THE WINTER SHOW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23517, 3 June 1938, Page 18

THE WINTER SHOW

A WORTHY COMMUNAL DISPLAY // . PRIMARY AND SECONDARY RESOURCES INTERESTING EXHIBITION PROMISED The forty-fourth Winter Show of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society, which is the principal event of Dunedin’s June Carnival Week, will be opened this afternoon, and for the ensuing five days there will be given to town and country people alike an opportunity to see for themselves the advances that primary and secondary industries have made since the Agricultural Hall was last filled with the results of the industry of farmers, manufacturers, importers, and, last but not least, the rural and urban housewives who every year provide competitive entries in increasing numbers in the arts and crafts sections. Such common festivals and displays have a real value in any community. More than any other event of the kind, the Winter Show, over a period of nearly half a century, has brought town and country closer together in an, atmosphere of friendly rivalry, useful comparison, and hearty co-operation. Perhaps thq, most important function of the Winter Show is the fostering of co-operative effort, which, with the complexity of modern life, is becoming annually more valuable and desirable, and it is to- the credit of the varied interests that comprise the membership of this progressive society that aspect of the occasion receives the emphasis and attention which it deserves. The farming community does its part by assembling in large quantities the varied fruits of the soil, which always make a spectacular and interesting display, and' the city interests of trade and commerce give balance and proportion to the communal exhibition of the display of a multiplicity of goods produced locally or imported from overseas. The manifold wares and manufactures which they present provide a tremendous contrast with the primary products of the province. For the season of the show, which will be held in the Agricultural Hall and various annexes which have had to be brought into commission as a result of increasing demands for’ space, the daily sessions will be from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and every endeavour has been made by the Society to provide a programme of attractions every day which will make the exhibition something more than a mere display of primary and secondary products. Throughout the city there will also be an extensive programme of conferences, meetings, and conventions, with a variety of sporting attractions, chief among which will be the winter racing carnival of the Dunedin Jockey Club at Wingatui. All of these should have the effect of bringing more and more visitors to Dunedin and to the show, and, in addition, should provide everyone with both diversion and instruction. The interest that has been created by this year’s show and carnival is reflected in the heavy inquiry for accommodation at hotels and boarding houses, many of which have been fully booked up for the whole week for some time past. UNSURPASSED IN THE DOMINION For many years the Winter Show in Dunedin has ranked as the finest display of its kind in the Dominion. Of recent times great progress has been made with this class of exhibition in North Island centres, and it is interesting to recall that in the case of some of the largest winter shows in the north the spade work was done with the assistance or under the actual direction of the officers for the time being of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society, which has long been regarded as the premier organisation of its kind in this respect. Other societies have forged, ahead of Otago in the matter of summer shows of livestock, but even if among such flourishing bodies as the Auckland, Manawatu, Waikato, andHawera Agricultural and Pastoral Associations there are one or two .whose standard of display has been annually coming nearer that of the local Winter Show, it. is still safe to assert that they have not yet surpassed local standards. Actually further development of the Dunedin Winter Show awaits the provision of more space. It is only a shortage of room for the accommodation of all the exhibits that are offering which prevents the local society from going on to still greater triumphs. This is a problem which the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society is already considering. For some years, past it has been necessary to utilise several adjoining premises to supplement the space available, and the Society has been extremely fortunate in numbering among its nearest neighbours in Crawford street business firms and individuals who have always taken a keen and active interest in its'work. Without the assistance they have rendered through the loan of stores and premises there would have been a definite halt in the steady advancement of this exhibition many years ago. FRUITS OF CO-OPERATION Every year it becomes more apparent that the Winter Show is not the work of any one section of the community. Its continued success has been the result of constant mutual endeavour. Early in its history the Society recognised the necessity for co-operation between rural and urban interests for its Winter Show, and, although the same success has not attended its efforts in this regard at the Summer Show, the measure of co-operation secured many years ago in connection with the Winter Show has not only been retained, but it has been increased. Although the farmer can display a whole

