THE HAMPDEN PLOUGHING MATCH.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1013, 19 July 1879, Page 2

THE HAMPDEN PLOUGHING MATCH.

The annual ploughing match, the event of the year at Hampden and all such places, occurred yesterday. The weather was a little coarse during the early part of the day, but, as the day progressed, it j greatly improved, and the weather was, all things considered, just what one could desire for such an occasion. Mr. Frew's paddock was the scone of operations. Its f quality is very fair indeed, considered in the light of agricultural land, but it is too i friable for fancy ploughing purposes, and - the crest of the sod, and even the sod ; itself, yesterday crumbled under the operation, and rendered the appearance of i the work unsightly in some places. The ; majority of the work done by the competitors was particularly oven, and so many of them seemed to tie that the ■ judges (Messrs, T. Henderson, of Otepopo, Qemmell, of Maheno, and 0. 31'Gregor, of Pahnerston) had not a little difficulty in deciding which should take the prizes. W, Cague'a work was capital, and. he richly deserved the first prize for the best finish in his class. We conceive it to be a mistake to break the land for double-furrow ploughs. This is just as easily done by the ploughman as by any other means. That is, of course, provided that he is » competent and accustomed to do the ' whole of the work without such assistance, and, if he is not, he is nut iu his proper place ns a competitor at a ploughing match. A few years ago it was also customary to. fiuisli double-furrow ploughing • no.w, double furrows do all the work ! themselves, and oan do it quite as well, or hotter than it was done with assistance. It was generally conceded, yesterday, that Cague, with his double-furrow plough,, j made better work than Paul, " the champion of New Zealand," did With his single furrow, although the. last mentioned knows well how to handle a plough. The veteran -Tames Evans, who attracted so much attention last year, by competing i with an old woadon plough, worked with a single-furrow this year, made in Hampden, and which he professed to be an invention of his own. It resembles the implement invented and made by Wo.onton, of Duntroon, and runs on vcheels as easily as a wheelbarrow-. Xb works with great ease and aa well that the manipulator ' nearly won a prize with it. Both teams and horses were an improvement upca; : those of last year, and the decorations, though not so brilliant and, striking as those at Maerewhenua last year, were 1 superior to those ordinarily seen. The teams i that took the first and second prizes were i worthy of them, for they would have I i compared favorably with the animals to be seen at almost any ploughing match in ' this district of go.od plough horses. There I was some discussion about the principle ? that should be observed in awarding prizes > to teams, but we think that the judges 1 were justified in adopting the principle of • awarding the prize to the best animals. i We had almost forgotten to accord praise I to Paul for the unpretentious manner in > which he started his work and continued 1 it to the close. Ave have seen several s men directing, managing, and operating in order to vo,ake a good start ; rather an expensive way to go to work, in the case of practical ploughing, which ' would necessitate the employment of a 1 nu-über of hands for the purpose. It is worthy of note that, so far irom getting 1 any assistance, Paul set his own poles, 3 and yet carried away the first prize in - sinirle farrow ploughing. All may learn " something by observation, and " otit--1 siders iilwa vs teach local men something, 3 especially if they carry away the laurels. s But Allan M'Kerrow made such a good 1 break that the judges were exercised in s deciding which was the better, his or 3 Paul's. Had his plough been in ~-iiod working order, Paul, good as he was, must have been somewhat L> better, or he would have had the chagrin s of returning whence he came beaten by *' the humble yocmen of little Hampden. M'Kerrow held his plough well, _ but it • was not in proper trim for cutting the 1 style of furrow required. We should k here mention that the arrangements were admirably made and well carried out. • Mr. M'Kerrow and the Committee did their work so v.'oil that there was an 1 entire absence of delay and discussion. } There were not much less than 000 per- ' sons on the ground, including a number of ladies and children, all of whom 1 seemed to take great interest in the proy ccedings. But that which created most B fun was the distribution by Miss 1 Richardson of the special prizes, which > 7 fell to. individuals for whom they were 5 so appropriate, or the reverse, as _to » cause great merriment. The kissing 3 at the conclusion of each presentation was 51 artistically done, the aged Evans, who was • decorated with a white " belltopper" with a blue ribbon fastened to the band, being • the most proficient. The dinner was l ' provided by Mr. Gibb, and although the tables were full when the company, 3 numbering nearly 100, commenced opera- • tions, they were pretty well cleared, within ? an hour. This was an indication of the 3 excellence of the spread and the hunger " of the company.. The dinner broke up at 1,7 a late ho.ur, after the usual toasts had " been drunk.' The following are the parf ticulars of the match : J Class A.— Single Furrows, open to all ' comers—lst prize, L 5 ; 2nd, L 3 ; Sjxl, • L'2 ; 4th, LI 10s ; sth smoking tackle. j Owner. Ploughman. Wm. Paul Win. Paul "Wm. Pollock Wm. Pollock [ J. L. yisa -Tas, Cochrane ' John Andrews 11. Mercer r A. M'Kerrow A. M'Kerrow , Class B. —Double Furrows, open to all comers—lst prize, LG ; 2nd, L 4; 3rd, LS : 4th, L2 ; oth, box of tea. , Owner Ploughman. Maker. Wm. Cague Wm. Cague Reid & Gray J. Cockerill J. Cockerill ~ ~ ,r A. Gillies A. Gillies J. Douglas " S. Cague T. M'Fadger\ Reid & Gray D. Grant X) * Grftryt ~ ~ r Class C.—Juniors— Ist prize, silver watch. Owner. Ploughman. ; J. Simmonds R. Johnston t- Extra Prizes. Best finish in Class B—Win. Cague, set of .. blocks. Best ploughing in the field —Yi in. Cague, 10s. , Best everdav ploughing in Class B—Wm. ' Cague, 2ss. Best everyday ploughing in Class A—Wm, 5 Paul, a pig. ! Best break in Class A—Wm. Paul, meer. r scliaum pipe. I Best finish in Class A—Win. Paul, fat i sheep.