THE POLICY OF THE SHOWYARD Am ITS ADMINISTRATIVE METHODS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2674, 14 June 1905, Page 6

THE POLICY OF THE SHOWYARD Am ITS ADMINISTRATIVE METHODS.

In his paper on the policy and effect-s of showyard administration*; the Secretary 01 the Bath and West of England Society disciisses the serious criticism directed against the system by some fully entitled to be considered as practical agriculturists, who have urged that over-feeding is encouraged, to the detriment of the procreative powers of stock prepared for exhibition. Ha admits that prizes do go to over-fed animals, and points out that some years ago the "Royal Agricultural Society, in an official report, suggested that a* special committee should, before the judges made their awards, disqualify all exhibits showing undoubted signs of injury from o\evfeeding. It is not altogether surprising that this proposition was never acted upon, for it. would have been an invidious task for any body of men, not the actual judges, to adjudicate upon a matter open to such differences of opinion, especially as no hard and fast line can be drawn clearly defining where natural feeding ceases and overfeeding commences. Added to this, animals aro not uniformly affected, and an amount of fat or flesh that would incapacitate one animal vrould not be prejudicial to another. Judges should be encourage-1 to make it plainly manifest by their awards that excessive over-feedinig is a distinct bar to success, and proof of breeding capacity, in the case of all animals over a ceitain age, should be insisted on before tha puVe is handed over. At the same time, it is no use lo&Lng sight of the fact that all stock must, up to a certain point, bo shown in a- fat state, for high feeding, combined with cars and attention, tends to bring an animal's best points into prominence and to show of what it is capable. If all stock were exhibited in stora condition, the animal which would not do well under pnj circumstances would be plaoed too much on a level with another possessing the capacity to do full justice to the best treatment. There might, however, be greater encouragement given to tlra development of milking qualities by the more geneial application of special classes for cattle to be judged by either a milk or a butter test.

A fruitful and not uncommon cause to extravagance -with stock prize-sheet commitlees in England arises from the notion that the moo money you givci in prizes tho better show you will get, and the mora benefit will accrue thereby to agriculture. You may possibly increasa your entries, though certainly not in proportion to your over-lavishness, but societies do not exist, to break records. Quantity is not half so important as quality, and mere leduplication is better avoided than encouraged. Beyond a certain point, an rncreasa in the value of a prize is a sheet ■wasto of good money so fcir as any adivantaga to agriciiltura is concerned, for, after all. the miin reivard lies in the advsitisemenfc which follows success, and the consequent enhancement of tho prices of the m inning animal's produce. It lias be in pointed out in tbo press by men -nho hn\e ofttimes given good proof of their interest in the Trelfara of agriculture that in view of the fact that a large proportion of tho prize money at the leading shows in Great Britain goes to thoso who wd-oi is Isastj a Ecscjits or a aasdal should foo

substituted for a cheque. Mr Plowman is bound to admit that there has been a tendency sometimes to pile up money upon iudividual prizes when it might much better be distributed over a larger area, and he explains what he means by saying that "for miiny years ono of our leading societies gave only two prizes in a class, and when I pleaded for the same money being divided into three. prizes, on tho grounds thitt more encouragement would thereby l> cffpiadfo the smaller men, it was urged against the proposal that the quality of the exhibits would bo low-ered because tho big men would not think the prizes worth going for. At last the change was made, and I do not think that the strongest opponent of it would now advocato a return to the _ old system, for, whilst, the exhibits have increased in number, tha quality has been fully maintained."

