ASHBURTON WINTER SHOW

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2216, 13 June 1908, Page 3

ASHBURTON WINTER SHOW

OPENED BY MINISTER FOR LANDS.

SPEECH BY MR. McNAB,

Press Association. ASHBURTON, Juno 12. Tho winter show ononed to-day, when there were record entries. One of. tlio chief features was an exhibit by tlio Agricultural Department. Mr. McNub, Minister for Lauds, performed the oponing ceremony. Ho hoped that if Parliament would give necessary financial assistance the principle of making extensive) exhibits bv the Agricultural Department would bo generally extended to country shows, when it would bo seen that even first-class farmers had much to learn from scionco and tho laboratory. Ill© farmer must turn out produce which would stand supreme above that of all competitors, For that lie had to linvo a. knowledge that could not lie acquired within a ring fence of the farm. The farmer required to call science to his assistance, and unless scientific men could be brought to this country and put tinder tho control of the' head of tho Department of Agriculture that, knowledge could not lie made available for them. Unless the Government of tho country brought these scientists to the doors of the people of New Zealand, tlic.ir assistance could not bo obtained at all. Tho Department of Agriculture) was but in its infancy, and it would liavo to grow. They showed that day material grown on tho experimental farms. They wanted men who could pub those lessons into a concrete form for the benefit of farmers. £BO out of every £I.OO worth of exports from the Dominion eamo from tho fanners, and only £2O out of every £IOO from all other industries, trades, and occupations. If they wanted to make their industries more valuable anil increase their exports they must develop along lines which such n- show as theirs represented. He was not able to tell them where tho experimental farms of the future would be located, but he was in a position to say that they hoped to have, within a few years, such a svstem of experimental farms that the work done in connection with them would bo a duplicate of all the agricultural work done in New Zealand. ’Whether an experimental farm would bo placed in the Ashburton district was a question for the Department's expert. The Minister was banquetted in the evening, when there was a large and representative attendance.