FARMING SCIENCE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21226, 24 September 1940, Page 7

FARMING SCIENCE

INSTRUCTION OF BOYS WINTER SHOW RURAL SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ESSAYS JUDGED HIGH STANDARD OF WORK Essays written by the boys who attended the week’s course in agriculture in connection with the Waikato Winter Show have been judged with the following results:— First: Peter B. Hutchinson, Auckland Grammar School, 70 points. Second: C. Langlands, Matamata District High School, 65 points. Third: D. A. McPhail, Matamata District High School, and A. Surgenor, Huntly District High School, both 62 points. The second annual rural school was an outstanding success which more than justified the decision after the first venture in 1939 to make the course a permanent fixture in connection with the show. About 50 boys were drawn from the secondary schools in the Auckland province and given a comprehensive course of instruction and demonstration which must have had a profound effect in widening their agricultural knowledge and bringing them into touch with advanced thought and practice in an even wider field. Lectures, Demonstrations Under the general supervision of Mr J. W. Connell and Mr G. L. Zinzan, of the Auckland Education Board, the boys were billeted in the Y.M.C.A. building at Hamilton. At the Winter Show and at industrial plants and farms in the Waikato they were afforded an exceptional opportunity to receive lectures and demonstrations on a wide variety of subjects. After the course they were required to write essays covering the week’s work, and this they did with outstanding results. Most of the essays contained many thousands of words, and in some cases they were illustrated with drawings and diagrams of considerable merit. Mr Connell, chief judge of the essays, was well pleased with the quality of of the work and said it represented a gratifying improvement on that displayed last year. Each essay was a compendium of the knowledge gained by the student from the week’s course, and therefore was a valuable guide to the usefulness, of the study. It is obvious that by encouraging this study the Winter Show Association is having a strong influence not only on the 50 young farmers who each year attend the rural school but also upon those with whom the boys come in contact. Foundations Laid Generally the essays showed that the boys, apart from native commonsense, were willing and able to apply the theories and the expert knowledge imparted by an imposing panel of lectures and demonstrations. Mistakes in theory there were, but that was inevitable with young boys who had attempted in one week to absorb an enormous amount of knowledge. It was plain that a foundation had been laid and that the boys’ minds had been opened to thought on many lines of agriculture and allied subjects. The essay which was given first place was an excellent piece of work not only because of the quality of the written matter it contained but also because of its artistic merit. Well bound with stiff covers and with the Winter Show Association monogram executed in block letters in black and white, the “book” was written in neat script and was profusely illustrated with drawings and diagrams of fine quality. Though more compressed than in some cases, the written matter was more accurate and more mature in thought than the others. It was clear that the writer had studied his subject carefully and, intelligently, refused to commit to writing matters of which he was in doubt.

The writer of the second essay attempted valiently to cover the whole field, and with a very fair measure of success. But he was not quite as cautious as the first boy, and consequently some inaccuracies crept in. Nevertheless he was not afraid of work and anxious to learn, and the resulting typescript was almost monumental. The two essays placed equal third were little less ambitious. All were commendable efforts. One feature common to a number of the essays was a tendency to send the work forward without careful checking. Obvious inaccuracies could have been eliminated by a careful reading of what had been written. For instance, none of the boys would have allowed to pass on second thought the statement that butter must contain 80 per cent of water. Nor would they on reflection approve the statement that in order to encourage the wool-growing industry the ancient Britons w«re prohibited by law from wearing woollen caps.