OFFICIAL OPENING

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 45, 27 June 1929, Page 5

OFFICIAL OPENING

SOUTH TARANAKI WINTER SHOW. HON. W, A. VEITCH PERFORMS CEREMONY. The official opening of, the South Taranaki Winter Show took place w the Main Hall of the Show Buildings yesterday in the presence of a Uwg* crOwd, the ceremony' by Hon', W. A Veitch,' Minister ot Labour >.-■"■'.. J. chairman of the Witter Show Company presided, and extended a -.welcome to. Mr Veitch to Messrs Pollard and Toovey, representatives of the. Port .ot, London Authority. On the platform alsc< were Mr H. G. Dickie, M.P., and the Mayor of Hawera, Mr A. E. Pacey. ,t, ..; . v. • Referring to Mr Toovey's mission to the Dominion as-a. representative of the, Port of London Authority, Mr Corrigan give ,a reminder that South Taranaki had an important port'as an outlet Tqr, dafry produce at Patea.'. ;In 1910, said Mr Corrigan, the exports amounted to 8339 tons of cheese and 105 tons of butter, , but in 1928 the respective figures were 19,509 and 1968, the total approximate value being £2,538,000. He extended ai cordiai welcome to the visitors and the general public.

MINISTER CONGRATULATED.

mie Mayor (Mr El. A. Pacey) said it his pleasure and privilege to, wekoine such, distinguished visitors Ho the town, especially the Hon. W. who had come to open the twentieth, show. He also' welcomed Mr Toovey, who had thought it worth while to come to the Dominion to see' the progress being made in the. dairying "industry. He congratulated the Minister on his promotion, to Minis?, terial rank and hoped his wouk? be a ldng v reign in "that office. Mr Toovey expressed thanks for hi* welcome, , and expresed the plea-.

sure it had given him to note the evidence of advance, in production being'in&de in the Dominion. In.congratulating the show executive and the district, on the excellent exhibi- , tion, he expressed, particular appreciation of the encouragement offered to the younger members of the cbm- ■■'.■ vmuiiity.. , , GROWTH 0F ; EXPORTS. ' ': Mr O. Jv Pollard, or London, a . dairy produce' ! merchant, endorsed Mr , Toovey's remarks and congratulated the ; show on the excellent arrange-. : ments and exhibits. He saidT he ■■.'. would tell his, people how best to arrange the prouuce which is sent to their shows. He traced the enormous growth of the. exports of "dairy produce in the. years since "the war. He was pleased to fie able to meet the people who were respon- ■ gible for that increase, :•, Mr Dickie took < the oi ' congratulating Mr Veitch on his.promotion to the Ministry and the fact : that he had, among other poitioiios, been given the important one of Labour. Hawera and district had for- • tunately been free of serious unemploytmant duiring *he past year, continued Mr Dickie, in reference to the work of the Minister, and'the production of the district had increased on a par with' development in other parts of the. Dominion. Mr Dickie also joined in the welcome - extended to the,Minister and the "visitors from London, and congratulated the show management and the exhi : bitora on the excellent display given at the show.

THE MINISTER'S SPEECH. The Hon. Wj. A. Veiteh expressed his pleasure at being present on the /occasion of'the. opening of -the twentieth Winter Show in Hawera and his thanka'for the cordial welcome. He said he carnie as a visitor only technically, for he was really a neighbour, and he hoped a good neigh-bour-to the people of Hawera, and would be pleased to work alongside them for the benefit of the country H» building up Its best interests. Mr Veitch said he was the bearer of a .kindly message from the Prime Minister, who, owing_to the early opening of Parliament, was unable to &*pvesent, and had sent him as his deputy. Sir Josepfr-'Ward said he had the ' most pleasant recollections of his last ... visit to Hawera, and would nave much-liked to be present, at the H» era Show. As Minister of Transport,, ; said Mr Veitch, it was very appropriate that he was present to open the twentieth show, and he hoped to be .able to offer his services on the occasion of the fortieth show. /VALUABLE AND USEFUL. The,sEow, he said, was a most valuable and useful institution. Ho saw

before him an exhibit which probably cost less in mOney than many of the other exhibits—he referred to the agricultural exhibit—but it was the most valuable he had seen. In it one saw grass grown under varying conand it was an object lesson) to any farmer and prospective farmer.

BENEFITS OF TO?-DRESSfNC New Zealand was entering on an entirely new feature of primary 'production, the fertilisation of the land' by top-dressings greatly increasing the pasture production. All might he proud of the progress made in tins direction, but so far they had only begun to realise the benefits of topdressing, and must go ahead to secure a great extension of the benefits, .to twenty times as much. Another exhibit showed how simply ensilage coiild be made. Many farms in the district were" getting an increasing amount'of grass during the warm months and lost it because the owners did not realise how to'store this additional amount so as to use it during the winter months. Many said farming was not progressing, but the progress was really amazing, and would be far exceeded, he believed, in the future.

"1 sincerely believe that the farmers of New Zealand are entering on a new era of prosperity," continued Mr Veitch. Production in dairying, sheep and cattle raising was increasing, but 'side by side with that it was necessary'to increase the number of people on the land. With all the opportunities befode it was reasonable to presume that in future years Now Zealand would continue to be 'the brightest gem in the crown of King George. He congratulated the show officials on. the fine results of tneir efforts and the quality and usefulness of the exhibition and'extendecT jbest wishes for its success in the future, in particular, said Mr Veitch, he wished to commend the organisation on the evidence of a hue standard of administration, credit for whiqh he felt was largely due to the secretary, Mr L. 0, Hooker. In "conclusion the Minister said « afforded Him great'pleasure *Q for " mally declare the show open. Thanks expressed by the Minister to Mr Corrigan for presiding during the proceedings and cheers for the Minister concluded the ceremony.