GREY VALLEY AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION'S PLOUGHING MATCH.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1292, 19 September 1872, Page 2

GREY VALLEY AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION'S PLOUGHING MATCH.

... _ * : [specially reported.] The third annual ploughing match, held under the auspices of the Grey Valley Agricultural Association, came off at Totara FJat on the 12th instant. The weather was beautifully fine, and this in a great measure contributed to make the meeting the success it was. The ploughing was held in a paddock pn Mr Robert M'Neill's farm, and although the ground was hardly in as good condition as could be desired, itwas the most suitable piece available. There were eleven entries, but only ten ploughs came to the .scratch. The competitors started to their work at half-past ten in the forenoon, and they were supposed to finish by three o'clock, although most* of them- had cbmpleted their allotted portion of laud before that time. Each man. had to plough half-an- ; acre, the furrows to be nine inches, wide, with a depth of six. inches. , Messrs D. Donald, M. Savage, and R. Alcotn acted as stewards, and were on the ground when the men commenced to work. Mr ■Whitefoord, the President of the Association, arrived at twelve o'clock, and remained until the close of the match; There was a larger gathering of visitors than on any previous occasion, arid those who. chose to avail themselves of the hospitality of Mr arid Mrs M'Neill were liberally entertained during the day at their homesteads The judges were Messrs Donald Maclean, David Jellie, arid Walter Murphy. Those gentlemen finished their task, and made their awards by four o'clock. The first prize, a cup arid a sum of money, was given to David Campbell, who ploughed with a team of Mr David Donald's. This young man won the chief prize at the first matc'hof the Association, although he only succeeded in taking second place last season. The winner ploughed with one of Gray's ploughs. The second prize •was taken, by i David who ploughed ,with Mr M. Savage's team. D.Stuart was the winner of the first prize last season. P. M'Kinlay, who ploughed with' his own team, took the third prize. The fourth and fifth prizes were won respectively by Hugh Campbell and George Drew, who both ploughed for Mr Robert. M'Neill., Tlze prize for the best "ins arid outs" waa won" by P. M'Kinlay, that for the stfaightest finish by Hugh Campbell, and, the.one for the, best groomed pair of horseß, R. . M'Neill, with the team George Drew was.ploughing with. The plough used by Drew w.as made by M'Gregor and Campbell, of Greymouth. D. Donald secured the prize for the best kept set of harness, arid- H. M'Gill for the best pair of horses, a couple of fine animals of an iron grey color. ; The ploughing itself;. was considered, good workmariship, but the i ground did not break well, owing to its being so dry and friable. It was stubble land, and was at one time thickly covered with timber, which would account for the lightness^ of , the. soil. The judges had " aoine 1 diffi- |. ciiity in arriving at a d|cision^ so evenly balanced wer,e the "merits of some ' of the competitors, but it was generally thought they made an important award. / In the evening the members of the Association, with the. judges and other invited guests, assembled to dine together at Lardi's Hotel. The ; chair was taken by Mr Donald M'Lean, and the vice-chair by Mr W. Q. Mirfi'n. Alter : the usual loyal toasts, the Chairman gave ; success to the " Grey Valley Agricultural Assopiation," coupled with the name of the Vice-President, Mr Donald, who, the speaker said, might be considered the father of the Association. Mr Donald replied in ..,a_, humorous speech. If he was considered the father of the Association he was proud to see such a promising family growing up around him. He had carefully watched the growth of the Association, and he thought he perceived the right sort of temper arid stamina connected with it to ensure its future success. It was gratifying to him as one of those who took a heartfelt interest in the „ Association to see such a gathering as they witnessed to-day at the ploughing match. These contests did a great deal to encourage and improve the fanning interest, and he was pleased to notice that these matches were likely to become intercolonial events, for he saw by late npws from Australia that the expenses of competitors who came all the way from Tasmania to take part , in a ploughing match in Victoria, were borne by their Victorian rivals.- -Mr Donald concluded by expressing a hope that they would have many similar gatherings, and he thanked those present for the very kind manner in which the toast was received. He regretted that the President, Mr Whitefoord, was unavoidably absent, and that the duty of replying to the toast did not fall into abler hands. ' \ Mr G. Woolcock gave the health of the "Successful competitors," and in doing so he paid a high coinpHment to the gieneral excellence ;U<Jf the work, arid' to the fair arid manly spirit in which . the contest was carried out. In alluding, generally to agricultural matters, and to the usefulness of farmer'sclubs as a meansof fostering and attending to the interests of a farming community, the speaker referred to the bad results irivariablv following the system of exhaustive cropping of the land, instead of paying proper attention the most advanced modes .of rotation of crops and rest of the soil. An interesting discussion here ensued on the relative merits of each system, but the advocates for rotation seemed to have the best of the argument. Mr David Donald returned thanks on behalf of the " Successful Competitor." Mr \Krfin proposed the health of the "Unsuccessful Competitors," arid re. marked, that although they idid -not succeed in obtaining prizes at the matoh, they nevertheless were successful- as good workmen, who evidently possessed a thorough knowledge of their business. The toast was duly responded to. The health of the "Members of the.Provincial Council of Nelson, coupled with the name of Mr Frank Guinness, one of - the '• representatives for the district," was next given. Mr Guinness replied, and made a passing allusion to the loss " the Grey district had sustained by the recent change of Government, and to the probability of the district being further retarded,- owing to its continued forced connection with Nelson. The health of " The Judges" was proposed by the ViceChairtoan, and responded to by Megan

