ROYAL SHOW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 32, 7 February 1934, Page 5

ROYAL SHOW.

SECOND IN AUCKLAND. HISTORY OF FORMATION. GROWTH OF ASSOCIATION. Though the Royal Show which is to open to-morrow at Epsom is important not merely to the agriculturist and pastoralist, but also to every Aucklander, it is only the tenth of its kind held in New Zealand. It was first held at Palmerston North only ten years ago, and Auckland's turn did not come until 1926. The show that is to open to-morrow is the second ever held here.

While, however, the history of some A. and P. associations has been that of a struggle against an apathetic public, the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand was an immediate success once it was founded—though that was some years after the project was first mentioned. The credit for the idea of a Eoyal Show must go to Canterbury and Southland, according to the first annual report of the newly-formed Eoyal Association in 1925. In 1907, at the annual conference of the Council of Agriculture, Canterbury moved that the Government should be asked to contribute £1000 annually, to be given to a North and South A. and P. Association each alternate year. That sum was to be added to the prize funds of the association for the purpose of holding a Royal Show. A Southland remit was similar to that of Canterbury. The Beginnings. That was the beginning, but by no means the end. The matter was brought up at different Council of Agriculture conferences until 1923, when officers were appointed, with Mr. (now Sir William) Perry as first president and Mr. J. Pow first secretary. Immediate steps were taken < to secure a Royal Charter for the society, and on January 17, 1924, the formation of theRoyal Agricultural Society of New Zealand was gazetted. The first Royal i Show -was held in Palmerstoa JSorth on

November 4, 5 and 6, 1924, and it was a success from every point of view. The weather, though bad previously, was fine for the three important days. It was opened officially by his Excellency the then Governor-General, Viscount Jellicoe.

A comparison of the records of the numbers of animals shown in the first show, and in the one about to take place, is interesting. The 1924 figures are given first, with those, for 1934 in parentheses:—Horses, 641 (634); cattle, 558 (748); sheep, 603 (339); pigs, 8S (348). The 1934 figures for cattle and pigs constitute a record for any Royal Show. The gate money in 1924 amounted to £1813. Reasons for Formation. Reasons for the formatior of a Royal Agricultural Society are not far to seek. The show does not merely deal with the showing of fine live stock —valuable though that is—but with the gathering of information about agriculture; it is calculated to encourage scientific men to apply their work for the benefit of agriculture and for the improvement of agricultural implements; and the show spreads knowledge as to the best means of dealing with pests of all kinds. Its uses are manifold.

Perhaps the most obvious reason is the first given. A Royal show affords perhaps the best means of bringing before farmers, and the public too, the finest live stock types in the Dominion. There is no more sure way to advertise pedigree animals than to exhibit them in a Royal show. Difficulty has been experienced in the past, and will again in the future, in deciding upon the best centre to hold the show. The configuration of the Dominion accounts for this particular difficulty. New Zealand is 1200 miles long, and very narrow—herring-gutted, as it has been called. The difficulty is to secure the most central place. A section of the community supports the South Island, and another supports Palmerston North. The claims of Auckland also are strong, since the Auckland province comprises a quarter of the area of the Dominion, and contains onethird of the population. Possibly, however, the Eoyal show will remain a peripatetic, institution, and if the rivalry shown each year when its locale is being decided is reflected in the efforts of each association to make it "the best ever," I the Royal show should continue to flourish-