Prosperous Styles At Show Grounds

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31522, 9 November 1967, Page 8

Prosperous Styles At Show Grounds

The 1967 Canterbury Show opened yesterday with no outward sign of the economic clouds hanging over the farming community. Farmers looked prosperous in their Scottish tweeds, gleaming giants of agricultural machinery’ straddled acres of display space, and prize animals and produce looked saleable anywhere.

It was mainly business day at the show. Nearly all the visitors wore ribbons showing that they were judges, exhibitors or members of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association. and the rest were people who had learned by experience that the first day is a good time to avoid the jostling crowds expected on Friday, “People’s Dav.”

Takings at the gate amounted to $394.85. This was almost exactly the same as for the first day in 1965. However, the admission fee has been raised since then.

Last year’s show was a Royal Show, which always attracts bigger crowds. The takings on the first dav last year were $528.

The visitors were easily accommodated in the association's new 2600-seat grandstand, which afforded welcome shelter from the windApart from a few spots of rain after lunch, the weather was fine and allowed the sideshow men to make their preparations without interruption. From midday spectators were able to watch horse events in the show ring, together with the judging of cattle in an enclosure. The highlight of the ring programme was the firing of the "human missile” from a large truck-mounted canon into a 50ft safety net

The polo match which ended the day was introduced with much less fanfare, but proved to be considerably more exciting. Polo has established itself as a firm favourite with visitors to the show in the last few years and may well be a drawcard in its own right. Polo Teams This year two teams have been made up from four leading North Island and two top South Island players, and on each of the three days of the show they will be competing for the Hagley trophies. The competitive sections of this year s show have drawn the usual high number of entries. Although there have been

fewer entries than usual In some sections. Mr H. M. Studholme. the association’s secretary, said he was very happy with the total number. There were 4079 this year. compared with 4143 in 1965. Last year it was a Royal Show with 5140 entries Horse entries were markedly down this year—l2o2 compared with 1384 last year and 1426 the year before. “Most of our ordinary customers are back again”, said Mr Studholme, “but with fewer entries. “We have been progressively tightening the standards for ring events, and this could be discouraging those with poorer performances from enJ tering.” Wool Entries The greatly reduced wool entries <9O compared with 157 in ■ 1965) were attributed not to the low wool prices, but to the bad [ growing year. Mr Studholme said many people did not have fleeces up to competition standard On the other hand, the sheep and cattle were above average for ordinary metropolitan shows, and the pig entries were the biggest for an ordinary show. “Oddly enough,” said Mr Studholme, “the machinery exhibits are bigger than ever. We have sold more exhibition space than ever before—more than 250.000 sq. ft. “A great deal of the gear on display is for bulk handling of wheat. That is the current interest among most farmers j It’s the payable crop now. The 1 experts say that New Zealand, could be almost self-sufficent* in wheat this vear, and tremendous interest is being shown in modern methods of bulk handling.” Lincoln College One of the association’s disappointments this year was the absence of the Department of Agriculture’s usual display tent It was regarded by some as bad psychology on the department’s part in a year when farmers needed support. Lincoln College was there, however, with a display designed to encourage the growing of better wool. Using sheep | with good and bad wool fori comparison, the exhibit shows i comprehensive examples of j wool faults and qualities. |

! The combined counties have a display of noxious weeds to . help landowners identify them .As well as the notorious nas sella tussock, fennel and I thistle, it includes such at tractive specimens as silver

poplar, lupin, foxglove, giant buttercup and heath. Safety Cab In the machinery section a lot of interest was shown yesterday in a safety cab for tractors. This was displayed on a mocked-up hillside with a dummy driver safely enclosed 1 by the cab on an overturned tractor i A new exhibit is the Science i

Museum's display of vintage farm equipment. Among the ancient machinery is a singlefurrow plough made by Canterbury's first ploughmaker. Joseph Keetley, of Kaiapoi Island, in 1858. The Royal New Zealand Navy had a popular display with underwater equipment, echosounders and a gunnery control unit. The control system was mounted on a part model of the frigate Otago.