ROYAL SHOW TO-DAY

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 34, 4 November 1937, Page 10

ROYAL SHOW TO-DAY

Opening At Palmerston

North

Record entries in almost all classes promise to make the Royal Show, which will open at Palmerston North to-day, a memorable occasion in agricultural and pastoral annals. The Royal Show was. last held at Palmerston North in 1932, and since then the numbers of entries has increased greatly. In addition, spectacular sideshows and entertainments will heighten the attraction of the show.

The riding competitions and horse classes will be unusually well contested. No fewer than 1000 entries have been received in the dog classes. To cope with congestion in the stud sheep pens, 244 temporary pens have had to bo erected, and additional stalls and loose-boxes were necessitated by the very large horse and cattle classes. Though a slight decrease in the total number of sheep entries since 1932 reflects the transition from sheep to dairy-farming in the Manawatu, the standard of the stud sheep classes is expected to be even higher than on the former occasion. The Romneys, Southdowns and fat lambs will be keenly watched, as the principal competition will be in the sphere of meat rather than wool production. Good pig entries are a sign of increased interest in that field.

Among the more frivolous attractions of the show, most outstanding will be the spectacular chariot-racing, reviving the thrills of Ancient. Rome for the Relight of modern New Zealand. The riding of the Cossack trio is also looked forward to by the many keen equestrians who always Hock to the show.