Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1936. NATIONAL DAIRY SHOW

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 166, 15 June 1936, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1936. NATIONAL DAIRY SHOW

With entries that bear an excellent comparison witli those of last year, when the Manawatu A. and P. Association was celebrating' its jubilee, the National Dairy Show will open on Wednesday under the happiest augury. This comprehensive exhibition is one of the features of the farming year in the Manawatu and adjacent districts, and annually it grows in importance and scope. Always on the Association’s part there is the keen desire to show the public the very best products that come from the soil of a fertile and prosperous district, and in this regard the National Dairy Show is the mirror of the Manawatu. In the years since their inauguration, Winter Shows have assumed an additional character —one of entertainment for the people who patronise them —and the Manawatu A. and P. Association has not lacked the initiative which provides competitive classes of an entertaining nature and other means of diversion for the multitude. But it is in entries that the foundation of the Show is laid, and the response of dairy companies, farmers and their wives, schools, and people who indulge in hobbies and artcrafts has been again on a magnificent scale. The dairy produce section reflects the remarkably productive district of which Palmerston North is the logical centre and capital, with competition from districts all over the Dominion to challenge the superiority of the Manawatu in producing the best of butter and cheese. A year ago a Waikato delegate paid the splendid and not exaggerated tribute, that from the farms of the Manawatu comes butter of the highest grade, with a demand that always outruns the supply. It is that butter, and cheese too, which will be exhibited in special style to make the many who see it realise that they are privileged to live in a country which produces such excellent produce for the creation of healthy bodies. Farm produce, school displays, home industries, art needlework, photography, models, and competitions are essential features of the Show, and the Association can be congratulated that their strength is so well maintained. Competition entries have swelled in the year from 78 to 836, so that a feast of interesting events has been scheduled for the thousands who will attend the Show. The annual display of the Manawatu Poultry Association, held in conjunction with the main exhibition, is annually growing in importance, and the enterprising fanciers who conduct its affairs have reason indeed to be pleased with the increase of 262 entries on-last year’s total. Coincident with the National Dairy Show there are held meetings of importance to farming interests, and this week will be notable for the many visitors who will as-

semble from all parts of the Dominion to participate in the discussions. The value of Winter Shows to the farming community is to be found in their educational ‘ importance. Competition in the many spheres of activity provided by the Association induces healthy rivalry and a keenness to win success. In this way produce can be improved, fodder crops grown on a better system, and generally farming practice brought to a higher plane. For the city the National Dairy Show is an -event of very great importance, for it means more business for firms who enterprisingly display their wares to attract the visitors, and also a better knowledge of the attractions of I’almerston North, which when spread about induces other people if not to settle her then to make the city one of their calling places when on holiday.