WAIKATO FARMERS' CLUB.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2692, 12 October 1889, Page 2

WAIKATO FARMERS' CLUB.

Tim monthly meeting of tho above body was held at Cambridge on Monday evening, Present: Messrs O. K. Clark (chairman), ¥. Hicks, J. Anders m, It. i-'ishcr, T. W. Hickn, T. Wells, J. Forrest, K Allen, J. Arnold, W. Vosper, J. S. Bond, W. L. Soutor and J. Butler. After tho minutes of the prpviwis meeting had been eonfirmed, tl>o following were elected member* of the Club j— Messrs J , l|ume, R. W. Dyer, James Hally, W, they, E. MaeLean, K. N. Buttle, \V. 0. liiug and K. Davies. Auckland Stock S.u.ns.—Lottern on the subject of holding one sale per week in Auckland for the disposal of fat stock, were received from Messrs A. Ijiicklaud :itid Sons. Auckland; A. M. Haslie, niinu)i ; JJoJan and Tonks, Hau'cra ; and The l'Sgmout dangers' Union. Mr A. Buckland stated that in tiio (,hreo months (May, June and July,) lie had rooeivuci l,3(ii) cattle from the West Coast, 770 from tho Waikato south of Hamilton, and 1,014 from other parts of die province. Taking the uniformly heavier weights of the Coast cattle they uould be quite two to one of thoso received from Upper Waikato. By having a night train for cattle they would be longer in the trucks, and on the Jtotorua line only was there any delay at present, Wttm cattle sales weiv, first, inaugurated, Mr \V\ Hunter and himself had sold on one day (Tuesday}, tho prinoipal buyers being dealers who refold i,o che butphers, and at the request of the latter a see-wd day's sale was started, with the result that the dealers retired and tho butchers bought direct from the auctioneer. The result of his experience was that a single weakly i'ajo ycvild be a loss to the grazier who resides at a distance from the market, To this the Chajnpai} BinT'ropiipd, ft[r

