SCHOOL FARM WORK.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 13 June 1928, Page 3

SCHOOL FARM WORK.

AT HAWERA HIGH SCHOOL. VISIT TO DEMONSTRATION AREA. lii order to give the boys' of the agricultural division .of the High School at Hawera. an opportunity of .seeing .the experimental work done at the Waimate West Demonstration Farm, a party of 14 were taken there in charge of Mr. Whitehead,' instructor in agriculture, by the kindly assistance of Messrs. - A." Murdoch,' H. A. Sutherland, F. Gawith and R. Pierce, who drove the party to' the farm in their cars. The party was met by Mr, Glasson and Mr. Freeman, of the Agricultural Department, who conducted the boys over the different paddocks and. demonstrated to them the work that was in operation. Mr. Glasson explained that the improvements to be seen had been made since the farm was taken over in 1918. The shelter hedges had been planted in 1919, and their rapid growth was proof of the quality of the land under proper treatment-. A visit to the milking shed gave the boys an idea, of the proper type of shed; and the. perfect cleanliness that was such a. great asset to a. farm. He explained: the special features which had been introduced to ensure efficiency and convenience to the milkers and the best returns from the cows. The Farm Committee also endeavoured to demonstrate the model shed, with feed boxes used for concentrates in the dummy bails, an absolute system of cleanliness, with concrete floor, tarred and limed walls, and with a short race immediately behind the shed so as to avoid mud in winter and dust in summer. The cows walk out into- the race and thence out into the paddocks, and never hinder one another. Bet-wen the- shed and the milk stand is a. piece of grass lawn, with afew shrubs, ensuring the utmost cleanliness round the milk when standing in the afternoon.

The boys were. next shown the implement shed :and the importance of cover lor these valuable adjuncts to the farm work was stressed by Mr. Glasson.

Just alongside was formerly an experimental plot where various kinds of lucerne weie struck in order to show the varieties and to demonstrate which acclimatised best in .South Taranaki. Out of about six samples it was proved that Marlboro did the best. In addition to lucernes is Hawaiian Pigeon Pea, a perennial grown for the very large amount of grain it yields, to be used as a concentrate food.

A tour was then made of the various paddocks—the farm is divided in two by a race up the entire length, with about five paddocks on each side. The lucerne paddock comprises eight acres, of which half is an established stand and the balance a young crop. In the former the boys saw various widths of drills from 7 inches to 21 inches, and also broadcast. Mr; Glasson advocated sowiug half the seed one way with every other coulter of the drill, i.e., 7 Indies apart, and cross it the other way with the remainder, thus ensuring a dose and even stand. Another point to which attention was drawn was the sowing with the lucerne of oats, which are coming up very well. They help to shelter the lucerne during the winter and keep down weeds, while they increase the bulk of tlie first cut, which is usually made into ensilage. Though it is proved that this is .so, it is also demonstrated that the oats tend to have a depressing effect on the subsequent cuts. The boys were'interested to see the excellent condition of the crop to withstand the severe weather of the winter. - ...

The different pastures of the rest of the paddocks were examined with interest, Mr. Glasson pointing out that some were ne.er renewed, but were tlie original grasses, left in order to carry out experiments in bringing bush pustules to a state of productivity. The condition of these grasses showed the advantage of a system of top-dressing. Proceeding onwards, the boys saw in the remaining paddocks the system of nutnurial treatment, which was explained to them, with tlie various experiments with both fertilisers and seed mixtures.

The ensilage and haystacks were next examined. The material for the former was taken off the eight acres of lucerne last spring, it had turned out \ ery well, though with perhaps a little more waste than usual. The hay also was in good condition, and though the stacks could not bo considered models, tiiey have been well built and have effectually excluded the wet weather. Air. Glasson advocated tiie use' of ditch barns where lucerne hay was to be cut year after year, or in lieu of this topping the stacks with sheet iron or thatch. The system of watering was explained, each two paddocks sharing, one wide concrete- trough, the water for which was secured from the town supply. The only paddock under cultivation showed crops of oats after soft turnips, the ground having been turned over immediately after the turnips had been used. This system, said Mr. Glasson, gave the land more cultivation, kept down weeds, and ensured green fodder in the spring. The carrot and mangold crops leceived attention, and the weights, which had been taken in the morning, proved interesting. The former,■■ Sinclair’s Champion, worked out at 43 tons per acre, and 'Matchless White- at 46 tons ]3ewt. There was, however, a tendency to “bolt” shown during the .past year or two. In the mangolds, Red Intermediate were a good crop with 87 toils 3ewt, and in Prizewinner, with various manures, the returns varied from 61 tons 12cwt up to 76 tons.

Next to these was a paddock in which were sown 54 different plots of grasses, put down for experimental purposes. Afr. Glasson expressed the hope that, later on the hoys would be able to view these to greater advantage. when details of experiments could be given.

Owing to the rain which fell, one or two- more paddocks -had to he seen from the lane, and the experiments which were being made were duly explained.

Beiore the boys left Air. AYliitehead took the opportunity of paying a tribute to Afr. Glasson’s work and of thanking him for the trouble he had taken to demonstrate- to the bows all the work done and to instil into their minds the principles of agriculture as he explained the various experiments made. Air. Glasson. in reply, thanked- Air. Whitehead, and said that it was good to encourage boys to take an interest in agriculture. laying particular stress on tV> n»ed for doing all possible to combat the- drift to the towns from the country. He added that he hoped the boys would nnv another visit- to the farm, when no doubt thee would be more interesting tilings to show and' to explain.