PASTORAL SOCIETIES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1394, 2 June 1883, Page 4

PASTORAL SOCIETIES.

We have been requested to publish the Moving letter publishedjrecently;. in the Albury Banner, N. S.'W.,— / i I have thtnigiit for : many!yeavs j pa&t '• those societies ife-'not-aftmnng,' : to the,, full#' ex'.'iii l , v.the ipurpqses>for which i they., weiv established; They an not extended merely as a means 'of disooveribg ifh'atltwjc.wehavejn the district, the' various kindswhat agricultural and horticultural products w possess, and the number of varieties: and then to award a few medals or cups to 'of .the best in' /tfia v«Houi .That is a result/but . avery secondary 0110. j and strangely enough, intoa habit that wouli.lead to a belief we souglit nothingielM: l '- The real motive which MUblishM { |itad; maintains these societies ii not'only to discoverwho has the beat itock/grain, fruit, vegetables, local bandry, but to ascertain the differences that exfat between tHe, exhibits, .. and the defects or shortcomings of the best ui the' various" s claisaes. r L Now we cannot award prizes or'certificates'fot imperfectio'us, nor are judges in any way called upon to point out wherein the exhibits to which they have awarded prizes could be improved, 01 how far the prizetakers' fall short ol the standard of excellence it is possible to attain. Their : sitiiple;''duty is tc judge between the things, submitted and it seldom happens that ,an exhibit is of such an outrageously : bad charac ter—as compared to the v/hole-—as tc justify the judges iii recording their sense of its inferiority. Herein, then, may b( seen that the main, end sought b) these societies is missed, The enc ought to be obtained is an improvement in the breed of stock, f higher standard of agricultural ani horticultural products, encouragement to local manufactures, and an amend ment in the appliances and implements employed in the various industries To gain this end, it is true, we must have the stook, grain, fruit, vegetables, manufactures, and implements ol of husbandly to look at; we want alsc the attendance of the breeders, farmers, and manufacturers, and we ought tc learn from them the methods they have employed to gain the results achieved, and what they recommend by wav ol improvement. There are gentlemenmembers of the Albury Association •- • who have been engaged in the rearing of stock or agricultural products during the greater, part of their lives, and i may reasonably, be supposed that eacl ono has stored up some idea of know ledge not known to other members Eyeiyono engaged-in breeding' Bhee] knows what a complicated pursuit it is There is a great deal of fashion in i too, requiring much watchfulness 01 the part of the breeder. Thi . breeder sends his sheep to a shov not so much to obtain a prize as t< gain the opinions of men capable o judging in such matters of thi progress he is making toward a standard of excellence, Tha Opinion is only partially obtained by thi awwd of a prize, and not at all whei no prize, .except that, for a reason un expressed,' 'some isheep in the grouni art better than others. The mail point the 'producer has in view is t< obtain: the greatest possible incom< from the capital invested. The mos impartial judges are the purchasers At any rate, there is no appeal fron the decision of these people, and the] assign no reasons; but if annual show: were conducted according to differen methods—aa examinations on the roat to market—the wants and require menta of the purchasers might be ascet tained who. have' attain#! that .kho^Jedgty, D,oes combing, o to tyour, washer shear in the grease What are the best systems of sorting 1 The neces aity for, »nd,the best; metho'l of givin; salt j treatment? of disease j the pe culiaritiea of different breeds or types the most profitable kinds of cattle anc horses; the effects of fencing ; and. ring barking and cultivating grasses ; 1 rait ing grain for home consumption or ex portation j the beat modes of cultiva tion; manuring j the most approve! kinds of machinery; the productioi and preservation of fruit, the manufac ture of jams, preserves, soap, candles and a thousand other things of simila import, are all subjects about. whicl many membors of the Association re .quire enlightenment, and there an many other members, who can give the information required. . To show how much, valuable infor mation is locked up in the minds ol different people, I. need only point tc the breeding of stock." The method. l employed to breed sheep, horses, am cattle run on parallel lines to a. giver point, and then diverge, In referenct ... to horses, atone point fleetness .ant .-. powers of endurance, have, to" be con .Bidered, At another point, in tlu •i. breeding of sheep,, a distinct line oi study haa to be, entered upon. . Tlu : "outer covering of sheep is at presenl '' ; one of the sources of ,\realtl , the country possesses, and its produc tion may fairly be denominated i science. Every breeder knows liov intricate it is, and what an infiniti variety of features it presents. Amonj : the many'complications to be con Bidered are—fineness, elasticity, lustre density of pile,.length of Btaple, oven ness, softness, absence of hair, &c, Animals may posses?, many of these qualities in a high, .degree and be "deficient,in,others. A ram may appeal at a ihow reaching almosfc perfection in all pointi except' length of staple, and ki may 'jfi a ;cbampion prize. A ewe mayT possess the same qualities ,and alto take a,champion prize, but it - ikw-not folKvt'that; a nnibn'of. these M-would a union .of: either with some other sheep in the same yard. And so on thwiugh i! hn endless varieties of moeties that preMnte tjiepaiielves to the breeder.. Ityuy -pecularities occur also in . producing grain, and in conducting everywOtherlbrihchof Indusi*l} and these are jthe - things we all wailt to iffioV Something 0 about, and, linage to say, tural Mcietiee affbrji' J .,uß, very little oppoeinnity.io'do bo;, ' " 1 distriot.who a^ : oWeW J 'bf stock, 1 and ttotame.pacontains half a million j. V-.-.V'

sheep and about 20,000 bead of horses find • catila- ■ XJnfortunalely ■"1"Sot find any statistics givi% n the qU&ntity of grain produced, of land under or' dairy produce, It will be seen, then, that the people of thodistrict ! liave'tHb r cofit'rol 'df an! enormous amount of wealth that effects | every individual in the community,ho; matter what his occupation," If we can raise the value of wool to a small fraction yalue, stock, to Y; a greater (pncapor liead, ior lay/ pence per bushel, or produce more iof richer kind, we shall achieve a greater result' in the' march ;,of progress, 'j i belifive it is in our .to do,better than we have done. At any rate we should try. • " All wealth comei from : the earth", profitably employed, It behoves us, ; ' therefore, to extract as much as the soil as it is capable of yieldiug, and to seo that energy is not misdirected While doing so. : The, sequel to all this lies in the suggestion I- have, to make,. It K thiW that at each aunual,show an evening, a' day, or more if found necessary, should be set apart for the discussion of various subjects of coriiie<S- : ted with the of the At theso meetings or ponversazionos, any member could read a short paper' upon any topic of interest to the society, and with which he'was coriver;sanfc: Discussion could then follow among the members. It would not be necessary to produce essays which would have to undergo examination as specimens of English composition. We iwould require practical ideas from practical men, either written or- spokon. Fortunately for this young country, we possess an able press that is at all times eager to further any movement likely to tend towards progress and enlightenment. Everything.of importance which took place at thoir meetings would be published in the local newspapers, and could be. kept as a permanent record for further reference, instead of having to depend, as wo now do, upon fleeting and unconsidered conversations or casual remarks. It would not cost more than a few shillings to inaugurate what I suggest; Let the committee say it is to.be, give timely, notice to the members, draw up a few simple rules, and the thing is l done. The Horticultural Society in;, Sydney, has done this for years. Some of the members—practical working horticulturists—often read papers of great value. Many societies in England do the same thing., There is nothin'g;new in the idea,, but its practical applica-' tion to pastoral, agricultural, and 1 htfi*ticultural societies in'the country would be an innovation, but one' I feel satisfied that would be attended with the most beneficial results. ;