Auckland to give the number of cattle received from the Waikato south of Morcer, instead of from Hamilton upward, and lo include tho other nine months of tha ye.;\v. He likewise pointed out that in Christchurch some years ago, five or six auctioneers sold on one day, in thn same yard, the cattle being yarded consecutively as they arrived, and tho plan worked smoothly. The time when the one day's sale was tried in Auckland, 18(58, and tho prownt time were very different, tbo eircuinstaneos not o;'ingat,'all parallel. To this no reply had been received.—Tho Egmonfc Farmers' Union had passed the following resolution : —" That as the. Union is only just organised, tho directors, in expressing an opinion think that tho present arrangements for soiling ship-borne cattle aro tlio best; but that the.y will at all times bo willing to act with tho farmers in your district in every way considered mutually beneficial."—Mr Haslle wrote that, he thought one weekly s:ilo would have a tendency to animate the spirit of tho market; but Messrs Nolan and Tonks' reply was not favourable to the scheme.— Replies had not been received from Messrs Muir, Winks, or tho Auckland butchers, and .■secretary was instructed to write to Mr Salmon ro the butcher's petition. Tub WKir;m.v<MN of Sacks.—Tho secretary of tho Mangere Farmers' Club wrote that tho members approved of tho principle of charging for corn sacks, instead of tli'jir bjing weighed in as at present; and they hid petitioned the Auckland Chamber of Commerce t> rescind a resolution pas-sad by them "That bags bo weighed in, instead of being paid for." Analysis of Manuuks and Lasp.— Mr li. D. S. Galbraith, of R'jtnuera, wrote stating he should bo willing t> make contract prices with the members of tho Club for analysing manures at -">s I'd por constituent. This in tho case of, say, bone meal, would bo; Phosphato of lime, 5s (id ; ammonia, n.-5 l!J, or 11s por analysis. Hh further statod that a crop was tbe best analysis of any soil, i.e., if given proper drainage, exposure and mechanical ttoatinont. If an elaborate analysis was wanted such as " How nmch cilcicnm dons the soil contain, and in what fm-m ?" "In what form does tho iron occur V "How much nitrogen does tho soil contain, and in what f.>rn)"of combination V " H->w much p itassimn ; is it in felsp.ithio or micaceous fpi-ins?" " How dons? the s..il stuid in regar Ito pnosphates ?" &c. For answering q'Hi-tinns such as tho-e, his charge would b.i ona guinea par quR.-tion. in tha case of leg.d proceedings being taken regarding an analysis, tho question would aris-, " What c institutes a valid anlysAs and rop >rt'.'" In n-itain th« Institute of Ohumi try would .-uttlu the ipie-ition, but uiiforlu Kitr.lv a:iyona cm t-;vm himself an " an.ily'nl-,'" and attach a numhsr of meaningless ailji'C'.ives to his nanr , . but wln-n a !«:>al casi ntvi.s it .quickly diss-iputi's such S.jvonil of the members pnvuiit t'r-ught Mr (ialbraith would not lif. tmub'o-] with many snl analyses in Waikato, as a c nn-pl-hi analysis appeared t > cost abut £7 7s. —The lutli-r was received. Skli.in'i. C.vrn.B hy Livi-: WKi.iin , .—Mr .r.-inisw Runaiman wrote advociting tho silling of cattle by live wi;iaht, and enclosed a newspaper cutting whio'i st-ited th.it the practice had been carried out by tho Egyptians noirly -1000 years ago, as was demonstrated by sculpture ujmi the walls of a ruined temple at Thebes.—lho Chairman h-id replied that tho present was not a fitting opp ut'.mity t-i make, anothet onslaught upon tho aiictionesTs. It would bo bc;tn- to finish the matter they had in hand liefoi-j undertaking another. Sami'l-ks Ob' Cons'.—Messrs Hurst aud Co., of Auckland, wrote olfeiiug to set apirt a room at their stores for tho purpose of exhibiting sampled of Waikato grain ; they wirild alsi give bnyois every facility to i'tispo-l; tho same.—lt was resolved to thank Mo.-srs Hurst for their kind offer, but the Club thought it was too lato to bo of any use this season. R ui.way RuroiiM-.—The Waikato County Council invited the Club to send delegates to a meeting to be hold in Hamilton on the 2:? rd inst., to consider the question of railway reform.—The Chairman aud vic?.Chairinnn (Mr J. Fisher), wure unanimously deputed to attend, and repoit at the next meeting of tho Club.—Archdeacon Willis wrote suggesting th-it a public nicotine; should be called iu Cambridge, f> discuss railway reform. He. , stated ho was a Ri-rat ndvoc.ite "£ V'aile's system ; ho a!;sii undo* '(1 a letter from that gentleman on the subject.--Mr Wells suggested that tliK dclogatos should call a public meeting after thi:y had attended the mooting o M tho 23rd inst int.—After considerable discusM'ln, thn Archdeacon was tlnnkcd for his i'.'ttoi-, iiiid the delegates wero authorised to cill a public mooting, if they think it dosT.iblo, after their visit to Hamilton.—A n rubor of resolutions had been drawn up hy a committee ro railway reform ; and the dVicgites were authorised to mike use of tliHiii at tho Hamilton moating if they thought tit to do so. Tin-; Ca-imm.b Trains.—Several members spoke of r/'ie i>xce.-oivo time occupied by tho iiattlo trains in reaching Auckland; it being stited that, it was sometimes dark when tho tr.iiij roach >il (ireen Line, and on imo occasion oitth; had been lost.—The Chairman slid there was certainly not much improvement.—Mr Allen said the train started now at .5.20 a.m. and cattle did not got to town frequently until (i p.m., whereas, when they formerly lelt at 'J a.m. they reached town soon after 5 o'clock.

Thk Aciuuuxtckat, Cou-eok von Waikato.— Mr .ias, Korrest stated that sineo ho had given notice (if his intention to bring this subject up for discussion, the newspapers appeared to have been taking a very lively interest in tlie matter, especially the Waikato correspondent of tlio Herald, who quickly jumped into the breach with the Hamilton reserve, but he thought he (the speaker) knew quite as much about the matter as Mr von Stunner. It would doubtless be nice to have an .Agiiuultnral College in Waikato ; but how many farmers could afford to pay £40 per annum for each sou, which would ho about the amount it would probably cost. _ As an instance of the way in which these institutions are managed, he quoted many particulars ot the Agricultural College at, Lincoln in Ciiiit'irb'ii-y, which has what seems an abundance of money, and occupies i>23 acres of land near Clu'in'<:liurc!i. With all its opportunities the iiistitutinii might fairly be expected to flourish, and yet the Commissioners appointed by Parliament gave a poor account of its position and immediate prospects. Judging from that report lie thought that th 3 prospects of a similar institution fnv Waikato ware far from encouraging. He would icmind tliem that it would soon grow into a very expensive undertaking, and he strongly counselled the inhabitants of Waikato tu set their faces against a start being made, or they would fjnd they would have to pay very heavily—as was the case with the' Hospital—and even then he doubted if they would find it as useful to their children a.-s many imagined it would bo. It was true something was wanted, and lie thought the want would be met if a plot of Rround was set apart near each school for the children to cultivate, The ■Ith, sth and Oth standards should havo half a day in each week to work upon it; they would then not only learn to use the tools, but would also take an interest in the growth of the various crops. He _ then moved, "That at the present time it is inexpedient to start an Agricultural College in tlio Waikato." If the Government liked to provide and support a college ho had not a word to say ; but for the counties of Waikato and Waipa to saddle themselves with such a burden would be ridiculous, The Government provided professors to give lectures on mining in plain and simple language that any one could understand. Why should they not do the same f»r the farmers ?—Mr Soutersaid Professor Thomas gave lectures to the school teachers in Auckland, and he did not see why ho should not come to Waikato. He had asked Mr Hyatt to give lectures on the subject, but that gentleman did not fcel competent to do so, as ho had hot the opportunities that the Auckland teachers ljavo had.—The Chairnjan said ho had interviewed Mr Primrose; iliu G!)ftirii;au of the Waikato County Council, and he iinsurbd him that the Council had not the slightest intention of going so far as to uau.-ie a rale to lw struck, and that they would not llnuk of starting a college unless the adjoining counties would join in the undertaking. With regard c<> a'pjqt of ground being set. apart for tlio school ohildreii'fcb' [ginj t|;o" i;sp oj tools, he thought the fanners Gould anil), ciontly educate their children in that way; at, least he knew he could. They wanted instruction in the scientific portion of the business ; how to get the best results at the lowest possible cost.-Mr T. W. Hicks said the Chairman of tho ftonne! 1 l 'r' a£: '"a deep old (Jog," and ho thought was u-ying to hoodwink their Chairman. Tho Council had put the first spoke in the wheel by fencing the reserve, and if they did not mind it would prow info a second H >pital, with a rate alta.-hp'd. Tl;py worn :;.!! well aware that the HamiltouUns did nor mind stretching a point as long as it benafitted their town.—Tlio Chairman thought the Hamilton people had learnt wisdom, and j were not prepared to tv'-> further action in , tho matter. The ground was let, and '

