NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 2908, 25 February 1893, Page 2

NOTES.

The success which rewarded the I efforts of the Committee of the | Horticultural Society in the very creditable Show, held on Saturday in the Arcade, once more points the moral that difficulties are seldom insuperable. Owing to the backwardness of the season the date fixed for the exhibition proved to be quite a fortnight too early to enable the capabilities of the district to be evidenced at their best in many, if not most, classes. This is especially true of fruits and vegetables, particularly as regards peaches, plums, apples, potatoes, and tomatoes. This waa, indeed, foreseen as the date of the Show approached, but the Committee found themselves unable to obtain the Arcade for a later date, \ and had either to let the Show go on or arrange to hold it at another place. They decided, wisely we think, in favor" of the former alternative, thece being no question whatever that the Aacade proved itself to be far and away the best place in Ashburton for an exhibition of the kind—indeed there is no more suitable building in any town ia the Colony. Then the weather fought against the success of the exhibition, the intensely hot dry days of a fort* night previous, together with the tremendous southerly buster which blew with hurricane force five days before the Show-, utterly destroying the hopes of scores of intending exhibitors, by wrecking almost everything I they had expected to be able to exhibit. Yet, despite all this, the Committee pushed on their enterprise with courage and energy, and the result was admitted on all hands to be a very creditable Show in view of the circumstances we have referred to.

But there are two matters for regret— one that there were at least a few owners of gardens and orchards in the town and district who sent nothing whatever, to the Show, although they could have added to its attractiveness considerably had they each and, all sent of the best they had;"the. othe,r that the number of subscribjqg members of the Society is this year, only sonic sixty^ as against a hundred, and twenty last year, As, to the flrsfc shortcoming, it is too late to make it up now, but we hope that those who can show, but didn't show this year, will t make up their minds to do so ! next; but as regards the second it is still possible to remedy the shortcoming by sending a subscription to the hon. secretary, Mr Lechner We hope that come of our readers who can afford to do this will do so even yet, as in orcjer to' discharge* ;afl liabilities the Society will haye tq trench upon the credit balance carried' over from last Show. The Sjociety is one which deserves encouragement and support, and we hppe {o see jtg membership largely extended.

C4Ef^owv pears are heing sold i« Covent Garden market, says a cable-: grain, at 3s 6d—not 3s 6d per doaen, or per lb, but 3s 6d a piece! Of pourfce at Home, at the end of February, there are precious few Home grown pears to be had at any price, and those only of a few " keeping" sorts, usually net the most luscious varieties ; but 8s 6d each ! ought to tempt some of our New Zealand growers to endeavour to divert some of the siller of the London bon-vivants this way. Surely we could manage td: send them early pears—say from Auckland, so as to reach London %i this season; anyhow we could seriti thfem plenty from Canterbury to arrive at the end of Anarch or beginning of April, when prices should. b8 quite as high; as theY are iiorw. • £rue; if jarge quantities bf fruit were poured in by New Zealand the price* wdjjl'd' a§ a'inatter qf qoupsq qom,e r dctwn, bift'^ very big fajl frqm Qd couW l» sustained wjth equanimity, and even 3|4 a-piepe would pay and pay well. Ihe fact is we are but at the beginning of the fruit export trade, and there are difficulties to be met with and overcome. ; But so also there were in connection with the meat export and dai«?y produce trade, but as in those instances 'the difficulties disappeared before' the energy and wit' of 'our exporters, so also wi{l they in connection with fruit, which lis boun4 oue day to figure largely in the ii*i of our resource* ■■•«-." ■ '-