OBJECTS REVIEWED

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 142, 18 June 1919, Page 9

OBJECTS REVIEWED

THE ASSOCIATION'S ATTAIN-

MENTS

A SHOW WITH A UNIVERSAL

APPEAL

Before entering into the history of the Winter Show it is interesting to examine its objects and see to what estent these have been achieved. In the first place it was regarded purely as a dairy show, and the exhibition was confined to butter and cheese, with a display of dairying machinery and appliances. The important position held by the butter and cheese industries was recognised, and it was thought quite fitting that the North Island should have a dairy show. The limited scope of the first show did not tend to make it a financial success. As

;i matter of fact, it resulted in a financial loss; but more will be said on that point later. When the Manawatu A. and P. Association took charge of the show, which, on the first occasion was held under Hhe auspices of the National Dairy Association, the main object was to initiate a show which would cater, in the first pla-ce, for the small farmer. One potent fact was recognised, namely, that the Spring Show was a big farmers' show. The Spring Show was for the breeder of stud stock—prize cattle—and that'being so, it gave no opportunities to the small man. Although the big farmer holds a very prominent place the small farmer is more numerous, and his importance in the community cannot be overlooked. EDUCATING THE FARMER, The expert and the inventor have combined from time to time to produce a large number of little things which go to make the life of a farmer easier anc his products more valuable. Both objects must be regarded by all sections of the community as desirable, 'for do they not ensure increased production? The dairy farmer, once firmly established,, has a much easier time now than he had a few years ago, but without such exhibitions as that held annually at Palmerston North, how is he to keep abreast of the times? With that in view the educative vahio of the Winter Show cannot be overlooked. The Winter Show, then, was not instituted merely with the object of providing competition of the manufacturers of cheese and butter, but more with the idea of educating the small farmer—the producer of the milk essential to the manufacturers—in the latest developments planned for greater efficiency. Have the educative objects been achieved? The answer given bf all those •who have studied this aspect of the show is in ..the affirmative. THE MACHINERY EXHIBITS. At the 1903 show there was only 50ffc of shafting for the purpose of accommodating moving machinery, or machinery shown in action, and yet The Post remarked of the show: —"lt is a regular eye-opener." Now there is 150 ft of shafting, ar.d this is barely sufficient. The Post even waxed enthusiastic over the first show .hald in 1901. when the exhibition section comprised "patent splash 7)roof lids for milk cans, coolers and aeratoi-3, dthorncrs, lancet probes, slices, pulpers. can scrubs, churns, separators of all makes, with the latest adjustments." Mr. J. R. Patterson, of Wellington, snowed his "cowslip" calf milk, which was a. substitute for'the genuine lacteal fluid, it being mentioned that tho .fatter had become far too valuable to be rpent on rearing young stock. The Post also "starred" Mr. Chew Chong, a Chinese' who became famous as a "Hairy farmer in the Taranaki district, and paused a device for stamping butter l^xes. Although tho display wps a Limited one, the educative value of it was favourably commented upon, and from this point of view at least the experiment was regarded as a highly successful one. That being so, it is not surprising that '

the idea was developed; that exhibitions of moving machinery were encouraged. MANUFACTURERS—AND A CHEAP ADVERTISEMENT. It was sixteen years ago when a prominent American visitor said that no show which he had visited excelled the Palmerston Show for "variety and interest" in the display of machinery. And he came from a country where machinery displays at agricultural shows were featured. Palmerston has always been extremely fortunate in the matter of machinery displays, and, strange to say, during the war this section was the least affected. ' Manufacturers stood loyally by the Winter Show Committee, which is an indication, surely, that the manufacturers appreciate the advertisement— a cheap advertisement—which the show affords. Certain it is that they take full advantage of the opportunity of coming into direct contact with the farmers. At each stand there is an expert anxious to get into actual touch ■•with the interested farmer, and to explain the merits of a particular milking machine, a separator, or some other useful device. AN IMPORTANT FEATURE. "We recognised' at the outset that the show must be made thoroughly attractive to the dairy farmer," said Major Dunk to a Post reporter. Major Dunk has been chairman of the Winter Show Committee since its inception, and has been largely instrumental in the success which has been achieved, and the exhibition has been his particular hobby. "We realised the value of a moving machinery display," he. continued, "not only from an educative standpoint, but as a general attraction. And, you know, the 'gate' must never be lost sight of. Wo have a really good display of the latest machinery, and we are sure that manufacturers recognise the value of the show. We regard the display of machinery as a very important feature. By it wo see the progress made in the, matter of dairying appliances, all tending towards simplicity and greater efficiency."

■SIMPLICITY AND CLEANLINESS. Major Dunk's remark on the tendency of dairy machinery and appliances towards simplicity opens up a very interesting subject. Regular visitors to the Palmerston Show for a number of years will see at once the truth of that remark. They will remember the complicated devices of 15 years ago—the old model milking machines with countless pipes and tubes, involving almost endless labour when it camo to cleaning at the end of each milking. The old L.K.G-. machines may be taken as a case in point. Such complicated arrangements made milking machines unpopular, and there wore those wise heads who said that they would never displace handmilking; they were "impossible." And so they were—then. But later the expert and inventor got to work, and well, the result is seen in the Palmerston Show to-day. There is a minimum of piping, the machinery is of ,the simplest, and the parts are very easily cleaned and kept clean. Each year new improvements are shown, and with one milking machine placed alongside another the farmer has but little difficulty in making a choice. It is an advantage, too, for him to see the different plants in actual working, and to the prospective purchaser this is worth more than a score of descriptive volumes. Further, it is more likely to ensure to the manu-facture-a sale. On the latter point the writer last year made definite inquiries at various stands with the object of.ascertaining whether any increased business could be positively traced to displays at shows. There was a unanimous answer in the affirmative, as was only to be expected. But to. no great extent are the actual sales made on the showground. These follow afterwards, when the farmer goes home and begins to realise the deficiencies of his plant and the value of the inventions and appliances that have been demonstrated to him in a practical manner. On one occasion agents and manufacturers got together and discussed the' value of shows, and on the ground that machinery displays involved too great an expense, entered. into a compact not to exhibit. But, with tho advertising value of shows so fully recognised, ths compact was not one that could be easily enforced. Gradually, one firm and then another broke away, and very Boon the machinery displays were in full .swing again. Machinery displays are likely to become even a greater feature when normal conditions return.