NORTHERN AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL ASSOCIATION'S EXHIBITION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 159, 14 November 1868, Page 2

NORTHERN AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL ASSOCIATION'S EXHIBITION.

The third exhibition of this society took place at RaDgiora yesterday, and aided by the; necessary adjuncts of good manHgecnent and good weather, pro Ted in most re«pects a decided success. Although it would have been more gratifying for us to hare had to chronicle an increase in the number of exhibits instead of a decrease, there really i« good ground for congratulating the Society that the falling off in entries was no greater that it wa». When we consider the adverse circumstances with which many of its atanchest supportters have had to contend .during the, let u» hope, exceptional year last past— a yeurin which all the principal interests represented

by the Society hare all suffered more or less— the paitoral interest, in bad price* for wool ; cattle owners, from shortness of cash, owing to their stock being depreciated in value, anil kept from a market by the cattle restrictions. Then there were the floods, and when these are added to the before mentioned causes, and all considered, we think that any feeling ot disappointment at a diminution of exhibits mast be succeeded by a feeling of gratification that the efforts of the Society were att-nded with the measure of success they received yesterday. For the benefit of the Society on future occasions it may be as well to draw their attention to the great improvements effected in the catalogue of the Canterbury Association on the catalogues of former years, by a method of running the numbers of the entries consecutively through the catalogues irrespective of class, so that when the number of the exhibit is seen, by referring to the catalogue it shows at once the class to which the exhibit belongs without further trouble. If the pens, especially in the case of sheep, had been distinctly marked with the name of the breed, the difficulty would not be so' great, but where thia is not tlie case, and the spectator is not au fait with the distinctive characters of the various breeds it become* simply a matter of impossibility to tell which is which, and be leaves them in disgust, and so one of the principal objems ni the Society, tl.;>? of educatiiiy farmers in tlu" breediug of stock, i« lost. The site selected for the exhibition was a ten-acre paddock in the centre of Rnn^iora, belonging to Mr. Buss, and immediately adr joining the main road. In this paddock the first show of the Association took place on December Bth, 1866. It is in every way well adapted for the purpose, being surrounded with a gorse fence of guiflcient he'ght to prevent evasion of the gate dues, and to afford a considerable amount of shelter. It is well swarded, and possesses a great advantage 'n being intersected with a clear running stream of water. One of the main points on which the suc-ce-8 of an agricultural show larg Iv depends is the manner in which what may be termed the ground plan of the show is laid out, the effect being marred by the exhibits beinv Cramped too much together, the same being the ca*e if they are too much scattered In tlii-i respect the Northern Association wa>, at* on all previous shows under its auspices, well served by the gentlemen of ability in thesimaters who had been appointed to the nerous office of class stewards. The P'tiß for shtep and pigs were arranged so »8 to display the animals to the very best advantage, and the cattle were also displayed to much better a-) vantage than at the <'hristchiirch show, being confined in low yards, ins end of the hinh stackyards used ihere, which are not only unsightly but are also very inconvenient to spectators. The dairy and fa im produce were ex hi hi ed in a marquee provided for the purpose, and these also, us in a I other cases were made the most of. The marquee anil those belonging to the publicans and confectionery booth -•, nil of Iwhich w ■.•re profusely decked with fit»s. cn\rjl>uted not a little to the gaiety of the scene Mjjicf e^hments b'th solid and liquid were provided by Messrs Barnard, of the Itantfiora hotel, and Wild, of the Masoni-!, con- ■ feutinnery ami temperate drinks being dispensed ny Messrs G and A. Gee of Christciniruh; all t.he»e gentlemen were extensively patronised and de-erve>lly 3wW I hose of a sportive turn of mind coura gratify their propensities by investing their loo»e cash at \> odleu'ti Bucks, the Wheel of Fortune, or another of NHpoleon's own games piayed with a ball and two pegs, all of which received a fair share of public support. The ijroceedinKS during the day were also eni vened by a capital brass band. At 11 o'clock ihe gate* were thrown open to members and all those who prefer to pa\ a HUIh extra in ■ rder to go quietly round ihe exhibit*) before ti e admission of a large number of people, an advantage of which many availed themselves At one o'clock the admission of the general public took place, and the ground whs soon filled with spectators, who steadily increased in numbers till evening, at which time there could not huve been less than 1500 persons present. Any evil forboding regarding the weather was noon set aside, the day proving one of the brightest and hottest of the season. Some of the weatherwise prognosticate! a nor' we«ter ; their predictions, however, were not verified, A wind from any quarter would almost have been preferable to the intense heat which prevailed — from which the animals suffered greatly. it being necessary to cover the pens in which the pigs were exhibited with a cloth. In Merino sheep, in class 4, the judsres uppear to have decided more according t> the class of wool they considered beat adapted for the English market than strictly according to the judges' instructions, i.e., for density of fleece, length of staple, and fineness of wool. For purity of breed we should certainly have preferred another of the? exhibits. The judges themselves remark. "In C'asa 4 nearly all the pens exhibitel were very good; the judge* hud considerable difficulty in awarding the 2nd Prize.." In Class 5 the judges remark, " The imported rams shewn by Mr J. E. Hrown, app ar to be remarkably fine theep, both as regards wool and breed, *>ut were disqualified from competition there being no particulars as to the date ot shearing." In explanation of this, it may be as well to say that all the information Mr Brown coul I give on this point, was that iht had received a letter with the sheep when mported, stating that they had been partially shorn, previous to .shipping ; to what extent he coul t not say. Continuing the judges re marks : " The Austrian imported ram shewn by Mr Walker deservedly gained firsthonours." The long-wolled sheep do not call for special comment, as there was not much competition in these classes. In Leicesters, Mr Threlkeld was the only prize-taker. In l.incolns, Mr Grigg took the Hun's share of prizes. In

