CENTENNIAL OF CANTERBURY

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25637, 28 October 1948, Page 3

CENTENNIAL OF CANTERBURY

FARM COMPETITIONS SUGGESTED

Suggestions for centennial farming competitions w to mark the centenary of Canterbury were outlined by Mr L. R. C. Macfarlane, on behalf of the Amuri branch, at a meeting of th 6 North Canterbury executive of Federated Farmers yesterday. It was decided to refer them to branches for comment and report to the next meeting of the executive. Mr Macfarlane said the Amuri branch thought the centennial was a Canterbury affair, and should not merely be one for the town. During the Otago centennial, many of the province’s country districts did not even know that the centennial was on.

A competition among branches would bring home the fact that Federated Farmers was doing something tangible, added Mr Macfarlane. There was already tremendous interest in the North' Canterbury pasture competition, and the centennial project would extend this interest. Judging could easily be done, and the cost would be very little. The idea behind the competitions was to have a general tidying up of places. It would be nice to see fences well kept, outbuildings tidied up, etc. Mr Macfarlane suggested that a small committee should be appointed for the next two years to carry the scheme through. The president (Mr J. W. Earl) said the trouble was that many districts were geographically different. How could the scheme be worked throughout the province?

Tidiness came into every farm, as well as the state of its stock, Mr Macfarlane replied.