CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 11461, 20 December 1902, Page 8

CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.

_ « ANNUAL GATHEKIXG OF FARMERS. The annual gathering of farmers at the Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln, which was instituted last year in connection with the distribution of prizes to the students, was held yesterday under favourable weather conditions. There was a very Urge and representative, attendance from almost, all parts of North Canterbury, Ashburton, jind South Canterbury. The members of the Board present were the Hon. ]•;. C. J. Stevens (chairman) and Messrs 11. Murphy, J. Rennie, and J. Studholme, jun. Among the visitors were Messrs V. Lewie, D. Buddo, C. A. C. Hardy, U. Witty, Geo. Laureneon, and T. H. D&vey, M.HJt.'e, Sir Geo. Clifford, and Messrs D. Cameron, H. P. Murray-Aynsley, J. Gould, G. E. Rhodes, J. B. R*id, T. U. Howaon. P. J. Fryer, J. A. and H. Pannett, R. Lockhead, F. C. MuiTay, W. McMillan, G. Sandry, F. Morrish, T. Blackley, T. Taylor, E. Chapuwn, JLambie, jun., F. HubbarJ, F. Bailey, J. T. Ford. A. Chamberlain, T. Bassett, W. Jlinsou. Ensor, M. J. Dixon, J. Nixon, F. D. S. Neave, H. Andereon, F. Waymouth. S. Pearson, Sommerville, R. A. Forbes. J. W. Ove/rton, R. Reid, Ja.s. Henderson, T. Tollerton, T. W. Durant, J. C. C. Gebbie, J. Osborne, and others. Piloted by tha director, Mr W. Lowrie, the visitors inspected the stock and crops, and were evidently well pleased with what they caw. The farm has seldom looked better, and the wheat crops ore especially very fine. On returning the visitors were entertained at an excellent luncheon catered by Mr P. Burke, the company filling a large marquee. The Hon. E. C. J. Stevens presided, and after the toast of "The King" had been honoured, the Chairman said that last year they had bad a. very pleasant gathering, and on indication was given by him on bjhalf of the Board that they wtfuld do their beet to have a repetition this year. The Board were very glad to be able to keep that promise, and he was pleased to welcome tlie visitors. They hoped that the gathering would be annual, and that >t would be productive of the host results in the promotion of the agriculture of the country through the College. He had to report that they were very shortly to lose for a time the valuable services of Mr H. A. Knight, a member of the Board, who wae about to visit England. He (the ohairman) would be very sorry if they had not had an opportunity of expressing their sense of the immense services Mr Knight had performed for the institution of which he had also 'been a distinguished student. (Applause.) Mr D. McMillan had been reelected ac a member of tfhs Board, and his work in the past had been unequalled. During the last year they had' nrnde two important changes. They had altered the course from two to three years, in order that the best possible advantage might be taken by the students of the teaching of agriculture at fclie College. They had acquired more Land contiguous to their own to give the opportunity of working more ground by the students. When ha saw the advantages the institution offered to young men v/ho came there to study, it was a matter cf astonishment that the place was not rushed by applicants rather than that they should have limited numbers. The numbers had not increased, and it was largely due to the po.licy of the director, and he was supported by the Board, who desired to moke the place as practical as possible. (Applause.) Nearly the whole of the work on the farm was now carried out by the students themselves. They regarded that as one -of the most important changes they had made, and 7 they meant to adhere to it. Hβ had the day. before received a letter from an old student,, one of the more recent ones, who was new successfully managing a family property, and he eaid that when he read the last report of tbe College prepared by the Director, he had exclaimed, "Oh, I wish I were there now." That was the view of a youu£ man Who had gone through the course r/f practical agriculture there. Within the last six months a friend of his (the chairman's), who was one of the.best informed men in tbe colony on agricultural and p?st/oral matters, had said, after looking over the place, that if a young fellow could not; learn farming there he couldi not team Jit anywhere. He mentioned these facts to kljow that they were doing their best. Last year he had asked them to give their active'support in making the institution bettisr known in the colony, and enable it to. fulfil the objects for which it was founded. He hoped that they had -done so, and •would do so in the future. They had everything at the College to enafcile a youmg man to maintain a sound mind ma sound , body, at a total cost of £40 per j'ear, and it was astonishing that the place was not overflowing. He believed it would be in time, and he had the utmost confidence in the institution, and in the Director, who possessed the absolute confidence of the Board. (Applause.) And he hoped the Director 'had equal! confidence in the Board. The Chairman