N. Z. STATION AND FARM EXHIBITS AT THE SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1461, 15 November 1879, Page 6

N. Z. STATION AND FARM EXHIBITS AT THE SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

(from our special correspondent.) Class - 623.— Wheat, Oats, Barley, [and

other Cereals,

In thia group the Colony holds her own against all corners. Ie proves New Zealand to be a yeoman's country, capable of producing grain of the highest possible quality. If there are defects, and important ones, in the court as to other staples, her wheat and grain generally are abundant, in samples excellently packed, and shown to the greatest advantage; and Otago has the credit of being the largest and most important exhibitor. The main sample- - case occupies almost the entire side of one of the Dunedin bays in a double line, having a passage between, and is supplemented by several other handsome oases and specimens grouped round about, and all well placed. The most prominent exhibitors are Royse, Stead, and Co., the New Zealand and Mercantile Agency Company as agents ; Messrs Meek, of Oamaru ; Mr M'Gill, of Tokomairiro ; and Christchurch firms. The New Zealand Loin and Mercantile Agency Company exhibit white velvet wheat, grown by Messrs Howden and . Warnook, Murdoch and Bell, Andrew Bell, E. Menlove, and John Forrester — averaging respectively 50, 38, 40, and 46 bushels to tho acre ; white Tuscan wheat, grown by James Gibson' and. Mesßrs Fleming and Hedley respectively, averaging 30 and 37 bushels to the acre ; red straw ■wheat, grown by Messrs C. and John Todd, averaging 40 bushels to the acre ; and white velvet wheat as gleaned at harvest, grown by the Hon. Mathew Holmes, 661b per bushel ; a bushel of wheat grown at Elderslie; purple straw and white velvet wheat, exhibited by Royse, Stead, and Co. ; milling wheat, averaging 50 bushels to the acre, grown by Mr Alexander Brown, Islay Farm. Wakatipu ; Switty white wheat, grown by Mr Daniel M'Coll, Waitohi Downs, Tim*ru; milling wheat grown 1070 feet above sea-level, threshed in the open airi mmediately after reaping, 50 bushels to the acre, grown by Mr Matthew Dwyer, Diamond Lake farm, Wakatipu; wheat grown in Southland, Gray, Fleming, and Co., exhibitors; milling wheat, 50 bushels to the acre, grown by Mr Robert Guno, Miller's Flat, Wakatipu ; milling wheat, 45 bushels to the aore, grown at F/ankton, by Mr Thomas M'Bride; Tuecan wheat, 681b to the bushel, grown at Lawrence, 1000 feet above the sea-level ; red Btraw wheat grown at Tokomairiro, 601b to the bushel, grown by Mr Peter M'Gill, miller, Tokomairiro ; a sample grown at Palmerston by Mr A. M'Laren; Tuscan, purple straw, white velvet, and red straw wheat grown by Mr Lane, Mr Kircaldy, Mr Stewart, and Mr Fulton respectively, and averaging 35, 35, 45, and 35 bushels, exhibited by Messrs J. and S. Meek, of Oamaru ; one bushel of wheat exhibited by Murray, Dalgleish, and Co., of Invercargill ; one bag, 661b per bushel, grown on the New Zealand and Australian Land Company's estate at Timaru. From kelson there are four exhibits : One bushel of Lord Ducie's White wheat grown by Mr Alfred Allport; one bushel of pearl wheat exhibited by Mr Joseph Bolton ; one bushel of spring wheat grown by Holdaway Bros. ; and a sample of pearl wheat from Mr Patrick O'Connor, WaimeJi West, Nelson. Christchurch senda a handsome show-oase and counter from native woods, containing Messrrf.P. Cunningham and Co.'s samples of velvet chaff, Tuscan, Hunter's white, pearl, red «traw, white and red chaff wheat, and two bushels of white wheat grown in a 10-acre paddock, yielding 74 bushels psr acre. There is one sample of white wheat, from Blenheim, exhibited by Mr John Maher, of Wairau. From Hawke's Bay there are the following :— One bushel of Hunter's white wheat, grown in first-furrow fern land, 661b Imperial bushel ; one bushel from Mr William White, of Kaikora ; one bushel of red chaff, weighing 661b net, grown on the Opuka Station, County of Geraldiae ; one bushel of Tuscan wheat, grown by Mr Job Vilo, Master ton; and one bushel from Auckland, exhibited by Mr John Lamb, of the Waitemata Mills.

