B.—5.

VII

work are now issued or obtainable, so a manager when taking on a new hand has to depend to a certain extent on chance, and if he makes an unlucky choice a big loss may be the consequence. In some o the trades— e.g., plumbing—men are compelled to obtain certificates of proficiency before they are intrusted with responsible work. Why, then, should not certificates be required from those engagec in the dairy trade ? If dairy science were added to the optional list of subjects for the Civil Service Junior Examination, the test set in connection therewith might be taken to qualify in theory for such a certificate as is required, the other portion of the examination being based, of course, on actual experience in factory-work. Moreover, the dairy industry is now so widely spread over New Zealand that the subject is as improtant in a rural school as is agriculture, with which it is very closely allied. Agriculture is, and properly so, an optional subject in the Civil Service Junior Examination. Why not the other ? Further, dairy science now is, or soon will be, taken as a subject in all the rural schools of the Dominion, and provision should certainly be made for the examination of the children in the subjects tn which they have devoted most study. Towards the end of the year a technical school building was erected at Inglewood, and is now fully equipped for the teaching of woodwork and cookery. This will be a great boon to the schools in this district, the pupils of which had previously to travel by train to either New Plymouth or Stratford for instruction. At the beginning of the year Mr. E. P. Fenton resigned his position as art master under the Board, and the position was filled by the appointment of Mr. D. E. Hutton, A.M., who has not only shown great enthusiasm in his work, but has proved himself an efficient instructor. In conclusion 1 may say that the thanks of the Board are due to the instructors, who, often at great inconvenience to themselves, have discharged their duties diligently and regularly; to the Press, who have been ever ready to bring the benefits of the school before the public ; and to those public bodies and private citizens who have so generously contributed towards the funds of the school. W. A. Ballantyne, Director. Extract from the Report of the Superintendent (Mr. Tyrer) of the Stratford District. Technical Classes. —During the year classes were established, for the first time in this district, in wool-sorting and in dairy science. In the former subject, classes were held at Stratford, Te Wera, Toko, and Tututawa, and were attended chiefly by farmers interested in the sheep industry ; and in the latter, classes attended by employees of dairy factories in the district were opened at Stratford anc Toko. All were well and regularly attended, and the students took great interest in their work. The holding of these classes in different centres was popular, and I think that technical work in agriculture and allied subjects can be considerably extended in this district by providing instructors at whatever centres there is a sufficient number of students to establish a class. At the Stratford centre dressmaking was taken throughout the year, and drawing and agriculture for one term. Continuation Classes. —The subjects taken were English, Latin, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, anc shorthand. In Latin, English, and arithmetic there were two divisions—a senior and a junior; anc from the former, two students were successful in passing the examination for Matriculation and Solicitors' General Knowledge. The number of individual students attending technical and continuation classes was 196. Teachers' Classes. —Plasticine, drawing, and cardboard-modelling (Course A), and chemistry anc dairy science (Course B) were taken on alternate Saturdays. All classes were well attended. At the end of the year a few teachers sat for examination in the subjects they had studied, and most of these were successful in gaining certificates. Good work was done in all the classes ; and if anything in connection with them was disappointing it was that not more students presented themselves for examination. In the drawing, excellent progress was made by the students in blackboard-work. Skill in using the chalk is so essential to a teacher's success that, to me, the rapid progress made in the subject was very pleasing. The number of individual students attending teachers' classes was 48. Rural Classes. —In connection with the secondary department of the District High School, rural courses of work were taken throughout the year. A pleasing feature of the good work done was that many parents of children attending these classes expressed satisfaction with the training given in them. Boys and girls took English in common (including literature, geography, and civics), mathematics, botany, elementary physical* measurements, dairy science, and drawing. In addition the boys took farm carpentry, surveying, agriculture, and ironwork, and the girls cookery, physiology, dressmaking, and millinery ; 60 boys and girls attended these classes, the average number in attendance being 48. During the year, in addition to ordinary practical,, garden-work, experiments were made in the renewing of old pastures by means of artificial manures —a question of considerable importance to our back settlers at the present time. The commoner and most valuable grasses were studied, and grass plots were planted for subsequent observation. A few lambs were procured to test the food-values of rape and kale, plots of which we had growing side by side, and the remarkable improvement in the weight and condition of the lambs while on the rape was carefully noted. It might be worthy of remark that in this experiment it was noticed that scarcely a leaf of kale was touched by the lambs until almost every vestige of the rape had been eaten up. In dairy science the course of work taken was similar to that of previous years, except that we did no practical butter-making. In the early part of the year the boys of the farm-carpentry class, under the guidance of their instructor, built the room in which ironwork subsequently was carried out. Towards the end of the year a few of the senior boys were allowed the privilege of making apparatus for their own homes, each, of course, supplying his own timber and material, and ladders, gates, and wheelbarrows were in this way constructed. In domestic science, cookery, dressmaking, and millinery were taken by special instructors, hygiene and physiology by the members of the staff. In connection with these subjects I might point out that comparatively few female teachers qualify themselves to teach even one of the sciences, and that in