been all right enough, for they could not retaliate ; but should he do his duty and speak about the Town Council, perhaps his gas would be stopped, or some other equally-disastrous consequences would result. In fact, he did not know where it might end. However, the least said the sooner mended, and he would conclude by asking them to drink heartily the healths of " The Mayor and Town Councillors of Oamaru." The Mayor, in response, said he knew the members of the Council would receive the hard knocks administered by Mr. Clowes in a friendly spirit, for notwithstanding the joking remarks of that gentleman he believed the Municipal Counc'l of Oa'uaru discharged its duties with conscientiousness, and would favorably compare wit'i any kindred body in the Colony. Before resuming his seat, however, he would just refer to one important work which was, he might say, in progress. He alludsd to the Waterworks, and would ask the settlers on the Waitaki to meet the Council in a fair and liberal spirit, and assist in carrying out the undertaking by not asking too much remuneration for their land. The cost of the works would be so much that it would not leave much margin in their borrowing powers to be expended. Mr. Grave, in a facetious speech, referred to the remarks of Mr. Clowes with regard to the waste of water, and said if his (Mr. Grave's) dam carried away, which he believed it would, amongst the masj||| ruin it would work it would also yieldP|| modicum of good. It would sweep avr&fa great deal of unliquidated claims, and leave a good many, as it were, with a clean sheet, to commence again. He then referred t > the widening of the Thamesstreet Bridge, upon which a large amount of money had been spent, which was a benefit and a credit to the town, and by which none of the Council, individually or collectively, were in the slightest degree benefitted. The next toast proposed was " The North Otago Agricultural Pastoral Association. " • The Chairman said that had the President of the Association been present he I would have bee" able to do justice to the | toast. He was proud to say that this year's Show was a genuine success from an agricultural point of view, although unfortunately the inclement state of the weather had made it most uncomfortable for the visitors. The late Daniel O'Con- ,- (-11 had a saying that there " was nothing «o successful as su:c:ss" anl it was mo; t • r.ttirymg to the oiiicers of the Association as year by year the exhibitions came round, to mark the improvement which was being made, and to notice the march of progress. But the Society should not be satisfied with past .successes. They should still keep the wheel going np the hill, and their motto be "Still Unward." It was a matter for regret that one of the local firms which had been hitherto a large exhibitor in the implement class, had not taken part this year ; yet it should be enfetsid that the exhibits in that line were fuiiy up to th. standard of workmansiip, and amply deserved the high enc jiaiums passed upon them. The dairy produce, too, had not been neglected, and i.e was proud to see cur housewives paying (U; attention to those articles. He would ask them to join him in drinking even greater success in the future than had been achieved in the past by the Association. >

Song,; Mr.; Neil Fleming—"The Old Commodore, "v The next toast, " The Judges, coupled with the name of Messrs. Holly and Marcroft." lii proposing the toast Mr. Fltmlng said '- it gave him very great pleasure to do so although perhaos it might have come with a bettev grace from him had he been less successful as a prizetaker. He had always thought—and e believed had very often too —thab a good schoolmaster was the very graatast blessing which could be conferred upon a district; but he was equally of opinion that a bad one was just as great a curse. What schoolmasters were to a district, judges were to a Show ; they were not made; it was a gift, and that judgment came by intuition. He did not believe that becauss a man was the possessor of a number of good animals, he was necessarily a good judge, but that that intuitive knowlelge of which he had spoken was bred in the bone. He had no faith in those men who took half-an-hour to walk round an animal before they know their own mind, and whenever he met with such a one, he looked upon his judgment with suspicion. The office of judge was a most important one, and it could not be denied that it was also a very thankless j one ; for the owner whose exhibit received an award was very likely to view the decision with far more appreciation than the unsuccessful competitor, and while the first would applause his discrimination and equity, the other would possibly say he had never seen such a bad judge in his life. However, notwithstanding those little drawbacks, he trusted that no good man would refuse to act in the capacity when called upon. He had some delicacy in making a remark with regard to the decisions upon the Ayrshire cattle and draught horses, as Ms firm had been so successful in those two classes; but he trusted he would be credited as unswayed by any personal feeling in saying that the decisions of the judges would compare with any that had ever been made. During the course of the day he had inadvertently dropped an expression which reflected upon tne opinion of Mr. Holly on one particular exhibit, and he now wished to publicly apologise to that gentleman. Mr. Holly said that he had come to to tae Oamaru Saowas a judge of draught horses, but he'had been secured also to give judgment in the light stock. With regard to the heavy draught horses he held the very highest opinion, but he should