SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2732, 1 November 1894, Page 3

SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE.

At Christchurch the Board of Governors of Canterbury College, on the motion of Mr Stead, appointed a committee consisting of the Hon. J. T. Peacock, and Messrs E. G. Wright and G. G. Stead, to consider the'feasibility of enlarging the scope of the Lincoln School of Agriculture, and of widening its sphere of usefulness. The mover said that the school he1d'62,247 acres of land, the rents from which were used for the purpose of carrying it on. The buildings had cost £34,043 lis 7d, and the land on which they stood £17,711 19s Bd. In addition to the 62,247 acreß the school had £55,068 to the credit of its capital account, and this was lent on mortgage, the interest being available for carrying on the school. Last year the net revenue had been £3226 5a lid. There were 39 or 40 students at the school at present, being the largest number ever on its books at one time. These students were supposed to go through a two years' course, thus allowing for about 20 being turned out each year. He thought, however, that he would be within the mark if he said that within the last 10 years only about 10 students a year had gone through the course. This, he thought, was a veiy poor return for an expenditure of £3226 per annum, and £50,000 sunk in capital. He thought that twenty or thirty more scholars could be taken on without increasing the expense, and these could be obtained by giving free scholarships at the public schools. He thought that a great deal might be done if the director was instructed to publish a monthly or quarterly record of the operations of the college, so that the farming community could learn Ihe results of experiments carried out, about which at present they knew nothing. It would greatly benefit , the farming community if the results of ! the experiments as to the growth of clover, the dairy industry, and the crossing of sheep, were published.