TRAINING BOYS FOR FARMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22611, 26 December 1936, Page 8

TRAINING BOYS FOR FARMS

The announcement by the Minister of Agriculture that the Government will continue to use Flock House as a boys' farm training centre will be received with general satisfaction. The value of the institution is widely appreciated. It would have been deplorable had it been allowed to lapse because its original purpose had been fulfilled and present support was insufficient for maintenance. That was the position when, two months ago, the Government took authority to purchase the property from the trustees. Now that the transfer has been concluded, acknowledgment should be made of the national work performed at Flock House, by which some 763 boys and girls from overseas and about 100 New Zealand ex-servicemen's sons have been trained for farming pursuits, involving a total expenditure of about £150,000. The management in future will be undertaken by the Agriculture Department, free tuition and maintenance being offered to boys up to a maximum of 60. The response made by boys under the excellent scheme now being superseded was so poor as to prompt the conclusion that few sought to make a career on the land. It will be interesting to note the result now that the doors are opened to all boys possessing certain reasonable qualifications. If New Zealanders still prove j to be laggard in embracing an undoubted opportunity, then the Government should again consider linking Flock House with the Fairbridge child immigration scheme. In any case it is to be hoped that the fine tradition established by the outgoing trustees, both as to training and after-care of trainees, will be jealously preserved under State management.