THE LINCOLN SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8477, 30 January 1891, Page 3

THE LINCOLN SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE.

The following is the report of the farm examiners, Messrs. J. W. Overton and W. Boag, on the Lincoln School of Agriculture for the second term, 1890, received from the Acting Registrar, Mr. Wilson :—Our visit for the second term, of the year was on August 1. We begun our day's work by examining the students in a ploughing competition between seven of the students with three - horse teams and double - furrow ploughs. The land acted upon was lea, each student beginning and finishing his own lot. Some of the lots were exceedingly well done, both beginning and finish ; others were only middling. As points were awarded according to merit, the following will show the quality of the weak, 100 being the maximum : — No. 3, 100 points ; No. 4, 95; No. 5, 75 : No. 2, 65 ; No. 7, 65 ; No. 1, GO ; No. 6, 55. ■ Altogether the competition may bo considered a successful one. The horses were looking well, and the harness was in good order ; there was also a digging- at work in the same field, drawn by four horses. The students seemed to take a lively interest in what they were doing, and were quite capable of managing $ieir teams. The dairy cows were rather thin, but not out of the way for the season of the year. There were some fino three-year-old heifers, which will come in well for the dairy a little later on ; there were also some good two-year-olds. Although grass was not abundant, straw was plentiful, and the cattle were looking pretty well. The sheep were all on the turnips, hoggets going over first and the ewes following, 'ihe hoggets wore in good condition, and the ewes looked fairly well. Turnips have been a good crop, taking the season into consideration. The pigs looked strong and healthy ; most of the sows had litters, which will come in for the autumn. The winter wheat is well above the ground and looks strong. The same may be said of tine winter oats. The fences were in good order, a large percentage of them having been trimmed by the gorse cutter belonging to the school. The work was better done than any we have seen hitherto. The work on the farm was fairly forward, and everything done in a manner that reflects credit on the students and their teachers. The buildings, dairy, &c., presented their usual tidy and well-ar-ranged appearance. Our last visit to the School of Agriculture for IS9O was on Nov. 13. The first thing that required our attention was a shearing competition bet ween seven of the students, each one being allotted eight sheep to shear, four longwool and four short, one half of each lot, i.e., two longwool and two short, to bo shorn with the shears in the usual way ; the other four to be shorn with Wolseley's patent sheep - shearing machine, three of the latter having just been fitted up at the school. The sheep shorn by hand were fairly well done, with one or two exception* ; a few were very satisfactory indeed, us the points awarded will show, the lowest being sixty, and they ran from that up to the maximum, one hundred. Those shorn by the machines looked remarkably even and neat, and tho students seemed to understand the working of them. There were one or two stoppages, as is always the case in the working of new machinery, in consequence of which some of the students were not able to get through their number ; but altogether the competition was very successful. Other arrangements, such as classing wool, &c., were well looked after and carried on in the usual way. It gave us great satisfaction to find that the woolshed, which we were so anxious to see at the college, has been put up, with pens attached, which afford the necessary accommodation for shearing purposes. As usual, after we had finished with the students, we drove round the farm. The wheat looked strong and healthy, particularly one paddock, which was very heavy. The oats, both short and dun, looked well. The barley was clean and healthy and of an average appearance. Two large fields of peas' promised to give a good yield. The mangolds were just coming through the ground. No turnips were sown up to date, but tho students with their teams were busy proparing the land for them. Store and other cattle were looking well. There were twenty-eight dairy cows of various breeds, nearly all in full profit and good condition. All calves were fed by hand, and kept for a considerable time in separate pens, which is a very good plan. The sheep were nearly all shorn and looking well, particularly the hoggets. The pigs were in good condition out in the paddocks. Everything about the farm was well advanced for the season of the year. As was the case everywhere else, the crops looked better than the pasture; though the grass was green and fresh, it was not plentiful. Great benefit is derived from the water-races. The school being the List to get the water enables the director to have it used for irrigating fields, garden and orchard, of which ho makes the most.