THE WINTER SHOW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14689, 25 May 1911, Page 6

THE WINTER SHOW.

BIG HOLIDAY GATHERING.

THE GOVERNOR'S VISIT.

ELEVEN THOUSAND VISITORS.

Trrfi coincidence of Empire Day and a business half-holiday had a marked effect on yesterday's attendance at the Winter Show. It was estimated that during the- 13 hours the- show was open 11,500 people were admitted. Throughout the day there was very little numerical fluctuation in the gathering which animated the big building, and in the evening the attendance was again vory largo. A marked improvement bad been made- in tho arrangements for ventilation, and tho discomfort noticed by many people on the first two days was greatly relieved.

The total amount paid in admission fees yesterday was £366 Or 6d, making an aggregate- for the throe days of £843 2s. On the- third day of last year the takings amounted to £481 9s, and the total for the three days was £1092 13s, while the amount taken on the first three days of tho 1909 show was £720. It is estimated that tho number of visitors to tho show has. been 26,250, compared with 37,000, the estimated total attendances for the first threo days of last year's show.

Tho attractions of the big exhibition are 100 great to bo exhausted iji one visit, and while each day has had its procession of visitors for tho first time, very many people have rtsturned again and again, and their explorations in search of some new item of "interest, some hitherto undiscovered exhibit, have not been in vain. Tho activity of machinery, the richness of beautiful furniture and carriages, and tho great array of the fruits of the soil, have exerted a big influence in drawing crowds of people to tho show, and there has also been the attraction of the big gathering of people. The fine weather which has continued throughout the opening days of tho show has also been an important factor in favour of the show.

The musical selections rendered by tho attendant bands during the afternoon and the evening were greatly appreciated by visitors to the show yesterday. The decorations of the tables, which were entered in the first competition, were sadly wilted by last evening. This morning the flowers will be replaced by fresh blooms, arranged according to tho artistic tastes of the 13 competitors, who have entered for the second competition in table decorations, which will be judged to-day. Three entries were made for the competition in decorating tables for senior girls attending Auckland schools, and this competition will also be judged to-day. Two thousand six hundred school children will, visit the show this morning. Another contingent will be similarly entertained to-morrow, and some other schools will probably visit the show on Saturday morning. A Vice-Regal Visit. During yesterday morning the Governor and Lady Islington visited the show. They were accompanied by the Hon. Joan Dickson-Poynder, Miss SlapletonCotton, and Mr. W. Guise. His Excellency's private secretary. The party was received at the main entrance bv the president of the association, Mr. J." M. Phillipps, and Messrs. Joseph Ambury and M. B. Kirkbride (vice-presidents), J. R. Walters (ex-president), T. Simson, E. D. O'llorke, arid J. G. Rutherford (members of the executive), and Mi*. W. B. Fordyce, show secretary. Their Excellencies spent about an hour in viewing the many sections of the show, and both Lord and Lady Islington expressed themselves as greatly pleased with the merit of tho display. Tho Governor devoted much attention to the four district courts, at which ho met representatives of the working committees, and in the settlors' tables. The Minister for Agriculture (the Hon. Thos" Mackenzie) and officers of the Department met the party at the Department's big court. Lord Islington was much interested in the exhibits from the State experimental farms, and also in the elaborate* chart showing the results of the milking tests of the State Shorthorn and "Holstcin herds. The District Courts. A new interest attached to tho district courts yesterday, for in making their own estimates of the respective merits of the lour displays, visitors had a satisfactory basis for calculation in the judgment of those who awarded the prizes in the coinpetition. The order in which the courts were placed in the prize list appeared to be generally approved by the public, and the members of tho committees who arranged the courts all expressed satisfaction with the degree of success attained by each. Useful for Poultry Farmers. In the Agricultural Department's court there is ainplo room for visitors, and a great number of people spent a profitable portion of the day in examining the varied exhibits which it contains. Many of them commented on the absence of any display of butter and cheese and of dairy appliances by the dairy produce division, the opinion of those engaged in the dairy industry being that, apart from the consideration that such an exhibit would have made the court fully representative of the Department's activity, it was strange that nothing had been done by the State officials for the instruction of a province in which tho production of butter and of cheese was of such practical importance. Mitch attention was devoted to the pens of utility fowls and ducks, and many inquiries were made regarding the comparative merits of tho various breeds for egglaying and table purposes. In view of the amount of interest displayed in the section, a larger exhibit of poultry will be made by the Department at the winter shows to be held in various centres shortly. A School Display. A graphic illustration of the care with which instruction in agricultural 'Science is being given in some of the schools in the Auckland province, and of the good results achieved, is afforded by the exhibit of tho work done by pupils of the Pakuranga district school. The stand contains! only specimens of the work during the ordinary school hours, no special preparations having been made for the show. Among them are samples of the vegetables grown in the school garden, boxes of grasses grown fox- identification, an observation hive, with its accompaniment of honey packed in various ways, and a standard hive made from a benzine case. Examples of the experimental work, in the shape ol illustrations of the germination of seeds and of the transpiration of plants, uro also displayed. There are also two albums containing neatly mounted collections of grasses and of weeds, each specimen being described in popular and in botanical terms. The work lias been carried on for some years by the present headmaster, Mr. William Green, and the display is most creditable to him and to his pupils. Perfection in Plumbing. The exhibit made by Messrs. Baker and Co., Limited, is a most interesting and attractive one, and the great- variety and the excellent quality of the sanitary goods and appliances displayed is a. revelation of the degree of perfection attained by the modern methods in this industry. The company has huge stocks of gas fittings, tiles, grates, and of all plumbers' and builders' lines, suitable for a cottage or a mansion, from the very cheapest to the most cosily, in great variety. A specialty of the firm is the provision of hospital and school sanitary fittings, and architects and representatives 'of local bodies would be well advised in inspecting the specimens of tho company's stock exhibited at: tho show, and shown in greater variety at the company's fine showroom, next the Tramways Company's offices, in Customs-street. Messrs. Baker and Co. act. as representatives in New Zealand for the manufacturing firm of Shanks and Co., Glasgow.