“Her Majesty the Cow”

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 59, 1 June 1927, Page 1

“Her Majesty the Cow”

FORMER GOVERNOR’S FORESIGHT

Sidelights on the Waikato Show

HER MAJESTY THE COW is the reigning monarch of South Auckland. Her subjects in that territory number 8,000 dairy-farmers who profit from the bounty of their Queen, but at the same time are her servants. Producing one-third of the Dominion’s dairy products, South Auckland pastures graze nearly 50 per cent, of the country s kine. Small wonder, under these circumstances, that milking machines, dairy implements and testing gear are salient features of the exhibits at the Waikato Show, nor that over the whole scheme of things broods an atmosphere of butter and cheese.

VOT until late yesterday afternoon *’ did the- organisation swing into smooth movement. By that time the formal preliminjries were over.. The Governor-Gen-eral and his party had been politely ushered on to the be-flagged balcony inside the main doors, in an almost inaudible whisper Mr. William Wallace, president of the A. and P. Association, had bidden him welcome, and the Mayor, Mr. J. R. Pow, and the Hon. J. A. Young. M.P., had followed on with further cheering utterances. The reply of the Governor-General was characteristic —a clear, convincing speech, lightened here and there with pleasant humour and delivered in a voice that rang even unto the outskirts of the crowd, where the blare o( radio and gramophone and the sobs o( an infant or two, had jostled with the less distinct phrases of the other speakers. EXCURSIONS INTO HISTORY Between them the addresses, despite their formality, uncovered some interesting history. The occasion was not only the 21st birthday of Hamilton Show, but also it served to mark Hamilton's jubilee as a borough. Two good causes for rejoicing, therefore, presented themselves.

The show represents a monumental instance of loyal co-operation between town and country. That statement is made on the authority of the Mayor of Hamilton, and none who has seen the marvellous results will dispute the assertion. Town and country have prospered together. "They grew In beauty side by side,” is a phrase that might be applied to Hamilton and the Waikato.

Twenty-one years ago the Hon. J. A. Young 1 , who has never missed the pening of the Winter Show, went to Wellington to attend the funeral of

Mr. Seddon. On his way back he called in at the Manawatu Show, and decided that, since the Waikato was as productive as the Manawatu, Hamilton could stage a similar fixture. Already the idea of a Waikato show' was germinating, and within twelve months the

t v» t-i V c lUUJIUIB Lfie idea had become a, fact. Mr. Young was not the only one w ith reminiscences to broadcast. A soldier offshoot of a farming line, Sir Charles Fergusson told how his father, the Governor of 50 years ago, had discerned, so early in its history, the possibilities of the Waikato. Baok'ng his opinion with his money, he purchased a large tract of country neaj' ambridge, but he was before his time. ‘For fourteen years,” said the ueyernor-Geenral, “he cultivated it ana spent money on it, but he finally aa to give in. Had the circumstances !!i en "Cerent— and I could wish it so 1 might have been living among you, a fellow-farmer, at the old homestead at Cambridge.”

In every phase of the show the Governor-General and Lady Alice Fergusson, who joined him later in the

afternoon, betrayed the keenest' interest. Settling down to business, the show had covered up its raw spots in time for the Vice-Regal inspection, and the party saw it in an almost mellow atmosphere, • and if it were something of permanence, instead of just a temporary institution.

Through the long aisles there crept, yesterday, music from the show association’s orchestra, from trade booths, and from the hurdy-gurdy outside. All day long the electrics glow inside the dim buildings, where the passage of the hours is not registered by any change in the light. Though yesterday was only the formal opening day, crowds early began to stream through the buildings. More than an hour or two must be conceded if the show is to be done properly, so the attendances are likely to be maintained throughout the week. Colour and movement are here given a setting that has about it something of the flavour of an Eastern bazaar. In florists’ booths are heaped the tinted riches of the garden. Next door the sheen of polished machinery may reflect passers-by in queer distortions, while yonder a popcorn man appears to thrive. District courts were to have been a feature of the show —and though only Hillcrest, finally, was represented, the remarkable result atones for the absence of others. Hillcrest must be a thoroughgoing sort of place. Its stall is the picture of a festival of plenty, a cross-section of the fruitfulness of the Waikato. Of course, there would have to be a faulty note. Just to show that, for all the perfection of its fruit, Hillcrest still has birds. Some enthusiastic youth added a bird’s nest to the collection — but in the nest of a thrush he placed the eggs of a starling. Boys will be boys. TRAVEL BY PROXY Facts and fancy can carry the observer far away from some of the booths. There is phosphate from Nauru and sulphur from White Island. Quaint shapes wrought in New Zealand tile suggest Omar and his pottery. Lone ice-fields, mountain pinnacles, the triple cataracts of the Sutherland Falls—these leap out from one wall, where the Tourist Department has advertising space, and next door lives the Department of Agriculture, pointing a friendly finger toward success with flocks and herds.

Temporary institution though it is, this show leaves memories that last. The Taranaki farmers who arrived last night will see, behind its booths and benches, something of the greatness of the Auckland Province. Its fertility, the rich yield of its root crops, the output of its giant dairy factories, will astonish these pilgrims from he province whence came the nucleus of the Waikato herds. But now Waikato can be self-supporting. It owns herds enough—and good enough—to meet all its expanding requirements, with careful selection always the guiding principle of the successful dairy farmer.