WINTER SHOW.

Otago Witness, Issue 3611, 29 May 1923, Page 16

WINTER SHOW.

lho entries for the forthcoming Winter Show closed on Friday, and whilst the committee anticipated that the serious floods and wet weather that the country had experienced during the last few weeks would seriously affect many of the sections, it is, however, gratifying to be able to announce that on the whole the entries received have exceeded the committee’s sanguine expectations, and the forthcoming show promises to be equally as good if not better than its predecessors. Show W eek is every year becoming more important as regards conferences and meetings. The following fixtures have been arranged : On Tuesday morning the annual meeting of the Sheep Breeders’ Association will be held in the Employers’ Association Rooms in Crawford street. The show will be officially opened by the Hon. W. Nosworthy, Minister of Agriculture, at 2.15 p.in. on Tuesday, June 5. at which the lion. W. Downie Stewart will also lie present, and it is expected that both Ministers will attend the annual meeting of the. society to he held in the evening. On tile following morning a conference will ho held of delegates from the Sheep Breeders’ Association, representatives appointed by the Advisory Committee of the British Empire Exhibition at Wellington, and the local committee to consider and discuss the question of arranging an exhibit of wool at the British Empire Exhibition in Ixindon At 11 a.m. tbe South Island Dairy Association holds a conference of dairy farmers, and on the same afternoon a conference will bo held of the Otago Fruitgrowers’ As•ociation members. Oil Thursday, June 7, a conference will bo held in the Otago A and P. Society s board room of delegates from the different agricultural associations in the South Island to consider and fix show dates, to discuss

the despatch and handling of show stock, to suggest that breeders be asked to revise the list of judges, and to discuss other matters affecting the different societies’ operations. A cheese-grading competition will be. held, open to bona fide cheese factory managers. The Taieri and Peninsula Milk Supply Company (Ltd.) offers a challenge cup for this interesting competition, and the South Island Dairy Association offers a gold medal to the successful competitor. In the afternoon the New Zealand Friesian Breeders’ Association’s meeting of Otago members will be held, and in the evening the annual meeting of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Association will take place. In the dairy section the entries are in excess of last year, and at the request of the judges arrangements have been made for the cheese to be staged on Friday, June 1, to give the judges an opportunity of commencing their duties on that day. Entries of fruit are also very gratifying, and the committee recognises that it is too much to ask one man to do the whole of this judging, and consequently has communicated with the Director of Horticulture, Wellington, for an assistant. The following is a list of the judges who have been nominated and have replied accepting the positions: Fat stock, sheep and cattle: Mr Thomas J. Stepihens (Oamaru). Factory butter and cheese, farmers’ butter, and cheese grading competitions: Mr W. M- Singleton (Director Dairy Division) and Messrs S. Clayton, A. Milne, F. Taylor, and A. U. Ross (dairy instructors). Fruit: Mr B. G. Goodwin (Agricultural Department). Home industries section: Miss S. D. BagJey (Girls’ High School), Miss C. S. While (Technical School), Mrs R. T. Stewart (Dunback), Mrs W. Sawers (Ancierson’s Bay (judges of bread and scones, etc.) ; Mrs E. A. Bennett, Mornington (judge of knitting). Honey and preserves: Mr E. A. Earp (Apiary Instructor). Hams and bacon : Mr D. W. Johnston (Dunedin). Grain and seeds: Mr George Bishop (Gore). Potatoes: Mr R. B. Torment (Agricultural Department). Roots: Mr Robert Lochhead (Balclutha). School exhibits: Mr R. B. Tennent and Mr J. W. Iladfield. Wool: Messrs George Wm. Clarke, E. J. Denny, and F. S. Layeock. Soldiers’ exhibits: Mrs Keith S. Ramsay (Dunedin), Misses Burton (Dunedin), and G. W. Herrick (Dunedin). Wool-classing: Mr J. M'Gregor (Mosgiel). The following is a comparative statement of the entries received for the different sections for years 1922 and 1923. It will he noted that whilst the total number of entries received is in excess of last year, there is a considerable falling-off in both farmers’ butter arid the grain and seeds sections:

ICaiCULTUBAL AND PASTORAL Under the new Act for the destruction of animal and vegetable pests, 30 rabbit inspectors are to be added to the public service of Victoria, For these positions 16-5 applications have been received by the Lands Department, lire salary is £lB4 a y ear > c.nd. the inspector, in addition to having “a fair education,” must have a knowledge of noxious weeds, and of the best mot hot. s of rabbit destruction. Preference will, as usual in .State appointments, be given to returned soldiers.

The second annual Nightcaps Horticultural and Industrial Show, held on the 17th and xßth inst., was a most successful fixture the entries being about 200 in excess of the previous year, and generally this fixture indicated improvement. d 11 '? Ma . ta “ ra Ensign slates that a patent attachment for a plough, which enables the ploughman to turn a corner without leaving tna back of the implement, has been innf TJ BG-f’"' y bi N ’j AlexailcJer ’ a fa ™or of Balfour, Southland. It is a handle for turning the plough, and is attached to the head of the plough with a worm and cog. On the 19th mst. Mr Adam Hamilton, a member of the Meat: Producers’ Board addressee. a large number of dairymen at niton on the proposal to poo! dairy produee He considered, he said, that the fltwim" ha *v save , d S :lle producers over LIjjOj.COO, as they had come in at an opportune time. The dairy industry requires some united head, and there" were possibilities in a dairy pool. A resolution was passed m favour of a board being set up niueii on the lines of the Meat Control .Board.

