TEACHING AGRICULTURE.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 June 1921, Page 8

TEACHING AGRICULTURE.

CLUBS FOR BOYS ANO GIRLS. TO BD FORMED IN NORTH TARANAKI. Some little time, ago Mr. P. J. H. White, chairman of the-' Taranaki Education Board,' accompanied by Mr. H. C; Johnson, agricultural Instructor, on a visit to South Taranaki,: where the Farmers’ Union, with the co-opera-tion of the Agricultural Department and Mr. Johnson, have started- clubs among the boys and girls attending the primary schools, on somewhat similar lines to those which have and are proving ’*o successful in-Canada and America. The movement was started in the Hawera district some twelve months ago, ahd this season two successful competitions in mangold and swede growing have been held, the children having entered into the .(movement with a great- deal of enthusiasm. The results have bgfen particularly gratifying to the Farmers’ Union and those farmers in the different districts who acted as supervisors, and the scope of tlie movement » therefore to be widened. A calf rearing competition Is to bo held, and the entries which have already been received are so numerous as to ensure the fixture being a. huge success. Mr. ’White was so greatly impressed with all he had seen that it was decided to- endeavor to start the movement in this district also, and on Saturday afternoon there was a conference at the Education Board’s office. New Plymouth, representative of the board,. Agricultural Department, agricultural instructors and the teachers, the general executive and local branches of the Farmers* Union; ahd the Taranaki Agricultural Society. Mr. White presided. Apologies were announced from Mr. It. Dunn, president of the Taranaki provincial branch of the Farmers’ Union, Mr. Deem, director of the fields division of the Agricultural Department, Mr. W.. B. Grant, president of the Agricultural Society, and others. Mr. Dunn, in the course of his letter, wrote that he would do all in h!s power to forward the movement. He was fully persuaded that these boys’ and girls’ clubs would be the means of instilling into the young people of this Dominion the principles and qualities most desired in the citizens of any country. In the first place we desired them to be methodical, and the methods adopted in the club competitions did much to ensure this. We wanted to see them Industrious and pama> taking, and here again the clubs gave every encouragement to this end. We wished them to be ambitious to obtain better and bigger results from whatever undertaking they might be engaged In, and the competitions arranged for the club would stimulate this. Last, but by no means least, the desire td encourage in them a love for the country and the life on the farm, which we recognised must be engendered in the youth if we wished to stop the trerid of the populace to the largo towns, and these clubs, he trusted, would prove a powerful aid in this direction. When a start was made with the club movement they had little information to guide them, but with the valuable assistance of Mr. Deeun, fields supervisor to the Department of Agriculture, and of Mr. Johnson, instructor or ntriculture to the Education Board, they soon got into working order, and considering the lack of precedent to guide them, he claimed that the results were very gratifying. They were, now In a position to improve on their methods'of working If necessary for next season. As the movement to establish these boys’ and girls’ clubs emanated from the Farmers’ L’nlon, and as it was advisable to have an organised controlling body of farmers in connection with the movement, the Farmers’ Union would endeavor to establish branches wherever advised by Mr. Johnson. It Was desirable that the (movement in North Taranaki should bo controlled by the Farmers’ Union with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture, and the agricultural Instructor to the Education Board, and the Taranaki executive of the Farmers’ Union would undertake to assist the brunches In North Taranaki in every way, so as to give them, as far as possible, control of the movement in their own district. Mr. Dunn concluded that the thanks of the union were due to Mr. Deem and his assistants, and to Mr. Johnson for the keen interest they had taken in the establishment of boys’ and girls’ clubs in Taranaki.

It was explained by Mr. Johnson that each school constituted a club, and that one farmer id* each school district was chosen to act as supervisor and to represent the Farmers’ Union. He arranged that each boy and girl taking part in the competitions should have set aside for tis or her use, either on the farms of their parents or some other farmer who Is interested In the movement and desirous of helping It forward, one fortieth of an acre of land; he supervised the cultivation and preparation of the land, and it was handed over to the boys or girls when It was ready for sowing. Seeds and manure were sent out to the different schools by the Agricultural Department, and the supervisor weighed these out, distributed them to the boys and girls, and supervised the sowing., From then on the responsibility was the children's, although the teachers were expected to lend the movement their moral support by keeping the children enthusiastic and seeing that the records, which were kept at the school, were kept properly. Officers of the Agricultural Department went around to the pupils and gave them any instruction required.

There was some doubt as to whether the scheme was applicable to town schools, as difficulty might be experienced In securing, within easy reach, the land required, but Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., expressed the hope that •t would bo possible to devise some means whereby town children could have the benefit of these clubs.

Mr. Buckeridge said he did not anticipate any very serious difficulty in this connection. The scope of these clubs was very wide, and if it was not possible to have root competitions, they could no doubt arrange kitchen garden competitions which would require a very limited amount of ground. Something might also be done in the direction of poultry rearing and so on, such as Is done in America.

In reply to other questions, it was clearly .explained that the. clubs were not intended to interfere Ln any way with the primary school work.

Mr. H. A. JJtratford, headmaster of the Central School, Mr. 0. Johnson, headmaster of the Ficzroy School, and other teachers expressed their approval df the scheme and their desire to push It along, and.lt was eventually decided unanimously that the meeting approve of the prope al, and that a committee consisting of Messrs. H. C. Suimpson, W. K. Morris, J. A. Kurth, S. Vickers, A. Turnbull, representing the farmers; Mosdames Reed and Pearsori, Miss Meston and Messrs. Stratford, Johnson, Thomas, Wagstaff, Evans and Sim, representing the teachers; and Messrs. White and Trimble representing the Education Board, be a committee to meet the Farmers' Union and representatives of the Agricultural Society and the board's agricultural instructors, with a view to making the necessary arrangements to institute the clubs immediately.