RUAKURA FARM SCHOOL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19027, 26 May 1925, Page 11

RUAKURA FARM SCHOOL.

THE OFFICIAL OPENING. LARGE GATHERING PRESENT. VALUE OF DEMONSTRATION. [BY TELEGRAPH.:—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] HAMILTON, Monday. Tho annual farm school at Ruakura was officially opened this afternoon in tho presence .of a largo gathering of farmers, departmental instructors and visitors. Fifty farmers, the majority of whom aro young men, aro attending this year's course, besides 40 students who aro in residenco at Ruakura. Tho manager of tho farm, Mr. A. W. Green, in extending a welcome to tho visitors, said that during tho year considerable improvements had been carried out at the farm and that increased facilities were offered to students for learning both the practical and theoretical aspects of farming. Other speakers were Mr. J. 11. Fow, Mayor of Hamilton, and Mr. J. A. Young, MP. Mr. E. C. Clifton, tho first manager at Ruakura, spoko in terms of the highest appreciation of the remarkable developments that had taken place at the farm during the last 20 years. Tlfb Ruakura farm, ho said, offered the very best facilities in New Zealand to-day for the teaching of agriculture. The first and crying need of tho farmers in New Zealand was the proper treatment of their stock. Tho Waikato had made rapid strides in herd-testing, and that helped the farmers in the selection of the right class of dairy stock. The main essential after the cows had been selected was to feed them well. In sheep-breeding Mr. Clifton advocated the use of the microscope for examining the fleeco in order to ascertain tho' value of the sheep from a wool-producing point of view. He also urged the farmers of the Waikato and the business people of Hamilton to become active and earnest propagandists for the establishing of an agricultural college at Ruakura. There was no more suitable place in New Zealand for such a college. Tho universities were establishing chairs of agriculture, but they had not the facilities for practical instruction such as obtained at Ruakura. Pre-eminence of the Farm. The director of tho fields division, Dr. A. H. Cockayne, spoke of the expansion of the farm school system, which originated at Ruakura six years ago, and said that Ruakura was pre-eminentlv the best place in New Zealand for the obtaining of practical instruction in agriculture. Apart from the lectures it would amply repay a farmer spending a week at Ruakura examining the pastures and noting how in 13 years the paddocks had been transformed from barren waste to the best pastures to be found anywhere. It was essential that every farmer in New Zealand should know his business, and it was with this object that the farm schools were conducted. Speaking on behalf of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and as a- seed merchant, Mr. A. M. Bisley expressed regret that more attention was not being given by the department to teaching farmers in tho North Island how to prepare crops for various kinds of grass seed. It was a lucrative and important branch of agriculture. Mr. T. H. Patterson, instructor in agriculture for tho . Auckland district, said that in six years no fewer than 750 farmers had attended the farm schools in tho Auckland Province. Those figures lormed a striking testimony to the value of the system. Eight Man in Eight Place. The intimation that Mr. Green, manager of the Ruakura farm of instruction, was likely to be transferred to another sphere of work was referred to. Mr. Young said it was sincerely to be hoped that it was only a rumour, for Mr. Green had been instrumental in building up the farm to its present position as the premier experimental farm in New Zealand. The peoplo of the Waikato had a right to expect in tho national interest that Mr. Green would be retained in the place where he was so well suited. The Mayor of Hamilton, Mr. Fow, said that Mr. and Mrs. Green were an integral part of the institution, and were tho right people in the right place. Mr. Clifton said he had known Mr. Green since he came to Ruakura to take charge of the horticultural section 20 years ago. He could not imagine that services of such inestimable value should he lost to Ruakura, and he asked the people of the Waikato if they would allow tho transfer to take effect without protest. _Dr. Cockayne said that Mr. Clifton and Mr. Green were the two people to whom credit should be given for the efficient institution that now existed at Ruakura.