TWENTY=TWO YEARS AGO

Taranaki Daily News, 8 June 1932, Page 9

TWENTY=TWO YEARS AGO

FIRST WINTER SHOW HELD COMPARATIVELY FEW EXHIBITS. HOPES EXPRESSED FOR FUTURE. Twenty-two years ago to-morrow, on June 9, 1910, the first regular New Plymouth winter show was opened by the president, Mr. W. Ambury, Mr. H. Okey, M.P., and the Mayor, Mr. G. Tisch. The show was located at the drill hall (in Te Arei 'Street, near the present gasworks), and the whole of the adjoining street was fenced in and utilised for the display. The centre of the hall was occupied by a large octagonal stage and subdivided into bays, which were all occupied by local linns displaying their wares—the product of local industry.. The upper portion of the stage took the form of a revolving canopy, which had a livening effect on the whole show. Exhibits of work from the various primary and secondary schools and cookery and preserves were on exhibition in the building, and in the annexe were to be found roots and farm produce, factory butter, oil engines, milking machines, etc. It is. worthy of special mention, in view of the spectacular motor olympiad in 193'2, that what was characterised as the most interesting exhibit of the 1910 show was a motor-car shown by Mr. Newton King. The secretary, Mr. E. P. Webster, had everything in good order, but the absence of a refreshment booth was a matter for lamentation. The fact that the entries in the crop section were not larger was attributed to the fact that the root crops that, year were universally affected by blight and a blizzard had destroyed the fruit. The show comprised garden vegetables, field roots, seed and grain, locally grpwn farm produce, ham and bacon, fruit, butter and cheese, home cookery, jams, sauces and pickles, honey, technical school classes, boy Scouts’ knotting, lashing and splicing, woodwork, and children’s competitions, together with various trade displays. The judges’ comments, were interesting. “Carrots were a distinct credit,” they said, “and it behoved farmers to pay more attention to the' cultivation of mangolds and carrots than to turnips, which were an uncertain crop so susceptible to blight. Swedes were a strong section,' and the onion's would take a lot of beating, some of them weighing about 31b. Potatoes and beet were wretched, but melons and pumpkins were excellent. There wete some fine apples and lemons, and good oranges. Ktimeras were also good,- but the disappointing feature of the exhibits was that" competition was confined to a few growers of crops of which nearly every- farmer and gardener could easily have entered a creditable specimen.” Music was dispensed 'by the New Plymouth Orchestral Union, under Mr. C. H. ’■ Lawn, the Garrison Band, and Mr. Perry’s orchestra. In response td the- popular demand an afternoon tea stall, made .its appearance on the second and filial day of * the show.

Shows had been held spasmodically prior to ■ 1910, but the early ■ activities in this direction are shrouded in antiquity, and complicated by the fact that at first there were • two - associations catering for agriculturalists in North Taranaki. .

It was not until late in the ’sixties that any appreciable amount of interest was disclosed in shows. The struggle for existence in a pioneering community, harried by the ravages of interracial warfare, was not a state of affairs suited to a close attention to the embroideries of farming life. However, it is fairly certain that the first show was held in 1868 under the auspices of the Taranaki Agricultural Association at the Oddfellows’ Hall.

This society, which had its headquarters at Omata, staged its second show on March 25, 1870, and of this particular event there is a full record. The most striking exhibits were “a couple of cucumbers grown-by Mr. Wells of Mangorei, very straight ana cylindri-

cal and over two feet long,” and '‘a packet of Taranaki hops, grown by Mr. Martin, was a cheering feature, indicating the commencement of the growth of a product almost new to New Plymouth.”-

The third show of the Taranaki Agricultural Society was held on March 24, I'B7l. A newspaper report .of the period deplored the lack of support given the movement by the outsettiers generally in not sending things for exhibition. In 1873 the society became defunct.

In the meantime a new association had arisen in 1872, and was operated as the Bell Block Agricultural Society, with headquarters at Hua Village. Shows were held in November, 1872, November, 1873, and December, 1874. On June 24, 1872, the Bell Block body changed its name to the Northern Agricultural Association, but the exhibition in 1874 was held under the name of the Taranaki. Agricultural Society, which name it retained for over fifty years. The winter show in its present form

lapsed for some time, although exhibits of produce continued to be shown. However in 1883 a horticultural, grain, root and dairy produce show was revived after a lapse of. 17 years, and a display very similar, to the annual winter show, though, ’of course, on a snialler scale, was opened on April 11, in the new Alexandra Hall. The show movement progressed slowly, the winter display haying a chequered career, fading at times into oblivion, until it received new life m 1910, and since then it has gradually gathered momentum as it progressed towards the 23rd annual winter show of to-day.