BOYS FOR THE LAND

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1937, Page 23

BOYS FOR THE LAND

IMMIGRANTS FOR

N.S.W.

A FAIRBRIDGE FARM SCHOOL

(From "The Post's" Representative.) ' .... ■■.. SYDNEY, February 11.

. ■;' A Fairbridge Farm School will be established shortly at Molong, in the central-western district >of -.New South Wales, and' the ■: initial draft of fifty English boys is expected to arrive in Sydney;within. six months. This will be - the:'third school to be established under the Kingslgy Fairbridge scheme, the' others being at Pinjarra (Western Australia) 'and at .Vancouver Island. The scheme in Western' Australia provides .for the training of boys until they are about fifteen years of age, but the committee for the New South Wales movement feels that the training might be extended a few years, with a view to placing the boys on their own farms. The New South Wales property purchased is Narragpon, about four miles from Molong and the price paid was £14,280. The property is described as ideal for the purpose, being located in a fertile and healthy district in close proximity to many other farms which might absorb the boys as they completed their period of education and training at the farm school. The property comprises 1423 acres of which 1000 . acres are cleared for the plough and suitable for cultivation. Originally it was intended to secure a farm nearer, the city, but it was realised that this might, to some extent, defeat one of the main purposes of the movement. It was- intended that the boy migrants rhould be trained essentially as farmers, and it was. considered that this could best be carried out by placing them in a district far removed from the city.' ' An immediate start will be made to prepare the farm as a training school. For a start, five'cottages will be built, each to house from 10 to 14 boys, under the care of a cottage mother. The farm •will be in the charge of a competent manager, and there will also be instructors. The migrants to be brought out will be aged about nine or ten years of age. They will be selected.by the executive of Fairbridge Farm Schools Incorporated, the parent body in England, and will then be carefully examined by the medical. officer at Australia House, London. The early drafts will be restricted to boys, but when the scheme is well established in New South Wales, a number of girls will be brought out for training. It is expected that the' Molong Farm School will ultimately accommodate about 220 children. If the support accorded the movement warrants expansion, other farm schools will be established in New South Wales. The movement to found the school was sponsored by the Ehodes Fellowship of New South Wales. The British Government, the Commonwealth Government, and the State Government have all promised. support. Subsidies of 3s 6d a week for each child will be granted by the Commonwealth and State Governments, and the ' British Government will contribute 5s a' week for each child, making a total subsidy for each child of 12s. This will leave about 5s a week for each child to be met by the movement by public supAt the outset it was estimated that at least £50,000 would be required to establish the farm school. Already £14,000 has been subscribed by ftve Sydney men, and the British Government has undertaken to subscribe £15,000 (£18,750 in Australian currency) towards the establishment costs. This leaves £17,250 to be raised in order to ensure the success of the movement, and- an appeal for public support has been launched to raise the balance. '