MANAWATU A. & P. SOCIETY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1076, 15 March 1911, Page 10

MANAWATU A. & P. SOCIETY.

• THE ANNUAL MEETING. SHEEP "FAKING" ALLUDED TO. IBy Teloffrapli.-Spccial Correspondent.! Palmerston , North, March 14. The annual meeting of the Manawatu f A: land P. Association, was held to-day, when thore was only a small attendance. The' president (Mr. C. A. J. L'evett) occupied tho 'chair. • Before opening the business of tho meeting, the chairman moved that the.v adjourn till the afternoon as a mark of respect to tho memory of tho late Mr. G. 0. 'Wheeler. He also proposed a vote.'of sincere sympathy'and condolence with Mrs. Wheeler' and her family' in their' great loss.' By Mr. Wheeler's death tho association had suffered a great loss, he having been a very active,; member of its committee ever since its inception. Deceased (said the speaker) was a man of strong convictions, "a good battler," and one who had an opinion of his own and. stuck to it even if alone. He was a manly man and a gentleman. .The motion was carried in silence.

The Work of tho Year, On the meeting resuming in the afternoon, a. report on the late conference in Wellington on t-ho handling of |frozen meat at Home, (handed in by Mr. -D. Buick, M.P.) was referred to the General Committee. .

■i In moving 'tho adoption of the annual report and balance-sheet, the president referred to' the .progress being made with the National-Dairy Show, which Lad greatly increased in importance.' ■_ A scheme had been suggested, to piovide extra accommodation for various sections of "both shows at a cost of some '£3000, but the combined Finance and Ground Committees had reported adversely on tho matter, and it had finally been decided to expend £1000 in providing ah additional produce hall. He referred ' to" the absence of machinery arid ' implements at the ■'last spring show, which) lie said, had been attributed to the charge, made for space, but' lie thought that it could not have been for this reason, as the charges were very light. The gate receipts for both' shows were satisfactory, but it was regrettable that the membership had fallen off. A good deal of this, he thought, was accounted for by the fact that other shows had sprung up around them. He referred to the question of sheep "faking" which had been ventilated in The Dominion, and atattd that this association had discussed the question some years ago, but had found the matter too complex to be able to satisfactorily cope with it. He referred to what other associations bad done in tho matter, and he thought that this association would always be ready to do what it could to put this vexed question on a. raoro satisfactory footing. He concluded by referring to the matter of handling frozen meat at Home, which matter had been ably dealt with by' Mr. Lysnar, anti he trusted that the agitation' would'bear good fruit.

Membership not Satisfactory. In seconding the motion for tho adoption of the report the treasurer (Mr. J. M. Johnston) stated that their financial position was not. satisfactory in some respects;' The spring show results especially were disappointing. With everything in ;,the shapo of good weather, etc., their receipts were gradually going back, and'the membership was gradually going ' down. Their receipts had decreased by £1000 since 1906, and were it not for private donations, they would have no profit at all. In fact, thoy wero practically living on their donations which averaged about £400 a year. They certainly had plenty of assets, and their liabilities in comparison were very small, but they must either curtail their expenditure or increase their receipts.

Several Intormtlng Matters. Mr. R. S. Abraham, .referred, to, the matter of sheep "faking" and said that their only hope to.mend this difficulty was with the judges. The associations could not stop it. ■Referring to the handling of frozen meat he could not understand why there had been no representatives of the freezing companies afc the recent conference in Wellington. He was fully convinced that the producer did not get fair play, and that ithere was ample room for great improvement. Ho said that he "had noticed that some 14 millions sterling were to bo spent by the port of London in providing new docks, and they should see to ;it that Now Zealand should get a site :for its shipping. With regard to the .'membership,. ho thought that they should make an effort to keep more in touch with the outside districts. They were not making sufficient of the import- • ance'of the fact that theirs was a metrol politan show.

Messrs. M, Cohen and 0. Woodloy also spoke to the motion which was then carried.'

Officers Elected. A ballot resulted in the following members' being elected to the Committee:—Messrs. P. A. M'Hardy, J. Balsillie, W. F. Jacob, C. A. J. i,evett, 11. S. Abraham, T.. R. Hoddor, J. R. F. Pratt, fl. AKers, D. Pringle, D. P. Buchanan, J. Goring Johnston, J. Davies. Messrs, Rutherford and Conneli were reelected auditors.

. Mr. A. Conway, the new president, then took tho chair, and thanked the meeting for his election, and promised to, do 'his utmost in the interests of the association. He considered that the mainstay of the association was its membership, and they should' mako great efforts to increase it.

An Innovation. Mr.. M. Cohen moved that, the rules as to the holding of tho annual meeting be. altered so that tho meeting bo held immediately subsequent'- to tho dairy show. Ho said that his object in moving'in this direction was to create more interest among members, and ensure a larger attendance. Many members would have paid thpir annual subscriptions and would then attend the annual meeting. ,' 'This was seconded by Mr. R. S. 'Abraham and' carried unaninlously."

Tha Late Mr. Whselsr. Mr. J. 11. Johnston referred to the demise of the lato Mr. G. C. Wheeler, and rnbved that it be a recommendation to' the General Committee that a tablet to his memory be erected in the meeting room of the association. '■Mr. J. It. Foster Pratt, in seconding tho motion, referred to an. incident in the early history of the association known to very few. lie (Mr. Pratt) with two. others, sent out circulars convening a'meeting to form the Manawatu Association. One of theso circulars was cent to Mr. Wheeler, who replied that lie was just about to take steps to form 'mi association in Rangitikoi but. as he thought that it would be more desirable to hold ono largo show ho threw in his lot with the Manawatu Association, and had been ono of its most enthusiastic and earnest workers ever since.

The motion was carried unanimously and votes of thanks to tho retiring officers concluded the meeting.

Owing to tho prevalence of fruit fly in Now South Wales, some growers havo lost heavily through their fruit being condemned when marketed.