THE DINNER.

Waikato Times, Volume XII, Issue 990, 26 October 1878, Page 2

THE DINNER.

Ifc had been arranged that instead of the usual evening dinner, the Stewards, Judges, visitors and others should adjoim at two o'clock to the Uhib Room, where an excelloub dinner, call it lunch if you will, w,i3 Sfifc out by Host Walker of the National Hotel. Between sixty ana .^seventy gentlemen safcdown to table, the cluir being nr»cupied by Every Maclean, Esq., President of tlie CJam'jrMije Farmers' Club, and the Vice-Chair, by G. E. Clark, Esq. After the good things h id been done justice to, Mr Maclean rose and stated that it h:id been proposed to only give two toasts on the occasion, so as co enable the cosupany on leaving the table to return to the Show Yards. The hr.st toast lie, had to propose was that of " Her Majesty the Queen." Drank with the usual honors. The Vioe-Prosideufc would now call upon them to charge their glasses for the remaining' toast, " Tho Judged." This Avas a toast which they could not but drink, and with all honors, for to tho successful carrying out of a show of this kind, the next requirement, of importance to good stock was good Judges. They had been highly favoured on the present occasion. The judge 3 had come a long distance to assist them, and men of ex° perience, and with farms and stock of their own to look after, could not leave home without making considerable sacrifice. The Waikato was indebted to these gentlemen for tho interest they had taken m our local show, and the least we could do, was to acknowledge thecomplimoutina hearty and suitable manner. The toast was drank Avith cheers, and to the refrain of, " For, thuy are Jolly Good Fellows." Mr Austin, m response, said he, for one of those whose health had been so kindly proposed and drank, was gratified with tho Show, which had been quite a success. The class m which he was Judge, that of thoroughbred horses, was somewhat deficient m the matter of competition. That, however, was one which would co'ue right m time, and could not fail to do so m a district where such sires as they had were so good. If tho competition was small, the exhibits wore at least most excellent. Knottingly was a magnificent horse, and his owner deserved great credit for the enterprise and pluck he had shown m importing so valuable an animal to the colony, while tho Waikato might congratulate itself on being made the field for his services. Capt. Handley was greatly pleased with the show. There was, howev«r, one thing the settlers must bear m mind, and tliac was, the young stock required to bo well fed and well cared for. He noticed, m ono or two instances, that this had not been the case. They must remember that if cattle would not pay for feeding, they would not pay for starving. Mr Wallace saitlj the draught stock was vory good, the mares especially Avould be, many of them, a credit to any district. Mr McCarthy, m returning thanks, said he had long wished to visit Waikato. A country was best judged by its s^ook. If the laud Avas not good, they could not produce the cattle, ihe cow class was as good as he had ever seen, and he had taken part m many cattle shows. It was not an easy matter for any district to bring out so many good animals as the Waikato had done. There was one bull calf exhibited that was fit to compete m any show m tho world. Mr Heslop said, he had been a Judge on many previous occasions, but he had no hesitation m saying he had never seen ten cows on any ground to equal the ten best cows shoAvn m the yards at Oambride that day. The first three coav s gave the Judges great trouble ; it Avas so difficult to decide which Avas better than the other. The Judges, however, had done their best. They did not know either the cattle or their owners, and if challenged m their judgement, could give the reasons on Avhich they based it. It was his first visit to Waikato, and he Avas very much pleased. He had never expected to see such a turn out of good stock. No one could have supposed, Avhen standing m the show yards, that the district was ono of such comparatively recent settlement. Mr Waiuright thought the stock shown to-day of Herefords, Shorthorns, and Devons, would compare with anything at home. He had been home recently to his native county of Herefordshire, but he had seen no better cattle there. No doubt, stimulated by the energy of the Society, the quality of the breeding would increase, or, at least, become more general, and it Avas, therefore, impossible to overestimate the good Avhich such a Society as the Cambridge Farmers' Club did m a district. Mr Parsons, m returning thanks, particularly referred to the Devons. He had seen this breed of cattle m Kentucky, where it was supposed to have been brought to a very high pitch of excellence,, but he had seen °as good animals that day at Cambridge as he had seen either m Kentucky or m any other part of the world. Iv Waikato, they had got both climate and soil that it Avas difficult to surpass, and the Slioav to-day proved that the people had got the energy to take' the fullest advantage of both. They Avould live to see the Society increase m usefulness, and the Waikato cattle shoAvs become a matter of colonial pride and concern. , Mr GrOAver Avished he could speak us oulogistioally of the sho-jp as his brother judges had been able to do of the stock m their several classes, lie could not praise the Lincoln sheep as a whole, as the Herefords and Shorthorns had been •praised. At the same time, ho Avas bound m justice, to say that the show of sheep' was a fair one. He never expected to find a great advancement m a district which only the other day was settled by civilised individuals. It Avas his first visit to Waikato, and, Avheu he came as far as Hamilton, he felt someAvhat surprised and out of his element altogether to find handsome buildings — large and well kept homesteads, thorn hedges, and all the signs of a settled country where he had expected to find a mixed Maori and civilised community. He had left Nelson for six years, and neA r er expected to find another .Nelson m Now Zealand, and last of all m Waikato. The show of cattle Avas second to none m the colony. There had been sonic splendid Lincolns exhibited, but not a first-class show of them as a Avhole. If not a first-class show of sheep, it was, however, a promising one, and he kid a reason for Avhat ho said ; that reason Avas, that the young sheep, as a whole, Averc more promising than tho old .sln.:i:p. It Avas a greater credit to the district to brood a bettor young 1 sheep than to refi.u" buck for excc'lk-nce to the old stock. They j had had some doubt as to the champion prize, for there was some difficulty m choosing". Had they to liavo r-hoseu a champion ewe, they might hnvu had to have gone to half-a-dozen yens. He thought it Avould be a decided adA r antage to have the shoep placed m single pens. I Mr Joseph Newman Avas sorry to see a falling oft' m the number of exhibits of sheep, as compared Avith the slioat of last year. There Aveie not near so many p&ng to chose from, and this was the more to be regretted, as he felt siu'O the time must come Avhen Waikato Avouid send Lincoln sheep back to England, and take pribsos •

