AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1801, 14 July 1913, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

AND TELEPHONE EXTENSION. Mr. Herbert J. Richards, of Levin, sums up the conditions in his district as follows;— 7 I.—No. Under the present system of education, children are being fitted more for the professions and town occupations than for lifo on the land. 2.—Returns as good as can be expected from trading with capitalistic, rather than co-operative, concerns. 3.—Yes. Railway facilities are fairly good, but a little less red tape, and improvements in matters of detail are' required. This district is exceptionally well roaded. I.—No. An extension of the rural delivery and the linking of country homes with the telephone system, on a better and cheaper scale, are urgently needed. 5- and 6.—Yes, agricultural shows and the Department of Agriculture are of direct benefit here. 7.—No. Farmers are most difficult to organise. Farmers' co-operative trading concerns exist (except in the meat trade), and farmers can avail themselves of ttfem if they choose. B.—The farmers here aro mostly freeholders, but tho land has been purchased too high, and tho interest on mortgages does not leave much' (margin. 9.—No. is a certain amount of labour obtainable, but tho quality is very inferior, and has a tendency to get worse. 10—No. The constant raising of wages, shortening of hours, and tlio pleasant environment in, tho towns, compared to the longer hours, wet, cold, <uid dirt surrounding tho country worker, must always tend to draw boys and girls to a town life.

11.—Technical agricultural education, and the extension of the telephone system.