Tho increasing number of exhibits, whether of stock or implements, at leading shows may be taken as evidence that! shows are not declining in favour with thoso wilhioul whom they could not existviz., ihe exhibitors.. This is not addacta as n proof either that the exhibit ors liava m grievances or that they are a longsulfering, uncomplaining ra.ee, who bear iheiv burdens without a murmur. Tha world, al. large, we know, is full of imperfections, and agricultural societies would, not be mortal institutions if they were absolutely perfect. They must be regarded as evolutkmaiy, like most other things, and so we cannot rest content! in the comfortable assurance that finality has been reached, especially as every show 1 of ii series ought to be full of suggestivene?s for its successor. "Hard cases" aro likely to occur in showyards, as well as elsewhere ; but, speaking generally, they are more often the products of defective administration than bad laws. If a man has a grievance, give him his vent, and do noti send him about from post to pillar on ;i wild iioose chase after some official who is never to be found, for this is only laying up a heritage of future woe. It may bo token as a showyard axiGan that personal contact is the high road to mutual agreement; and if officials themselves will 1 remember that, after all, they too are but irprtal, then tha paths of all concerned will be much more likely to be those of pleasantness and peace than they would otherwise be Inaccsssiblo heights* rnav ba very suitable abodes for Olympian deities, but not for sl'owvard officials.

The main body of exhibitors are easy: enough to deal with, inasmuch as theiir desire is to act fairly and squarely. But we must take the world as we find it, and' legislate for the rogue in order to protect tho honest man ; and here, I think, a little more exchange of confidences between show committees might be helpful. If we disqualify for fraud or false pretences, and then lock up our knowledge of it in our own breast, the offender has simply to steer clear of one siowyard while he has the run of all the rest, let, owing to a fear of what the consequences of exposing him may be, this very frequently happens. I do nor think there is half as much danger in speaking out as is sometimes feared ; if there were, I should long ago have been hanged, drawn, and quartered. A Fociety should take power, under the conditions governing the receipt of entries, to inform other associations of any disqualifications due to sharp practices, and act upon this. The straightforward exhibitor can. be further protected in another way. As a rule, disqualifying committees do not take action unless forced to do so by a formal protest from one of the competitors. My own view is that a committee should itself disqualify, whenever justified by circumstances, whether there be a protest or not. The observance of a where-ignorance-is-bliss ■policy on the part of a committee has been "nown to resiilt as follows: — A, an ex-* hibitor, knows something that would disqualify B, also an exhibitor, and tha latter is in possession of some equivalent information respecting A. Consequently, each agrees to hold his tongue about the other, and the two walk off with their ill-gotten gains, to the detriment of the man who plays fair, while the committee " winks the other eye, and congratulates itself upon the paucity of protests.

Most of the foregoing remarks have reference to the live stock section of a show, mainly because it provides more debatable matter than any other. There are other features the usefulness of which has been so generally recognised as to preclude any differences of opinion. Fop instance, it has long been recognised thatj the influence exercised by agricultural societies in promoting the invention of mechanical appliances for the cultivation! of the soil has been immense. The progress in this directiton could hardly have been secured in any other way, and it speaks volumes for the energy and enterprise of implement manufacturers that they should have been so quick to discern and so able to take advantage of, the lever afforded by shows wherewith to move tlie agricultural world. In large showyards the farmer has the advantage of seeing collected within a convenient compass every class of implement connected with his occupation. He is afforded the oportunity of examining and comparing one! maker's goods with those of another, of obtaining every information respecting them from the 'fountain head, and of exchansing notes with his brother farmers on the relative superiority of this or that machine. At the same time the manufacturer is brought into immediate contact with the farmer whose wants it is his business to supply, and whilst he ig enabled to bring under his notice the outcome of a vast amount of toil, skill, and expenditure, he gets the benefit of the! experience as to what is most required in particular localities for the soil's cultivat tion. Mr Plowman doubts the wisdom of offer*

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ing prizes for implements, and for the following reasons : — In the first place the working value of a machine is not fairly gauged by the limited time tests to which, under the competitive system, ifc is subjected. A machine" may hold together well enough during the short period embraced by the tests, and collapse the vreik after. Again, it may be awarded a medal for accomplishing certain work, and not long afterwards may be superseded by an improved application of the same or a different principle. But the public naturally follows the lead of the judges' award, the value of which, as an advertisingmedium, is often out of all proportion to the merits of the machine and to the slight margin of superiority it had shown over its unsuccessful rival. In point of fact, the advance in mechanical engineering is nowadays too rapid to admit of a particular appliance being entitled to a premier position for a series of years.