The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1875.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 435, 2 March 1875, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1875.

•".piTNB S*>LUM FORTI rATRIA;* "i*\

Wok many years to eonie^sthe employment of the jgreat bulk of the population must be the extraction _oi wealth from, the soil, either in the shape of •swool, beef, and mVitton."^^.by the gro » th of crops. ".Up to the present time there is no provision made the technical education of the rising generation. 'There are of course many excellent works extant ■jfor the guidance of farmers in.the old country, -'biSt -•there are none, so far as we are aware, writ 1 en to j&uit the different circumstances of this Colony. 'The rising generation there ore has no means of "^obtaining knowledge, except that picked up on their farms, many of whom, as is naturally the <sase in a young colony, can only be considered amateurs. The future of the Colony depends ver£ iruuch upon the-?H^oii^t of skill that is brought^ tbeir upon its st^fe-^iittfustry, to provide .technical .•education for opr-farmoi*!. of the futurb is quite -|| ji-oceasary as the naaking of railways, bridges^. ' aS 3i*oads. give p.ore inmiedia^ tM .apparent results* bn-t .in the end, the good e«b3 -ithe money .expended on. public works must 4» wZac ext£*nt neutjftclised, ir those who sire* t> M<& land opened ;by:the:ir means are only .hali e&iCated for. their work. We ha ye on several oc»?iSL jadvo'cakd the establishment of an agricult-uifc JpT ..lege and have been niet by several with the' nn^-

juient that tlie time expended and the -cost to --flfr .-student, would move -than counterbalance the Jo? Vantage. We, are not however in the least cou-•rt-ipced .that tliat would he the case.. Another scheme -which we think -could be rosily -worked, is .suggested by -the lette>of a correspondent with an Australian -contemporary. He saya regarding educating farmers' sons,, — "Yet, notwithstanding ,11.6 best directed Cf%t«vit home,, the training of -jfiirmei---; 1 sons efficiently can only be accomplished "jby associations, where -practical' anil experimental "j-wsbai-vdry is-co.mbined with a sound English edu-«ca-tioi_. The.se views operating on the minds of jßwne leading gentry in the north of Ireland, -iii'iduced tbem, some 35 or -£0 years ago, to establish ,a seminary for the training of farmers' sons ; and I '■ 'beliere, if similar iiist-itiitions were established here •Jit would be f(> tlie advantage not only ,of this class, but to the Colony generally -whrre scientific farming js needed. The •institution abovename.l^ situated about six miles ■Iron, the city of Londonderry, is called Temple--.moyje Seminary, -and'-iias about lf>o acres of barren -ground to be- operated on. The house is a large two .tftory biulding, well ventilated, having accommodation for .perhaps 80 youths who ..enter as boarders, ■fly hen they aie 12 or 14 years of age or older, and yare "'iriai.Ytaif.ed and' instructed, ; at a comparatively <su)all cost, ven^ little' if a .vytbifig more than would ■Le necessary to maintain jfein »t home, as the work .done by the youths on .fcjfe firm, with tlie subscrij>* -don, go for in keeping it, along w&h the moderate fecH charged to scholars*; i}i good "working order. • -There were at tho institution, w'hen'l visited it -some time since, two masters— one the schoolmaster ■.Mid the other the ■ farming master (well educated and respectable men) and ; a matron. One half of ■th* scholars wore instructed by the English master j.i the large school-room during the forenoon; wfijle -the other Jis-lIT w_ere engaged on the farm under" the farming master and these in their turn were occupied ii> the achooL-roora in the afternoon, while th*-lurpicr-were out on the farm. Bo the instructions )Kiii>g varied, the large number of scholars were well atfciu/jetl &>, mi ( ] the best modes of farming, together with a good Eiglish education, were ui.Wr.i.-T, i ill fhoy were of a sumeieifrage to undertake the chni-ge. pf iWr own farms, or to.>iwage in situations where •thsir skill would be appreciated, and services weli pud.. This institution I_£» _-.ilbrd.-d great advantage-, in training young rj^ to 1* skilful farmers, and -ii'm-ni^r ■inntitutio.ia'- were established iuall centra! agr.^ikuml districts in .his coionv, it strikes me h *c«jhU» a nioveii*-* the right direction. Tlie Go--•srium-nt, who have d*m« mnch . in providing <jh>.aentary iuKtructiou for town and country t-eholars i-.nnera.lly, and for higher instruction, by means of »u<J un j varsity, would do si ill better hf jjrqv.ding or snUsidisiug tlie means of affording su-i aiul trainiug, to a very jiuportwiat '^ctian of f-ue comnn_mi.,y. who hitherto have baeiv />vorlooi-.-il." There ar*- just com plain rs that s! iI. d /arm labour is very d.ffi..r.Jt. fo pro'-ure .v ihis .-..h-ny, fhw ivnitsf. eonthiUß to U. tjip cas<>, till the formers .jMMaVtit-lv^ are capable of ii, si rut-ting feU raw mat„na; -which is lining U> tbrir hands. The general /li'lumun of kru.wJ<ulgH by tho whoolumsicr will r»:*hrr th--ta.sk of mabii-g -good farm labour**.-. jp-uch eatier than when the material to be workt... ..^■..'Vf... nofo-i ior iiothmg but tlie d<_r.seiht igj.o.- I 'V'H\ >-.'.*,•*<••, *•.,•>.?-.. ■/■hi.iutsrr yi.7\i]. }\U *I]DH h.\

kuows minutely the habits nnd manner of treatment of four or five different kinds of animals — I horses,, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry ; who can hedge,. ditch; thresh, mow, reap, plough and in r row, drive a drill, sow a field broadcast as straight and true as though the line were chained fo*r him ; this man w-auts something more than mere thews and muscles, he must possess cleverness of the hand and eye j and the. .■''first-rate farto labourer is as skilled as the first-rate mechanic or artisan." A man such as is above described, can 'only be'produced by being for some years under the --careful tuition of a man who can perform all the branches of his calling -in th© manner related. It is time that some steps were taken to procure an agricultural education for our sons,, to, be imparted by men well-cicquainted with tlie capabilities of the soil of New Zealand and the- system under her peculiar circumstances best calculated to make farming a commercial success. If we cannot have an Agricultural CMlegf*, why not have schools such as the one described abovo 1