NATIONAL DAIRY SHOW

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 851, 24 June 1910, Page 8

NATIONAL DAIRY SHOW

FINAL EVENTS. PASSAGE-AT-ARMS AT SMOKE CONCERT. NO DAISY SCHOOL. Spleudid weather prevailed for tho ■third (lay of the National Dairy Show. .Tho morning trains brought in thousands of visitors from all directions, and tho attendance at tho grounds was greater than on any other occasion in the history lof the association. The takings up till last night were .£294, which is JCSO more than last year. Doubtless, too, to-day's (receipts were greater than has been tho ■case on any previous third day. The chief public attraction was the horsejumping events, whilo meetings of several Stock' Breeders' Associations were held at the show building. The Minister for Agriculture (tho Hon. Thos. Mackenzie) •arrived by the Main Trunk train from .Wellington, for the purpose of inspecting the show, and to attend the annual smoke concert. The show will bo closed '■to-morrow evening. To-morrow afternoon an Association football match botween teams representing Wellington and Manawatu will be played in tho' oval. Tho Palmerston North and Dannevirke High School fifteens will also meet at Rugby. ■Mr. D. Cuddie, Dairy .Commissioner, met some of the produce makers this morning, and went round the exhibits with •;them, explaining points of interest and b'alue relating to this important industry. PfIIZE LIST. MILE-TESTING COMPETITION. . The results of the milk-testing comajetition, which was open to farmers' Icons and High . School pupils, ■ were (known this afternoon. Tho awards were ta follow:— Dorice Fowler, Hiwinui School, 08 jioints, 1. Gladys Hill, Hiwinui School, 97 point', 2. Maggie Bassett, Hiwinui School, 9G 'joints, 3. Ralph Kinie, Kaponga ■ Schooi, 9i 4. Roy Richardson, Ohakea School,' 92 points, 5. There were IS entries. BUTTER SPECIAL. The gold medal for competition among Ithe South Island dairy factories scoring .'highest points in any one of certain glasses was won by the Taieri and Peninsula Dairy Company. HORSE JUMPING. Two horse jumping competitions were Sheld in the oval before a great crowd, and the jumping was of a fair standard. fThe maiden hunters' event was won by jjlr. C. A. Banks's Chalice, with Mr. 0. IN. Dtuce's Sam second, and Mr. .T. Sweeney's Flamingo third. Mr. George's received a heavy fall through ;iis mount, Waiata, crashing into one of fthe walls. The pony leaping contest was won by (Mr. Haughton's Casey. Miss E. Sanson's ,entry was second, and Mr. J. Campbell's 'Pickpocket third. : ANNUAL SMOKE CONCERT. A LARGE GATHERING. THE TOASTS AND.SPEECHES There was a very large attendance at /the annual smoke : concert of the -National (Doiry Association to-night. The number ypresent is stated.'- to. hare been greater ithan on any.previous and.the 'large agricultural hall was-packed. The "Dairy Factory Managers' Association bad 4 intended to hold a social function on' ■"Wednesday. evening, but cancelled .the proposal in favour of making the association's gathering , one big. combined .affair. Mr. C. A. J. Levett, president ot -the Manawatu A. and P. Association, was in the chair, and there were on the platform with him the Hon. T.. Mackenzie (Minister for Agriculture)), Messrs. J. A. Nash (Mayor of Palmerston North), jD. Buick, ALP:, R. M'Nab,_..J.. O'Dea : (chairman' of; the Factory Managers' Association), J. Murray "(secretary .of the JTactory Managers' Association), J. MacFarlane, J. G. Harkness, W. Borrie, and J. Fisher (members of the council of the National Dairy Association). The toast of "The Army and Navy", was respondto by Mr. M'Nab; whose remarks are reported in another column. Mr. D. Buick, M.P., replying to the ; *ioast of "Parliament," said that the National Dairy Show, annually held in Palmerston North, had become tho most successful in New Zealand, and anyone who wanted more than could be seen at it would be hard to please. In .proposing the toast of tho "National Dairy Association," Mr. T. R. Hodder stated that it was really the Dairy Association which had brought the winter show into existence, and which had also done good work in connection with the spring show. Messrs. A. MacFarlane and J. G. Harkness, who replied, expressed gratitude for .the co-operation of the A. and'P. Association with the show; which this year <was considered ahead of any previous exhibition. The farmers of New Zealand, said Mr. Harkness, were an independent class, and did not want a punitive band of instructors coming to them, but when the inspectors come in the capacity of instructors the- farmers would give them a hearty welcoine. (Applause.) E'e considered tnat the present exhibition of dairy machinery could not be surpassed in any-part of • the world. (Applause.) "Factory Managers' Association." Mr. G. J. Wheeler, who proposed the toast of "The New Zealand Factory Managers' Association and' Kindred Associations," referred to the saving of labour brought about by the introduction of milking machines. Mr. O'Dea, in the course of his reply, said that his association appreciated the treatment received from the A. and P. Association in accepting, without amendment, the recommendation sent forward to them. In order that the standard of the dairy herds might be raised, he considered that more instructors should be appointed to teach the farmers how to test their cows. Some cows were being milked, which were not paying for their grass. There was an impression : that factory managers did not approve of milking machines, but members of his association recognised that the milk obtained through machines was just as good jis the milk drawn by hand if the machines were properly looked after.

