The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 558, 18 November 1881, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18.

Wio hope that oar readers are not f< >rizuitins ilie Uorticailuiul -and Industrial Exhibition, the time for holding which is now fast approachin >r. 'i'liese shows have benn successful in the past, Jind wt» consider it every one who takes an interest in the v.sitter to do his ov her level best t> ace thai the forthcoming one shall not fall behind its preibuotisoiv; in fittni'-'tiveue s and uselulXW6*. While not in the least under-

vahuig the horticultural portion of the Exhibition, it is on the industrial portion that we propose on this occasion to make a few remarks, Before coming to thiit, however, we cannot refrain from calling the attention of our friends the dairy-farmers to their part of the exhibition, namely, the pastoral, in the hope that they may come forward more numerously than was the case last year with exhibits of oilr staple productions. The !auk of exhibits of this nature was the theme of general comment on the ncc;i ion of the Exhibition. In his opr-ninynddivss Mr Mnntgonien , * oferred to l his tli-nVit'iu-y in the following remarks: — In diii'y produce, he was sorry to hop. sui'h a sumli iiu'iibcr of exhibits. He thought it was hmlly creditable to the district, which depended so much upon Ibis kind of produce. (Heir, boar.) lie hoped in future there would bo more rxhil' Ik in cheese and butler.

The judges also refi-r to the same rcubjirt <-»s follows : —

The judges regret that in a place which depends so mudi upon dairy produce that more exhibits in thin class have not been brought forward, and are sorry to observe the apathy evinced by dairy farmers towards the object endeavored to be carried out by an association of this nature.

We hope that our farmers will take the hint, and come forward, as we know they arc well sible to do, with numerous and superior exhibits of dairy produce. Let them rememW that this Exhibition is minutely reported in the Christchurch papers, whose conductors send down special representatives for the purpose, and for the credit, of the district let them show that Akaroa is not yet unworthy of the good name it lias obtained for those productions.

To revert to the industrial portion of the Exhibition, wo find that in his opening speech, last .December, Mi- Montgomery says: —

This was the fourth annual exhibition which had been hold here, and so far as lie k'law these were the first of their kind in New Zealand. The committee had taken pains tn inv'te contributions fmm other districts, and these invitations had been responded to to a considerable extent. .... He hid taken great

interest in the cause of education, ami it gave him great pleasure to see such work done by their district schools. Some years ago they might have looked in vain for such results. They heard sometimes that only reading, writing, and arithmetic were required to be tau&ht in these schools, but he thought they would agree that other things were necessary. He believed that a certain amount of culture was desirable. They would find some paintings by amateurs which were very creditable, and there was a cabinet of shell-work which was a marvel of excellence.

We tliiu'< thero are few but will agree with our repres ntative, that culture in something outside of, ard beyond the tlirce R's is highly desirable for the rising generation—the future fathers aii'l mothers of New Zealand . To this culture, rather Mian to more book-learn-ing, was the poet referring when he wrote —•' Enwllit mores, nee sinit esse feros." Kxhibitions, such as the one of whi-'h we .ire writing, are certainly powerful agents in promoting and fostering the culture above referred to. While the comparatively few prize-takers are th. , only contributors who come prominently before the public, who yet can estimate the effect for good the work of preparing something for exhibition has hid upon the unsuccessful competitors ? We venture to ay tint the last Exhibition represented an jimnunt of honest effort, a striving after excellence, which was lrghly gratifying to all interested in the work of education, using the term in its wiliest sense and must have had an excellent effect, as all honest work has, on the competitors; themselves, ie is the>efore. with the greatest confidence that we recommen! the approaching Exhibition to the support of all and sundry. We hope that every one of our readers will do something towards promoting its success. There are various ways in which this can be done. Teachers and parents have it in their power to stimulate the juveniles under their care to exertions in the shape o< contributing something for exhibition. Others may render the show more attractive by contributions of their oui, even if sent for exhibition only. And there is yet another road open to all, and that is to assist the corn-

mittee by donations of prize?, either in money or kind, to enable them to fill up the schedule of prbws without delay. We are quite sure that any donor will be more than repnid fo>- anything he may have presented, if he can only be present at the distribution of prizes and watch the. looks of delight and pride shown by the juvenile recipients and their friends. We hope, therefore, that all who have not yet done so will lose no time in forwarding their contributions for the purpose to the zealous secretary.

There has been an objection urged against this Exhibition, one which wo are almost .-shamed to notice, but as it has been raised it perhaps should be mentioned. It has been stated that the Exhibition intcrferesprejudicially with the regatta, and that it should therefore be discouraged by those interested iv -the latter. Now if there were any truth in this objection, wo cannot help thinking that it would betray a certain amount of selnshnn-s and narrow-mindedness to tif.tcu.'pt to carry out the recommendation based upon it. But there is no foundation whatever for the objection itself. Tho fact is that the two attractions, like- a pair of well-matched horses, help one another, and pull together capitally. Jiotk are admirable in their way. The regatta will especially attract some visitors, the Exhibition others, and many will be drawn hither by the combined atlr-jction* of the two. iv any case, each benefits by the iiUraelivenoss of the other, and besides being uugen-

erous, it is suicidal for the partisans of the one amusement to throw cold water on the efforts of those who are specially interested in the other. On all and every ground then, we hope to see the Akaroa Horticultural and Indus trial Exhibition for 1881 supported in such a m inner as to render it even a greater success than its predecessors.