The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1935. TO SAVE FLOCK HOUSE

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 119, 13 February 1935, Page 8

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1935. TO SAVE FLOCK HOUSE

Jt comes with something' of a shock to learn that the trustees of Flock House are faced with the possibility of having to close that valuable farm training institution unless the number of boys in residence is increased. On its present establishment the college can accommodate and train between 70 and 75 boys. At the beginning of the year there were 28 only. It is obvious that an institution organised for the boarding and training for some 70 boys cannot be conducted without loss if the numbers in attendance are reduced. Un present numbers the college is being carried on at a loss of between £25 and £3O a week. To continue at that rate is manifestly impossible. The question' was often asked in the past, when the valuable results of the Flock House system were prominently before the public, why that system could not be extended to provide for the training o. e '' r Zealand boys as well: As has been frequently explained, tne deed of trust for'the administration of the New Zealand .Sheepowners. Acknowledgment of .Debt to British Seamen Fund provides solely foi expenditure in respect of the training of the children of British sailors who suffered in the War. With the passage of time the. number of overseas entrants qualified under this provision has declined. In order to keep the numbers in attendance up to the required standaro provision was made some time ago for. the admission of trainees qualifying as sons of New Zealand soldiers who had been killed ot wounded in the War, payment for' these being made by contributions from the War Funds Council, subsidised by the Unemployment Board. The response was satisfactory up to a point, and to save the situation it has now been arranged to broaden the entrance qualification to include u accepted sons of New Zealand and Imperial soldiers resident in New Zealand.” As the present contributory bodies are legally unable to provide the extra funds required, the problem has been solved by an increased subsidy from the Unemployment Board on the basis of £36 per head for all accepted candidates, subject to a refund of £lB per head in respect of the sons of soldiers killed or incapacitated during the War. This is a last opportunity for providing for New Zealand boys the benefits of training under the admirable Flock House system. One of the many excellent features of the system is the after-supervision of the boys on leaving the College, and the subsidising of savings from wages to encourage the thrifty to build upon the nucleus of a farm purchase fund. It may be recalled that as one practical result of this system 22 Flock House boys, then grown to manhood, weie enabled to take up a 2300-acre block of land in the Waikato valued at £20,000, and establish within the block farms .of their own. It would he regrettable, almost a calamity, if these and other advantages of the Flock House system were to be lost through' inadequate response to the invitation now issued.

The new arrangement, assuming that there is a satisfactory response, will enable Flock House to be carried on at full capacity fot two years. It is to be earnestly hoped that the Board s invitation .will be appreciated by those qualified to take advantage of it as a unique and most valuable opportunity of launching tlieir sons on a farming career under the best possible auspices.