WAIKATO SHOW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 123, 27 May 1930, Page 8

WAIKATO SHOW.

GREATEST TO DATE. OPENING CEREMONY TO-DAY. A COMMUNITY INSTITUTION. HIS EXCELLENCY WELCOMED. '(By Telegraph.—'Special to " Stav.") HAMILTON", this day. All roads in the Waikato led to Hamilton to-day. Speoial trains from distant parts arrived full, and every kind of vehicle, both ancient and modern, known to a farming land carried its load. It was the occasion of the official opening of the twenty-fourth Waikato Winter; Show by his Excellency the GovernorGeneral, Lord Bledisloe. What the exhibition has meant to the Waikato it would be difficult to estimate. First of all, it has, perhaps more than anything else, focused the attentionof the Dominion on this wonderful district. Before the Show came into existence Waikato was little known and Hamilton seldom heard of. The drift northward has been largely due to the advertisement which Waikato has received through the medium of its Winter Show.

But while advertising is recognised as one of the Show's chief effects, it is by no means its principal aim. Its primary object is to educate, and as an educational institution it has done marvellous work. The education which a show such as this does is to be found in many directions. Its results have been seen in the improved yields of root crops, the improvement in the varieties, a greater output of dairy produce, and a wonderful improvement in the quality, which means so much to the producers of this district—for quality is far more important than quantity. New Zealand's Greatest.

! The Waikato Show has, in fact, been responsible for an improvement in the quality of dairy produce throughout the Dominion, for it is New Zealand's biggest dairy exhibition, and has brought but earnest rivalry butter and cheese makers from all parts of both Islands. The produce which these people have' sent forward in the past has been the very best they could manufacture, and it was not until they had pitted their boxes or crates against those of other makers that they realised how backward or forward they really were. As several speakers said at various functions held in Hamilton yesterday and to-day the Waikato Show is an organisation which is a connecting link between town and country. That spirit was plainly evident this afternoon when their Excellencies faced some thousands of upturned faces in front of the raised platform for official guests. A choir of 60 voices sang the National Anthem, following which the orchestra and choir rendered a national song, "New Zealand," by T. S. Webster. Then came "An Ode of 67 Years Ago," which was originally sung at the opening of the International Exhibition in 1862. Its first verse was apropos of the occasion to-day:— Uplift a thousand voices full and sweet, In tbis wide hall with earth's invention stored; And praise the invisible Universal Lord, Who lets once more in peace the nations meet, Where science, art and labour have outpoured, Their myriad horns of plenty at our feet. Mayor's Official Welcome. "This great throng of people testifies the pleasure the Waikato district feels in the visit of your Excellencies. It speaks of the loyalty of the people here to all that is great and good in the Motherland —a loyalty which is as deep and abiding in this outpost of the Empire as in the very heart of the Homeland," said Mr. J. R. Eow, Mayor of Hamilton, and president of the Waikato Winter Show Association. "Coming as you do from a land rich in the attainments of a thousand years, a country with a wonderful record of progress, of research, of exploration and commercial enterprise—a land whose statesmen and virile sons have evidenced a positive genius for colonising newly-discovered lands—it may not be deemed inappropriate if I refer briefly to the short though romantic history of Maoriland, and especially the Waikato." The Mayor then traced the Dominion's i history from its earliest days, making particular reference to the mingling of pakeha and Maori. He also referred at length to Waikato's history in particular, giving a brief outline of ■ events

which led up to the Maori wars. For some years after the founding of Hamilton," said Mr. Fow, "the settlers went through most trying times. They went through a period that tested their endurance to the full; but they kept on their way undaunted until they caught Dame Fortune's golden smile, and the Waikato, with its abundant rainfall and proportion of sunshine, came into its own. "Then, after 40 years' settlement, the Waikato winter show was established, and your Excellencies, we regard it as an outstanding illustration of what can be done by the harmonious combination of town and country." (Loud applause.) A Commune. Mr. Fow went on to explain that the Waikato winter show was a community institution. Whilst its most ardent supporters and prominent officers had been drawn from both sources, the Mayor was proud that the farmer predominated, and invariably did most of the voluntary labour that was so essential in the early years of the institution. Advancing Every Year. "Every year has .shown advancement," continued Mr. Fow, "and we trust that you will appreciate tHis fact, that within the brief span of 06 years we have increased from camp life to this proud position, that we claim to stage the best and most comprehensive show in the Dominion. We feel honoured that you have been able to attend and officially open the 1930 session. We feel that it is most fitting that your Excellency, with your profound knowledge of all that pertains to agriculture, should thus early get in touch with the primary producers of this area. We feel sure that you will find much to interest you in the various sections on display. "I voice the thoughts of this great assemblage," concluded the Mayor, "when I extend to your Excellencies a most hearty welcome and wish you, on their behalf, a happy and successful sojourn in this fair land—the Britain of the South." (Applause.)

Mr.-J. A. Young, M.P. for Hamilton, and one of the patrons of the show, followed. Then Mr. Stewart Reid, chairman of the Old Settlers' Association, told of the trials and tribulations of the pioneers who, through storm and sunshine, battled their way and laid the foundations for the district's prosperity. As a compliment ■ to her Excellency Lady Bledisloe, Mr. T. Ehydderch Jones sang the National Anthem of Wales in Welsh. Governor-General Speaks. On rising to speak, his Excellency was greeted with loud and prolonged applause.

His Excellency said that he had entered public life in England many years ago with the conviction, first that the economic welfare of the countryside lay at the root of all national prosperity, and secondly that such welfare could not be secured without co-opera-tion on the one hand and technical education on the other. From those convictions he had never budged, though he was rejoiced to find himself presiding over the destinies of a country where enlightened public opinion fully endorsed both those propositions. "You have greeted me loyally as the King's representative. You have hailed me fraternally as a farmer brother, and you have my warmest thanks for your welcome," said his Excellency. "In this Dominion I am bound to be scrupulously impartial, not only in the political outlook but also in regard to social, religious and industrial enterprise, but no more can I cease to be a farmer than an Ethiopian can change his skin or a leopard his spots. And with the conviction I hold in relation to national welfare I cannot believe that my predominantly agricultural experience and interests will prove to be inimical to the progress of the country nvhieh depends mainly, and always will depend mainly, on its agricultural products." Impressed by Exhibits. His Excellency went on to say that nowhere was dairy development more marked than in the Waikato area. Speaking as one who had been president of the great London Dairy Show, Lord Bledisloe said he was greatly impressed with the' excellence of the dairy exhibits at the show, and congratulated the promoters on a record entry of both butter and cheese. He had been particularly impressed by the stress that had been laid by Mr. C. E. Wood, chief Government grader, upon the uniformity of the quality in the case of the butter, because he wa3 convinced that if the British market was to be continuously and increasingly supplied with New Zealand products, then uniformity of quality was of farj more importance than occasional excellence. ■ !

Advice to Farmers. Hix Excellency said the prices of wool, butter and cheese had been very low in recent months, and had created a feeling of depression and anxiety among many farmers. With a largely increased output of dairy produce in the last year, however, it was to be hoped that in the Waikato districts greater turnover would have compensated most farmers for lower values. In any case values appeared to be improving and he thought would be likely to do so. The Governor-General said he was going to venture to stress several considerations as calculated to promote prosperity of the farmers. He advised them always to comply with customers' specifications, to welcome control of the export of dairy produce, to co-operate loyally, not to put all their eggs in the one basket, and to develop as far as possible the sidelines of husbandry.