WINTER SHOW OPENS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 540, 25 May 1933, Page 5

WINTER SHOW OPENS

A SPLENDID DISPLAY

FERTILJTY QF DISTRICT NEW SHOW BUILDING HOUSES BIG ARRAY OF EXHIBITS MINISTER OF LANDS .PRESENT Although the day dawned dull and overcast, weather conditions .cleare-i yesterday afternoon for the opening of the Rotorua A. and P. Association's new sh'ow huflding'. and the 1933 winter .

exhibition. The show was officially opened by the Minister of Lands, the,, IJon. E. A. Ransom, and throughout the afternoon, the exhibition hall was crowded with an interested attendance of the puhlic. The standard of the exliibits was in keeping with the forward step taken by the association in its new huilaing, and all exhibits were giv.en an excellent setting through the spaeious accommodation available.

Warm eongratulations were extended' to the asMr. Ransom sociation hy the Minister upon its enterprise in erectr ing ^he new building, and the consensus of puhlic opinion reflected the favourahle impression created by the new quarters.

The well laden benches gave a striking indication of the fertility and varied resources of the district. This was particularly evident in the garden , and field roots section, while the increased entries and high standard set by the farming products on exhibition reflected the marked progress which has been made in the farming development of the district. The show was well patronised again in the evening, when interesting displays were _ given, while the side shows, inevitahle accompaniments of any A. and P. show, had their full share oi business.' The official opening took place shortly after 2 p.m., when the Minister was ushered on to the stage at • the end of the hall, where members of the general eommittee of the association, together with the Member for the District, Mr. C. H. Clinkard, were accommodated. Owing to business arrangements, the Mayor, Mr. T. Jackson, was unable to he present, and an apology on his behalf was tendered by the president of the association, Mr. H. P. Ford, who occupied the chair. In introducing the Minister of Lands, Mr. H. P. Ford paid a

tribute to tne mterest and foresight whidh had b(een displayed hy Mr. Ransom in developing the Rotorua lands. It could justly be said that the establishment of the farming industry in the district was to a large extent due to his efforts. He thought that the excellent display of exhibits in the hall furnished very adequate proof of the success of the Minister's endeavours. Mr. Ford then proeeeded briefly to trace the development of farpiing in the district from the very early stages when the first Pakeha settlers took up their holdings. At? the outset, as they knew, the land had not been considered suitable for farming purposes and as a result any efforts that had been made had been concentrated upon the development of the tourist attractions. The first settlers who had ventured upon farming pursuits had received very little encouragement and had had to depend entirely upon their own resources so far as finance was concerned. The land at that time had been considered entirely unsuitable for cultivation and' the first pioneers had had no opportunity of obtaining State financial aid. First Step Forward. However, a number among them had persevered and had succeeded so suceessfully in breaking in the scrub land that they had attracted the attention of outside practical farmers. The next step had been the erection of the Ngongotaha dairy factory and •in this progressive move th'e efforts of Messrs. Martin Bros., who were among the very early settlers of the district, had played a very large part. Further assistance had been given by the decision of the Waiariki Native Land Board, which about this time threw open several large tractsof land at Te Ngae. As a result, a further impetus was given to land settlement and among the outside farmers who had been attracted by the possibilities of the district had : been the present Minister of Lands, the Hon. Mr. Ransom. As a result of his interest as Minister of Public Works, a great deal had been done in opening up the district and in hringing the roads to their present very satisfactory condition. Then, when he had taken over the portfolio of Minister of Lands,

Kr. Ransom had initiated his present 'actical and progressive scheme of land development. The results of that scheme had largely contributed to the present development of Rotorua and he thought the results spoke for themselves. Practical farmers would he the first to admit the success of the Minister's efforts. It was a very fine work which was being carried out and one which would mean a very great deal to the generations of the future. Association Congratulated In opening, the Minister congratulated the association up-on th'e exeeptionally fine display on the show benches. Their enterprise in erecting the new building, he thought, would be amply rewarded, as they are new provided with splendid accommodation. He had first been impressed with the possibilities of developing tlqe Rotorua land when he had visited Mr. Hardcastle's property many years' ago. At the time when he first advocated its development in the House, he had little belief that he would one day J>e in the position, as Minister of Lands, to give effect to his ideals. The new show buildiiig, he thought, stood as a monument to the faith and fqresight qf th'e farmers of the Rotorua (listrict. This faith was amply justified. for the district had already made remarkahle strides iii its production. This was evident by the fact that the dairy factory operating in the district had enormously increas-

