A NOVEL COMPETITION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1298, 29 November 1911, Page 10

A NOVEL COMPETITION.

' FOR-YOUNG FARMERS. Laics! Sydney files state that at the last meeting oi' Ihe 11.D.A. Association, a proposal of .Mr. Gilder, of the llawkesbury Agricultural College stall', was adopted. The proposal was made and adopted with ii view to interesting fanners and others, together with tho members of their families, in accurate records of the results of the various operations connected with agriculture, and may be suniniarisnl as follow:—(l.i To induce (ho young people on the farms to "form a habit of recording observations" at; what may possibly be the critical stage of their lives: (2) to encourage farmers who may not have the lime, inclination, or training, tu keep accurate records themselves, to interest- tho members of their families in the matter, and thus hand over the bookkeeping to tlir younger generation : f't) to enable the farmer himself, on seeing tho results of bis work summarised, to ascertain tho most profitable parts of his business.mid thus to enlarge these, and nt the. same-time to.eliminate or else imptovo the less successful sections; if] !> indicate the benefit of noting results of various.kinds, with a view to looking for the contributing causes. The competition is to be on tho follow-ing-lines:—(l) The entrants (either boys or girls)' must be under the age of lti years-on February -jn. 1012; (2) a.diary shall bo kept, and full records takyi frbm December I. JOII, to February 2'.'; 1912'(a full three months); (IS) all entrants Shtill be residents for this period on a j holding of at least one acre in extent in j the Hawkesbury electorate; (I) tho opera- J tions recorded shall be those of tli2 owner or occupier of the area referred to (only one candidate shall be. allowed for each set;of operations on any one area); (G> applications fdr entrance shall be made on or-. bcfo_re Saturday, November 20, I'.MI, to .the secretary of the association (applicants shall, state their names, addresses, ages, .with' date of last birthday, and size of;farm or holding), no entrance feo 'to.be charged; (7) the adjudicators agrpe tb'keep till figures and results strictly secret, and these will be returned to the Candidates;.(B) in order to ensure regularity,- the adjudicators have tho right to call, upon any. competitor for tho work done to date,on giving two days' notice -ill jy'riting.. The work will bo returned with as little delay as possible. (!)) I pon aiiy, farm where any. two or. more fairly •clearly defined,branches of work are carried on, members.of the .same family may .take pari, provided they indicate the branch they. have selected when submitting application. (10) While of -necessity each.candidate will have to seek the assistance'of parents and others, the filial record, as sent-iiii must be wholly the work of the candidate. Marks will be given as follow.:—Completeness, 30 per cent.; .regularity, 20 per cent.; summarising! 20 per cent,; value as a reference, 19 per cent. 5 neatness,. 10 per cent. A prize of one guinea will be given for the 'best, diary-and summary for the period mentioned,; IDs. Gd. -foi' the second; and each 'competitor who. furiiishes a conscientious attempt will be awarded as.. •The candidates -may seleOt olie or more 'of the following Dairying, poultry raising, orcharding, or miied farming, or the growth, cultivation, harvesting, and ilmtketing pf s,ny. one, crop may be selected. If. dairying, the diary should record •tliA nitiiilicr of cbv'\-s niilkod, estimated .'Or •iliOasured vieli'l, ho\v fed, labour .employed, pi-ice received, tlnd anythiiilg- that may add to the value of the information ffiVen. Conclusions ilrtnvn as to the effects _ of feed, weather, length of niilking period, etc., oh the milk yield will be. welcomc. If poultry raising, the numbet. olid breed of the fowls should be Stated, together with the amount of feed (whether grown or purchased), egg yiold, price,. lifi(\* marketed, methods nnd voiiilts of incubation (if any are used in the hot weather), how labour is provided for, sales of poultrv, deaths, and their causes (if known), etc. If orcharding, the area under trees, the age, variety, yifld, cash returns, diseases noticed, daily operations, etc., mav be given. In each case a general idea of tho weather should be recorded d.iily. It is suggested that t'no diaries be kept in ono-quiro foolscap books. pregularity ;mdgceiptfi