tiomney Marsh and cro«»-bredi Mr F. M. Kickman -was the only exhibitor, and had there been competition, hit stock would hare been very hard to beat. la fat wethers, both exhibits were in capital condition and deserved the prizes they obtained. In cattle, tlu> entries had fallen off on previous years, mainly due to the difficulty of getting cattle to the show owing to the restrictions which were not withdrawn until after the entries had closed. Had it not been for this cause the entries would hare been far greater. A. remarkably fine lot of cows was entered for the dairy class, and in the class for fat beasts Mr Kickman's cowdeservedly won first prize, being a spleudid animal. In d- aught horses, the decision of the judges at the Ohristuhureh show was endorsed by pronouncing Mr Walls' Sir Colin Camp-b'-11, the best entire ; also, in class 4, for the best mare, giving the prize to Mr Walls', mare Norah. In thoroughbreds there was no competition. In " oiher horses," Quicksilver wiis again pronounced the best ha. koey entire. In class 2, Mr Hinge's Bobby, a horse more fitted fur draught than carriage purposes, was for that reason disqualified by the jmlue*. None of the other clasies call for special comment. In pigs Mr Newnham reigned supreme, •listHiicing all other exhibitors by the quality of his exhibits. In poultry there was no competition worth speaking of ; many of the bird* exhibited were fine specimens of their breed, but where ti[ere is so little competition a first prize .cannot be deemed of much value. T*^k narnesa * r ' ' 8 worthy of especial notice ifta^tvthe leather, of which the first prize set was q^ide, was tanned and manufactured at vir T. Wilson's. Heathcote tannery. In appearance it one whu inferior to the imported artiest', The implements"nlfcno't call for particular mention ; many firet-class articles were exhibited. The judges expressed a hope that on future occasions, the wheel and swing plough* should be put in separate classes. In reeird to d dry pro luce, the whole of the exhibits were firnt-claßß, and in both butter >md cheese must have given the judges great trouble. Hie Society this year continued the sound j policy of encouraging local manufactures, I mid although the exhibition was rather sparse, it whs nevertheless highly satisfactory. leather exhibited by Mr Thome, of llungiora, was highly praised by the judges ; us hlso was some cider manufactured by Mr Jennings of Kangiura, which they pronounced •" a very superior article," and awarded a Ist prize"!! The following is a comparative list of the entries for the three exhibitions held by the Society since its inauguration : —

1866. 1867. 1868. Sheep ... 49 62 55 Cntle ... 63 29 20 Horses ..62 56 47 Piß* ... 14 14 8 Poultry ... 30 24 27 Docs ... 3 3 8 Implements ... 18 14 2*2 Diiry produce ... 9 41 18 Manufactures ... 20 28 24 Agricultural produce 0 8 2 259 276 231