OTAGO A. AND P. SOCIETY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22065, 22 September 1933, Page 2

OTAGO A. AND P. SOCIETY

MONTHLY MEETING The monthly meeting of the committee of the Otago A. and P. Society was held in the board room yesterday afternoon, and was attended by Messrs E. T. Kirk (vice-president, in the chair), D. Andrew, John Allison, W. S. Thomson, D. Ireland, Thomas Gawn, John Young, J. W. Blair, George Eoss, B. S. Irwin, L. C. Hazlett, T. D. Dalziel, D. Eeid, A. Johnson, James Little, W. 0. M'Kellar, F. J. Conn, Joseph Mosley, E. F. Duthie, John Mitchell, and J. M. Fraser.

The chairman made reference to the death of Mr R. 8. Charters, an old and respected member of the society, and a resolution of sympathy was passed. The Finance Committee recommended payment of accounts amounting to £127 14s 4d, and noted with appreciation the receipt of trophies and special prizes. The sum of £lO was received from the Clydesdale Horse Society for special prizes for the horse parade obtained through the instrumentality of Mr J. W. Blair, of Outram. Mr S. Bowman, as hon. secretary of the New Zealand Friesian Association (Otago branch), forwarded a donation of £5 for best group of registered Friesian stock and gold medal for best female (Friesian). The proposed Stock Improvement Bill, copies of which had been received from the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand and circulated amongst members, was brought up for discussion.—Mr Mosley said that if the Bill were passed in its present form it would impose a hardship on the small settler, fie was prepared to support the measure if the inspection applied to the stud stock only and were conducted by inspectors of the breed societies. —Mr George Ross, member of the Royal Agricultural Society, said the council of the Royal Society had approved of the proposed Bill, and in his opinion the matter of the breeding of inferior stock would have to be met some time, and it was better to apply it now to all stock. —Mr Mosley referred to a rule at present operating with sheep societies that prohibited the sale and transfer of stud ewes before inspection while rams could be sold without question. In the one case the ewe might be the mother of three or four sheep, while the ram could he the father of several flocks. —-Mr Mosley’s motionr—“ That the prohibition of sale without inspection be approved if it applied to stud stock only and the inspection were done by breed society inspectors ” —was carried. Letters were received from Mr W. Brasch (Waikiwi) accepting his nomination as judge of the Friesian Section at the Summer Show, and from Mr David Murdoch (Brighton) consenting to officiate as‘judge at the Summer Show dog trials. Mr George Ross (Palmerston) advised that Mr D. Munro and his sister (Mrs Coutts) would supply the number of sheep for the dog trials at the Summer Show. A letter was received from the secretary of the Dunedin Jockey Club advising that the club would give £lO 10s towards the prizes in the jumping contest at next show.

Careful consideration wag given to a request to support a deputation to the Government to have the Gore Experimental Farm retained, and so that all information might be obtained it was resolved to go thoroughly' into the matter at next meeting. Mr James Wood, secretary of the Clutha branch of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, and Mr F. Young, secretary of the Gore A. and P. Association, wrote in reference to the foot-and-mouth disease and the embargo on the importation of stock from Great Britain, and the letters were taken together with a resolution from Mr James Begg in connection with the same matter. At last month’s meeting of the society Mr Begg was asked to frame a resolution, and he forwarded a very carefully-thought-out proposal by which any danger of the importation of stock from Britain via Canada or Australia might be eliminated, and New Zealand breeders who wished to improve their studs or flocks by the importation of fresh blood could do so without risk. —ln the absence of Mr Begg and the president (Mr Bowman), who were both interested in the matter, it was proposed to introduce the subject for discussion at next meeting. A letter was received from the secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society with details of a remit carried at the recent conference in reference to the press giving full publicity to the result of A. and P. shows, and the reply from the manager of the Press Association, to whom the matter was submitted. . A letter was received from the secretary of the Wyndham A. and P. Association advising that the legislation for the licensing of showmen had taken more definite shape. A Bill was being prepared and would be brought before the House this session. Assistance was asked to have the matter pushed forward as speedily as possible.—lt was resolved to reply that the society had already sent a deputation to the Minister of Justice in reference to the same matter, and the Minister had promised his support. The secretary reported that 29 entries had been received for the Horse Parade, Considering the number of horses that had been exported this is considered exceedingly satisfactory. Last year’s entries totalled 22. The Live Stock Sub-committee nominated judges for the different breeds and competitions,' and submitted a very attractive programme of equestrian, rodeo, and novelty events for the afternoon of People’s Day at the forthcoming show.