Our Stratford Page

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 270, 11 May 1912, Page 3

Our Stratford Page

TAKIKI HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.

SMOKE CONCERT. Thorp wns a gathering of some sixty gentlemen present in the Tariki Ilall on Thursday evening at the sinoke concert promoted by the Tariki Horticultural Society. Mr. J. Therkleson. president of the Society, presided. Oil his right was Mr. 11. Trimble, patron, and on his left Mr. Hay. Stratford, .secretary of the Society. The ladies' committee of the Society were responsible for the catering, and the tables were decorated by Mesdames Hancock and Stratford. The president apologised for the ab- . sence of Messrs IT. Stratford and Walker, j vice-pri-idents. The toast of "The King" having been duly honored, the president explained the object of the gathering, this being to enable members of the Society to meet and informally discuss matters of interest to the Society, for many members were chary of attending the business meetings. He referred to the good work done by the founder of the society, the late Mr. Adam Rap. The Society, in its ten years of existence, had shown that the Tariki soil could grow flowers and crops to beat many prominent .exhibitors from districts where they were supposed to enjoy greater climatic advantages. Ta- 1 riki was an ideal situation for a big show, being fairly adjacent to Inglewood and Stratford, and all that was needed to make this the biggest show in the district was the hearty co-operation of all the members. Mr. W. U. Stephenson proposed the toast of "The Tariki Horticultural Society," coupling with it the name of the patron, Mr. Harold Trimble. Mr. Stephenson said it was undoubtedly creditable to the people of the district that the show had gone on improving. He j made reference to the feature of the Society's work in offering prizes for best field crops, in which great interest had been aroused. Some farmers said they J had not time to bother with gardening. That was a mistake. Generally, where there were good root crops and well-cared-for cattle, there would be found a good kitchen garden and, more than likely, a flower garden. Men did not bow down so much to the "almighty cow." He spoke a good word for the cultivation of flowers, as being a very valuable relaxation for farmers and their wives and J daughters, and one in which they ex- | celled. Their patron was >i great lover j of flowers, and had a beautiful garden, j The Society owed him a deep debt of j gratitude for his great interest in the Society, and for the valuable assistance he had rendered for many years past as judge, exhibitor and patron. Mr. Trimble, in replying, said nothing he had done for the Society was really worth talking about, for anyone else in his position would have done the same. At the risk of being accused of having a j mania, lie left the subject of horticulture, i and touched on a phase of the new I Local Government Bill. He drew atten- j tion to the qualification of electors pro-1 posed in connection with the election of | the bodies to be set up under its provisions. It was an adult suffrage, as in vogue at general elections, and the same, as in the boroughs. Hitherto the voting had been confined to ratepayers. Was the new qualification a thing that they need be much afraid of? No great disadvantage had occurred from the extended suffrage in the towns. There j was a probability of its heing extended J to the country. Certainly the franchise would not be again restricted in the towns. Who were the people, apart from the ratepayers, who would have the voting if the franchise were extended? First, the wives of the married ratepayers. Would they do anything very rash? They would not vote for irresponsible men who would be likely to increase the rates. Then there were the sons and daughters of ratepayers, who would be equally careful. The only people to be afraid of would be the casual laborers, "here to-dav and gone to-morrow," and the permanent resident laborers, either paying rent or living in houses owned by the settlers. Tf they paid rent they indirectly paid rates. Such people must always be in the minority in the country. and the extension of the franchise to them would not be fraught with any great danger. To enable them to elect a road board or council of non-ratepay-ers, these latter would have to convince a very large number of ratepayers that such a course would be good for the district. Was it wise, then, to oppose this proposal to the proper end? He thought it would he better to welcome it, and to endeavor to guide the non-ratepayers into the position of seeing things from the ratepayers' point of view. He believed that could be done. Of course, on the question of loans there was no sug-

