Paddock and Pavement

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 519, 23 November 1928, Page 8

Paddock and Pavement

MERGING .VITAL INTERESTS

COUNTRY and town developing side by side with proper communal understanding; benefiting mutually: advancing together toward the goal of national prosperity. lhat is the idea which forms the basis of summer’s rural carnival., at Epsom to-day. Once a year, in the season of rich maturity, the land offers the city choice proofs of progress. This afternoon and to-morrow thousands will feel a pulse that measures the wellbeing of the province.

Epsom—where paddock and pavement meet.

Ringed with canvas and gay with bunting, the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association's grounds are in. gala attire to-day. The setting is ideal in its apt symbolism. A beautiful suburb -with a background of distant hills. Enough green and open spaces to give the sweet freshness of the country, but a solid showing of city extension and settlement. It would be difficult indeed to choose a better meeting place for

rural and urban Interests; a finer stage on which to present our pageant of agricultural wealth. This year, it is a special occasion. The show has been selected as the association’s jubilee effort, and it is fitting and satisfactory that the displays and competitions should be bigger and more progressive than before. Every inducement for city-dwellers young and old, serious-minded and pleasure-seeking, is provided, and if the sun smiles on Auckland for the remainder of the week, complete success must accompany the 1928 .carnival muster. SHOWS DATE FROM 1777 The origin of annual agricultural shows, to us at any rate, is essentially British. It dates back to 1777, when the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society rvas founded and began to extend its operations in the southern counties and Wales. The Highland Society of Scotland was founded for similar ends in 1784, and the Royal Agricultural Society

was bom in IS3S. Its famous shows have been held annually Iu Britain ever since, and are the largest of their kind. Few are aware that these agricultural shows embraced, from their inception, a generous industrial representation from every section of the community. The common belief is that agriculture was the original and limited basis of summer shows: that trade displays, manufactures, and competitions have been introduced in comparatively inodern years to attract the urban public and to pander to the demand for novelty, variety and wider interests. On the contrary the oldest existing English organisation was founded “for the encouragement of agriculture, arts, manufacture and commerce.” There were booths, side-shows and games galore. The show was a happy, care-free mingling of town and country, with “dancing and prancing from morning till night,” and a generous, comprehensive catering for all tratdes and interests. LINKED WITH FAMOUS NAMES Thus was founded the summer carnival for farmer and city worker, and the custom has lasted down the years, growing steadily iu importance until it has become au -annual institution of immense value—a barometer of rural conditions, and a pleasant reunion with primary products and their gleaners. The history of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association is a tabloid record of progress in the Auckland Province. Its growth has been steady and thorough, and from the year of its first show in the summer of 1843, it has been fostered and encouraged by men whose names are linked with historic New Zealand. Dr. Johnson was the first president of the association and has been followed by presidents and officials whose energies are given fitting commemoration at Epsom to-day. The late Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey, Prime Minister of New Zealand, was president of the association from 1890 to 1893, and others who held office were Sir George Grey, Sir John Logan Campbell, Messrs. J. Dilworth, John Grigg, W. T. Bassett, W. F. Buckland, M. M. Kirkbride, and W. W. Massey, son of the late Prime Minister. But to return to- Epsom—the tents glistening white in warm sunshine, the flags waving on building and marquee, the green show-ring—enlarged this year to twice its former size—abustle with the competition parades of sleek stock. To-morrow will be people’s day, when the sideshow men, with their lures, noisy and intriguing, will reap a tinkling harvest, but to-day they are quieter, content to cater for the few whose minds are not on more, serious things. The farmer and his wares hold sway. Pen and stall. with their wellconditioned, rare-blooded contents, claim the attention of judges and amateur experts. Wool is being fingered and estimated. Fruits and produce are being classed and' tested, competitions are being arranged and launched. The 1928 Jubilee Show is in being.