AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION.

Shannon News, 4 October 1921, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION.

A FEASIBLE PROPOSAL. The Levin branch of the Farmers’ Union, supported by prominent farmers throughout this district, has launched a proposal for the! establishment of a school of agricultural instruction at the Central Development. Farm, which matter is now being referred to the Government. At the last meeting of the Manawatu Sub-Provincial Executive of the Union the matter was introduced as a remit from the Levin branch, and ’was adopted, so that the proposition now has united support throughout the Manawatu and adjacent districts. A • school for farmers, similar to that which is being advocated locally, has been ini existence at the Ruakura State Farm for some years, and is! proving, a most valuable source of agricultural instruction. There is no question about the popularity of the movement, for at the last session during the winter, the attendance of farmers was the largest on record, and among the students were some from Canterbury in the South Island. The school .is . held during the slack season to suit ' the farmers, and as its opportunities are sd readily embraced in the north, there is not the least doubt it will be similarly supported in this district, •where the farmers are just as ready to advance their’ knowledge of agriculture as their contemporaries in the north. Indeed, with a convenient i centre like the Weraroa farm, the i whole of the southern portion of the North Island will be served, and once the school is commenced it. Will prove as popular as Ruakura. In the::e schools of instruction the Government is affording a valuable insight Rite the scientific as well as the practical in agriculture, and that the scheme is recognised at its true worth Is 1- st evidenced by its success at Ruakufa.. With that in mind, there is no dbuH an extension' of the be looked on with favour by the {ruthonties as one returning / very real benefits la. the -country as a whole. As it is only necessary to get a guarantee of an attendance of 50 farmers to commence such a school, those interesting themselves in the local profosal should secure this number without the least difficulty. The Farm is amply provided with accommodation, and With its own practical staff, together with the experts who would be called in tb assist, the farmers would havef rare opportunities for instruc-, lion, dnee established, it would .become more and more popular “as time goes on, and become in future a re' cognised seat of agricultural learning!