AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL SOCIETY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10424, 29 July 1895, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL SOCIETY.

Theancual meeting of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society was held in the Gbambar of Commerce on Saturday morning. Mr P. Pattulio (president of the society)'occupied the Rhair, and there were also present the Hon. T. Fergus, Professor Black, Messrs X, Ramsay, A. B«tlaman, A. C. Begg, James Smith, W. Huiop, W, Jaffray, It. Charters', C. Morris, A. O. Stronash, John Reid, S: James, R. Wilson, John Angus, A. Bitrfc, W. H. Taggait; L. Maclean, J; Shiel. Joseph Allan, J. Duthie, A. NUFarlane, W. B. Reynolds, J. Wright, R. CsmpbeU, F. Oakden, A. Moritzson, C. S. Reid, J. A. Stewart,'James Gow, J. C. Short,' M. Sinclair, George Todd, and E.; F. Dathie (sfccie'ary). '■;■■■, . . - .-■... .;; The Secretary stated that leave of absence bad bseri graated to Mr John Roberts' during Ids visit Home, and that letters of apology had been received from Mesflrs T. Brydone, W. Patrick, Andrew Todd, W. D. Stewart, K. B. Ferguson, U. Gawn, and D. Bacon.

■•;!."■ ANNUAL REPORT. :■ . , Tha annual report, which bas? already, been published, was circulated, ..,"'',■ ■.*,...