Walter Murphy, and Daniel Jellie. The Chairman said he could not let the occasion pass without proposing long life and prosperity to a lady who had shown by her actions that day that she waß determined, as far as lay in her power, to make the meeting a success. He alluded to Mra M'NeiU, and they would all ag.'ee with him that ahe ably seconded the efforts of her husband to make everything paw over pleasantly, during the progress of the contest. The Speaker referred to the liberal and hospitable spirit displayed byMrsM'Neill and her husband in entertaining all comers throughout the day, and hoped they would long be spared to dispense such hospitality. Mr M'Neill thanked the company for the kind alluBions made to Mrs M'Neill and himself, and he trusted his wife and himself would often enjoy the pleasure of promoting the comfort of their friends and acquaintances. Mr David Jellie proposed the health of "The Ladies," which was appropriately and characteristically responded to by the Chairman. "The Commercial Interests of Greymouth and the Grey Valley" were responded to by Mr D. Maclean ; and the " Boating " interest by Mr Harry Wick. Mr James Jones responded to the toast of the "Licensed Victuallers" of Greymouth. Mr Woolcock proposed "The Press," The toast was responded to by Mr M. H. Hayden. The healths of the host and and hostess were then given, and duly responded to. A number of songs were sung during the evening, and the proceedings of the banquet terminated with " Auld Lang Syne" by the whole company. The rendering of this composition was certainly delivered with verve and spirit, although we can't say much for the harmony. Several lauhgable incidents occurred during the evening, afljbugh one of them threatened at one time to disturb the conviviality of the company. The Vice-Chairman was delivering a speech, when a crash was heard as of something coming through the window near which he was sitting. It turned out to be a horse, which, no doubt impelled by an inconvenient and irrepressible curiosity to see what was going on inside, basked itself tail foremost through the window sash and smashed everything before it. A ball and supper was given in the evening at Marshall's Hotel, which served as a fitting wind -up to the festivities. Thij ba.U was the greatest success of any similar gathering yet held in the Grey Valley. The company included guests from all the surrounding gold fields districts, and even some from the Inangahua and the Buller. Miners came from Half-Ounce, Duffer Creek, Noble's, Napoleon, and, fraternising with the farmers from up and down the river, made matters lively. The fair sex mustered in force, and the ride home in the beautiful moonlight was not by any means the least enjoyable part of the programme. This concluded the proceedings in connection with the .Grey Valley Agricultural Association's Ploughing Match for 1872. It was impossible any public gathering could be a greater success, and if the Association only adhere to their present plan of conducting their affairs, they need not have any fear for the future success and triumph of their annual meetings.