TRAINING FOR THE LAND

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 68, 17 September 1925, Page 6

TRAINING FOR THE LAND

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUC-

TION

THE BOARD'S REPORT

ONE COLLEGE WILL SERVE FOR

THE PRESENT.

The report of the Board of Agriculture upon agricultural instruction iii New Zealand, was laid on the table of the House of Representatives this afternoon. The question of greatest interest in the order of reference, concerning the location of agricultural training institutions, is not directly replied to, the board being of opinion that the time has . not arrived for the establishment of one great School of Agriculture. It recommended, however, that it should be placed in a central position in New Zealand. 'A number of recommißndations are made upon other ,

phases of agricultural: education,

The board expresses • the opinion that that one fully-equipped and fully-staffed residential' College of Agriculture will be sufficient for many years to come, and recommends that such an institution should not be established until a sufficient number of degree students is available,' and, when established, should be placed in a central position. In the meantime (a) provision should be made for'the training of degree students by erecting laboratories and class-rooms at Wallaceville in connection with Victoria College at a cost of some £15,000, and by transferring to the same site the Biological and, Chemical Laboratories of the AgncuU tural : Department so that they and the existing Veterinary Laboratory and: the proposed Dairy Research Laboratory, to r gether with the expert staff, should be available in connection with the instruction of students to the mutual advantage of the students and the Department; (b) the Euakura Farm Training College t should be made available for co-operation with the Auckland University College; and (c) provision should be made for accommodating' additional students at Lincoln College by way of laboratories, cwss-rooms, and hostel -accommodation.: The board recommends that a grant of, ' £20,000 be made by the Government for this purpose, and that an additional grant of £500 per annum ,be • paid to Lincoln College to enable" the. plantbreeding and other experimental work to be developed. ;'.< ■'• .'/ ■':.'. FARM TRAINING COLLEGES The /board's recommendation' jn respect to farm training, colleges are that laboratory and classroom be provided at Ruakura at a cost< of aboutV £2100, and that Penrosa Farm, near Masterton, be developed into: a farm training college at a cost for additibnaU buildings/of about £7000; that the provision fW training of students in farm training colleges Vbe increased as students become available, ; eitrjr by additions to existing institutions or by the establishment of,new ones. Farm training colleges should ; be ,'under the control of a board consisting of the'Miniisters of Agrictulture and .Education, also one representative of each of the Departments and threemembers of the Board of Agriculture, 'including th'efpre-; sident; the curriculum should bo made as short and intensive as seasonal conditions will allow; the work should consist mainly of demonstrations on farm methods and. management, class and labora-' tory work, including a minimum of actual . farm : labour on the part of the student; the main subjects: dealt with should be soils; -fertilisers, crops, livestock breeding and niana_gement, farm management, farm economics, and horti-. culture;'' the staffs should consist of a college, principal, and agricultural graduate for every thirty'students, a farm overseer, skilled farm 'workers capable of instruction in their special crafts; a horticulturist, and the necessary domestic staff; 200 acres of first-class" 'land or its eguivaleht would suffice for, the";purposes of 1 a farm training college. SM ED LEY ESTATE ■ :' In respect, to the !Smedley .Estate, at.. Hawkes Bay, the board recommends.that the estate should continue to be managed by the Department of Agriculture, in association with the Public Trustee.; that the sum of £1300 per annum should be allocated' from the income, £1000 for 25; bursaries to enable Hawkes Bay boys to obtain a training in. agriculture, and £300 for.'a scholarship or scholarships to enable a selected Hawkes Bay student or students to take a degree course in agriculture, any balance not used in any one year to revert to the trust; that suitable land be procured in Hawkes Bay • out of the income of the estate for a farm training college to be established as soon as the need of such a college in Hawkes Bay* has been.-demonstrated; such land .to'be used in the meantime' as a demonstration'farm. ■ ; .j- ' POST-G RADII ATE TRAIN ING Research work' in agricultural prob-. lems should .be encouraged at:one or more of the university colleges and at research stations,' such as the Cawthron Institute at Nelson, at which:Bpecial facilities for post-graduates training in agricultural, work should be provided. It is also recommended that, a travelling scholarship be; established to enable'selected post-graduate studehtß to proceed abroad for the purpose of furthering their education in agricultural science. . "Hie board recommends that considerable areas of land of little present value, such as the\Hautu Block, in the centre of the North Island, should be set aside, where possible, as endowments for agricultural education. ■'.. ■'.'• ".'. '■.'! ... OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS The board also makes a number of. suggestions with regard to matters not explicitly included in the order of reference. The members express the opinion that the j number.of instructors in agriculture in both Islands be increased,; provided that no appointees have taken the B.Sc. or B.Ag. degree; that the number of agricultural. instructors. engaged in advising . teachers and in directing 1 the nature study and elementary, agrir culture in primary and post-primary schools^ should be increased. In regard to the training and classification of teachers, it is, urged that improved facilities" be given for training in nature sttidy arid elementary agriculture, which, siibjects. should be made compulsory, in the"D" and "C" examinations; teachers attaining to proficiency in these- subjects should receive grading increments.' The training colleges also should be pror vided with land for,.experimental plots and for nurseries. "-.-'" ■

Boys' and girls agricultural,: clubs should be encouraged, and to this end the Government should appoint an officer to organise the clubs; further the agricultural bursaries: should be awarded to boys distinguishing themselves i in . the club competitions. ;■ In view of the compai'atiye neglect of agriculture in the .post-primary course, due to'the present conditions'of-the. matriculation examination, elementary agriculture and nature study should be made compulsory in the courses' for the Public Service entrance, intermediate tad m»tncAll»tina u-amu>ii.t.iniu. i ]aw.

er leaving certificate should be given in respect of the .agricultural' course in a secondary school, -district high school, or' technical schoql, .provided that a 'satisfactory standard is attained in "English and. the . special subjects of the agricultural courses.■■••.•■-"■, ......-..,',:,■ AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS order to cater more especially- for. those pupils ..who ,enter on- a degree or diploma course in agriculture at ■■ a university college, and to.fill the gap between the primary' school work in nature study,-and.the professional courses in. agriculture in- the university,'- tho' board- recommends that agricultural high .schools should be established .wherever the settlers themselves-are-prepared to support the school and-the teachers. ACCREDITING SYSTEM A system of ajcediting student's to the, university should be: established as soon as possible, and in the meantime an agriculture preliminary examination should be instituted in place of the matriculation examinatipn for the degree of B.Ag., such; examination to be tho same as that of matriculation, except that an additional-science subject may be taken in place of a foreign language.