AGRICULTURAL SHOWS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21156, 1 October 1938, Page 15

AGRICULTURAL SHOWS

VALUE TO THE COMMUNITY

SPIRIT OF EMULATION It is a common experience to meet individuals who contend that agricultural and breed societies and agricultural shows serve no good purpose, and that the money expended in their promotion might very advantageously be diverted to other channels.

I This opinion, however, is erroneous, | because it is merely the formal expression of a conclusion which had I been arrived at without the devotion of j any mental effort to the consideration of the facts. It is unfortunately a fact that' very many of those who visit our shows do so with minds which are unattuned to the reception of ideas. I They go to them more or less in a dej tached spirit of curiosity—a spirit much akin to that in which they go to a theatre. They go to be thrilled and I entertained and not as students with I a wish to learn. The fostering of a spirit of emulation and competition amongst those engaged in any project is, speaking generally, the only means which has yet been devised whereby people so engaged can be stimulated to put forth and sustain their utmost efforts.

From the earliest recorded times it has been the custom to encourage advancement in all spheres of life by the offering of rewards to individuals contriving to approach the nearest to a defined and commonly accented goal. It is, therefore, by no means strange that, when the future which awaited developments in agricultural affairs became apparent, the practice of offering rewards to those who made the most marked progress should have been instituted. At the outset shows were necessarily very local and restricted in their nature and their sphere of operation, and were few and far between. But as their value became more and more evident, and as the means of intercourse improved, they spread throughout the country, and, in the course of time, they expanded in their scope, embraced other agricultural features in addition to farm livestock, and ultimately developed into the elaborate show system which we know to-day.