would pay interest mi t!io outlay. Ho thought the Council were above such petty actions as Mr Hides' speech snemod to insinuate If a college was t'i l> : erected f>r Waikato, llauiiltiin won!! be the, viprlit place for it; Cambridge was, so to speak. in !i corner of the district.—Mr Finest .said tho Council had let the laud, which wastmo mam of briars, and yet th"y had bobarrud the lrt.«ee from ploughing it.—On tin motion of Mr Wells, seconded by Mr Sniler, it was resolved to write to the Colonial Secretary, asking him to .'irr.mgo with Professor Thomas or s-uuo other expert ti give a course nf lectures in Waikal.o on "Agricultural Chemistry," under tlic aimpiced of the, Waikat.o Ismnur's Clul>. -The further discussion of tli". subject was thun adjoiirne.-l until the noxb meeting. Fho/.f.N Mkat.— In accordance with notice given at the previous meeting, Mr V. Kicks read a paper on the killing and freezing of meat in the province of AtioLlaud, (which, by tho way.hasnot yet reached us).— Mr Sout-jr aslo'd iiow the Kuaranter. ..f CO,OOO sheep was to be given, to which .Vli Hi::l<s replied: "By the farmers combining."—Mr I'orrest would like the difcussion ndjouraeif, until they could read tho i> ipar •» piint in the columns of Tub Waikato TiJli«. It wiiK such an iitiportant subject, and Mr llicks had treated it in such a masterly manner in his comprehensive paper, that ho, individually, would like to .study it, and have timo to think it nut.—At the suwistion of Mr Wells, Mr Hicks r.ivo it little further information on what he considered the main points of the scheme, after which a hearty vote of thanks was accorded him, and the discussion was adjourned till the next meeting.

Waikato Wiikat. — The Chairman drew attention to the very imsatisfact >ry i-tito of the wheat question. H>i bail ventilated the subject a little in Thb Waikato Turns, and should have ijono further into the matter had he felt that he hnd the undivided support of his fellow fanners. He was thankful to Jlr R, K. Hunt, for they hud g..t more inf.u'iivitinn out of him than they would have been able to get out of the manager of banks or the Irian and Mercantile, viz., th:it when this farmers were very hard up lie unmlil buy a little of tho wheal-, and then wait till they were hard up again before making another purchase. He trusted some of the members would read a paper on tho subject, for he should liku (o hear it argued whether the millers should adapt their machinery to Waikato wheats, or the Waikatn farmers adapt their wheats to suit the millers.—Mr Furrost thought they u.u-t try and help themselves by sending it out uf tho colony, or grinding it and placing the Hour on the market. If they did not they would have to tike whatever price the Auckland millers cifercd. Information received from C inteibuiy as to quality and price was very conflicting when placer! alongside that from Auckland. The question was: "Who is telling the lie?" Waikato bikeis siy they never us'd better (iiurthan that made from local wheat, and yet it would not s?.ll in Vuckland. Thu uther day he paid V-U for luwt. nf Hour, and VHt he could only grft about Is (> 1 for lewt. of wheat. This looked as if there was a profit in the business. No one eVi volunteering to tike up tho subject, the Chairman promised to do so, and will read a paper at one of tho next meetings. Two small Recounts were missed for piynjont, and the meeting terminated.