THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1926. THE ROYAL SHOW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19486, 16 November 1926, Page 12

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1926. THE ROYAL SHOW.

The centre of attraction for the people of the Dominion should be found to-day, and during the two days following, at Epsom, the location of the Royal Show. It is no ordinary event. It stands apart from the annual shows held under the auspices of the various provincial associations formed for the furthering of agricultural and pastoral interests. Supreme among kindred functions of its kind, it is an occasion of competitive exhibition in which all New Zealand shares, its awards in the chief classes of this friendly rivalry carrying a distinction more prized than are those of any district display. Its controlling body is established by Royal charter, the hall-mark of unique value. In this respect it claims lineage from the original Royal Agricultural Association in England. That society, founded in 1838, was expressly formed for the betterment of the farming industry of the kingdom, and the technical education of the English yeoman, particularly by the institution of contests in agricultural processes. It was hoped to cultivate a wholesome spirit of mutual emulation and so to increase the whole country's agricultural prosperity. The hope has been realised in very great measure: from the modest beginning at the Oxford show in 1839 has come a succession of educative displays and competitions, held in various important towns of England and Wales, and their influence has done much for a pursuit vital to the prosperity of even a land so vastly concerned in manufactures. Save for a break in 1866, when a cattle plague devastated the Old Land's herds, this " Queen of Shows" has been held annually there, and with the growth of an Empire overseas it has been duplicated abroad. As far back as 1907, this Dominion's Council of Agriculture was urged to take steps to institute a duly-chartered society here on the lines' proved advantageous in England. Action tarried for investigation and opportunity after the project was approved; but at length, when the Great War's dislocation of normal activities was somewhat overcome, the society took shape. Its establishment has been signalised by two Royal Shows —the first at Palmerston North in 1924 and the second at Christchurch last year. To Auckland falls the honour of the third.

It is an honour to which this province can lay good claim, for here in recent years there has been a very rapid and far-reaching development in primary production. After a period, of comparative neglect of agricultural opportunity, this provincial district has awakened to a realisation of its vast natural resources, especially in pastoral wealth, and • is devoting vigorous attention to their scientific exploitation. It is a veritable renascence. ! In New Zealand's infancy, when the pioneering pakeha came to this land, there was resolute cultivation of the soil about the Bay of Islands and elsewhere in the north. Soon grain and flour were being sent south to feed the colonists making homes there. But the wars that afflicted the north changed all that, and the southern portions of the newly-settled colony quickly set about the cultivation of their own resources and became exporters to the north in turn. Here the rich harvest of forest and goldmine continued to be reaped, but agriculture lagged. Now it has come again into its own. Its pastoral aspect has been here transformed from waste to wealth. Much remains to be done. There are millions of acres not yet in fully-productive use. But it speaks volumes that in this region eft nearly half of the Dominion's dairy cattle and that from it goes wore than half of the Dominion's export of dairy produce, while its fiocks number more than two millions, with a greater proportion of breeding ewes among them than any othtf provincial district can boast. Auckland's new day of agricultural activity has dawned, and with the scientific treatment of areas whose possibilities are as yet but faintly realised that day bids fair to grow in assured brightness. As the Royal Show gives proof, this district can and does vie with any other in the industry that, above all others, contributes to the whole Dominion's material prosperity. This competitive display has an educative value incapable of overestimation. Both at Palmerston North and at Christchurch there was convincing evidence that the idea of instituting a show of Dominion-wide status was a distinct advance on that of the merely provincial fixture. The latter, it is true, was more than a local exhibition: outside competitors for honours have availed themselves freely of the opportunity it offered for winning awards of excellence, and in the open classes particularly there have been instructive lessons by which many visitors from far have profited. This kind of display should not be'neglected. A country of this area has room for many annual examples of it. They should be continued with zest. Yet the holding annually, in this and that centre in turn, of a show where Royal honours are awarded, is calculated to keep up the general standard of products to the highest possible level. It excites the competitive spirit to a unique extent, and its educative value, as a promoter of ever better production, is enhanced accordingly. New Zealand as a whole has need of this service. It cannot be claimed anywhere that

j the acme of excellence is reached. There is a need, for example, of more and yet moro attention to breeding of dairy herds. Without that, butter-fat production will fall short of the uniformly high standard it should have, both as to quality and to quantity. An equally im perative necessity obtains in sheep breeding, and even the somewhat despised "porker" will pay for similar attention. Only a show of Dominion-wide status can provide all that is desirable in competition designed to improve the whole country's herds and Hocks, and it is an admirable arrangement that combines with this fixture the meetings of the various breeding associations. This arrangement befits the idea that the show itself embodies—the mutual striving after excellence in the Dominion's characteristic farmproducts. This third Roy&l Show, gauged by its splendid array of entries, promises to do its full share toward that idea's realisation.