.The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, suid that he had much pleasure ia congratulating the Roeiety on the successful year they had had. He wished to draw attpntion to one or two items in the balance sheet, lhe total expenditure, exclusive of debentures STnLo^' n £H226s lathis year as against £1094 3s m 1894, Me principalmcrease behigin fci.au ppenfc m improving Tahuna Park as ag»mst;£77 10s ia the previous year, and in an increase of £62 given in prizes at their, two chows. The improvements were of a permanent character, and had all been written off as expenses within the year The committee did Dobexpecb to spend next year within £100. of the amount expended this season. The general expenses this year were Also heavier than previously, as the society took up fresh work entailing additional'expenditure. TnrniDg to their receipts, he found that they had collected during the pant year ppe s«m of £1657 18s, as against £1393 2s 6d mIB9A-, (notwithstanding a i eduction of £58 ia privileges), the principal increases being in the entry fees aad id-the" gate fakiDgs at the- annual, shows. 'He thought; this clearly showed that! they ware popularising the stows, and in.that direotiou doing the work snen-.a-, gpsiety, should do. They had also appointed Professorßlsck, of tho University,' as the society 'a analyst; ■ and he would undertake botanical, work in connection -with the society, besides making analyses for members at a very reduced figure. While congratulating tbe^society on the year just past, he was sorry that farmers could not. look back on the past 12 months with any. pleasant feelings'. Prices for almost all products had ruled very low—so low as to be below paying values,—and latterly the snow storms which had taken.place would prove disastrous to many up-country runs. We had, however, shared these low prices in common, with the rest of the world, and at, present it. looked as. if : trade generally was : about , tp improve— the. recent rise in /■ wool and grain, although it came rather late for ; most 'of our farmers, being very encouraging. Farmers, he believed got more, advice from ..outsiders as to how they Should carry on their business thau any other class of men, and they constantly saw someone wutiog to recommend them to t&fee up this or that; crop and thereby make their fortunes. lh<?re was no £oabfc that they should caVefully looiaft;r every crop, howeyef small, whereby the income from the farms could be increased, ana m special dhkicts speciul.industries could be gone into; but at the same time'it was to gram, live stock, and dairy produce that they muse look for the main sources of profit: It was to the cheaper production of theise that farmers should turn ninch of their attention. No one could deny that there wss still room for improvement in all those branches, and as long as there was so tbe}had something left to Work for. He thought more could be done in matoy directions by, greater combination amongat f*rintrs, and ln.thia connection he would urge the claims of the society. They hsd 12 agricultural and pastoral societies in Ofcago alone, each holding annual shows ; and while these were no doubt interoetiDg in their immediate districts, still; he thought a powerful society, with members throughout the whole province, would be in a position to do mote good thsn many scattered societies. If some Dchenie conlrt be arranged whereby these societies cou.d work along with the Ulajjo society, tho members of the former bting admitted to the Otago society at a smf.llee fee, they would then be m a position to take up work which at present they were afc present unable to do through want of motley and want of members, This would mean_ abolishing' at least some of the shows, but if they wece in a strong position ihey could arrange Vfifch the Railway department for special freights and fares, and also offer special prizes at the society's shows for competition by farmers only. Such a suggestion might teem selfish, coming from a member of that society ; bub ha was speaking much more as oue interested iv the welfare of farmers generally than he was even in the success of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association, tie would like to sea an attempt made by tha incoming committee to greatly increase the membership of farmers throughout Otago In concluding he wished to thank the outgoing committee for their forbearance to him during his term of office. It was impossible for the committee to work more cordially than they did, and to that much of tho success of th« (society was due. His predecessor congratulated the younger members on their energy last year, and he might say that they wane not lesn energetic this year—perhaps they were more bo ;—but he thought those younger membars would agree with him when he said that ii; was to the older membeis who initiated the society and ctuck to it in all its difficulties that was due the success of the society. The secretary (Mr Duthie) also made the work of the president of the society very easy indeed by his energy and application to the work in hand. He would move the adoption of the report.—(Applause.) Mr A. C. Begg, in ficoouding the nioiion, thought that the cominitt.ee wa6 to be congratulated on the improved financial position of tho soaitty. It sssmed to him, lookiug at the balance sheet, that the fiuancinl position had bseu improved to the extent of £230, and in addition to that the amount spent on Tahuna lark was all to the good. Thc-so facts alone showed that the comuiittes had worked well and had done a good deal iv furthering the lntevesbu of the society. He thought the improvements at Tahuna Park—the planting of trees t,nd tbe planting of sand-bmdin« grass— would add attractiveness to the shows. 3/ha pace had been very bare and esposed and 6ub3ecb to sand drif fe», and the expenditure of money, thought, and time bad done a great, deal to mske it a more pleasant plsce. As the trees grew up they would form a belt; around the park, which wonld then be more sheltered still. The summer show was a good one, but ifc was eclipotd by the winter show. He though* the success of the winter shows of the last two f easoag proved that in tha6 direction the society i atl Made r greab advance. There was no qouot m his micd that the dairy industry *°uid become one of t!ie grert industries of H, 6Wi Zf. alaDd- It was rapirily becomin t ; one of f* i- *v s "lc!ll!ltri«s. and tWe was no donbt saat the exhibits of dairy produce at tho winter bqow nad doi . e a . gl . est -, eal t0 ]efj farmers anrt settlers seu what con ld b 3 done in the way of ™l y?\oi?c>" During tbe lost 12 months, an «*s btafttl Mi the. moating of the Obainbai- of Vwrnnfiea on the previous day, the increase in -TfiA nnn° r of "'l''ry produce- siiuouutsd ta £64,000 or £65,000, and' if th^fc went on year , f *£? U vrould «ot be long before tha export mr n ,.ry J*' odnce Wol>ld be on« "f tf)e most ™PS™ *V°fcH»y. They must also bear hciS,f- a X 6 ™y fßrcli»S was a kind of S' CV 6I' dCd i 0 the Swo 10 Pnißa th°y hac> been having, did not tend