candidly tell them that in many insta-ces the light were not up to much, and in that class there was very considerable room for improvement, a good many being very inferior. The draught horses were" however, what he had expected to see in Oamaru. He did not say they were the best in New Zealand, but he was safe in saying they were quite as good. Although lie considered himself somewhat of a judge, so close wa3 each one up to the standard of perfection that he had experienced considerable difficulty in making the awards, and he iirmly believed that anyone could have gone blindfolded and stuck a first prize on any of them without doing an in justice to the others. He would not go to the length of saying that the Oamaru district possesses better but they certainly have quite as good draught horses as could be found anywhere, and it gave him pleasure to judge horses of that kind. Although he did not believe as a rule that judges from a distance should necessarily be better than local men, still it was a wise proceeding for any shortcomings—or rather what to some might appear as shortcomings—in men brought from a distance was not looked at by people in the same light as a mistake made by a local man. He trusted that should Christchurch at its next show ask Oamaru to provide a judge for them, they would send up a good man, and if not send none 4at all. In conclusion he would wish to P feay that there was some division of opinion In judging the light horses, and conse--5 quently if the awards have not found favor, individuals are to blame ; but with regard to the draught horses, if there had been any mistakes made, the whole three judges are to blame, for in that class they were all unanimous. In the light ones, as he had said before, such was not the case, but he trusted if mistakes had been made it would be attributed to want of judgment, not partiality. Mr. Marcroft said that Mr. Holly had gone so amply into the question he had, in a great measure, taken the wind out of his sails aud left him nothing to say. However, as that gentleman had not touched upon sheep, and as that commodity was a little in his way, he might be pardoned for saying a little upon the subjecc. He believed in those annual exhibitions, for it sometimes happened that a man was the possessor of good stock of the value and qualities of which he was entirely ignorant. In some cases a breeder was apt to imagine that he had got the very perfection in his flock, and unless he goes abroad and get 3 disabused of the opinion, his sheep are likely to suffer in consequence. As an instance of how very often a man may possess a good animal, and yet be unaware of the fact, he stated that while in Napier he was travelling along a run in company with the owner, when he noticed a splendid ram. He asked the squatter to whom it belonged, but instead of the question being answered, his .opinion was asked as to its worth. To that, he replied that if he wtre allowed he would take it to Christchurch, and guarantee to wia the Ciiampion prize with it. The squatter assented, and the ram not only took the Christchurc i, but prior to his leaving his own Province, carried off the champion prize at Napier. The " Successful Competitors," coupled with the names of Mr. Little, of Awamoko (representing Messrs. Gillies and Street), Mr. Little, jun. (representing Dr. Webster), anl Mr. Fleming (for Fleming and j Hediey), all of wnom responded in suitable I terms. Mr. Little, senior, in speaking to i

the toast, Wurged vLpotf ihe necessity itig,' 1 ami related in[ a jimhoTrdus manner his own experiences in" Scotland' in that discouraging position ; and his determina. tion to achieve success, which determina. tion he pluckily carried out until the positions were reversed. The following toasts were then proposed and duly honoured :—" The Unsuccessful Competitors," coupled with the names of Messrs. Gemmell and Aitcheson ; "The Committee and Office-bearers of the Oamaru Association," coupled with the names of the Secretary and Treasurer; •'Kindred Societies," coupled with the name of Mr. Marcroft; " The Trade and Commerca of Oamaru," coupled with the names of Messi*3. M'Nab and Grave, "The Ladies," coupled with the name of Mr. Wm. Gardiner ; " The Press," coupled with the "names' of Messrs. Steward, Dungan, aud Wathen; "The Chairman," "The Vice-Chairman," and "The health of Mr. Earle. During the evening, in addition to those mentioned, the following songs were sung: " Motto for Every Man," Mr. N. Fleming ;" " I Like her Winning Way," Mr. Brownlee ; "The Men of Merry England," Mr. Martin ; " Ten Little Indian Boys," Mr. Gardiner; and "Byron's Field of Waterloo," capitally recited by Mr. James Grave. Before concluding, the Vice-Chatrmait referred in highly complimentary terms to the very credita'.le manner in which Messrs. Kohn and Co. had executed the commission with regard to the manufacture of the prize?, and said it was moat satisfactory to have 'obtained such an ex. cellent return for the small amount of money expended. Mr. Kohn said it was the first time hit firm had had the pleasure of working for the Association. They had tried their best to give satisfaction ; they were glad they had succeeded in doing so, and should they be honored with the patronage of the Association next year, thsy pledged themselves to merit the same kind approbation. • The singing of the " National Anthem" and " Auld Lang Syne" then brought a most pleasant evening to a close shortly before midnight. We cannot conclude without giving especial credit to Mr. Earle for the very able manner in which the catering yra executed, the edibles and drinkables being tiie theme of general praise.