AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.

Patea Mail, Volume 1, Issue 36, 14 August 1875, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.

TO THE EDITOR OD THE PATEA MAIL. It is a matter of much public congratulation to this district that the Agricultural Association lias been so widely and influentially patronised and taken up. There is nothing so condnc’ve to prosperity as a healthy and well cinducted competition, though on the other hand, where it is not carried on hj idy and above board, it is ruinous not only to those most nearly implicate I, but also to the outside public, who suffer through others’ attempts to cut d wa business below its natural level. lam glad to see the society have de'e mine 1 to hold annual shows and p'ou hing matches. I wish in those few lines to pass some remarks, and give a few hints which, if they are even in one or t vo instances accepted, will, I think, with all duo deference, be beneficia' to the settlement. In the first place, I cannot help thinking March 17th is almost too late for the forthcoming show. Wiry not split the difference bitween the time first proposed and the o re ado ,t -d. If the later date is adopted, and th l ensuing summer should turn on a dry o ic, Avhich very probably will be the' caw, stock of all descriptions will not be in the sleek and good condition they would be in a month previously, ami would thereby not present such an inviting appearance to the visitors, who no doubt will attend, to pass not only their judgments and criticisms, hut also, I am sure, to invest in stock from s ich a well known and favoured district. If exhibitions of garden produce are to he invited, it will bo also rather late, as most descriptions of vegetables will have past their prime. As regards orchards and fruit we must not expect for some time to come, any exhibits of much consequence, both on account of the recent settlements made, and the great want of shelter militating against orchards being successful, till such shelter has been formed. There may be two reasons brought forward for the date fixed on being the best, vix., the oxlibitiou of the different sorts of grains, and the draughting of rams from the flocks. As regards the first, un louhtodly March is the best time, as at that time all crops will have been harvested. In reference to the rams, the flocks are not yet so large that they cannot profitably be separated earlier, and kept in a paddock of good grass, where they w’ll thrive much better than running with the rest. These shows create a great spirit of genuine and gentlemanly rivalry. Without them, each settler, seeing only his own stock, and not being intimately acquainted with what his neighbours possess, falls into the common mistake of supposing his own the best. A well-bred animal of any description, as a rule, requires less food than one which perhaps in the first instance cost a trifle, but which will never arrive at anything like the same weight or appearance. I have seen instances in other parts wh'-re two or three have combined in purchasing a first-class animal, either from some part of the colonies, where it is known it cm be procured, or even, as is now frequently dm >, having one sent ont from Great Britain. By doing this, it is not only a source of great gain to the purchasers themselves, but also to their neighbours, who gladly avail themselves of an opportunity of improving their stock. The same case applies exactly to sheep. Which is the most profitable, a merino, ’ or half-bred sbeep, or a Leicester or Lincoln ? With the first you obtain some sixty pounds of meat and a few pounds of wool; or the latter averaging from one hundred to one hundred and twenty pounds weight and wool double the quantity or more, and a higher value, not only this, a well bred long wool sheep will keep fat, and be in good order for the butcher on food, which would leave the others mere skeletons and quite profitless. One more word in favor of highly bred sheep ; they do not wan- . der, and any decent fence will keep them in, while the others are perfect jumpers fearing no obstacle, and always making • their owners liable for poundage, and damaged fences. In another letter I shall venture to make a few remarks about ploughing and ploughing matches.