NEW ZEALAND AT THE EXHIBITION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1792, 20 September 1888, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND AT THE EXHIBITION.

New Zealand makes a fine display of oats and barley, the exhibits, both for number and quality, making a good impression upon visitors. The oats and barley exhibits are not so numerous as those of wheat, and one gets the impression that the New Zealand farmer is prouder of his wheat than of the other cereals. He probably thinks anyone can grow oats i or barley, but a fine sample of wheat is not produced every day, and consequently the wheat at the Exhibition receives a slightly undue proportionate representation. The grand samples of oats and barley exhibited show how specially favorable to the growth of these cereals is the New Zealand climate. The oats are bright in color, and an inspection of the bags, as well as of the samples under glass, is enough to explain why New Zealand milling oats always fetch a Bpecial price in the market. The wheat, as already explained, is creditable, being better than might have been expected. The oats are unequalled, and although much was expected, they leave no room for disappointment. There might very well have been more samples of these fine oats, but the quality could not well have been improved upon. The New Zealand barley is really excellent, and in this case also more samples might have been sent. It would seem as if little effort had been made to display the cereals for which tin colony is celebrated, and that a special endeavor had been put forth to show wheat, for which the reputation of the colony is not so assured. The plump, thinskinned, and bright samples of malting barley cannot be too highly praised, and one would have sooner seen more of them than the numerous samples of wheat. The malt, too, exhibited in this court seem to leave nothing to be desired. Barley and oats in the sheaf are displayed on the large central i trophy, and from the figures on the panels we learn that the yields of oats vary among very high figures up to J ]2O bushels per acre, and the malting barley yields from 25 to 50 bushels per acre. The area of barley is 28,000 acres, and the yield 770,000 bushels, while the area of oats is 340,000 acres, producing the wonder-: ful yield of 10,000,000 bushels.—Correspondent of exchange.