AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 July 1915, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION.

[■urniKu majairfUKXT j UKQIiKKD. j A wus 'Held in this A. and I.'. s olliee a'- 'IaAWIU (.11 '-UtMiiv .Mr. J--. K. r ( >ri l~i) I.i the ihair. Mr. Walk's exy'.a'.ned fiat ho wav lTL'ilv tor the ;n' i Liii^' v.'AM: it had oeured to lii.i;» tluil, t'linu, Mt'ii'c '^li(lit!(I. be done to lint'iei the \v(.:k carried o:i hy Mr. I'.rowr.r. and th.it the A. ami !'■ -*WoeU'.tUm help. There Mb nu deubt tlm.t Mr. "llrownvs work w:v; pr vt-rv valuable. to the district, and tiiat h : -.'in.4.rnctioit was ulon.u + io There w-i'ji', lie could -I'v 1 , -lilihv'.M 'ii the way Invalid', of Mr. !'i ivn.; cialii ii with tlu* K.huatkm The A. and 11.l l . Society might :!rrnn::i' tor a -tr■ tr,;|.l it- ca;iya-s of the \ 1 " 1 i-'t, arrant;!' U<r » js'.-iitt'R number of Haw. and so .secure iv larger subsidy trom tin: (loveniiue'iit. .\h-, cxpros'-od !ii- -nr.*, its ;; ii;ru, iHM' ill t ii(- kdu. atiou Uoavd, ai. evidence cf m>l mie..v.c on the 1'..,.!-; of fcrii'.ir-s in !a V hr.ui.'h -it <d:i- ---:;< [l, 'i'iii-y ill! knew ivli.it a light (.!scr<> lu«l lira in V> :i_4■ • jul':::"!<n in-tniclioii. ami they had .ill tt'oxy tell thai it wns not !'air to .'Spc:T, Mr. liiov.no to go around blowing his own ti-u.inij.n-t. A snib-cfMHiiittoo of tie Association could do a great v-orl; in .iiKMimiiis ■ tiro re-iponsi'bi-lity uC ruining these cla-sscs and in •■eeiug that they were he'd ;ii evciy centre in tin' (li-trict and m »o!l>r:! in.:' tin: s'ns ar-l fetwarding «;nu- to tin: l"di'..-af ion Hoard. T.i" IV'. id wi i! 1 I'd only (■■■(> \viVlintn> work in '-villi tlu-Ah-I>"iii.i.ioii in tin's respo-i. and ui ass,sting in every way > l jV ir t:i-• de Vi-lii;).ini'i;t of this most 11. ■-''orcant (oii'.'.-i of instruction. 'l'lii' Hoard fclr, I l'-at ihis liraiwh of educa'i-iu «■:>< oli'v ii: its 'ufam-v, and that .short.'/ fhorc should lie'several instructors working untie:* M iV . Rrowue ovi-r the whole ol the Taranaki province. He did no! think lie. wan liot-'-ayinj! ai:y si-evcts it sivimc that it was ■i'iii.' within tin raii.ne' of probability that ll.e faranal; ami Wa.njranui l'alnvniio:i wonli he merged, and ill tdmt e'.'i ntuality' i would afli rd a splendid splnsv lor ' liro'.vne and li.s assistants.

