Visit to Europe

Hutt News, Volume 20, Issue 16, 18 September 1946, Page 11

Visit to Europe

MR. COOKSLEYS IMPRESSIONS. ADDRESS TO ROTARY CLUB. Impressions of his visit to Europe were given by Rotarian B. V. Cooksley at last week's meeting of the Hutt Rotary Club. As president of the Federated Farmers of New Zealand, be attended the conference in London for the purpose of forming a world federation of primary producers. Thirtyone nations were represented at the conference and- the New Zealand delegates formed the opinon that the world federation should be given a twelve months' trial. Among Mr. Cooksley's first impressions of England was the good quality of the farming land seen on the journey from Liverpool to London and the light texture of the foliage of trees in spring. The ;;reat variety of foreign languages one heard spoken was another unexpected feature. The hotel position in London was very grim and accommodation was difficult to secure. Food Monotonous and Unattractive. The food was monotonous and unattractive and many members of the party lost considerable weight as a result. The British people were not going hungry, said Mr. Cooksley, but were "fed up" with the lack of variety. In the hotels one knew exactly what the menu would be for the next meal. Porridge figured on the breakfast menus, but it was dark in colour and served without sugar or milk. All fish was boiled. The whole rationing system was worked on points according to food value and was absolutely fair to all. The amount of sweets served at meals was negligible. , The people of London, Mr. Cooksley considered, were about the best behaved and most polite in the world. In the densest crowds jostling and pushing were non-existent and apologies most readily offered. Guests oi' King and Queen. The visiting farmers were the guests of the King and Queen, who were accompanied by the Princesses, at Windsor, and were charmed by the simple friendliness of their reception. Here they were shown the Royal flocks and herds of magnificent Ayrshire cattle. Much to the surprise of the visitors, they found that the cows are all milked by hand, as the King could not get an electrical milking plant installed. From a farming point of view, England had created a favourable impression. There-were 25,000,000 acres of good farmland in, England as against 10,000,000 acres in New Zealand. Market gardening in England and Scotland was far more advanced than in New Zealand. This was largely accounted for by the large markets to be supplied and the rigorous winter which called for the best efforts. Visit to Battle Areas. In describing some of the party's visit to Continental battle areas Mr. Cooksley said that effects of the R.A.F. raids over Germany were beyond description. It had been so severe that the fire-fighting efforts had been completely out of control. Very little cleaning up had been done. The German people were found to be very subservient and realised that they had been beaten this time. Mr. Cooksley visited North and South Ireland, where he found the people very charming but living very much in the past—in the days of Oliver Cromwell.