in that direction; it rather tended to the impoverishment of the land. The society was also to be congratulated ou having experimented iv the growth of turnips with manure. Iv Scotland tne Highland and Agricultural Society was in the habit of giving a number of prizes every year for the bast crop of turnips, especially throughout tho Highlands, and there was great' competition, to get the prizes. Thst scciety might do worse than follow the example of tha . Scottish society, by giving a prize,' say, for 20 acres of the bwt turnips grown by any farmer throughout the district. What he; was now going to say might be considered rank heresy by some, I but a number of other dairy'-formero might look i at it in a favourable light. This country was wonderfully suitable for the growth of gorse— (laughter).—as many of them knew to their sorrow, but few know that gorse wns useful for foddering. In Belgium and France it waa used in the dairy industry as fesd. Cuiehed gorse was looked upon a« better than any other food ] ior cattle. It might be tried on a small ncaleby farmers here. It was nut when 12 or 15 inches high, and could be rcown for a number of years in succession. When cafe it wks crushed, and then it formed food for the cows. It could only be done where a caiUin amount of labour wr.s i available, hut among our farmers here, where I large familiei were not unknown—(laughter)— ] it plight be tried. Ha found that; {he challenge shield presented by Sir John Laweshad done a deal to encourage competition between farmers as to who woald have their farms kept in the best order. It was to be hoped that thin com-petition..would-increasa so that it would-be a rare thing to see crops of forrel and docks where there should be nothing but wheat and oats.—(Applause;) ' ' ; . ■ , _ The Hon.-T. Fergus entirely agreed with Mr Begg tbat the position of the society had been very much improved withib the past 12 months, and_he was perfectly confident that if the same tactics wer« adopted in the future the-position ot the society would bs farther improved He Was glad to think that Wlsilo they dnl not occupy the premier position with rfgard to the summtr show, they-did occupy the premier pomtiou with regard to the winter show. The committee of the society might ha congratulated ou having initiated' and carried to a successful isßue, a winter show: for dairy produeo, root crops, and cereals generally. The fact of the matter was tbatthati show had grown to be such a success that; tbe: society waa now faced with the difficulty of. obtaining a building large enough to accommodate, the ever-iucessinr number of exhibits, and it: was this question that tho incoming committee, should take I ■seriously in band. They should endeavour to find a place suitable enough to make the winter show the show par excellence of the Austral-- | asiau colonies. Theyv bad got all the elements ito make it so, and they had only to put their shoulders to the,' wheel arid they would roll oh the car of progress even further than they bail in the past. "He might say in cob■nection with this that tbe funneis could aid them'materially by joining the'society. He did not think that throughout the province the . advantages farmers could derive by becoming members p£ the society were,generally, kno.vn. Those advantages were a'moat j on all fours with those obtained' by tho ruem-' bcrs of the Royal Agricultural Sociuty of England. Ha held in his hand a Hat of those I privileges, and,be found .that: they were the very sams as were to be derived'by joining the ( Otago , Society-ir-viz^ free • admission to the show- yards, reduced rate for, the entry of live sioek and implements, and it was proposed, he understood* if it could ba ,acconiplit;b.ud fairly,1 to have an annual journal publishod, giving the proceedings of the scc-ety in detail, and members then would be .entitled to a copy. From the remarks of tha chairman vhs' gatheseii that.1 it was proposed ■to have ; a practical cheomt appointed^-(The Ghaibman: "He has been appointed.")—and members could then have an analysis at/ a cheaper rate than could the general public- He thought that -with those and other, advantages it was the bounden duty of every individual membsr of the society to get all the farmers of his' acquaintance to 'join; They wanted to make tfae society as strong and as powerful as that which existed in ths sister province of Cimterbnry, and this they should aim at especially in the interests' of tho winter show, which the cormuittse had so ably taken in hand.—(Applause;) ~- , The motion for the;adopbion of fche report was then put and carried. :" :' :'■!•'■■ OFFICE-BEAREKS. / ■ !

..The election .njf. officebearers tfc'cu took place. Mr; James. Smith, juk., s»id that it had been the custom .to appoint the vice-president to ths poaition of pvcside&t, bat this visa an exceptional j ear, as the Coaferenca was to bo held here, ana it was necessary therefore that they should hsve a suitable tnan^one with a large interest; in agricaltucal-'aud pastoral pursuus, and. one wbo.cduld do a fair share of the entertaining of ;'visitor;. The gentleman he was about to propoßa ponsessed all theae qnalitits, aud would be the rijjht man in the right place. He had much pleasure in proposing Mr John Roberts as president for ths ensuing year. , .', ' ... ' ' ;

Mr R. seconded the motion, whioH was carried unanimously. ,■ • ■'■ The Hon. T, Fjsrqds proposed that Mr Jaiaes Smith be: re-elected vico-i.'rc-sid'snt. Ths speaker admired very much the upirit of abnegation displayed by -Mr Smith in propo^iug that Mr John Roberto be- detW to an efnee to which- he (filr Smith)'was eutitlod arid per-' fectly able.to.filU ' He wss sure shat as vicepreaulerit Mr Smith; would attend to his dutisii as efficiently as ha -had done in ihe.pasii.—: (Applauie.) • '.'.-" '. ■-".'