Mr William Gil), of the firm of Gill and Lui.ii, woollen mill proprietors, of Bradford, England, recently visited Winton,' and addressed a meeting of those interested in Hie proposed woollen mills in the district He counselled them to go slowly and not anticiPate dividends for at least the first five yea J'„ s - The disposal of the output of, say, a . oDUO-spindle mill should be undertaken within the confines of the lands of the 1 aortic, as it would be almost impossible to compete abroad against English and American companies. A mill such as he suggests would cost. say. £30.000. and give employment to some 60 or 70 hands, besides halt a do/en experts. The consumption of wool might be estimated approximately at 1000 bales per annum. It was he thought, hardly an opportune time to .start a. woollen mill in the district. However, after a vote of thanks and a series ot questions were disposed of, a move w made by the gathering to the proposed

bother New Zealand is or is not to be represented at the World’s Dairy Congress, to be held in Washington next October, is not yet. decided (says a Press Association wire from Wellington). According to reports received from America, the congress iwill be the greatest of the kind ever held. The discussions, it is claimed, will interest scientists, teachers, public officials, cattle breeders, dairy farmers, product and equipment manufacturers, distributors, importers, exporters, child health and social welfare workers, students of dietetics and home economics writers, anqd philanthro-

pists. The congress will i < the first international dairy meeting held in the United States, and the first to bo held anywhere in the last nine years. Incidentally it will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the International Dairy Federation, which is lending its support. Ail nations have been invited to send representatives to the congress. The Minister of Agriculture states that the question whether New Zealand will be represented is under consideration. 'Hie exports of pork from tbe dominion for the season ended March 31 was 20.318 cwt, as against 2169 cvvt for the previous season. A meeting to, consider the question of forming a Co-operative Dairy Factory at Hokonui was held last week, when it was decided to forint company with a nominal capital of £SOOO in shares of £l each. One of (he finest crops of swede turnips grown in the Western District may be seen on Airs S. Watson’s farm, Kintail. Narrows (reports the Western star). There is an area of 20 acres, which has been let for feeding purposes at £l2 per acre. The new factory foi the Awania DairyCompany at Winton is nearing completion, the building having been practically finished and awaiting the installation of the machinery. It. is expected that the plant will be ready' for the new season, but it 'is more than probable that the ceremony of declaring the factory opened will take place prior to tho plant being set in motion. “Are vve going to sit down to the tyrannic methods of the shipping combine:'’ asked Sir Walter Buchanan at Carterton on Saturday (reports the Wairarapa Age). He said farmers were out to try in a small way to break up this pernicious combine, and wanted sheepovvners to subscribe an additional £150,000 to enable them to secure more steamers and to ensure that one was always on berth. When a. ship came into port the dumping and p>ort charges had to be paid right away, and they financed on bills of lading. It was desirable to show the shipping combine that they were in a strong financial position. Not one penny of the £IOO,OOO had been wasted. Pigs at 'he present time appear to be very hard to quit at the sale-yards (say's the Clulha Leader), but it must be confessed that in the form of bacon they still command a ready sale at high retail prices. Evidently the fanner misses somehow the benefits cf the apparently “stabilised” prices of bacon. Of 60.000 acres of grain grown in the Ashburton County, 20,000 acres were threshed, said Mr A. 11. Cockayne at the opening lecture of the Farmers’ School (states the Ashburton Guardian). It was quite the reverse some years ago. Barley production had decreased from 10,000 acres to 1000 acres, and peas, grass seed, and clover had not. increased. Mr M‘Gregor, at the Waverloy branch of the Farmers’ Lotion, brought up the question of the low state of the beef market. The market at Home, he said, was glutted with foreign beef, produced by countries that remained neutral during the war, and who are now enriching themselves at the expense of the dominions. He had read that a conference was being held in London to devise a scheme to keep trade within the Empire. He considered that something should lie done to that end. By reason of its almost overwhelming presence on many district farms, ragweed has become a standing menace to stock (reports the Orepuki Advocate), and more than one, farmer is wondering whether the suspension of the regulations with regard to the cutting of the weed hap been altogether an unmixed blessing. There should, however. be no possible doubt in the mind of the local dairyman who the other day buried his sixth cow which died from the effects of eating ragweed.

1922. 1923 Fat stock 61 55 Factory cheese and butter 171 233 Farmers’ butter 98 47 Fruit 430 465 Home industries 595 588 Grain and seeds 92 64 Honey and preserves 40 43 Hams and bacon 39 43 Potatoes 25 49 Hoots 365 234 Wool 52 62

School e exhibits 84 82 Soldiers’ exhibits 50 69 1904 2,034