EXPERIMENTAL AGRICULTURE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8862, 23 October 1907, Page 7

EXPERIMENTAL AGRICULTURE.

The Taranaki Education Board has received an exhaustive report concerning the agricultural classes and experiments carried on at the Stratford District High School. The report opens: "We look upoh agriculture and dairying as subjects of g"eat importance in this district. The practical as well as the theoretical side of the subjects has been attended to, and the Rearing of the one on the other has'men shown. Experiments have been made, and carefully watched and noted. The subjects have been treated in such a way as to be of the greatest value to the children—both educationally and practically. In dairying the course of the work taken has been as nearly complete as it is possible to take the i subject in a -school class. In agriculture the results of practical experiments are given in detail. A ' demonstration plot was used in j which peas, beans, cabbage and most ( of the ordinary kinds of vegetables j were grown. Children's indivi '.ual j plots were attempted, but the only i ground available was the site of the j old dairy factory. This proved barren ■, and useless, and the plots were there- i fore abandoned. A good deal of in- ! terest wa3 taken in the farmers' j plots. The ground was of very poor j quality indeed. Experiments in growing turnips, mangolds, and carrots were carried out. The treatment, j as rccjmmended by Mr Astan, chem- j iat to the Agricultural Department, j was adopted. The experiments in , practical agriculture were carried J out under the- supervision of Mr R. j McK. Morison, the Education Board's ! instructor in agriculture, and the chemistry lectures were given by , Mr J. Hunter, M.A., first assistant; master in the school. In growing ; turnips experiments were made with superphosphates,superphosphates and basic slag, bonedust and superphosphate, bonedust, superphosphates and kainit, and special turnip manure. The section on which no manure was used raised a crop of 4tet.s 12cwt to the acre, *ju3 the manured grounds, show.d a fffnarkable increase at little cost. One and a-half cwt of superphosphates per acre increased the | crop to 25 tons 13cwt, at a cost of 8s 3d per ecre for fertiliser, on an approximate cost 0f43.7d per ton to produce; ljcwt each of superphosphates and basic slag, 25 tons 6cwt at 153 psr acre, or 8i 7d per ton; and 2cwt superphos:phates7B7 tons 9cwt, M 16s 3d per acre, or 5s 8d per ton; fevvt bonedust, 2cwt superphosphates, and Jcwt kainit, 38 tons scwt, at 18s 9d per acre, or 6s 7d per ton; the special turnip manure (3cw't), 27 tons scwt, at £1 2s 63 per acre," or 12s 2d per ton. The results of the experiments should give a clear idea of the comparative values of the manures used. The crop of margolds was planted late in the season and in very dry weather. The seed germirated well, but many of the plantlets faded, though single specimens of the vegetable matured splendidly. The crop, as a whole was for- comparative purposes a failure. Similar manures were used in connection with the carrots, the yield being increased from 9 tons 17cwt 2qr 231b with no manure to 15 tons 14cwt lqr 151b by manuring with superphosphates, bonedust and potash. The most satisfactory however, were obtained with superphosphates, and bonedust, tha crop weighing 14 tons llcwt 2qr 21b, and the cost of production per ton 2s Bd, being little more than half that with, th* experimenfrivith the three .manures mentioned™- The report goes on to describe the wo-k that has been done in the chemistry department, and afterwaids touches on dairying. This subject was taken by Mr A. R. Galland, 8.A., assistant master in the secondary department of the school. Lessons were given in the composition of the milk, water, fat, variation in quality during milking, bacteria, effect of temperature, germination, fermentation sterilisation, keeping and cooling of milk, physical condition of the cow, importance of good pasture and good water, flavours and odours due to improper feeding. By the courtesy of the Chief Dairy Commissioner, Miss Ereen, an' expert., in buttermaking visited the school twice during the year, and gave instruction in practical butter-making. She took the children through a course of work, including the testing of the milk, butter-fat,* separating or skimming milk, churning and buttermaking.