FARM OR COLLEGE?

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 148, 18 March 1939, Page 4 (Supplement)

FARM OR COLLEGE?

Agricultural Training Au examination iu which there was no writing to be done would appeal to many lads, of very practical mind and capable at that. The following comment is from the “British Fanner” journal:— The problem whether a lad learns more about farming by going on a farm or going to college or an agricultural institute was raised at a meeting of the Dorset Agricultural Committee recently and is one which a good many farmers (aud others) must have been up against at some time.

Probably there are as many answers as there are lads and perhaps colleges. But whatever one's opinions or prejudices, there’s no doubt that colleges are wise in insisting on their students putting in at least a year’s actual work on a farm before granting a degree or diploma. There can be no two ways about the value of the scheme run by the Lancashire County Council for giving certificates of proficiency to working stockmen. The “exam.” is held on a farm, there is no writing, and the questions asked are the kind you would ask a man you were thinking of taking on. A pass in the “exam.” brings the entrant a certificate which, though it may not be a guarantee that the man holding it would suit you, does at least go a very long way to show that he knows his job.