m tho bliowv? there. Comparison* wero favorable to tho growth and breeding of long-woolled sheep m the North of New Zealand, as against thu mother country. Our warm moist climate was good for the growth of wool, and there were no .severe frosts to render the staple britt.R No wool suited so well as that of New Zealand, for mixing with alpaca. It possessed all the glossiness of the alpaca, and this was the reason wo got so near the price of fine wool for our wool. The fine wools of other colonies got a slightly heavier price, but there was a vast difl'enmqo iv the weight of tho clip, and there we beat them. The Judges had found Home dilHoulty m awarding the prizes, tho sheep having m many cases been improperly classed, a proper distinction not being mads between Leicester and Lincolns. Mr Newman concluded, by proposing " Prosperity to the Cambridge Club and Show." Tho toast havin? been suitably acknowledged by tho President, the company separated, some betaking- themselves to the show ground, and others to tho paddock alongside Mr Walker's Hotel, where a horse-jumping match was arranged to come off. Here we found a numbtr of people collected. Hurdles, topped with gorse, had been set, aud some six horses had euteied, to compete for thi'co prizes given by Mr Jones, saddler, of Queen sireet, Auckland. The following were the entries: — Auckland Kate, Loafer, Sultana, Sultan Marigold, and Mermaid. The panther like jumping of Auckland Kate, one of Dainty Ariel's stock, riddan by Mr Buckland, was very much admired, the J. S. leaps being taken with ease, and the hurdles aud brush clean jumped. Marigold, which took second prize, jumped well, and so did Loafer.

Tho number of visitors ou the ground who visited the show during- the day, has been estimated at over a thousand people 1 , indeed, the sum of £o, r >, taken at the gates, would prove that this was so. Tlris is more than was taken last year. It was as much as the ground was ready for the public by noon, for though most of oho implements and other dead stock exhibits were on the ground the preceding night, and the cattle and sheep began to arrive at an early hour, the Judges Avere not mure than half through their work hy noon. Yet they had been working hard since ten o'clock, so keen was the competition and great the difficulty of deciding upon the excellence of many of the cattle. Indeed, m thy matter of deciding the merits of the ten cows exhibited, the Judges must have found considerable difficulty. It would be impossible to produce another ten m the colony superior, or equal to them, and many of them ran so close m tbe order of merit, that by no possibility could a quick decision be come to. Indeed, the cattle of all classes were such as the district might well be proud of, and they showed that the breeders of the Waikato district know how and where to secure a good breeding stock, and spare no cost to do so, and know also how to improve tho progeny. Cattle from some of the finest and purest blooded herds m the Avorld were among tho exhibits on Thursday, and the general appearance and condition of the whole of the stock, with one or two exceptions only, showed that, despite the fearfully severe winter we have just come out from, the district is admirably suited to the breeding of cattle, and that our settlers inlemi to try and make it a district second lo none m the colony.