AFTER FOURTEEN YEARS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19805, 18 December 1929, Page 18

AFTER FOURTEEN YEARS.

LINCOLN COLLEGE IMPROVEMENTS. NEW LABORATORIES OPENED. After s vry .ong ai..i j..atient w.-i*! frr tee building, the Lincolti College Board of Governors was rewarded yes terdav b* - «eein;» :t? new laboratories T)C-?r.e'd bv "he Hon. Mr do la Perrelle, Minister i- Ir.tvrnai Aftair=, who expiained. 1:- performing the ceremony, that Sir ,!<>=<?: h War-:, Primp Minister. Tronlvi tar- fff;.;:r:fd b\* fur bis il;i. ■■=■•:. Mr P.. E. A-t xander. Hired** of ;-h-» College, r*>ad a numb* r r-f telegrams of ar-ologv for absen"t. in.--hiding one from ti- li'-n. Mr IV: !■■»•». Minister for Agric- ituri-. Mr J<-b.'i iK-aus. c..~:n..:Mi of the Board <"-f Hi-ivcrrvfj, who presided, said that snout 14- y..-ar? rgo tae Education Department tVr.vardfd the Hoard certain resohitiojis with agricultural eduction, and asked what attitude ther would take in regard to the matter. "The Board replied that_ it would we!~: r -me ;r,y demand for higher agricultural education, but that its facilities for teaching were limited unless the Education Department was prepared to afford a grant for teaching and new laboratories, whieli, it was then estimated, would cost £-3000 to £6OOO. Two years later the Education Department asked the Board to take over its bursary students, as the scheme for training them at Weraroa had fallen through. The Board agrped to take over thnsp students, and again stressed the ne<>d for new laboratories, but was put off by the war conditions plea. Later a Commission of the Board of Agriculture recommended the expenditure, but no action wan taken by the Government till 1927, when a definite grant of £IO,OOO was made. The Board immediately set to work on a building scheme. The total cost of the building was just over £12,000, being £2OOO in excess of the estimates, which amount had been met by a further grant from the present Parliament. Tt was unnecessary to point out the advantages of such a building to staff and students. "To-day marks a new era at Lincoln," said Mr Deans, "and we feel confident that the college will further add to its name as an educational institution. The students of the past ■who have done so well will probably envy the student of to-day, working in such pleasant surroundings. That there is work to be done is evident on all hands. Increased costs must be met by increased production, and increased production can only be obtained by research, which must be linked up with economic production. That is what we hope to do here; not to discover what might be termed fundamental or academic facts, but to work out economic problems that the farmer can apply to his everv-day -tvork, and so increase the prosperity of the Dominion." Mr Deans then presented Mr de la Perrelle with an inscribed silver key.

New Name Suggested. Mr de la Perrelle advised the Board to call the college not Lincoln, bnt Canterbury Agricultural College. He •aid the provision of adequate laboratory accommodation had long been overdue, both from the viewpoint of efficient teaching and of research facility. The building that had just been completed shonld enable both branches of the college work to progress apace. Qnite the most important development of the eollege during recent years ha 3 been its rapid extension- along the field of agricultural research. This had been rendered possible by the statutory Government grant of £3700 per annum, and during the recent session of Parliament that amount was supplemented by £IBOO, to enable both the research and teaching sides of the college to be carried on to even better advantage than in the past. The Minister paid a tribute to the -work of the college staff. After giving details of the fruit and egg export guarantee,, saving to farmers through the free carriage" of lime on the railways, and of grants to cattledipping associations, Mr de la Perrelle declared the new building open. Mr Norton Francis, president of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, congratulated the Board on the progress made in the buildings of the college The residents of the City, as well as those in the country, he said, were prond of the college, and the fact that it had supported itself with practically no Government help. All would agree that Canterbury, whieh was the centre of the agricultural life of the Dominion, should have all the practical - tupport necessary, so that everything that would make farming more 'profitable would be discovered. There was a pressing need for better farm buildings. An inspection of the laboratories was then made by the visitors.