FARM TRAINING FOR SCHOOLBOYS.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17420, 3 April 1922, Page 9

FARM TRAINING FOR SCHOOLBOYS.

TEE EIGHT TYPE OF SETTLER, (FROM QUE OWN COKBESPOKDEVT.) LONDON, February 17. A capital sum of £3OOO has been left to Christ ; s Hospital—tho fairous Blue Coat School, at Horsham—by Mr R. T. Prowse, of Bushey Heath, to help its emigration training scheme, whose object is to give a year's practical course in farming elements to boys finishing their school curriculum who desire to go to the Dominions. The public school coy is regarded as. being an ideal type for settlement overseas, aud it is felt that Mr Prowse's legacy will go a long way in helping the desire of turning tho right kind of school-boy into the right type of settler. Mr Hamilton h'yfc 'headmaster.) discussing .the possibilities, finds that at present parents do not want their lads to go abroad, but too many go into business jobs without much prospect of getting on. Sooner than do that they should go abroad, where they wc-uld lead happier and healthier- lives and would be of much greater use. At Horsham now thereare about a dozen who are speciaJising in agriculture. "Farming," said Mr Fyfe, "is ve-y good training for boys cf slower wits, bu; we also want clever boys. In tho past bad boys and iauures t-.ave emigrated, but tne Dominions want brains. Farming is one of the forms of the school and wo want boys of very good ability to take it up. Progress with this scheme is necessarily slow, but- I am most hopeful and. believe that it will steadily grow to larger dimensions 1 ."

| Generally the boys who take tho : farm-training course begin at t-nc age •of 15 > liio average normal ago ior j leaving the school is' 17, but in cases | where tliuie is shewn a special aptitude ; for farm work and a noticeably .Keen iu- ■ terest in it is displayed, the period of instruction may )>e extended hy one year. It u feit by the Biuecoat Governors that tii'i time lias come when the whole question of emigration to , the "Dominion for the purpose of taking up wcrk on the Jaiia should be looked at from an entirely fresh point of view. Emigration has for too long been, :>. rather haphazard business, and tho opinion has been widespread that to work on the land in Canada or Australia is not tho sort of occupation that should follow • education at a public ! school. .Representatives from the Domi mions, however, in recent years have 1 frequently pointed out that the Oost heh> the Mother Country osm give to tl'.fe people oversea is to lend them the best class of Knadishmen, men witii a senis pf patriotism and discipline. It is believed than this demand may be suitably fulfilled by such means as thoso 'ihat are being taken at Horsham, and the question j:; a-ked: Why should'the farming course no*> form part of the curriculum at every public school?

It is "hieily from the point of, view of producing the best possible type of .'■migrant that the course i£ recommended (f-ays "Tl:e. Tnae/'h It will Fend men out tr> the Dominions who hav& comething more then, c. knowledge of ihe job'they are going to take up, men

who. by reason of their upbringing and education, will bo able to take a nand in tip problems of Empire consolidation end development. What the Church Army is Doing. Always eager to extend its usefulness, the Churoh Army has for many years, acting under the guidance of the Overteas Settlement Committee, madepraise;wcrthy efforts to equip several tlhousand lads, in the hope that.tney will avoid the lure and glitter of our great towns and sottle down on the land in the New 'World in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or South Afnoa. For this laudable' object the Oiiurch Army has established a technical training iarm of 709 acres, including 170.acres of woodland, not far from toe village of Hempstead, Essex, the operations of which have been highly praised as a means of enabling town lads to escape blind-alley employments and devote themselves tocountry life. It is under the charge of Captain Warner, a giaptical farmer and Church Army evangelist. During the fourteen years he has been there, nearly all the ladswlho have passed through his hands have "made good" in the Dominions, and many are now on the high road to prosperity. The boys are taught ploughing and milkingj tbey have tne care of cattle, pigs, and poultry; they ride, do carpentry, make and mend harness and boots; and they work ;is blacksmiths, being taught ■by competent instructors in each branch. There is time for physical exercises and outdoor games, and the whole atmosphere of the place and its surroundings is religious and spiritual. ; There is a Government grant for every lad who actually goes abroad, but thue griint is not avuEciont to cover all the expenses incurred. Tlfao deficit comes out of tne ordinary funds of the Church Army, who naturally desire the public to contribute towards the Imperial work, and they ask for subscriptions to bo sent to tho Hon. Director, C.A. Oversea Settlement Department, 15 Waterloo place, sq.ua.re.