E.—s.

mercantile or industrial career are well catered for, no special provision has up to the present time been made, beyond that given in the primary school, for the training of those who eventually intend to make their living on the land. It has therefore been decided to establish a technical school at Hamilton having a strong agricultural bias. It is not intended that this school shall be an agricultural college, but rather a stepping-stone from the primary school to the agricultural college. It is proposed that the institution shall provide training for boys and girls entering the school at about fourteen years of age, such as will have a direct bearing on farm life. The courses of study will include English, chemistry, botany, mechanics, woodwork, metalwork, practical mathematics, agriculture, land surveying and measuring, book-keeping, dairy-work, poultry and bee keeping, gardening, needlework, dressmaking, millinery, cookery, laundry-work, housewifery, hygiene, and physiology, a distinction, of course, being made between the instruction given to boys and to girls. The proposal for the establishment of such a school has been taken up with great enthusiasm by the people of Hamilton, who have subscribed a sum of £220, whilst the Hamilton Borough Council has granted an excellent site of 5 acres close to the town and to the railwaystation. Application has been made to the Government for a grant in aid of the erection of the building, and it is hoped that the school may be working by the beginning of next year. Any report dealing with agricultural education in Auckland at the present time would be incomplete without reference to Mr. V. W. Jackson, the Board's instructor, to whom I wish to pay special tribute for the energy, ability, and enthusiasm he has shown in his work. Cookery and Woodwork. —ln July, 1903, manual-training schools were erected at Newmarket, Newton, and Ponsonby respectively, to provide instruction in cookery and woodwork to girls and boys respectively in Standards V and VI of the Auckland city and suburban schools. These proved so successful that similar schools were established in August, 1905, at Whangarei and Thames, the people of the district in each case contributing a substantial sum towards the cost of erection and equipment. At these centres the girls receive instruction not only in plain cookery, selecting and purchasing of foods, &c, but they are also given simple lessons in the chemistry of daily life, elementary hygiene, the physiology of digestion, <fee, all the work, as far as possible, being illustrated by experiments, many of which are performed by the pupils themselves. As well as being instructed in the use of common woodwork tools, the growth and characteristics of timbers, the making of joints and models, the boys are taught practical geometry, applying it as far as possible to their exercises and models. There is no doubt that both of these subjects have a very high utilitarian as well as educational value, and T trust that before long every girl and boy in the province will receive instruction in cookery and woodwork respectively. Liberal sums have been subscribed at Hamilton, at Otahuhu, and at Cambridge to provide for manual-training schools at these places. Plans have been submitted to the Education Department, and it is hoped that these schools will be erected during the present year. The number of pupils in attendance at the five manual-training schools last year was — for cookery, 1,279; and for woodwork, 1,515. Ten pupils also received instruction in woodwork at Bombay Public School, and eleven at Mayfield Public School, making a total of 2,815 girls and boys receiving instruction during the year, or 8| per cent, of the pupils in attendance at the public schools of the province. Training of Teachers. —Art and handwork classes : For the fourth year in succession classes in art and handwork for head teachers, assistant teachers, and pupil-teachers were conducted in the evenings and on Saturday mornings at the Auckland Technical College by Mr. Harry Wallace. Many of the teachers have been in attendance at these classes since their inception in 1904, and their enthusiasm for the work is quite remarkable. During the session excellent work, particularly in drawing and painting from nature, was done. At the examinations of the English Board of Education five teachers passed in freehand drawing in outline and seven in model-drawing. Dressmaking, cookery, and woodwork classes for teachers were held at Auckland and at Whangarei. These were very satisfactorily attended, and appeared to be much appreciated. A cookery class was held at Thames for the teachers of the district, and woodwork classes wore conducted at Auckland, Whangarei, and Thames. In connection with the woodwork instruction, an attempt is being made to correlate the course, as far as possible, with the ordinary work of the primary school, and the models made by the teachers embrace such objects as sun-dial, sun-stick, balance, Arc. Both hygiene and physiology are most important subjects for the teacher, and it is very gratifying to be able to record that these classes, which were inaugurated last year, were largely attended, and the course of instruction given by the Assistant-Director. Mr. G. P. Darnell-Smith, was much appreciated by the teachers. Special classes in cookery, woodwork, art, and handwork, and naturestudy and agriculture were arranged for the teachers undergoing a two years' course of training at the Auckland Training College, instruction being given by the staff of the Department of Technical Education and Manual Training. In January, a summer school was held at the Technical College for a fortnight, to enable teachers from the backblocks to receive a short course of instruction in drawing and brushwork. One hundred and five teachers attended, and their enthusiasm and regularity of attendance resulted in excellent work being done. The Board generously gave an extra week's holiday to those who attended. That these summer schools do much good and are greatly appreciated is shown by ihe readiness with which the teachers give up a portion of their holidays to attend, by the enthusiasm shown at the classes, and by the grateful recognition given to the instructors : and I trust that the Board will in the future do all in its power to encourage teachers to attend these schools, both by its sympathy and by granting concessions to them, such as extension of holiday. Continuation and Technical Classes in Countrn Centres.-— Continuation and Technical Classes were conducted during the past year at Thames, Whangarei. Hikurangi, and Dargaville by local teachers, whilst itinerant instructors also visited certain centres to teach dressmaking and millinery

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