AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 29 April 1919, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

I At last meeting of the Wanganui | Education Hoard, the eliairnuiii reported as lollows iipuii the recent boy.s' camp held at Mr 10. Short's Parorangi Farm :—The annual camp was held at I'aroiangi Farm from 17th to L!7th .March inclusive. Staff. Grant, O. A. Hanner. instructors; F. Roydhoirse, physical drill instructor; C. J. 1). Slk'inner, (|iiai terniaster; W. MeNah, assistant instructor. Tile hoys were members cf the Rural Course in the Board's Secondary Schools. The numbers and schools are a.s follows: Technical College, Wanganui, 27 : Feilding D.H. School. 17; L'atea D.H. Sehool. 7; Taihap-.' D.H. School, •">; Hulls D.H. School, I. Total. <>!>. The canij) equipment —12 Hell tents ;md a Roberts stove and cooking utensils — were 'lent by the Education Department. The equipment and hoys' linage were most •expeditiously sent out to the camp by motor lorry'. The teaching work was conducted *on the lines of previous camps. One typical animal was selected and described in detail and when t the boys had grasped the essential fea- | tnres of a first-class animal, then other animal's were brought in for the boys to describe. The an'mals .studied this year were Hereford*, Jerseys and Roniiieys. A,s is former years we have had Mr Swift's valuable help while we were studying the Hereford-;. Mr ,Swi!t went to a lot of trouble to pick out a group of animals of varying degrees of excellence. He gave much valuable information abr.ut the Hereford as well ;is many useful hints about the com -t method of judging these animals. I'Yr the study of jerseys we had Mr Dormer's herd at our disposal. Mr W. M. Tapp, Secretary tr> the Jer.-ev Breeders' Association, came specially to Mr TX'i'mer's for 'the purpose of giving instruction to the boy.s on the points of the Jersey breed. Mr Tapp took great pains to show the hoys what to look for in the Jersey of the best dairy type. That Mr Tapp's lessons were taken to heart was proved by the readiness wi'h which the hoys sized up the respective merits of the animals that were brought in for their judgment. 'In the study of Romneys, we had th.- assistance of Mr Norman Short, who ma le his first appearance as a teacher. lie made a gcod beginning and bids |';i!r !■> rival his farther, who was alway; nt his best "hen he had the whole camp assembled at the sheep yard ;. There lie could keep the boys interested for three hours r.t a time witbo't any difficulty. We deeply regret bis absence on this occasion. For the fir t itime in the history of the camp we .bed a physical instructor with us. V r Roydhoiise gave the Imvs instruction 1 and, practice twice a dyy in physical exercises and for an hour each evening supervised, the boys at nlav. He did .'"is work enthusiastically. The hoys benefited very much by his instruction. Thev fell into their lines smarter and marched in better style than we have seen in any previous camp. Mr Roydhoiise helped very much in the social life of the camp. Mr Young, the maifi ager of the Cheltenham Dairy Factory, invited the boys to see the complete operation of butter-making. Hie boys went in groups under the supervision of Mr MeNah. The complete process was shown and carefully described. The .senior boys were invited by Messrs Hodder and Tolley to see the methods of seed, e'eaniug adopted by the firm. M'wsr- Hnelder and Tdley sent a motor van for the buys and at the conclusion of the demonstration sent them hack to camp. The demonstration of »o:>d cleaning was of the most interesting na-tiiiT and proved that by the use of up-to-d:-.te machinery very dirty samples could be .cleaned. The whole process and the importance of using pure seeds were f.i'.'v ex!)'ai:i":', bv Mr Tole.v. The examination was quite an exhaustive test. Five Roninov sheep, two Hereford cows and three .Jerseycows were specially selected. Mr Dernier b;-: 'light the .JorM'v cows from Cheltenham to farina ngi. The boys were allowed forty minut-es l:; r each group. The resii.ts of the examination wi',l he communicated to the Board as they come to hand. We wish to put on record our appreciation of the good work dicne by Mr -Mr-Nab, the assistant instructor. In Ins report on the judging of Jei".evs, Mr Dernier remarks: " I he papers as a whole are remarkably good, considering the T erv limited opportunity the hoys had. of studying the sahjeet. The first two papers would net be beaten by many breeders with j years cf experience." '