THE DAIRY SCHOOL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8537, 18 March 1908, Page 5

THE DAIRY SCHOOL.

At the meeting of the A. and P. Association ,yestcrday_ afternoon it was decided—though official intimation had not yet been received —to write to the Premier and Minister for Lands expressing tho satisfaction of the Association that the Dairy School was to be erected in Palmerston, and adding that the Association would be pleased to facilitate any stops Government proposed to take in the matter. A vote of thanks v/as also accorded Mr Wood, M.P., for the assistance he had given in the matter. The Dairy School will occupy a space of about 70ft by 80ft, and will face the Cuba Street frontage. The favoured site is about 30 yards above the present A. and P. office. It is considered .that the work will be- put in hand at once, and that everything will be in readiness for the new season. PRESS COMMENTS. Peace, must reign within the breast of the Hon. R. McNab just now. The selection of a site for the Dairy School —which to him has been as troublous a question as the choosing of a site for the capital of the Commonwealth to tho Federal Parliament —has been settled. Ever since the project of a national Dairy School was mooted, the Minister for Agriculture has been glutted with offers and driven half crazy by deputations anxious to provide .the State with "the most suitable site." Parochial or personal considerations have, of course, never entered into the question. Every suggestion has been born of pure patriotism; and that has only enhanced Mr McNab s difficulty. From Westland to the East Coast, from Invercargill almost to the North Cape, '"best sites" were figuratively chucked at the Minister's head, but at last ho has made his choice, and Palmerston is to be the seat of the Dairy School and Experimental Station. Lucky Palmerstonians! It never rains but it pours. Only a few days ago the Governor chose- that town of the plains and plainest; of towns as his winter quarters, and now the muchcovetod Dairy School has been captured by Palmerston Northians. Things are looking up in that direction.—Masterton Age.

Those interested directly in the dairy industry will be pleased to know that the Government have at lajt made up their minds as to the site of the Dairy School. By not a few will objection bo taken to tho decision to erect the school at Palmerston North, but when due consideration is given to tho arguments for and against, we believe that the best cours/s has been taken. The Departmental experts, it aeems, favoured the State Farm site at Levin, because there the necessary land was available for experimental farm work. But the central position of Palmorston eventually triumphed, and now wo hope the Government will go ahead and push on with the erection of the necessary buildings. The residents of Palmerston are inclined to be hysterically grateful for this mark of Ministerial favour, but this display of feeling apepars to us to be quito unnecessary, as on the. Premier's statement tho choice has been made entirely as the result of a desire to put tho school in the best possible position, and tho decision has been arrived at quite apart from any political pressure! —Dannevirke Advocate. The Cabinet cannot be accused of any undue haste in settling the site for the Dairy School. Most people have long recognised that Palmerston would be the place selected, and though some disappointement will be experienced in Feildother centres it was generally felt' that the fight against Palmerston was ono in which there was little hope of success. . . . The school will primarily be a technical college for managers of butter and cheese factories, and the work will be rather on scientific than practical lines. ' A department for research will also investigate the many difficult problems on which light can be thrown by chemistry and bacteriology. That there is a large field for education and research work of this kind is undoubted, and it is to be hoped that the management of the institution will be thoroughly efficient in every way. We trust that tho disappointment which will be felt in Feilding at not being chosen as the site for the school, will not prevent both ~tow:n and country" uniting to press the claim for a train ing farm for the young farmers of the district. The generous offer of Mr Lethbridge has made such a farm possible, and judicious pressure should bo brought to bear on Ministers to make it more than a possibility.—Rangitikei Advocate. PUBLIC MEETING AT LEVIN. (Special to " Standard. ") LEVIN, March 18. _ As the Levin Experimental Farm is considered unsuitable for a. Dairy School by the Government, a public meeting will be held on Levin on Saturday evening to discuss tho uses it should bo put to in future. Mr Field,. M.P., will be present, and will address the mooting.