AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19275, 12 September 1924, Page 2

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.

THE EXISTING PEG VISION. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT. (Written for the Otago Daily Times.) The subject of agricultural education is one which has lately boon much before the public, and which has produced wide differences of opinion. The following notes have hee'n written purely with a desire to stimulate the interest of the public at this end of the dominion, to give briefly some account of what is being done at present, and to stress the need of better and more extensive agricultural education in Otago and Southland. Statistics of agricultural education in other countries are not easily comparable with those of Now Zealand, for students are in training either at universities to become teachers of agriculture, at agricultural colleges to become field instructors and the like, or at farm schools to become practical farmers. The much-quoted example of Denmark, “where 49 per cent, of those completing their primary school course go on the land,” is unconvincing, as Danish conditions are very different from ours. Let this one example suffice- In 1919 the Dominion of Canada, with a population of about seven times that of New Zealand, had 653 students of agriculture at her universities and 2350 students at her agricultural colleges. Our educational men are alive to the fact that New Zealand as a whole is many years behind other countries in her agricultural education. It is to be regretted that, in this matter, Otago and Southland are lagging far behind tho rest of New Zealand. In a survey of what is being done at present, we may neglect the small amount ot instruction in gardening and nature-study given in the primary schools, and begin at the secondary school stage. In the North Island all technical high schools, and not a few high schools and district high schools, have a full-time agricultural science master who in many cases teaches some other science subjects as well. In Canterbury the Christchurch Technical College, Ashburton High School, and Timaru Boys’ High School have each a full-time master qualified to teach agriculture. So also has the Waitaki Boys’ High School. Tho district high schools of Otago depend on the services of two travelling instructors who can devote one day or portion of a day per week to each; Alexandra District High School has the services of one of these instructors for two days per week. The King Edward Technical College has had the subject of agriculture on its curriculum, but this year the number of students desirous of studying agriculture —and that in a community largely dependent on rural production—amounted to six, and instruction in tho subject had to lapse. Wo make no provision in Otago for tho further education of boys desirous of learning farming under Otago conditions. Those who wish to become agricultural instructors have now, under regulations brought into force this year, only one course, open to them. They must, after matriculating, attend lectures at a university and pass the intermediate examination, which for many means a two-year course. This is followed bv a two-year course at Lincoln College, and “such further work of a practical nature os the Director of Lincoln College may see fit.”—(N.Z. University Calendar.) Tho students at Lincoln. College attend lectures for half of each day, and work on tho farm during the other half. They are required to pass the University of New Zealand examinations in nine subjects. The college is always filled to its capacity of 51 students, of whom 12, on the average, are studying for the B.Apr. degree, while the remainder are in training to become farmers. Thus, there are five or six students completing, the degree each year. At the 1923 examinations six students graduated; five of these have received appointments in the Auckland Province and one in Canterbury. ,„ . , „ , The Board of Governors of Lincoln College recently approached the Government for a grant ‘of £IO,OOO for new laboratories and farm buildings, and, if these very necessary improvements are carried out our southern politicians should urge further expenditure at Lincoln College and the location there of an agricultural college and resßßrch institute capable of accommodating at least 120 students. , Established in its present form about the middle of Inst year, the Ruakura permanent farm school represents a distinct advance in agricultural education in the North. It is under the control of the Fields Division of the Department of Agriculture, which has appointed two full-time lecturers, while the manager and the members of the farm staff also give lectures and demonstrations. Lectures and farm work alternate weekly, and the instruction given is made as practical as possible to turn out well-educated farmers. There is accommodation for about 50 students, and the course extends over two years. The farm consists of 900 acres of reclaimed swamp land of heavy carrying capacity, and in virtue of its situation and modern improvements provides an idea) training ground for dairy farmers under North Island conditions. At Ruakura wa may yet see established a dairy research laboratory, while claims are being made on behalf of it as a site for Auckland’s Agricultural College. The Department of Agriculture has in in most centres held annual farm schools, and these have always been well attended, and have done good work as far as they go, but the number of young farmers who can spend a week in a city attending such a school is always limited. A continuation and extension of this work is highly desirable; it would involve the employment of more trained men by the department as the staff is now barely able to copo with ordinary routine and experimental work. The Farm Club is essentially though not wholly, a feature of Taranaki. This year the Farm Club work in Taranaki will receive a grant of £2OOO towards field experiments and crop competitions, this money being portion of the receipts from the sale of the Moumahaki experimental area. . . By means of lectures, visits to farms, and correspondence, the Department of Agriculture does valuable work in the direction of instructing farmers. The demand for such instruction is growing daily, and it is capable of considerable extension as officers are available. From the point of view of the student of agriculture, many radical improvements are needed in our system of agricultural education, but only some suggestions can receive brief mention. First, better secondary education in the sciences that form the basis of agriculture is needed. Secondly, there should be a thorough revision of the course for the B. Agr. degree, with more continuity between secondary and- university education, and more concentration on the essential subjects than is possible to a student facing the thirteen subjects as at present prescribed. Further, provision should he made for tho best students to proceed to research in New Zealand agriculture, and for a travelling scholar shin to enable graduates of proved ability to study at Homo a science which has made phenomenal strides during the last few years. While it can scarcely be expected that the University of Otago, with its special Schools of Medicine. Dentistry, Home Science, and Mining will be able to add another in the shape of an agricultural college, it seems that a permanent farm school would lieln to fill a very real need. Besides providing a continuation course for boys leaving our secondary schools, a school of this description would be very valuable for experimental work under Otago conditions, and would always be a “show” place for farmers. In this connection it is noteworthy that both Lincoln College and Ruakura Government Farm are visited by hundreds of farmers and others every’ year, and that each has vastly improved the standard of farming in the surrounding districts. Tho Minister of Education proposes spending about £600,000 in the establishment of an Agricultural College in connection with tho Chair of Agriculture of Victoria! College, and, though this will benefit the dominion as a whole, it is unlikely to bring much immediate benefit to agriculture in Otago. Otago should give voice to her own particular needs, and that without delay.