IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 138, 20 October 1871, Page 5

IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS.

The astounding advancement' mule in the arts and sciences since the year 1800, whereby we in our day and u'enerati n are either learning orexperieneiuuf tnore of the World than three or four of our forefathers did, may in a jjreat measure be attributed to t e c-'-operation an-1 emulation insured by the various societies established during the past sixty or seventy years.

It is our intention, on thin occasion, . to allude more particularly to agriculture, whi *li is ac It now lodged as one of the most ancient and honorable of sciences. 11 is the trunk of the grand tree of human usefulness that 'contributes to tiie comfort, and is indispensable to the very existence, of mankind.

AVe feel that it would he impossible ~ for any journalistic pen to describe the • vast amount of ojood accomplished I)}' pastoral, agrieulhiril, horticultural, aiul iicclim.itisation societies—vvit.li their coadjutors in the shape of clubs—during the past forty or fifty years. Every man now acknowledges the truism - ' That he who makes two blades of L»rass grow where only one previously existed, is a public benefactorarwl this* is iictsd on to such an extent in ■ most districts that few men fail to lend a helping hand by either supporting the associations alluded to, or working out experiments and communicating ; the results.

In new countries, even the most practical have many dilH-.'ulties to wa ie through —climate variance and mineral chemistry the most formidable. •In fai-t, so many obstacles exist that in combating them is desirable, even to an expert with plenty of means, while to the uninitiated the guidance afforded by such associations becomes ind i s pen s able. Tl our readers will glance at the various country newspapers of this and other Provinces, they will observe tint there is no district of equal importance with our own without some such association (t;ike Blueskin, for instance); and knowing the importance of such institutions to a colonial community, the (xovernment supports them by grants of land and pecuniary subsidies.

Naseby is now a central airl flourishinj? town, the acknowledged place of business an I market for an extensive district, sufficiently separated from any other populous part of the Province to prevent any possibility of clashing with any existing association. Our town is surrounded bv several important station properties,our population being large consumers of their • stock. Fannin if, in various portions of the district, has already attained a ■ noticeable magnitude, and the large number of well-fenced homestead plots indicate at once a settled population and a desire for improvement.

Naseby possesses accommodation for the holding of exhibit-ions t hut cannot be surpassed in Otago, and we feel assured that if once initiated our population would support such an institution. so as to render it second to no lo'/al society of its kind in the Province ; and having a firm belief in the good that could be done we earnestly recommend the formation of a combined Pastoral, Agricultural, Horticultural, and Acclimatisation Society, with public gardens, in >'aseby. .lust now the various societies throughout the Province are sounding the note of preparation for spring shows, and as the altitude of our district renders it. rather later than any of them, there is yet time to get one up before Christ mas should due exertion be made. —Communicated.

A meeting of the unemployed hn ß been held at Launoenton. The (jo. vernmont; are employing the married men them at at, 2*, 04. per yard.