THE TWO SHOWS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 178, 13 March 1914, Page 4

THE TWO SHOWS.

Cambridge and Franklin Compared^ Not with the idea of making an odiuus comparison, but for tho purpose cf helpfulness, "Visitor" writes about the Cambridge and Franklin Shows as follows:

At the present time in the Auck. land province the lending -Spring Shows are those at Auckland and Hamilton. As Spri:g twj stand out far ahead cf any others held in the province. The leading Autumn b'howj of the province are those of Franklin and Cambridge. 'lhe franklin Show, which is held at Pukekohe, from its proximity lo Auckland might almost bn called the Auckland Autumn Show. 'lhus we see that Auckland ar.d its environments are the rivals of the Waikato, both for the leading place in Spring and Autumn Shows. It is my intention now to compare the Autumn Shows, and in a fri:ndly spirit to point out the advantagis snd disadvantages the Franklin Show has when comoared with the Cambridge one. hi fight hacks and iat stock Cambridge lead?, and it is a miid estimate to place the quality cf the exhibits In this section as twenty-five per «nt. ahead of Franklin. On the ether hand in Jersey caitle and dairy cows Franklin easily leads by twenty-five per cent., as it also does in the produce and honia industrial sections. In all other Eertior.s both dhowa are very nearly equal, so that in the aggregate of exhibits both shows are about equal. However, from a spectator's point of view the Cambridge Show is a far superior exhibition. The Cambridge executive are born stagemanagers and know how to stage a show to the best dramatic advantage. Their grand parade was a magnificent spectacle and was a masterpiece of good organisation. The way fhe winners were chronicled on large black-boards shows what a genius they have for detail; ad the way the black-board steward* performed their duty shows what painstaking workers they have in Cambridge. In fact, the secret of Cambridge's success lies in its workers. I was informed by one of the that when they called this year for a working bee tu put the ground in order fifty volunteers turned out and worked as only Britishers can work, so that it did not cost the Society one cent for labour. In the g.aid parade the same applies-. The way the head stewards got their various sections into the ring, ana) the precision with wfcicrtthey moved? was more like a military evolution than a parade at an agricultural show.

Again, as it is in work so it is in pay. In looking through the list of prizes and donations given to the Franklin and Cambridge shows, 1 find that farmers have contributed about £2O towards their funds as against £IOO by Cambridge farmers. In Cambridge the membership feß is £1 Is, as against 10s in Franklin. The prize money at Cambridge is £IOOO as against £750 at Franklin. Now, if the Franklin Stow is going to march side by side with the Cambridge one, the Society vill have to wake up. Firstly, the rank and file of its members will have to take a more live interest in the Society and attend its annual and other general meetings. Secondly, the whole body of the executive will have to put their shoulders to the collar and pull altogether. There will be no room for jibs in such an executive. It is very true Jhere are* a tew very good workers In Franklift, but they are too few. *, Again, the local exibitort •'at Cambridge seem to be better sports than those of Franklin. Itify exhibit for the sake of the not for the sake cf the prize andthey are not afraid of being beaten. In all their classes they had good entries and had a total of about 100 more than#Franklin. The same cannot bo said for the Franklia exhibitors. Let us take a case in point. In Mr A. K. Wilkinson's special prize class, 126 a, ha was the only exhibitor, yet there were at a dozen more in the locality who had exhibits eligible for'this class. However, on the new showgrounds we hope to see a still greater improvement next year in the Franklin Societ/, than even the very marked improvement that has taken place during the last two vears.