TEAINING AS FARMERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18276, 18 December 1922, Page 9

TEAINING AS FARMERS.

TECHNICAL COLLEGE WORK.

FARM SCHOOL AT OTAHUHU.

COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTION".

[BY OUR, SPECIAL COMMISSIONER. ]

The Auckland Technical College, among its many other functions, is carrying on exceedingly valuable work in the way of agricultural instruction. At present a general average of between thirty and forty boys aro making agriculture their chief course under tho direction of Mr. Stanley Hill, ono of tho first in New Zealand to gain a university degree in agriculture, and who has already won a high reputation as a plant breeder. Tho pity of it is that tho number of boys taking up tho study of agriculture is not much greater, for no other class of education is of more practical uso either to tho individual concerned or to the State.

During their work at tho Technical College the boys receive instruction in carpentry, metal working, and similar occupations which will be. of great, assistance to them when they settle upon the land, and at tho same time their studies m English, mathematics, and similar subjects are framed largely on lines associated with agriculture, while chemistry ami biology have tho samo direction. The chief and perhaps the most, interesting part of the boys' education is, however, carried on at Otahuhu. There the Teclij meal College has some thirty acres of j land, which is an open-air school, and a few plain classrooms where subjects liko | seed testing and milk testing can bo cai- ! ried on and the students may receive praci tical demonstration and scientific instrucI tion at the samo time.

Interesting Experiments. Yesterday I paid my first visit to this school farm ;»t Otohuhu and saw the boys i at real work under a very hot sun, and 1 have to confess that what 1 saw interested me most deeply. Tho greater part of this small farm is Laid out in trial plots or rather rows of root crops, fodder crops, grasses. Hero in ono block aro a number of field carrots being tested for yield and quality; in another block there are numerous varieties of mangolds; in another millets, sorghums, maize, sugarcane, and broom corn. Perhaps tho most important section is that devoted to lucerno, for hero in a few square chains is demonstrated tho quali- ; ties of numerous varieties of this valuable j fodder plant. Some of the varieties which j were presented to the. farm by the plants i branch of tho Auckland Acclimatisation Society aro doing remarkably well, and | the same thing can be said for tho difj ferent kinds of soya beans, received from ! the same society, which were recently ! obtained from tho United States and j Japan. Other plots show various kinds j of turnips and swedes under test for yield or drought, resistance, or blight resistance. Certainly the boy' who spends his two short days per week at this farm for a season or more can gain a largo amount of practical information if he keeps his eves open. He would know pretty well what kind of seed to try and what kind of manures to use without writing to tho agricultural editor or the Government Agricultural Department. Development of Prairie Grass. One of the features that attracted me particularly was the tests being made to show the difference between various strains of prairie grass. As every farmer knows, this crass could play a very important i r>art in our dairying industry by providing i t'eed when English grasses aro at their j worst- in early spring and late autumn, ! for it is one of the most palatable and ! nutritious grasses known. It has, how- ! ever, certain defects; it is so shallow j rooted that stock quickly destroy it by ! grazing. Mr. Hill has, however, selected or bred a new strain of prairie grass which not only has a better root system than ordinary prairie grass, but carries much more foliage. I heard Dr. Hclgondorf, of • tho Lincoln Agricultural College, ( atiterI bury, describe this strs.in as one of th»« j most, valuable yet evolved in New ZenI land, and one has only to see it in jnxtaj position with the ordinary kinds to recognise its merits.

The boys attending the. farm were so busy cleaning up the ground for the holidav' period that I had no time to chat with them, but I could not help noticing what a fine, tail lot of lads most of them were, just tlie stamp for breaking m the nine million odd acres of Auckland roil which still renin ins unfilled, and which ia for such as they are to turn into productive farms. More Such Institutions Needed. There can be no doubt that, this Technical College school farm is a valuable institution, but. tho pity of it is that -.here arc* not half a dozen of them scattered about Auckland, and hundreds of students attending them instead of a few dozens. What industry in New Zealand offers greater scope for the enercrv of nir younger men than agriculture? What part of New Zealand offers wider opportunities for agriculture than Auckland ? And yet of all the subjects taught in our schools and college- agriculture still receives the least attention. If Auckland City, vhich depends upon agriculture for its future development, does not force upon those responsible for education the absolute need of greater attention being given to agriculture and greater encouragement to the few people ensacted in this work, then it .will be a misuse of educational facilities ( and of the va*< sums of money which the public so pat ientlv pays yearly for the training of our future wealth-producers and our chief industrialists.