host of products which have a general interest for city people, he could not stage a show on his own, and the same applies to the manufacturer and the trader. Their wares are multitudinous and their variety is infinite, but a purely secondary exhibition would lose much of its appeal by the absence of the produce which the fertile soil of the province yields up each year. For too long in this country rural and urban interests persisted in the fallacious idea that their interests and aims were separate and distinct. Throughout some of the most fruitful years of development in a young country antagonisms were allowed to exist which even to-day are dying hard. The result in the past has been a lack of sympathy for and understanding of each other’s problems. Exhibitions like the Winter Show, however, have not only emphasised the importance of understanding and goodwill, but they have gone a long way in the direction of fostering the proper spirit of co-operation. Mutual effort directs the limelight towards both sections of the community. The show this year is being held under far from unfavourable auspices, the fact of reduced prices for classes of primary produce. Wool was a disappointing commodity from the marketing point of view, but dairy produce has met with a better sale than

was the case a year before, and values for mutton and lamb have been very fair. The farmer’s chief complaint at the present time is that the climate has been less kindly disposed towards him than it might have been. The harvest of root and grain crops has not been as complete as the grower would like, and a prolonged drought has caused a great deal of anxiety during the past few months. Nevertheless, with the memory of the dark years of depressipn still fresh, producers generally will find much to be thankful for in the season which is now closing. SATISFACTORY CATALOGUE OP ENTRIES The catalogue that will be presented by the Society to-day maintains the high standard of previous shows, and in many respects represents an improvement. A number of new classes have been added to the schedule, and additions have been made to the prize money and to the list of special trophies available for competition. The farmer has done his part well despite the setbacks experienced by him almost continuously since last spring. Roots, fruit, grain,

and seeds have been entered in large quantities, and the kitchens of city and rural housewives have produced the usual array »of baking, preserves, jams, home-made dairy produce, and arts and crafts. The total entries in these sections have reached their usual high level, and the figures suggest that larders and store rooms have been heavily raided for the choicest products of the year. Otago and Southland dairy factory companies have united to make a striking display of butter and cheese, and there is a fair amount of produce from northern provinces also. The standard of quality in these sections, which were judged yesterday, is stated by the judges to be up to the usual high standard, and in this respect the Society is entitled to congratulate itself upon a job well done. There can be no doubt that the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society, by the fostering of the competitive spirit among butter and cheesemakers, has done much to raise the standard of quality in the produce of these two provinces. / Fat cattle and fat sheep from the fertile pastures of South Otago, Central Otago, the Taieri Plains, and even as far afield as Southland fill the pens available for them and furnish a striking demonstration of what can be achieved by scientific stock breeding. The orchards of Central Otago and other districts are also represented, although not as strikingly as in some past seasons, due entirely to the failure of the export crop of pip fruits. The 75 per cent, decrease in fruit exports from this province could hardly fail to be reflected in the display at the show. Sectional bays of a non-competitive character have been provided by the various country women’s organisations throughout the province, chiefly the Women’s Institute and the Women’s Division of the Farmers’ Union. Then there are the school sections, the boys’ and girls agricultural clubs’ classes, and other club and society displays, which include photography, posters, model engines, and other crafts. Special provision of space and facilities has been made for the Department of Agriculture, which is staging another exhibit descriptive of the wide range of activities in research and experiment upon which the various divisions of the department have been engaged during the past year. Competitions of all kinds in dairy produce grading, sheep and cattle weight-guessing, woolclassing, and stock judging have also been arranged and will be conducted throughout the week. THE WEEK’S PROGRAMME Apart from the show, which is the principal event of the carnival, there will be mauy other attractions that will provide the variety of activity and diversion which visitors look for at this time of the year. In the more serious sphere of conference and congress there are the annual meetings of the Otago Provincial Council of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, the Women’s Division of the Farmers Union, the Farmers’ Union Mutual Insurance Association, and various gatherings of stock owners’ and breeders’ societies. The annual meeting of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society, and that of the Southern District Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand, have also been set down for this period. On the recreational side the chief attraction will be the winter meeting of the Dunedin Jockey Club at Wingatui, which extends over three days, aud good theatrical fare will be provided in the season of “ The Vagabond King ” at His Majesty’s Theatre, where it will be presented by the Dunedin Operatic and Dramatic Society. Other sporting events will no doubt attract a lot of attention, and there will be the usual round of evening amusements at picture theatres and dance balls.