The Daily News TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22. DAIRYING INSTRUCTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 61, 22 October 1907, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22. DAIRYING INSTRUCTION.

Wo arc glad lo see llic Taranaki members of the Legislature muring in llii? I mutter of retaining 'lie services of] .Miss llrcen a.- dairy instructress. Tin' Department liad il»-<-i<l.-il io dispense with her services, and mi Friday llic. Taranaki members 01 Hi- Legislature waited upon the Minister for Agricul- j lure ami asked him lo reconsider his decision. This .Mr MrNab intimated his willingness to tlo, lull said In- was inclined to believe that the services of the young lady in question should be retained by tlie Kduealion Department in connection with the establishment of technical schools. Tlic dcpulalion did not over-state the case when thoy said the province of Tarauaki and the Dominion generally would sull'er a great loss were the services of the instructress dispelled with. Miss Brecn has done particularly good work since her appointment, especially lu Tarauaki. She I would have done even better work had the Ueparlment taken a more lively interest in her doings and acquainted the fanners needing her advice of her availability. For a lengthy period Miss lireeii has had her headquarters at New Tlymoutih. iler services have been! available for those requiring ihein. lint, ivhal proportion of the fanners were •ognisant of tills? The Department took mi' trouble to acquaint settlers of the fact. No regular itinerary was drawn II]) for the instructress. She simply had to carry on her work a- well as she could,, relying in a great measure on tlie directions of.the oliicers of the grading department as to the particular farmers requiring advice in the making of home dairy kilter. To there people, baek-blockers for the most part, Miss Urccn lias been of material assistance. If more settlers have not taken advantage of her services, it has not been the fault of the instructress, nor of the settlers themselves. It has been the fault of the Department, which hasliowu little or no inlere.it in her work and also lias, done nothing, as we liavi said, lo inform the farmers that iuslruc tion in the making of dairy produce nil: available. 'Those of our settlers win arc unable to supply creameries or faetoric-, and have to rely upon homeseparating, are the very people most deserving of help, and, ill tlie majority of cases, are in mo-t need of it. It is tlc.-y whom an instructress like Miss lireeii <au both help and teach; and it is to them that the Ueparlment of Agriculture should render every assistance that lies in their power. Instead of disI peiisiag wilh the services of (he instructress, and thus handicapping slill further the unfortunate but big-hearted, hardworking back-blocker, it would have been more lining if the Ueparlment took a greater interest in the young lady's work and gave lier the assistance and • uppoi't so essential to success. The Department, we know, has done much for dairymen and dairying, in Taranaki peri.|i< jiiine than in any other place. There should, however, be no aiming back now that the farmers are awakening to a sense of what the employing of scientific methods and the display of foresight and care mean. The work of instructing should be pushed on more vigorously than ever, and no stone left unturned to obtain the best possible results from the work already done. We hope the Minister of Agriculture will see his wav clear to accede lo the wish of the deputation, and also see that the settlers are better informed of the availability of expert knowledge in this direction than they have been in the past. Miss Urccn has certainly rendcrled good service in respect of the teclmieal"classcs, but her chief value is in teaching the dairymen how to improve their methods and thereby the quality of the article they manufacture, and for this reason we' do not look with favor on the s»""cstion made by the Minister that the "services of the instructress should be retained by the Education Department instead of his own Department. Then, most of the Education Boards are in a chronic state of impecuniosity, and we are afraid that if the matter were left to them, it would not be long before the position of dairy instructress wis vacant. In anv ease, there can be no doubt that the proper Department to ,-'-„'• Hie instructress should be at- ! J uTnr'm»»U and Taranaki expects him to do the right thing.