Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1932 SHOW CARNIVAL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17919, 25 October 1932, Page 6

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1932 SHOW CARNIVAL

\ v li (.* 11 .niirnv mm* cumos roiiruL in on wo know that spring has fully arrived, that tin l busy ,season for our agriculturists anil pastoralists has commenced, and that the soil and climate or this rich district are about to give freely of their abundance. The vivid sheen upon tho hills, the lush pastures, the orchard blossoms, and the tender crops all serve to remind us of the bounty of Nature and that we dwell in a fortunate land. The annual exhibition of stock and produce demonstrates the capabilities of our district and thereby is calculated to give courage to our people, stimulate their enterprise, and lead to greater and more intensive production. It is in times such as the present, when through the debasement of markets the outlook for many of the farming community is exceedingly gloomy, that the Show can better serve its purpose of encouragement, perhaps, than in periods of prosperity. Hard times can only be met by greater concentration of effort, by improved methods, and by assiduous attention to quality. Quality is the predominating feature of every show, and there is endeavor to build up in every department of agricultural and pastoral effort higher standards of production. It is only thus, it seems to us, that New Zealand rumors can hope to succeed. In all our primary industries we are meeting with greater and keener competition every year. Our competitors arc striding to excel. At the Empire dairy show in England last week it was a Queensland factory which secured the coveted championship for butter. Australian farmers arc rapidly improving t lie quality of their lambs, South Africa is building up the standard of its flocks; South America, we may be sure, is leaving no stone unturned to maintain the superior position it. enjoys through contiguity to markets and through breeding stock of a quality to suit those markets. New Zealand cannot afford to slacken its eicorts to produce the highest grade in everything it exports. In this work, the annual shows plnv a very important part. They set standards, they give ideas, and by promoting friendly rivalry and healthy competition lead inevitably to better farming and stockraising throughout the country. One has only to look back ovc. a decade or more to realise how great, nil influence the A. and I*. Society has had on the farming progress of litis district. The Shows themselves have improved out of sight in respect to the numbers and quality of the stock and the agricultural exhibits. It does not seem many years ago since the Show was regarded almost entirely as an equine display, sheep and cattle classes were so poorly represented. To-day the Show presents a good cross-section of the farming activities of the district, every department being well and creditably represented. Any visitor to the showgrounds today or to-morrow will come away well .satisfied that Poverty Bay can hold its own with most districts of the Dominion for the excellence of its products. And having viewed the Show and seen the quality and varied nature of its exhibits, it is difficult to believe that farming in New Zealand is going to remain permanently in a state of depression. We have so much of superior quality that tue world needs and for which the consumers of the world are skill paying good prices. Take lamb for instance. We read in n recent issue of tho London Times; "It is difficult at uie moment to buy lamb under Is 4d or mutton under Is 2i a pound.’’ Yet the forecast has been made that the opening price for lamb for this season in New Zealand v ill bo 4d a lb. A Welsh farmer, writing to the Times, states that he breeds from Welsh owes and always sells his lambs in August; that three years ago they fetched 40s whilst to-day only £1 is offered; yet the price of meat to the consumer has altered very slightly. It is this gap in values which will have to be vigorously tackled before salvation can come to the farming industry, amt it is good to see that the fanners in the Qld Country are taking it up. But we digress from the Show. With record entries it is a splendid exhibition and one of which the people of tho district can well be promt. It must be highly encouraging to the enthusiastic executive of the A. and P. Society,, who have given so much time and effort to the establishment of the up-to-date showgrounds, to And their efforts so well supported by the forming community. That they will have the support of the townspeople goes without saying, for the popularity of this annual gathering grows more and more as the years go by, and the people value tho opportunities nuordcd at the showground for fraternisation between town and country and for making a survey in this pleasant

manner of the progress of the dis triet’s staple industries.