concluded by iproposiing the toast of "Prosperity to the aop-icultural and pastoral interests of New Zealand," and asked Mr Duncan Cameron to respond. Mi'y Cameron oaid an agriculturist he had great pleasure on responding to the toast. The farmers sometimes complained, and sometimes they had grounds for com-, plaints, but Übis year had, on the whole, been a very prosperous one. They had' got a good price for their oats, and wheat was now selling well, though fanners had littfe to sell, and the merchants were getting the advantage of the high prices. However, that, probably, did not matter smuch, as they would no doubt be better able to give, farmers good prices this Mason. There was aa important aefvance 5n the price of wool, and, on the whole, therefore, they might consider they had had a good' year. Hβ alluded to the advantage such a gathering as thafc was to the farmers themselves, in giving them an opportunity to exchange views, and hoped it woa'd be continued. . What he had seen that day had pleased him very much. There were two fields of wheat tha-t probably could' not be beaten in •the province, though they might be equalled on some of the heavier lands. The stock was also good, and he_ thought the place must be a great benefit to the students. Although he was verging on sixty years of asse, he would gladly go there for six* months if he only had the time. Hβ hoped they would have success and! prosperity in this year, and for many yean to oome- (Applause.) Sir Geo. Clifford next proposed the toast of "Prosperity to the College." After making a tour of inspection round the farm they could, he said, only come back thoroughly convinced that the institution' was well equipped to teach the young New Ztaland farmer h : s trade. They eouM only say r from the state of the farm, that the management must be excellent—(hear, hear) —and they who'were senior must have a feeling of jealousy that they had no such opporttrnttr as their sons and srrnndsom now possessed in such an institution. He was ind'incd to tell a younjr man that there were fonr things necessary to perfection in farm matters. It did not wiauer how much empirical knowledge he had, how much he had worked in tbe past, cr how'much fhecTt'tical knowledge he had imbibed at college : unless he had developed his tommonStUM hs wn.s r.o goat?. (Hear, hoar.) • H.> nvusi be a man of oommm-stnse. to ns to ■ipp'.y his sci"ntific to diff<-r«.-rit fields, and to different parts cf the wine field. That, was tho otrality that a youni; fellow shou'd have, and thut wa.-: t!r_< quality tliat was being imparted to the rtuder.ts S at "the-College. It was necessary tin , the practical farnwr should have a pood wifs , . who would take an interest in his avocation, and cheer him in his and if ha had not got that-he wa.x not properly equipped for the work of life. (Laughter nnd applause.) ThirrTly, lie imi?t not l>? too sanguine. Tn driving about thf country roads in Canterbury, where there w-ere farms he (the speaker) notioed it tm a common mistake for a man to keep too much stock on ore acre. He found him.-vlf that the fewer pheep he kept tlie more inciity he made. The best thine a young farWr ct»uld 4o was to estimate the carrying capacity of the lacd, and then k~ej» only twothirds cf the stofk. If the land would carry more he couW easily get thrm, but once the land was injured by overstocking

it was a difficult matter to bring about recovery. Tho fourth point was that he should" develop the quality of hatred and he would find enough enemies on the roadsides and hedgerows, and he must never pause in their destruction. One year's seeding made seven years' weeding. They had present the collective wisdom of the country, who had just been chosen by their intelligent . constituencies—(laughter and applause)—to make laws for them. If, instead of passing laws as to what they should drink they would legislate for the suppression of noxious wetds throughout the country, they would ba doing a gycat deal more good. (Hear, hear.) The speaker mentioned the prevalence of barley grass, which was spreading all over the country. In conclusion, he said that nothing gratified him more than to find the farm so fieo from noxious weeds. It was also gratifying that they had such an inst-itu- , tion under the able management of the present director, and backed up by his Board. (Applause.) Mr W. Lowrie, the Director of the College, in responding, said he was very gratefui for the eloquemt and kindly way in which Sir George Clifford had proposed the toast. Hβ assured them that it was encouraging to those working in the.public service to get a n occasional word that stimulated them to better efforts. The remarks to the effect that they did something to develop com-mon-sense was the greatest encouragement he had ever received ac a teacher. He did not know if it could have been better put, and when they remembered that genius was but common-sense in an uncommon degree, they could very readily cc* that when they w?re developing common-sense they were deveCoping genius, and it would reflect, ac they hoped, on the real industry of