LMr. r>'o',vne mentioned tli.'.t, lie had banned the chairman a list jdiowjii}.' the, jihu'es at whieh clashes ha 4 l>een held tins year and last year; -thirty J'i'aces altogether were mentioned, Imt no clasfdi liail been hold at Hawera, Klthani. Miiuutal':! or Okaia-wa.. <'!a-sse.s luul this vKi-r keen held as far i-'outh as MaxivcX'town. Ho was in a somewhat liilli. n't .pe-ition., in that be iva« dia-eto-r of trclmiral ediu'atron. snm-rvisor, etc.. but re;-,-M-'tly -liio-s-t of bi.s time, had -been occupied in giving iii'truciion to farmers. Classes were oxte-mtiufr. r<onests made for him t-o go further afield, tliat it meant that- he vonld not keep up with the wo■ k uilli-ss he ha/I assistance, and .the dillieulty there a.uaiu was that the (v.r?'-=es were onlv /onivt from yeor tn yemi'. A coimirittee of the. A. and P. A'-wiation could ito a- great deal in the wav -of organising classes wlu-re they were, i.'.t yet formed, a,ml in arranging fur iSCiii'.-e i entra! executive to attend to the general organvation. At 'iiresent .-i-v-ses were iwt advertised: tile Hoard merely left it I>.- fanmir- to organise their -own c.lasse.., -bet this, was not altoictliK' satisfactory. be,cau-e he was eon-Ft-u-ntly receiving reijuest?; bv mid letters from 'jie.rson* who bad not In aril of t ! he classes, to ( go out i" I ! u-I ■' jiiiiU'S. lie th.inglit tl'.e fi ii'iiiii-iec si--oilld consider (1) the e.\ten-ion of cli'-sscis under the present system, where 'donations art* collected and each amount >e.rit to the .Hoard, or ('2) the collecting of tile, whole of the donations and remitting them to the .Board in onb lump sum The Kilnca-tiim Di<>ia.rfcmwijt subsidised 'all iiniiiievs .. olleefed to t'he Extent nf £ fot. tie bad been in communication 'with Sir .I'anies \\ il-"H oil tlii.s matter, and t'bcc was no immediate prospect of the Agricultural Hoard baying funds fir any serious extension of this work, m i' wi-ivld it he desira/ble to suggest any -bk-nding of the Agricultural Hoard anil the Kdueation IVpartnwnt to

I accc.-iiipli.sli tile end they bail in view. ■Referring to his method of eoiidualng the work of aarieu'ttiiral ins-trnctioii. Mr. Browne e.vpkiiiieil tiuit- whc,re a new ela»s was formed he put in a week's solid work going over tflieir farms, in addition to giving three lectures. This was done in order to get. those farmers o-vrr the rudinveiiitary stage, and when this was accomplished and they desired to <ontinue the classes throughout the year, lectures at night we.re arranged iit convenient dales. Since May he had been doing nothing but giving 'weeks of jiractical i-n>-■■.trwtsoii to farmers, and tliii-s would oecujiy liis time, for some weeks to conic. In csta:blis!heil classes lectures were sullicien-t. 'Hie lost- was ai\pioxiniately '2os per member lor a class of mil Jew than if); at Ma.ngatol;l t'liey guaranteed C Id. and tiicn threw' the classes open to every farmer i-n itlin-t district. That, hcwicver. wins «- liva.tter ifor lo;al arangement. iMr. ("orrigaii. said that the. Winter Show 0.-niu'Jlt'te.e. had the fullest sympathy with the moyemeiitt and would like to render any assistance jiossible.

Mr. 0. TTa-wken considered there was a, great weakness in -regard to liiiiich of the Oovonuiionc HWk through lack of ipitop&r advertising, such ji,s, for inftanec, in the ease of the experimental farms. There was mo i|uestion that advertising. :pro])ei'ly ivrg-anb-'eil, jwid, ami it 'wa-s the lack of it that partly accounted for the want of enthusiasm on the part of the llawe.ra farmers in this agricultural! in.st;ruetion wurk. Tlvev ri-.illy had not undcir-tood the nature of the valuable work .being done by Jfr. Urownc. or the va-lualb'e information be wa.s giving.

Finally it was resolved t'hat lli-e ennimittee world rejiort to the A. and I'. .Uisoeiation the result of their conference that evening, when drai'bt'lcss the Society would then m* about orga-iniising a. sjiecial i wranittee to as-si-t in tile developmenl, of th-e present sy-.te.in of asricultural instriK'tion. and with a vix\w also to evolving s.oir.e -better system of organisation and central eoiitixil. — Abi-idi'ed fix,m Star.