SCHOOL PLAYING FIELDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21457, 3 April 1933, Page 10

SCHOOL PLAYING FIELDS

PUPILS TO SOW GRASS IMPROVEMENTS AT OTAHUHU With a view to marking tho completion of the first stage of tho construction of the playing fields at the Otahuhu Technical High School and to give the pupils an intimate acquaintance with the accomplishment, the entire school will participate to-day in the sowing of grass seed on tho new cricket ground. Tho pupils at tho school, numbering over 100, have been handicapped since the school was opened two years ago by tho lack of playing accommodation, the ground improvements, which are being made by unemployed labour, being an extensive work. Tho rough nature of the eight acres available for recreation and sports has necessitated considerable excavating and filling. At the rear of the school five tennis courts are being formed. Lower down nn area of two acres, to be used as a cricket field, has been excavated, drained and levelled. It is this portion of tho ground which is to bo sown in grass by the pupils to-day. The preparatory work was carried out on Friday under the supervision of Mr. W. S. Hill, the agricultural course instructor. Ho stated that the a'ctual sowing by the pupils would materially assist in inculcating a proprietary pride and interest in the playing area. Later it was intended to transplant roots of a special grass which would give a perfect playing pitch. This grass, ho added, was not of the self-seeding variety. Steady progress is being made with tho formation of two football grounds covering approximately four acres. These, however, will not be available for play during tho coming season, as a largo quantity of material has yet to bo excavated.