AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 December 1916, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

TARANAKI EDUCATION- BOARD'S SCIIEMK, DIRECTOR'S REPORT OX AGUIC'ULiURAL INSTRUCTION. Mr. R. S. Browne, director of Agriculture, reported to the Education Board yesterday as follows: Routine in visiting primary schools has been carried out by all three instructors, Mr. Ellis especially paying attention to those schools not yet taking agriculture or dairying. M". Sergei has continued instructing country school classes wherever it has been found convenient to do so in connection with his lectures to farmers. The work of stock judging will be extended with the New Year, particularly if the issue of railwa;passes to our lads in technical classes is placed 011 a satisfactory basis.

SEED COLLECTION BY SCHOOL CHILDREN. Tt is an important matter at the present. time to turn the attention ot the pupils of cm country schools to the possibilities of seed collecting. Cocksfoot prairie, timothy, and cow-grr.SK are the main pasture plants that could be collected from during and after the holidays. All should be collected by single head to avoid impurities. Especially is this advisable in the case of cocksfoot. Prairie seed is in many places ripe already and this could be collected early in the school holidays. Later on cocksfoot seed will be available. A good deal could be collected if the Board allowed the children to put in at this work all or part of one day early in February. The seed can hi; threshM in various ways. One of the most effective is to place the seed heads in bags, and beat them thoroughly. The funds raised should go to product permanent Improvements, or to patriotic purposes. The pupils and teachers should decide for what purpose the money raised is to be used. The Board's secretary should be informed of amounts raised-and for what purpose used. Farmers will willingly buy practically all seed gathered by tlr; children. SHEARING CLASSES.

During the first and second weeks in December classes in shearing were conducted at Hawera and at Stratford. Some three lads from Hawera, three from Eltham and 15 from Stratford took up this work. At Hawera Mr. Castle instructed the lads, and at Stratford Mr McKey very kindly put in some three day.? of very able assistance. Mr. Sergei and myself supervised operations, each taking a section of the work. The weather throughout was kindly, and a great deal of interest was shown by the lads. , Owing to trouble re railway- 1 classes, the Stratford lads did not get as much instruction as did Hawera and E'.tham, but finally at the former centre some. 150 sheep were shorn in three days, December 12 to 14. A solid amount of improvement was noted by all watching the progress ot. the operations. 011 the whole, the sheep were too big for the boys, but they tackled tlieni heroically.

Without Mr. Sergei's assistance, tliii work could not have been undertaken, and his co-operation was much appreciated. Next year the work will begin a good deal earlier, and the bovs will have previous instruction in setting up and sharpening blades, holding sheep, and dagging. T consider it would be wise on the part of tlio Board if the services of a recognised expert were retained for this work from time to time, according to the season and our requirements. With the senior lads the question of instruction in machine shearing is to be tackled. Reference should be made (r> the keer interest taken in this work by visiting farmers and others, and to the many kindly offers of assistance from time 11 time. Sheep were kindly placed at our disposal by Me--srs. Hunter and Blair of Hawera, and Mr. Young of Stratford. FARMERS' CLASSES These have row almost c-ome to A close for the year. Early in February this work will be re-forgnniscd throughout the whole district,\nd a great extension of such instruction is certain tiirr,> after. Manratoki factory has voted th.; sum of £SO to cover instruction ai: Malioe, Mangotoki, l,\apoiiga. and Matapu factories until the annual meeting, w'ner. the ouestion of continued donation will be again gone into.

COMMITTEES TO 'FURTHER AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION". T should like the 'Board lo r :o fullv into the question of the establishment of the committees from pulilic and contrihuting bodies, intcrestc-d furriers, etc, at each important centre to art a= an advisory body for such work. There is notbir.s' so powerful as local interest to push along ihe organisation of instruction. Particularly is this course advisable at New Plymouth, where perhaps the School C'omittees' Association would assist. ORCHARD AND OTHER WORK FOR CURLS AND WOMEN. T nm certain of a very great development of instructional work in the New Plymoulh-Waitnra section, especially in horticulture and orchard work instruction. A class is already assured in Stratford. Owinsr to climatic conditions, New should be the headquarters of such instruction, and demonstration areas should be established at Waitara, Fitzrov. and nossihly Westown. As soon 35 classes are formed it should '-'e an easy matter to select gardens and orchards that would serve to illustrate more, effectively methods of growing, pruning and manuring fruit trees, also up-to-date methods of .growing flowers, and especially vegetables and garden produce generally for home consumption and for sale. Committees to deal with such should be composed ot men interested ill farming matters, and again ;f men anc women"interested more espcially in horticulture and orchard work. It is an easy matter to form such committees. The. Board, however, should make provision to give them official standing, either as sub-committees attached to present technical committees, or acting as separate bodies.

