A NEW ZEALANDER ABROAD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 124, 16 May 1908, Page 4

A NEW ZEALANDER ABROAD.

; fiUMK THE SYDNEY ROYAL SHOW*. In a community such as this, where farming is one of the principal, and perhaps the most important, industry, agricultural fhows are naturally a t'eature in the district, and of more or le>s interest to all. Not only arc we interested in our own particular mliow, but also in others, in the Dominion and out ot it: ami ii i* perhaps by comparison with other -shows that we are able to form a delinite idea of the strides that hav b"en made by the Munawatu A. and I*. Association, and the high position it m present holds. That being the case, our readers will peruse with interest some dolails gathered by a Standard reporLcr Irom Mr. S. J{. uiwaster, of Fitzherhert Kast. who. with Mr. 11. Kooth. of I'Yilding, returned the other day from a trip to Australia, in the course of which lh»*y visited the Nydney Koyal Show. "\ on have no doubt formed some opiuhm ;«> to the merits ol' the show over there; how did it impress you. 'lues ii. compare with ours, or ours with i» ?" were the asked in rapid succession by the. scribe.

"In my opinion.'" said Mr. Lancaster, "we have nolliing to learn from th-ni. A leatuiv lint struck me lirst of ali was Ihe Lie! that the ring event,s -were practically continuous, and the ring \v:is in '•on>,equeuee a continual centre of interThe ring there differs from our,-, in that it is perfectly round; at lb.*

same time it is smaller, its diameter being seven chains, whereas ours is ten chains long and over six chains wide, the homes were not as good as ours, and most of the draughts were New Zealand ,i>red. in the aged stallion.s' class, tlie first, second, and third prize winners came from New Zealand slock; the champions in the two and three-vcar-old ela«se a 'were also New Zealand bred, and so was the champion mare. 'liiey had a big showing of Suffoll; Punches, a Iciiul of a big coh, or whai might he termed a draught cob, generally chestnut m colour. These, however, do not linil favour with the farmer.-, over there, tlie Clydesdale being much more in demand, tile former having the reputation of being very bad in the feet, and iu consequence are not able to stand the road work, although I hev are very nice tu look at. .Some of the light horses were fairly good, but ihe majority were only middling." "Aild how about the cattle'" questioned the reporter.

"There was a fair display," said .Mr. Lancaster, "but the quality was not I particularly good. In the' Shorthorn classes the prize-winners were fairly good, but the others were very indifferent. The Herefords were good right through, and so were the Ayrshires. The llolsteins were a very poor lot. In the •Jersey clashes entries were very numerous, but they -were disappointing, and although showing a lot of breeding were lacking in constitution and size. Can i giu' any reason for it? Well, it appeal's lome that the fact that they hold a

sale 011 the ground every day has a good deal lo du with it, as it induces peopl • lo Ciller ritock, not with the object of exhibiting it, but in order to sell it. The practice is not one that commends itself, and should be stopped in the interests of the show."

"And what about the shoep?"—"lt was the worst exhibition ot' sheep I have ever M en. and would not compare favourably with those exhibited at one of the -mallei shows in New Zealand.

Ihe pig- were not very good, although the Uerkshircj, were very fair, ami the

Black Devons tne largest I have ever | -ecu. 'lhe latter were, however, very' course." " Did'tln'.y exhibit much machinery - " \ c.>. the r>lio\v of machinery ana the exhibits from the various surrounding districts were very tine, and a long way ahead of ours. What impressed me as being a good idea was the erection of •-lops outride and right round the ring, and about half a chain deep, one above the other. This gave everyone a chance to see. no matter how big the crowd. And just inside the fence a trotting track was laid down, which was also an improvement." Von cnn>idor, then, that our «,iiow compares favourably with the Sydnev Koyal Show V" —" \es, I think *o; in many things -wo are ahead of if. mid altogether it was rather disappointing." "Yon. visited (he Darling Downs. did you not':"—"\es; it wa- a magnificent sight to see this splendid country, -in tilling away into the distance as far as thi' eye could reach. I \v;c- struck will) Ihe fa«*t that there were no English gra>-«»-s there: the native grasses seem to spring up like magic, and i H not killed otf by the drought. Lucerne and uuift.' is largely grown. A great ileal of the land i* Iving idle. When w? •were there it looked beautiful, but then they had had live good seasons in sii"eo<sion. The soil is splendid. 1 have seen nolhing in Now Zealand to touch it. They grow from four to six crops of lucerne in one paddock in the. course

of a year, and the average crop yields about (wo toils to the acre. This is made into hay, for wtaicli there is always a keen demand. A train rails into Bnstane every morning with farm "produce from surrounding districts, ami this is sold fiv auction each day, the lucerne bringing from £3 to C 4 per ton. and in districts where feed is scarce as much as CI!. I'nfortunately a great deal of the country is covered with prickly jwav. and tin* liovernment will give almost any terms to get lliem to lake allotments and keep this gro« th down. Land on the Downs was selling at from €2 to Cl 3 per acre. On the Hunter River, in New South Wales, it w:is being' sold for .£'so per acre. Everybody grows lucerne. English grasse ri are scarcely ever seen, the natural grasses being more suitable to the climate." —Mnniiwatn Standard.