FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 6 July 1907, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY.

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. WHAT CANADA IS DOINI.I. All interesting account ol' wdiat is being done to fit young Canadians and Americans in rural districts for country lile is L r ivoll by Sir Francis Channing, 11.A., M.l'., in Hie May number of the Fortnightly Review. Elementary agriculture and gardening are generally made part ol tlie regular curriculum in Ameica country schools. "Such training," says the school authorities of illonois in their syllabus, "Instils love for the land and love of industry, makes strong characters and good cTtizcns. puts to the test early in lile the ability to do it definite thing, gives insight into the material side of civilisation, and trains the pupil to think and study for himself." In that state courses are arranged by months with experiments and observations bearing 011 all branches of agriculture. Clubs are formed among farmers' sons for testing at their homes improved varieties of Indian corn and sugar beets. Similar club* of boys anil girls have been organised by the agricultural colleges of lowa, Ohio and Texas. In Missouri the State s school teachers are left in great freedom in adapting the schoohvork to local rc<|iiireiiicnts. A wide and elastic syllabus allows for '•experimenting at homo i nl,( l ,n the fields," for planting, growing, and selecting seed corn and wheat, for the study of noxious insects, and the _ feeding of farm stock. Nearly all the I State provides for their elementary teachers summer courses at agricultural colleges. In North Carolina—not a po- ; pulous State—l2,ooo school children re- . ccive instruction in agriculture. Classic room work is supplemented hy simple _ experiments with soils, plants,"and aninials, both at school and at home. Saturdav excursions are made to sec imi proved live stock at some farm, or to a country fair, where the older pupils judge } stock, fruits and grain, and compare their own scores with the work of the judges. In short, the elementary principles and practice of agriculture are brought before the minds of the children colli inuously, from the lower primary "1> 'lo the high school grades. They are thus fitted to make the best use possible of the advanced courses in agricultural colleges, 01- of the opportunities before them when they go to work on their fa Hut's farms. 11l Canada, thanks largely to the munificence of Sir William McDonald, ol -Montreal, an admirable scheme of rural and practical education is being worked out. Rural technical schools, as efficient as the high-grade schools of the industrial towns, are being dotted over Canada.. "Just as the use of tools and lathes ill the urban school has been a levei of mental culture, so in the ideat ( rural school this function is discharged 1 by the experimental plot and the school garden, expanded iu some cases lo illustrate, not only fruits and (lowers, and vegetables, and farm crops, but aso to . initiate quick-witted lads in the mysteries of forestry—a microcosm of all the _ rural interests in Canada." In some dis- . tricts there are travelling instructors, who carry out special courses in groups 1 Ol ten or a dozen schools, equipped for | their teaching. In others a number of , and inadequate" schools are ( consolidated into one central school, with class-rooms for secondary, as well as ' primary, instruction, with an expert | staff, with school gardens, and with full equipment for manual training, for nature study, and for household science, and uith arrangements for conveying childien to and from the surrounding se! Moments. The pupils have plots of their own, and records are kept of seeds , sown, hours of work, quantity and order ol produce. "At the Ontario Agricultural College, at Cuelph, and at the more recent- Maedonnald College, at St. Anne de ISellevue, in the province of Quebec, you have the highest scientific and research work of the college, the experimental farms, illustrating "all types of farming, large and small, the fullest opportunity for the. rural teacher to fit himself for his work, and the best chance lor children and young people to catch the spirit as well ns master in the elementary principles and practices of agri-culture-all going 011 at once centre." As Sir Francis Channing remarks: "No such attempt has ever been made before to rouse and guide the best forces which make for most progress. But to carry it out are needed the funds of a Macilonald Trust." SIBERIAN BUTTER. I hough Australian butter retains its high tiibute in Hongkong, according to a report just received from Mr J. B. Sutlor, Commercial Agent for New South Wales in the East, we must lookforward to Siberian competition at au early date. "T recently had a conversation with a leading Russian merchant from Siberia," Mr Sutlor writes, "He came to investigate the markets at Tien- I tsin, Shanghai and Hongkong, for Siberi- I an products, and lie also visited other centres in the Orient. According to the Russian merchant, he felt confident of being able to quote, delivered at any of the above ports, at 20s per cwt, off the .Aur-linlian and European quotations. Hut the Russian, as a rule, has a breezy way oi talking, and his representations. 1 hercfore, may not materialise. In any case, it would appear that Siberia docs produce largely of dairy product l , and may prove a serious competitor when once regular shipping is introduced via \ ladivosloek, collecting with Hongkong and Shanghai."