the country. In referring to the work of the College, Mr Lowrie eaid th* years operations had been to some extenl eventful. The changes introduced had been referred to by the chairman. Hβ (the speaker) had always felt that no applied science was to ba learned properly from books, and that any branch of technical education required manual practice if it woe to be thoroughly effective, and, therefore, they had felt jwj - fled in making thorn who came to the-Lai-lco do manual work on the farm. iney had to look to tue students they had gtft there. If they had got young farmers, as proficient in their expected to be, they wouxd find they coM use their time ai something better tfc/n mere manual work, but when they took the class of student* they had got, vome of them sons of farmers, and others with but little or no practical expenenr* the fundamental work of the College m»M be to K ive them as much practical experience ne possible. They learned by mistakes, and some of the mistakes that a trtydent made remained there till harvest, ani were more convincing than any m«re wc/rdii from the lecturers. There was one tbvng that might b» much better, and that was the esprit de corps among the etuder/s. He had seen it among some of the students, and. he would like to see it extended. One of the b=st means of assistance he had at the institution he was previously connected with was the Old Stud* Ate' Association. It that esprit de corrjs could be encouraged it would help th'/ College to grow into the confidence of public, as th* students would feel that, any reflection upon the institution was a reflection upon themselves. As to the objects of the College, there eeemed to be a hazy notion of what they were. "He pointed out in regard to biology t-hfit a knowledge of seeds, of grasses, a\id weeds, and of the botanical character and agricultural value of grasses alone, would be cheaply purchased at £40 per yera-. Then_ in regard to veterinary ecienco, a student , might on an occasion in the treatment of an animal save the whole of h'/s fee by a little more veterinary knowledge. There was also agricultural chemistry, which was now a highly important ruatter, and it was well taught there, and was worth the whole of the £40 per year. .Another advantage in the institution* , was tha means it afforded for the development, of character by bringing young men together, and enabling them to express their opinions. That was a matter that should be seriously considered by farmers who had sone growing up. In conclusion, he would like to say relative to fanning conditions, after one year there, that,the land wae of the greatest capacity, and that the climate was tho finest that it had been his lot to experience, and he reckoned that those who, as farmers, could not appreciate New Zealand, they ought to go—well, to some other place. (Applause.) Mr Tollerton proposed the toast of the Chairman, which wae supported by Mr Guild, and after the Chairman had re-. Bgonded the proceedings terminated. An adjournineDt was then made to the lawn, where the presentation, of prizes to tlie successful students took pjace. There were a number of ladies present, also nis Lordishap Bishop Julius and Mr T. K. Taylor, M.H.R. The ladies were entertained at afternoon tee, and Mrs Julius kindly consented to present the prizes.' The following is the prize list :■?- First year—Valuing live etook (director's prize), J. E. Goodall; beat in *11 departments, J. M. Bansted; beet with ooteide examinora, A. B. Winatone; second in practical agnouUure. J W. Eoper; pieotical farm work, A. E. Wmstone: theoretical chemi»try A. C. Abbott; practical chemietiy, J. W. Koper; botany, J. M. Kanatead: agricultural entomology, A. R. Winstone; veterinary science, J. JL Ranstead; bookkeeping, A. A. t aj i? ; J- M. Eanetead; mechanics, J. M. Kanstead. I Second year—Best all round, v C. A. Eokford and i<. S. Cooper equal; principles of agriculture. C. A. Ecklord and E. S. Cooper equal; farm work, C. A. Eckfprd and A. J. S. lUcnardson, equal; practi6ai chemistry E S. Cooper and C. A. Eckford equal; veter- "? er X, B cienee t C. A. Eokford; jnathematics, i Ml | es v,'nensuration, E. S. Cooper; logy, i<. S. Cooper: meteorology. E. S. Cooner and C. A. Ecfcford equal. The recipients of- prizes were warmly applauded, and three hearty cheers were given for Mrs Julius. ' Mr "Mays, Chairman of the Students' Council, then presented Mr F.. W. Hilgen- i dorf, late lecturer on natural science, with a barograph, or self-registering barometer, and Mr J. B. Charlton, lecturer on veterinary science, -who is also leaving the College, with a case of pipes. Hegret was expressed at the lose of these lecturers, and* special reference was made to the interest Mr Hilgendorf had taken in the students' recreations. Mr Lowrie also spoke of the great satisfaction Mr Hilgendorf had given as a lecturer, and of the practical way in which he had carried out his work. Messrs Hilgendorf and Charlton suitably responded, and they were heartily cheered by the students. The Garrison Band played a number of good selections on the lawn during ths afternoon.