EXPERIMENTAL AREAS. Mi'. Deem, of the Agricultural Department, met Mr. Sergei and myself re this mutter, and an arrangement was come to re work at Bell Block for this season's experiments. The question of arranging experimental work at suitable centres throughout the Board's district will be gone into later on. Nothing more can be dene before April, 1917, at least as regards fresh work. It is suggested that uniform experiments should be attempted at centres throughout the whole district.

As regards Fitzroy section, I mot the. school committee there and went fully into the matter of future operations there, more especially as regards supervision. OItGAXISATIoN OT' T.AIIOII OF OU1! SCHOOL CHILDREN. Next year one <>l the iir»t things ahead of use. will be the organisation on a suitable basis of assistance to fanners in iield work, e.g., hay and ensilage making, .shearing, and in the ease of the biger lads, ploughing, etc. Especially in tlie dairy factories will help be required The pinch as regards laboi will conic in November and December, and training of tlie lads in pieparation therefore, should be completed by them so that tliey can tackle work wherever desired. Th< question of supervision is an important one, and in this the local committee Suggested could be important work. The question of food, sleeping accommodation, hours ot labor and rates of pay must not be 'eft to individuals to arrange.

REPORT 01 THE AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTOR. Mr. Sergel J reported: "I visited Leppcrton, Norfolk road. Tariki, Opunakc and Pihama. At the former three I was able to obtain a cow from each of the local schoolmasters and gave a lesson 011 the same with a view of arousing interest in the cow-judging competition at the Stratford Show. A good numboi entered, in fact, a boy from the Tariki School came second. At Opunakc and Pihama I took the pupils into a local paddock and we discussed different grasses, etc. New Plymouth Technical College.—Wj spent a week at the Bell Block cheese factory where Mr. Kollei and the cheesemaker were exceedingly kind and spent considerable pains in giving practical instruction in daiiy operations appertaining to the making of cheese. At Corbett road we are at present completing the sewing of lucerne and turnips. With the help of the Department of Agriculture wr hope to have experi nients conducted of practical value For instance We are having a test of 1} of an acre each of swede turnip, one plot ridged, the other flat

Stratford District High School.—l spent 11 part of one afternoon here instructing tlie'boys on the various points of a cow. Eight entered for thf Agricultural Society's competition and ono came third, and another fourth. Farmers.—This part of mj work I have practically ceased for the time being owing to the busy season. I lectured at Tariki. Ngaere and Pihama. Stratford Agricultural Society's Show —III conjunction with Mr. N. Fulton, of the Government Dairy Division, I acted as organiser to work up the boys' cowjudging contest. We had thirty-three entries, of whom 25 actually competed. There is no doubt the boys were keenly interested and helped much to encourage the opinion that there is a big future in competitions of the right type. The educational value of this particular class is, of course, obvious. The Taranaki Society for their autumn show will be having a similar event and wo are expecting even more entries. Shearing class. —There can be no question as to the value of this most interesting effort. The boys entered into the spirit of it all with vim p.nd keenness, and it was a pleasure handling them. Naturally the size, of the boy makes a big difference in the matter of what

each accomplished, but even the smallest boys sot to with entlmsii.r>m in the later stages of the class. I loam that hoys who in ordinary school subjects are not at all good and difficult to interest, in the shearing, a technical subject, displayed a dill'crcuv. spirit, altogether To such technical education seems clearly the weapon to use for development in mind and characer. The reports were received. A committee, consisting of the chairman. Messrs i)ixon and Trimble, was appointed to confer with Mr. Brown ami report on agricultural instinct ion generally, and [art.icularly with refe'cnee to the organisation of labor among school children. The Taranaki School Committeees' Association forwarded copie; of resolutions, (1) urging that New Plymouth be made, a centre for primary agricultural instruction under Mi Browr's scluime; (2) asking the* Board to introduce the system adopted in the Wellington listrict re account books for school _<ommittees; and (H) procestinc; against the circular instructing school committees to obtain tlie permission ot the Board before closing schools in cr.sc of epidemics.

Mr. Sniilh explained that it was practically impossible that the boys from >iew Plymouth coulrt* catch tin- train to go to Xtrntiord. He considered that fitzroy should be used as a centre.

Mr. Brown said his principle was not to lake children to a centre, but to localise instruction, except for special work. Fitzroy could be made a centre. If. was decided to inform the Association that, a committee had been net up to consider the whok: question of agricultural instruct ion. It was decide! to sumily uniform account books as asked- ft.- ' Willi regard to closing the schools ihe co: niittees are to be informed that the matter will be covered by the Hoard's new legulation'?^