Lilies, eels and cowsheds

Press, 31 July 1978, Page 2

Lilies, eels and cowsheds

The Minister of Agriculture (Mr Maclntyre) has used the cowshed settlingpond to illustrate his message to the National Party conference that there is an

MR MacINTYRE

exciting future for New Zealand in diversification, the Press Association reports. “Think of the diversification you could have with a crop of lilies and a farm of eels in the cowshed settling pond,” he said. His reference to lilies during an address to the conference brought a chuckle from the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) who is an authority on them. Mr Maclntyre said that horticulture had come of age in New Zealand over the last 2f years. Overseas exchange earnings from horticulture had grown from SS2M in 1975 to SI2SM this year. “To boggle your minds, let me tell you that last year the Republic of Germany spent five million Deutschemarks to obtain a product lacking any practical benefit, one that presents neither asset nor a tax-deductible item, has no fixed value and no interest-earning capacity, provides neither entertainment nor nourishment — the flower.” Such a small, highly valued, light-weight article held much attraction for New Zealand in Export Year, Mr Maclntyre said.