AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1529, 28 November 1873, Page 32

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.

The "Wanganui Chronicle of the 18th inst., ha 3 the following leading article on the subject of Agricultural Societies iu general, and the Wanganui Society in particular:— The amount of good done by Agricultural Societies can hardly be over-esti-mated, even in so thoroughly practical as well as scientific a community as that to which most of our leading agriculturists and breeders of the home country belong. How much more are the effects of their usefulness shown in the colonies, and in districts where it may be that most of the farming" population are farmers and stock rearers only since they came to this country, and therefore whose ideas are formed by small experience of their own, and observation of the experience of others; and this is considerably helped and induced by the yearly meetings of a district Society, where comparison, the great test of all things, discovers the good and bad points and characteristics of what we before thought without its equal, and almost perfection. Meetings of this kind bring together men as well as.animals, among whom ideas and experiences are exchanged. A Society to be able to do the most good in a place, must be one thoroughly well organized and established; ! one whose leading members will be a sufficient and material guarantee, not only to those that exhibit, but also to the rest |f |b.e Cplouy, go far a§ the awards, of the

Judges obtained by the Society are concerned. The main object of most of the Societies of this kind is the development and promotion of breed, but not entirely so, as many cross-bred animals are great improvements in form and hardiness of constitution, as well as more profitable to the grower, and should be encouraged by the Society, to a limited extent only, and for the reason well known to all, that it is impossible to keep up or perpetuate a cross except by using animals of pure blood on either side. For some years, in our district of Wanganui, • the Society's dealings would be almost entirely with stock, but in time the pastoral will, of itself, gradually develop the agricultural resources of the country; in fact, will require greater skill and care in the working of the ground that will have to feed and produce an animal for which there is no fixed standard of excellence. A Society should not lose sight of what will hereafter be so important a matter to its members, and the public generally. A very large sum of money must leave our town yearly for the purchase of wheat, oats, flour, &c, therefore inducement should be in the shape of prizes or awards for the best samples of graiu and other farm produce grown upon such a scale as to be useful, and in proportion to the size of the farm. Another good that may be derived only from a properly founded and well organized Society, would be the periodical meetings of its members to exchange experiences and discuss matters of agricultural and pastoral interest, to correspond with other Societies on these subjects, for often there are no fixed laws or rules for a farmer's guide, and if it were not for experience of others, it would be difficult to tell what kind of crops and the order in which they should be grown upon various lands. The same thing applies to stock—it would not be pleasant for a man to have to keep half-a-dozen breeds of sheep on his place before he could find out which suited his farm, or rather which breed did the best on his ground ; much useful knowledge may be exchanged by Societies in this country of the various climates and qualities of land. It is easy to discover the usefulness of such a Society; its requirements are not great in so far as its working is concerned, and a few zealous practical men can accomplish much. The most responsible time is at the Society's Show, where it should be their endeavor to prevent the placing of animals iu classes to which they do not belong. It ought not to be sufficient for a man to say, " My sheep has more of the Southdown blood than any other, so I'll just enter him in that class." It is also absurd to talk of judges, of a Show, being the deciders of breed; it is no part of their duty, and we often find animals of the same breed differing greatly from surrounding circumstances, although not separated by any great distance. It would appear from the lateness of the hour at which the Judges arrived at their decisions at the recent Show, that their time had heen fully occupied in deciding the best of the different classes as pointed out to them. The Show was most creditable, and it is to be hoped that the next one will be held under a Society not in name only, but one whose real and permanent character will go far to uphold and develop the great resources of the country.