Response was also made 'by. Mr. X Murray and Mr. W. Perry. (Masterton). The latter said that it was proposed that they should have a winter show in Masterton, but he was going- to oppose', it from the start. Among other things, tho Masterton Association was not in a position to hold such a fixture at the present time, as they had 'the'new show ground arrangements in hand. They ■were going to have .the best-planned show ground in New Zealand,'thanks to Mr. ,T. M Johnston, the treasurer of the, Manawatu A. and P. Association, who had drawn the plans. SPEECH BY THE MINISTER. The Mayor of Palmerston North (Mr. J. A. Nash) proposed tho toast: "The Minister," and said that tiro people of Palmerston North had', a '.very- warm corner in their heaTte for the Hon. T. Mackenzie. Replying to the toast, the Minister (g»id that ho Tenanted -tho dairymen 4 as ;

the bone and sinew of the Dominion. Tho .Ministry had endeavoured to forward agricultural interests. Look at tho dairy display at this show. It was a erc-dit to them, ami there was nothing better in tho world than the* display of fruit at tho winter show. If the 'country could produce apples like that there was no reason why New Zealand should not place its apples on the. London market, and London imported .t't.llflO.OOO worth of apples every year. Tasmania sent to England every year .2200,000 worth of apples, Canada i!500,00li, and the United SUites .£1,000,000. To encourage the fruitgrowers to export, the State would guarantee one penny per lb. on the shipments. He believed that there was a. bright future for the fruit industry of New Zealand, and said that things were encouraging for the growers. Mr. Buick had said that lie never knew where the •speaker was. "You always know where Tom. Mackenzie it? on agricultural matters," declared the Minister. lie had 'devoted himself unsparingly both here and abroad to the agricultural interest of his country. They must have men who realised that there was ' a continual changing of economic conditions. What suited 50 years ago was not suitable today. Agricultural Department Defended. •Speaking of the Agricultural Department, there were in the Dominion leaders of public thought who said that the whole Department should be wiped one Tho member for Clntha had saiTi tho other day: "Wipe out the Agricultural Department; repeal the Noxious Weeds Act; and do away with the Rabbit Act." Another leader cf public thought had said: "You can carry on the Agricultural Department, with .£IOO,OOO a year less expenditure." The Minister would not have been surprised at. that coming from a city representative, but when it. came from a country representative it I showed that lie was not conscious of tlu; ! responsibilities which lay upon his shoulders. The speaker went on to refer to the money which had been spent in instructng the farmers in cool storage, inspecton, and grading, and asked: "Is that for our own benefit?" New Zealand had to compete against tho greatest dairying countries of the world, which were close to the markets, while the Dominon was 13,000 miles away at the remotest corner of the Empire, and if the Government was doing for the tannery what he had said, were the Government not doing them a service, and were not the men who said' that the Department should be wiped out tho farmers' enemies? Tho Department's officers were spending their lives instructing the farmers. They had carried out economies in the Agricultural Department to the extent of .£28,000 in the last twelve mouths, but still he to place the agricultural portion of New Zealand on a footing equal to that of any country in the world. , What the Government is Doing.

Referring to the dairy regulations, ho declared that they were never in force, nor adopted by the Government, but unscrupulous men had said that thoy were. Efficient instructors had been employed, with the result that New Zealand dairy produce had taken a high place in the world's markets. Hardly anyone had supported him in Parliament when he had referred to excessive butter moisture in New Zealand, but ho had takeii that stand because of the English laws.,

Alert buyers at Home, taking advantage of tho dip in the market, had provided for a Home arbitration clause governing sales, and this opened the door for what was practically robbery of tho New Zealand producers. Desiring to further experimental work the Government was now supplying seed and fertilisers to constituted authorities. At present experiments were being made with lands north of Auckland, and the disappearing' pastures of the Mackenzie Conntry in Canterbury, and in Otogo.

Bright Future Before Us. Mr. Mackenzie went on to say that .the prospects for the future were of the highest, and he quoted.figures which he said disproved the. statement made in 6omo of the leading Old Country journals that ■the-New-Zealand people were being taxed out of existence. These figures dealt with concessions to Crown tenants. and stock-owners, and with mortgage tax and Customs • duties. • Incidentally the Minister mentioned that although a concession of ,£215,000 had been made to the. Colonial Sugar Refining Company, the price of sugar "had been raised by £2 10s., so that the consumer was not getting the benefit which the Government had intended to give him. ' Referring more particularly to- the-diminishing, output of produce in America the Minister said that the prospects for New Zealand industries had never boen more hopeful. In spite of what certain Jeremiahs* alleged to the contrary, in his opinion, Now Zealand was on the ove of one of the greatest eras of prosperity which tho world had ever seen. "I would' add," said Mr. Mackenzie, in conclusion, "that if we who are connected with tho political situation do our duty in the interests of the Dominion, the producers of our country. need never fear for its future."

Other toasts honoured were the "Agricultural Department/' proposed by Mr. Harkness and responded to by Messrs. Clifton, Reakes, and Cuddie; "Exhibitors and Judges," "The Visitors/' and "The Manawatu A. and P. Association/' proposed by Mr. M'Nab. Suggestions by Mr. Harkness. Speaking at the "social," Mr. Harkness pointed out the means by which he considered that improvements could be effected at future shows. He urged that the exhibits should not, year year, occupy the same positions. Again, as the dairy industry was chiefly concerned with the show, was it not reasonable, he asked, that the dairy products should be staged to tho very best advantage?; Was the butter • exhibited in the best possible manner? A voice: No. Mr. Harkness remarked, in conclusion, that he had no desire to find fault, and ho spoke as ho did for the sole purpose of endeavouring .to strengthen weak points in the show. He hoped that the Palmerston Show would long rank as one of the finest exhibitions of the dairy produce of the Dominion. (Applause.)