“COMPETITION”

Te Ao Hou, Winter 1954, Page 47

“COMPETITION” C. N. de Latour of The Gane Milking Machine Co. Ltd., writes:— In the last issue I spoke about the value of team work in the successful promotion of the land development scheme—the co-operation of men, women and machines. Sir Apirana was very much aware of this. He also knew that when two good teams oppose each other in healthy competition that the best efforts of both come to the fore. In the early days of the development he thought that progress, though good, was not good enough, and appealed to Princess Te Puea whose team had already done good work in the Waiuku district to send a team of Waikatos to the Rotorua district “to show those Arawas how fast and how well the Waikatos could bring in land”. This team went over to Tikitere and, as everyone knows, broke in a large block on which some of the original Waikato men are still successfully farming. The general results of the competition were very good. The slump period which came upon us shortly after this unfortunately retarded the rapid progress as it did everywhere. However, cows still had to be milked and the Gane Milking Machines were still being installed to help the Maori farmer in his efforts to forge ahead. Competition from other makes of machines over the 49 years the Gane has been on the market has also played its part. Numerous makes of milkers have come on the market, they have copied Gane ideas, have tried to get the market with nice appearance, but they fell by the way, because the farmers found that “beauty was only skin deep” and the machines did not do the job in the shed. Which only goes to prove that competition also has kept the Gane designers on their “toes” to keep their leadership. When that much beloved Governor-General—Lord Bledisloe—was here he too recognised the value of competition. he was so impressed with the wonderful progress the Maori farmers were making that he decided he would give a cup to be held by the Maori farmer who had made the most progress each year. For some years this was known as the Bledisloe Cup but latterly as the Ahuwhenua Cup. I do not know the reason the name was changed but I do know that competition for it is keenly entered into each year and what “worried” looks there were in certain circles when this trophy went missing a few years ago. So in closing remember this, that just as competition between teams in their canoes, on the football field, and on the land produced the best from the Maori, so competition from machines has still kept the “Gane” the best milking machine for your farm—always ask for “Gane”. Gane Milking Machine Co. Ltd., Auckland, Hamilton, Whangarei & Palmerston North Agents everywhere /ADVT.