J iVlr J. SHiEt seconded the motion, which was carried uhuuimouifly. '..••• . • • , The follovyiug other office-bearers were also elected -.—Mr John-Angus; hon. treasurer ; Mr T. Callendfir, hon. auditor; aiid Messra Gilruth, Slessinger, Hamilton, and Douglas, hon. veterinary surgeons. ■

Thu following gentlemen were elected as the General Comiaitt&e :—.Tbf eph Allan, D. Bscoc, 1. Bi-ydone, R. Campbell, R. -Chines, James Duthie, Heu.T. Fergus, K. B. £Vgui>mi Xi I Gawu, Jame3 Go*, W: Jalfray, A. M-^arlaue; W. Patrick, P. Pattnl'.o,- O. S. Rsid, James Shiel, M.;Sincsair, J. A.1 Stewart, W. D. Stewart, A. C. Strouaob, W, H; Taggact, A. Todd, G. Todd, John Wright. ■ The following country, represeotatives were elected :—-John M'Phereoa, Oimaru ; James Rog», Palmersion; WiiHim Souter, Mag Swamp; Robert Milne aud Alexander ' Stuart, Peninsula; Walter Blackie; Taiwi ; Donald M'Douald, Milbutn ; James luglis, Milton ; G. H.Gilroy, Stirling ; Farmers' Agency Company, Gore; D. M.'Donald, Bdnndale; W. Cunin^ham SmitJj, Invercargill; j^1 jm\ o^ Middlemarch ; Kobeit L:g*»u, Kyebum ; J. A. Anderson, Waiwera ; William Snow, Outram. . ... VOTES Of THAKKS. : Profeskor Black, who was received with applsuee, exuecssed his thanks at bsing .appdinUd.cb«aiiet to the societr.

Mr A. Burt proj.-osrid a vote of thanks to the retiring president aud to the committee.' In doing bo he stated that he need ioot go into the work of cQiniiiifcteo foi; tbe past year beoause tKe r6pott fully siio.vcd that, aud he felt tb.afth>y not only possessed thu ooufidence of tha ftocietybut of the public at large. Mr Fergus had rightly st/.tied that the scc:ety held a premier positiou iv regard to its winter show. During the lattfew yews -'everyone who took an interest in agricultural affairs must have noticed that the association had made woudsrEul strides, and ho felt that if the offictrj in tee future worked; aa hard as theyhsd done in the psss the society would bcou occupy a ptSmier position in every respflefc. They might be certain that, & winter .show would be held in Chrietchurch next year, and' therefore the incoming committee would have to take steps to fully, maintaia.the prestige.of the Otago winter S.hoW. , . . : .-', . . Mr Keith; Ramsay, in aenonding the molioa, said that the retiring committee were entitled to the very heartiest thanks of the' society, and he hoped that at the end of the next year the work of -the incoming committee would be atI tended with like success. ! The motion was carried by acclamation. | The Chaikman, iii raturniug thanks, said it S was pleasure to them all to have done the work i they had donft for the society. Mr Ui.UK SiKCtAiB thought it wag only right that thfey Should pass a vote of thanks to tho.\r> who bad contributed prizss, which had proved I a strong attraction to tho shows. i The motion was farcied by acclamation.

Mr S. James plowed—'.'..That it be remitted fe 'He committee to take into cousideratiou the

r vi, ability of making provision for a display of live anddead poultry at the winter show." The motion wa« carried, and The proceeditigß tben terminated.