FARM AND COUNTRY CHAT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144854, 4 December 1915, Page 4

FARM AND COUNTRY CHAT.

SHOW MATTERS. (Our Travelling Reporter.) The meiauers of me au-atiord Agricultural ana rastotal Association navt cd'oiy reason u> leoi giatined ;‘at tne result ot me lino uxtuic. it was welt supported oy me pamic and in the comclasses. riueio were many nn-meis p.esoat wno. were keenly eu-, laasiasuc over cue ijuapleie arrangemeais and tae geaeiai work ol tne society. Their pmise was well deserved, aud it is t.us entausiasai ol tile exe cntiie and gioaiidsuien mat makes the . assocatun.. scoie a mg success as each garnering m.nes round. There are many people w no aegiaio that a stock show is line a circus, it you see ono you see the ; lot. Tins may ue parta'iny true, but .it ; is uoticoatiio taut taaso wno make these I suiiHiiiCiits never to attend the shows. , there was one disappointment to the , writer-, and that was the - absence ot Shorthorns. Certainly there were a j lew present in the fat cattle class, and : ono m the dairy competition class, nut ;. through lack of entnes there was no mention of Shorthorns in tho catalogue. . It was only by moving round the cattle pons U at one could discover tho breed, iu iho past inmnnki has 'do*.e wo.U i.; Shorthorns, and the late Mr. Fanthani JutU UiO jiLLi llumcj Oiq breeders ol inis class of cattle, bad much to do wim building up and popularising shows of this description. Nowadays we have other breeders furtber nurib in .Messrs. Turner (Eitbam) and Turnbull (J.cppertou), but neither of these breeders were represented. Probably Uie difficulty of labour had something to do with this, lor tho showing of stock takes up more time than many credit. Iu tho fat cattle Shoithoras were first, but few hardly expected to see a Shorthorn cow- prevail in the butter-fat competition. The winnei was a very substantial beast belonging to Mr. AV! T. Bailey, Eltham, and was colsc-lv scrutinised by many farmers daring the day. A good milker with a high test, the should prove valuable for her progeny, and send up the stocks of tins strain. AVhat massivo boasts tho Holsteins become. The two champion bulls, belonging to Mr. Lovelock (Palmerston North) and Mr. Newton King, showed plenty of quality aud substance, and the Ayrshire's, by way of contrast, looked pigmies. The Holsteins received a lot of attention from farmers, ami I noticed Mr. James, manager of AA’.illowvale. surrounded by eager questioners as to the milking capacity of this breed. Ono thing must be placed to the credit of tho Holstein -he is very docile.. Whether his bulk makes him tired or lazy or.o cannot tell, but he certainly cannot be called vicious. . ■. •

fho .Jerseys excited much interest, and the beautiful animals merited it. Someone has stated that a core is the ugliest of ereai’.res —all hollows and corners. Well, take a glance, 'or.more, a good inspection, of this class of cow, and you will find- them very pleasing to the oye. Lord Twylish, Mr. R. JLinn’s champion, must surely have reached the veteran stage. He was placed champion at Stratford, and had some good cattle to beat. hi conversation with one exhibitor, I found that-he had a yearling boll entered both at Hawera and Stratford. For the Hawera Show ’he loft New Plymouth on the Tuesday a'nd returned on Friday. A-t Stratford he was more fortunate in that he did not leave New Plymouth till Wednesday morning, returning on Friday. Railing the beast each way, with the exhibitor's own expenses, makes the entry of beasts rather costly. Where an owner has many exhibits, necessitating hired labour, it must make a heavy call, oil the purse, and the length of time away must make the management of a farm a* difficult job. It was clearly noticeable that the war has drained the province of many. men. Young men just leaving their teens were present in numbers, and then the male spectators seem to take a jump to the thirties and past. There were several men in khaki, and these rather emphasised the disparity in ages of the men looking on or participating in the sports. Side-shows were a feature of the day, and it was most amusing at times to note the eagerness of. the showmen to gather in their clients. In this particular the man whoso stock-in-trade consisted of a wooden ball, two pegs and a soap box, scored a big advantage in that ho quickly moved round with the crowd, carrying, his goods with' him. Side-shows make for the pleasure of the crowd, and if the spectators dropped cash in trying the impossible at many games they certainly seemed to relish the task of trying to extract, prizes Jrom the loud-voiced rincmen-