The Southland Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBEE 13, 1872.

Southland Times, Issue 1675, 13 December 1872, Page 2

The Southland Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBEE 13, 1872.

Ageicfltttral competitions form a conspicuous feature in the public life of every civilised community which depends mainly for subsistence on the produce of the soil. There are countries, indeed, in which agriculture is almost the aole occupation of the inhabitants, where such gatherings are unknown, where the peasant plods after the same rude plough which his forefathers have used for centuries, and where the primitive processes of a thousand years ago are reproduced to the present day, with an exactness of repetition which resembles the working of the instinct of an animal, rather thau the result of human intellect. But in all countries where agriculture is progressive, where intelligence and skill direct and economise the labor of the farmer, where the experiences of the past are utilised, and the discoveries of chemical and mechanical science are pressed into the service of the tiller3 of the soil, periodical competitions are held, as by an invariable rule. Those who are engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits make arrangements for meeting together from time to time, to compare processes and results, and to secure, as the common heritage of all, the various steps in advance wbich gifted or fortunate individuals among the rest have made. Especially in new countries, where the latest results of agricultural science are, or ought to be, applied to conditions of soil and climate comparatively new and untried, is a frequent comparison of processes aod result? desirable. Accordiugly we find, in the British Colonies and in the United States of America, periodical agricultural competitions held on a scale which is not surpassed even in England, where the science of agriculture has been fostered by peculiar social conditions, the presence of a dense population, and the prevalent influence of a high civilisation, into a state of artificial perfection. The beneficial results of such gatherings are greater and more easily appreciated in the new country than in the old, for the simple reason tiiat iu the new country agriculture is necessarily tentative, experimental, aud progressive to an extent which is impossible in the old. A lucky hit, therefore, such as any one may make by accident, or, as we believe is oftener the case, by the use of a shrewd practical instinct, tells for more, and is more immediately valuable, where all are more or less doubtful as to what is best, than where the course of things has long been settled The introduction of a new i crop, or new vaiiety of crop, or of a new I

breed of stock, specially suited to the soil and climate, may in a new country revolutionise the whole agricultural system of a district in a few years, and with the happiest results. Then the conditions under which agriculture is pursued vary greatly, independently of novelty of soil and climate, in the new country and in the old ; one might say they are in some respects reversed. There, land is dear and scarce ; labor plentiful and cheap. Here, land is easily had ; labor sometimes cannot be had a^ all. There, a market can always be depended on, and fluctuations in prices keep within bounds. Here the farmer has often to seek, or often almost to make, his market ; and it would be hard to assign a probable limit to fluctuations in prices, either upwards or downwards. It follows accordingly that ib is of the utmost importance to the colonial farmer to be able to avail himself of every advantage which has been brought to light by the experience of others engaged in the same struggle as himself. The adoption of a new process of cultivation, or new breed of stock, or a new laborsaving implement, may mark the dividing line between disaster and prosperity in his affairs. We may refer here to the influence which the introduction of longwoolled sheep, and of the double-furrow plough, have already had on the agriculture of our own district — an influence which, considerable aa it is even now, is still only beginning to be felt, compared with the results which may yet be expected. And if any one imagines tbat we have come to the end of such improvements, he must reason from a rery imperfect knowledge of the past, as well as indulge in unwarrantably gloomy views of the future. It is from the periodical competitions of farmers and stock-breeders, as from centres, that such improvements permeate whole districts in an inconceivably short space of time. It is from such competitions tbat new ideas are struck out, and new steps in advance are made. It is almost impossible to overrate their importance, orto over-estimate the benefits which they confer. One of their most obvious and generally appreciated advantages — the facilities they alford for the improvement of thoroughbred stock, and the bringing to the greatest attainable perfection the ordinary varieties of cereal seeds — we have not adverted to at all. And yet what objects can be named of higher importance to the farmer. Much more might be said to the same effect. But what we have said should be sufficient to convince our agricultural readers, many of whom indeed know it; well enough already, that no portion of a farmer's time and outlay is likely to be better repaid than that which be expends on the promotion and support of agri cultural exhibitions. The success which has hitherto attended the annual exhibitions of the Southland Pastoral and Agricultural Association, a success to which the show of yesterday was certainly no exception, shows that the importance of these considerations is understood by many of the settlers. But it cannot be denied that, considerable as has been the progress made, it ia not yet all thafc - Could be desired. A juster and more general appreciation of the practical benefits which such an Association, if well supported, will confer on the district, would lead to a more numerous member ship, and a larger circle of exhibitors, Much may be done in the way of securing these advantages by the present members themselves. Certainly the energy and perseverance displayed by those on whom much of the actual work of the Association has hitherto fallen deserve complete success ; and we trust that no effort to attain this will be spared during the ensuing year by all wno are sufficiently intelligent to perceive the importance of such a result.