There ia but one solitary exhibit of maize, and that comes from Giaborne, where it was grown by Mr Thomas Adams. Malt is contributed by Messrs John Arkell, of Blenheim ; Henry Dodson, of Blenheim ; Harley and Sons, of Nelson ; Maurice Joel, of Duaedin ; Lintott and Otters an, of Oamaru ; S. Manning and Co., of Christchurch ; and Ward and Co., of Christchurch. As pre viously mentioned, there is but one sample of hops, which is very good, but a critic says it is not strong enough in aroma to suit our brewers. Tasmania competes spiritedly in this growth, and shows some fine specimens in large quantities. The exhibitors of barley are : — E. H. Banks, of Christchurch — pearl and malting barley, yielding about 40 bushels to the acre; P. Cunningham and Co., of Christchurch — fathead and chevalier barley ; Henry Dodson and Fell and Co., of Blenheim; Gray, Fleming, and Ce., of Invercargill j Mr Isaac Giiford, of Marlborough ; Lintott and Otterson, of Oamaru — malting barley j Murray, Dalgleish, and Co., of Invercargill; Messrs Little and Jesaop, of Oamaru— chevalier barley ; J. and E. Paul, of Marlborough ; Alexander C. Pringle, of Timaru ; Peter Ramsay, ef Hawke's Bay ; Royse, Stead, and Co. — pearl and malting barley ; and Captain W. R. Russell, of Kaikora, Hawke's Bay. Excellent samples of oats are shown by E. H. Bi>nks, Christchurch ; P. Cunningham and Co.— Canadian, Tartarian, and Danish oats ; Josiah Bolton, of Nelson ; Charles Hugheß, of Palmerston; Peter M'Gill, of Tokomairiro ; Alexander M'Nab, of Southland; J. and T. Meek, of Oamaru ; the New Zealand Agricultural Company, Southland ; Messrs Fleming and Hedley, growers ; Canadian oats and potato oats, grown by Hon. Mathew Holmes, and exhibited by the New Zealand 'L. and M. Agency Company; Redwood Bros., Marlborough ; George T. Richardson, Southland ; Joseph Townstend, Southland ; and Job Vile, of Maeterton.

I csuriot, in the abnence of catalogues (not yet ready) of the New South Wales and South Australian courts, indicate what those Colonies will show, totally, in the grain class, but relatively to Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania, you stand thus ;—

No. of No. of Exhibits. Exhibitors. Kew Zealand .. 85 .. 60 Queensland .. ..36 .. 23 Tasmania .. ..88 .. 18 Victoria .. ..22 .. 11 Class 629.— Vegetable Products usejj as Food or Materials. South Australia, the Chicago of Australasia, has not yefc sent in her samples of flour from Hart and Company, Dunn and Company, Darling and Son, and other well-known makers, and it is therefore difficult to say how far, if at all, she will eclipse the other Colonies in her great article of consumption — flour. You have 17 exhibitors, and it will take a more expert and practised eye than mine to decide that the New Zealand samples are excelled by anything of the kind in the building. Seven of the exhibitors are Otagans, and their contributions exceed in variety and quantity those of all the other provinces together. Royse, Stead, and Company show samples of wheat, meal, silk-dresßed flour, superfine do, sharps, or pollard, bran and oatmeal. Peter M'Gill, of Tokomairiro, exhibits samples of silk-dressed flour from wheat grown at Evans' Flat, Lawrence, and Tokemairiro; samples of finely-grown patent oatmeal from oats grown ab Tokomairiro, and patent groats from the same place. Mr Robert Gilmour, of the Wakatipu Mills, ia the Lake County, sends eilk dressed flour and oatmeal from wheat and oats grown on Arrow Flat.

Mr M'Bride (exhibits from Frankton Flat, near Queenstown, sampleß of flour from wheat grown there. Robertson and Hallenstein, of the same place,'send samples of flour groundf rom mixed milling wheat. Peter Butel and Company, of Arrowtown, and John Moriaon, of Dipton, Southland, contribute samples of flour grown there. Gray, Fleming, and Company, of Inveroargill, samples of oatmeal. Hudson and Irvine, Dunedin, Bhow a sampJe of oatmeal from oats grown at Palmerston.

Christchurch is represented by Messrs W. D. Wood, of Riccarton, and Moir and Co. , with samples of beat flour, seconds, semolinas, sharps, and bran ; and samples of Colonial oatmeal respectively. Wellington also shows samples of flour, from Captain F. C. Krefffc, and J. and T. Meek ; and the Waitemata Mills, Auckland, sends one 501b bag of flour. Ellis and Nicholson, 6f Danedin, exhibit a small case containing half-a-dozen sampleß of flock of different colours and fine quality. Victoria exhibits in bulk. I omitted to mention the sample case of flannels and tweeds from the Kaiapoi Woollen Manufac tory, Canterbury. The case adjoin« the Mosgiel Company's counters, and attracts, equal attention. The blanketings are of a fine quality, the tweeds of a stronger texture than the Moßgiel manufacture.

Class 624 — Vegetable Products.