* From Our Resident Reporter, * * * 4 Broadway North., next Loan & Mercantile Agency Co. * * " * ******♦++*»*♦*+*+**♦***♦♦*♦*♦*•

gestion that the non-ratepayers should hp given a voice, and lie thought the tear expressed by some people tlsat the ia tepavers would be swamped by the non-ratepayers were without foundation. Mr. Trimble, in proposing the toast of "The President," eulogised the work done by Mr. Therkleson, and stated the truism that in this society much depended on the president. The Tariki Horticultural Society was one of the best conducted societies that ho knew, and its shows were always a credit. The trouble here was that the "gate" could not be very large. But, by the interest shown by the amount of free labor, and by keeping down expenses, it had managed to keep its head above water. He made special reference to the field crop competitions held by the Society, and urged that all horticultural societies should do likewise. He urged that the Taranaki Agricultural, Society should give its prizes for roots grown under ordinary field conditions, and not for those raised in a well-dug garden. Perhaps the stuff would not be so good, the shapes of the mangolds so even, but such a competition would lead to the farmers taking interest in deeper cultivation. As far as lie knew, the only society which gave prizes for actual field trials was the Tariki Horticultural Society. The president returned thanks, saying that he could take no credit to himself for the success of the Society, which was due to the excellent committee, whose members he took this opportunity of thanking. A special meed of praise was due to Mr. Trimble in many ways, which he enumerated. In reference to the field trials, there had been great competition this year—with 13 entries in the swede competition, 11 in carrots, and four in mangolds, which unfortunately were a failure this year. The Society was endeavoring to get these entries from people growing crops under field conditions, but he suggested that it would be a good idea to have a competition in a separate class for the best specimens, however grown, for at the time of the shows the main crop roots had not fully matured. Mr. Matt. Jones proposed the health of the vice-presidents, and response was made by Messrs. J. Knowles, 11. Eason, R. Thomas, W. R. Dudkin. The health of "The Secretary" was duly honored, on the call of the chairman, who referred to the amount of time given by Mr. Stratford to the work' of the Society, and the energy he infused"! into his work. To his untiring efforts, night after night, and day after day, 1 much of the success of the shows had , been due in the past two years, during, which period he had largely increased the membership. This stood now at eighty. On behalf of the members and the committee, he presented Mr. Stratford with ] a sovereign case, in recognition of his ' services. The toast was given with , musical honors. ■ Mr. Stratford said the presentation j was quite .unexpected, and, he felt, quite j undeserved. He was glad to help the ] show, as it helped the place, and he thought they should all combine to that J end. He highly eulogised the patron, president, and committeemen, and especi- J ally referred to Mr. Therkleson's work, j Other toasts were: "The Committee," proposed by Mr. J. Knowles, responded J to by Mr. H. J. Stratford (on behalf of Mr. H. Stratford, one of the oldest mem- j bers); "Xew Members," Mr. V. Harkness, i replies by Messrs. Crossman, Kovaleski, | and Burgess; "The Judges." proposed by Mr. Stevens, replies bj Messrs. G. V. Tate and H. Trimble; "The County ] Council," proposed by Mr. Eason, replies j by Councillors Brown and Stevens; "The I Press," proposed by Mr. Stratford, replies by representatives of the Daily News and Herald; "The Ladies," proposed by Mi. Hancock, response by Mr.' R. Stratford. Mr, G. V. Tate, in replying to the toast of the judges, said it had given ! him great pleasure to judge at Tariki j for some years past.. The last show was ' the best yet lield, for quality and ar-' rangemeni, and, for its size, the best he 1 had judged in the district. The Tariki Society had taken the lead in Taranaki ' in the matter of field root competitions, and he bore testimony to the vast improvement made in the methods of cultivation and to the excellence of the crops generally. He believed the exhibits should be judged on points, for the schedule of points gained would prove of educational value. He suggested the possibility of obtaining a challenge cup for this competition. Mr. Tate read a detailed report on the various fields. (These details will be published in a future issue.] Mr. Tate, concluding, said he knew of no other new district where the people were taking more interest in progressive farming. He invited Tariki farmers to compete at and to attend the winter show at New Plymouth, which he believed this year would be second to none in the Dominion.

Mr. Trimble also briefly replied. Mr. Tate spoke on the necessity for keeping the land clean, and pointed out that the only way to make farming a success as the land increased in price was to go in for closer cultivation. The land here, he noted, was of a very light character, and it would be advisable to use the roller, not necessarily a Cambridge roller, but one made of a log. Jfc remarked that the turnip crops this year were the best he had judged in the district, but, as in the rest of the province, the carrots and mangolds this "year were not so good. Songs were given by Messrs. Pettit, Stevens, .Staples, Rwlkin, 0. V. Tate, ami recitations by Messrs. Trimble and R. Stratford.