The Summer Show

Southland Times, Issue 25545, 13 December 1944, Page 4

The Summer Show

THE 78th annual summer show of the Southland Agricultural and Pastoral Association will be held today. It promises to be as successful as a one-day fixture can be amid wartime difficulties. The limited accommodation has made it impossible to return to normal schedules, and the features which help to create the traditional atmosphere of show day must still be restricted. Nevertheless, there will be no lack of public interest. The large attendances at Winton, Gore and Wyndham can be taken to indicate a provincial support which will move to its climax in Invercargill. As at the earlier shows, the total entries show an increase on last year’s figures. The light horse section is especially strong. Those who love horses—and who does not, in Southland?—will be able to see a display representative of the best blood in the province. All other sections are well supported. Indeed, it is a tribute to the enthusiasm of breeders that sheep and cattle classes have been so well maintained at a time when farmers could be excused for evading additional tasks and responsibilities. Nevertheless, their efforts will not be wasted. Apart from the prestige gained by individual breeders, this annual display is a fine advertisement for the province. The productive resources of a green countryside are revealed impressively in livestock which in some sections must set the standards for the whole Dominion. There, is a communal pride in these exhibits which draws the people every year to the showgrounds. Some of them may enjoy the magnetism of the crowd; others may stay longest among the sideshows. But the grand parade is still the event of the day. The majority of those who go regularly to the show will admit that this is the occasion which gives them their strongest interest, and which comes quickest to their memories when they see the day in retrospect. They can feel then, as the high-spirited procession moves in front of the grandstand, that they live and work in a province unsurpassed in its natural endowment. It is a good thing that town and country can have this unifying experience once a year. The summer show is worth everyone’s attention. There can be little doubt that today’s attendance will reveal an interest deepened by the feeling that a peacetime expansion is drawing nearer.