A GOOD ROYAL

Southland Times, Issue 22728, 2 November 1935, Page 12

A GOOD ROYAL

DAIRY BREEDS BELOW SOUTHLAND STANDARD

HAWKES BAY IS HAVING A WONDERFUL SEASON

The 1935 Royal Show, held on the beautiful Tomoana ground, Hastings, last week was a great success despite unfavourable weather, according to Mr A. L. Adamson, (secretary to the Southland A. and P. Association), who attended it in his official capacity. There was a drizzling rain throughout the first day and it began about mid-day on the second day, people’s day, but, since practically everybody was on the ground by that time, it did not affect the attendance to any great extent. The financial returns were not complete when Mr Adamson left, but it was considered unlikely that the association would be able to make a donation to the Royal Society, as did Southland last year. Mr Adamson was most enthusiastic about the showgrounds. “It is really a park,” he told the writer when he re=turned a day or two ago, “and a wonderful one.” It comprises about 109 acres, and is subdivided by watercourses alongside which are flourishing English trees. Beautiful old gardens surrounding a lake provide a delightful corner, and everywhere there are spaciousness and ideal surroundings. The facilities for exhibitors are first class, the single exception being that there is no cover for light horses. There is no grandstand of any pretensions at present, either, but the compensation is ample. The motor traffic to the ground was tremendous, he said, and there were probably 2000 cars parked in it on the second day.

The entries were very good, but a study of the catalogue did not indicate that they were very much, if anything, in excess of those at Invercargill last year when the total was 2200. In addition to the show itself, there were a dog show, a poultry show, and needlework and schoolwork competitions, all of which were very popular. Dairy Breeds Disappointing. Southland was not represented at all among the exhibitors, and there were only one or two from Otago. Messrs Cooper and Hamilton, of Kelso, the most southern competitors, showed their Clydesdale stallion, Roseprint, in the four years old and upward class, but he was beaten by Mr A. Grant’s Dunlop Renown, which also took the championship. Both horses were sired by Renown. There were some entries from the Bushey Park Estate, Otago, and a number from Canterbury, but generally little advantage was taken of the assistance offered to long-distance competitors by the Royal Society. “The light horses and beef cattle were very good,” Mr Adamson said, “but the dairy breeds did not come up to Southland standards. Some of the sheep classes were very strong, the fat sheep and more particularly the fat lambs being outstanding. The Border Leicesters, however, were very weak indeed. There was only one exhibitor in this class. There were some very good classes in the Romneys, particularly in the aged rams, and the Southdowns also were good.” “A Great Season.”

Speaking of conditions generally in Hawkes Bay, Mr Adamson said that the whole province was “looking a picture.” “They had a damp winter and have had sufficient moisture since,” he said, “with the result that there is luxuriant growth everywhere. From the Havelock Hills, the countryside looks like a great park. The growth is wonderful. There has been an absence of frosts, and orchardists have had a phenomenal setting of fruit and are expecting a great year. Lambing has been excellent, and the freezing works have opened for early lambs. There seemed to have been no trouble of any serious nature anywhere among ewes or lambs and the weather has been beautifully mild for lambing.” On his way back to Wellington he noticed that there was a lot of water lying about Woodville. It has been reported since, of course, that floods have been experienced in that district and in the Wairarapa. Excessive rain does comparatively little damage in Hawkes Bay because relatively little cultivation is undertaken there.

Mr Adamson found a great difference in Hastings and Napier. They are very modern towns, he said, the houses, shops and offices being right up-to-date in every way. Both towns appeared to be flourishing and bore an air of general prosperity and cheerfulness.