ed its output. In 1927 th'e factory had. produced 6,83 tons! of butter, but six years later, in 1933, its output had increased to 2,314 tons. This was, after all, a refieetion of thT progress made in production by the whole Dominiqn. In 1914, New Zealand's output of butter had been 19,934 tons, but to-day the Auckland provinee alone was producing 3i times that quantity. "If I leave any mark at all through my administration," concluded the Minister, "I hope that jt will be in bringing idle country into production. I regard that as much more important than the cutting up of large estates." Generally speaking the exhibits . at the show are well up to the standard of past years. The number ,of entries in several classes have shown a substantial ipcrease and the trade displays are distinctly interesting. In the produce section the vegetables are ahead of last year's quality, btlt the field roots are not quite so good; they lack slightly the smooth perfection of some previous exhibitions. In the vegetable section the Tourist Department and Mi'. H. Hardcastle made exceptionally good entries for exhibition only, the latter deciding not to enter the competitive classes op this occasion. The industrial section was particularly strong, many of the exhibits winning warm praise. There were some really fine birds in tl^e poultry classes, but the lighting pf the room was bad and birds on thq lower tiers of the pens >vere obscured by shadows. Governor-General's Yisit His Exeellency, the Governor-Gen-eral, Lord Bledisloe, will visit the show at 10.30 this morning and will be received by the president, Mr. H. P. Ford and officials. He will spend an hour inspecting the exhibits and will take morning tea. He will he accompanied by Her Exeellency, Lady Bledisloe. Gcod Takings Up to 9.30 last evening the sum of £80. 14s had been taken at the door ■of the show. This is more than the total for the two days last year and easily constitutes a record as far as the association is concerned. Adults who pa^d for ^admission numbered 1451 and children 818. Last year ori the first day the taking were £33 4s 6d and on the second day £30 17s. THE EVENING SESSION The public thronged the hall in the evening and crowds filed past the tables and exhibts while the sidesho.w men reaped a harvest. Small bpys scuttled through the press, all but upsetting their elders and sellers pf guessing competition tickets impqrtuned their friends and aequaintarices with a persuasive eloquence whjpb extracted the last shilling frqm the last man. On the stage the Boys' Band under Lt. Tregilgas, added tq the pleasure of the evening by rendering a .programme of music diversified at times by the different wireless operators testing out thqir machines. Machine Gun Display Under Sergeant-Major " Bates, D.C.M., a machine gun section of the i VI Hauraki Regiment performed. miracles of speed in mounting and djs- ' mounting their deadly weapons on the stage with remarkahle precision. This was q popular item with the audience and the work of the men showed that their long hours of arduous training had not been wasted. Bayonet fighting was also a popular- item and copsiderable skill was shown.

Business Brisk The stalls which catered for thq public in different ways did extremely good business an'd the interest dis-' played in the exhibits by the public generally showed that the show 'fills a very definite niche in the public life. Stewards and exhibitprs alike had. a husy time and housewives thronged around the home industries. sections, voicing ..expert opinion on thp CQoking and jam -making displays. Thq trade- exhibits had their circles of inr terested spectatqrs and the farming community especialjy'spent a considerable time looking over the agricuitural departpient's stail. Tourist Department's Exhibi^ It was perhaps at the Tourist Department's exhibit that the majority of people stopped most often for a second glance. Trophies of the chase from all parts of New Zealand, hut thd bulk from the Rotorua district itself Were shown in a hpwer of ferhs and they made a brave display. There was more than one comment from overseas visitors on the excelience of the layout of the corner in which it was housed. • Gyminiastic Display A troupe of members of thq Rotorua Gymnastic Club gave a most interesting and pxtremely popular gymnastic display which showed that mqch time and pains had been spent in training. The • suppleness they displayed demonstrated that they had gone in for their work thoroughly and with full enjoyment.