Having already achieved a reputation for growing excellent spuds, your farmers seem to have been careless of pushing their advantage to increase it, for in this class there are bat two exhibits, neither of which comes from Otago. The New Zealand Agricultural Society send two bags of excellent potatoes from Southland, and Mr James Dalziel contributes a healthy sample from Blenheim. This necessary pomologioai — the Irish call the pratee a fruit— article of nourishment has so many varieties, from the delicate kidney to the thin-skinned pink-eye, that a more generous and varied exhibition might have been accorded to it. Victoria makes no show, Queensland mixes it up with other esoulents, and Tasmania, where it is prolific and first- class, grudgingly sends a bag. If all thepreservedtinned meats onshowwere to be generously opened tomorrow, and left to the appetites of the visitors, it would become necessary to ballot for the potatoes. Class 627. — Seeds and Seed vessels.

Queensland confines her exhibits under thia heading to indigenous pasture grasses and fodder plants, and Victoria contributes 127 varieties of agricultural, vegetable, tree, shrub, and flower seeds. Your exhibits consist mainly of peas, rye, beans, rape, and grass seeds, which are all nicely arranged and shown prominently in the grain case. There are seven exhibitors : one from Dunedin, being samples of perennial grass seed from Mr Charles Haynes, Palmerston ; one from Captain Russell, of Hawke's Bay, being a sample of ryegrass seed ; cocksfoot grass seed harvested in 1879, by Mrs Eyles, of Nelson ; samples of grass seed from Mr J. Dranßfield, of Wellington, and the bulk of the Bpeoimena from Messrs P. Cunningham and Co., E. H. Banks, and Duncan and Son of Christchurob.

Class 709 — Ornamental Trees and Shrubs.

Many visitors acquainted with New Zsaland express disappointment at the meagre illustration of the lovely fern growth bo various and abundant there. It offered a fine opportunity for an ornamental trophy, and would have counterbalanced the decided advantage in appearance which the Queensland gold trophy has over that of New Zealand.

The only representative!! of the illustrious absentee are as follow :— Mr Jamee Taifc, of Hokitika, exhibits & case of ferns and mosses; Mr Charles Armstrong, of Dunedin, a email collection (dried) in natural colours ; Mr Eric Craig, of Auckland, a fair collection in books, and some dried and mounted ; Mr 0. A. Hardy, of Rakaia Mr Richard Helens, of Greymouth; Mr Charles H. Jeffs, of Wellington ; Mr H. F. Logan, of Wellington ; Mr John Regan, of the Thames ; Mr Peter Stewart, of Wellington ; Mrs Edward Lizard, of the Thames ; and Mr J. Thomson, of the North-East Valley, Dunedin, severally show interesting specimens, and rotably Mrs Charlotte Spenco, of Dunedin, who exhibits the fern bleached, with bkeleton leaves (in case). This ia in delicate and beautiful preservation. But of the tree itself, in its wonderful diversity, and fresh and vigorous growth, there is no specimen whatever. One must regret that this has beeu overlooked. Class 639.— Textile Substances of Vege-

table or Ajtimal Origin,

In wool, again, thare is unaccountable sparsity. "Wool," to quote Dr Hector's Handbook, "is undoubtedly the most important product cf New Zealand, its export being more than double that of gold. Now,

such being the case, general expectation will be much disappointed if the Colony does not maintain its strong position by making a large and varied display at the forthcoming special wool show, to be held on the 20th of December. The absence of New Zealand sheep at the late agricultural show was much oorutaented on ; and the very insufficient display of fleeces at present made in the court is likely, without explanation, to have a bad effect on the minds of those British and foreign visitors who, not yet cognisant of New Zealand's resources, arrive at conclusions from what they see before them. The maxim of Queensland seems to be, " If you have a really good thing, depend upon it you cannot show too much of it," and I commend this homely aphorism to such of your growers as propose to send their produce for exhibition. The sampleß now on view are from Mr William Bettany, of the steam woolworks, Nelson, and Mr A. Braithwaito, of the Hutt, Wellington. The first consist of small Simples of fellmongered wool, Jmerino clothing, half-bred combing, and Leicester combing. Mr Braithwaite's specimens are shown in a separate case, and oonsisb of six fleeces and 401b. from the Eomney Marsh breed, scoured lambs' wool, average weight of fleece 31b ; and wool (grease), average ditto 131b. Queensland shows most imposing trophies in this class, consisting of fine combing wool in grease, ewe hogget fleeces, ewe fleeces, ram hoggets' fleeces, and bales of scoured and fellmongered wools in ample quantities from seven exhibitors. The exhibits are all excellently placed. Outside the court there is a stand about 12 feot high, on which the various classes are exposed. Inoide there are three handsome cases of ebonised wood and glass full of most att.raotive?samples. Tasmania, too, evidently prides herself upon this product, which has fourteen exhibitors, who exhibit largely.