EDUCATION BY RAIL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19317, 1 November 1924, Page 10

EDUCATION BY RAIL.

<r BETTER FARMING ” TRAIN AUSTRALIAN SCHEMES. SUCCESSFUL EXP'S EM ENTS. . (Fbom Oto Own Coeeespondent.) SYDNEY, October 23. Inspired, perhaps, by the success of ft travelling domestic science scheme school contained in a beautifully equipped railway carriage introduced a year or two ago on’the Queensland railways, the Victorian Government has introduced as an experiment a similar schema for farmers. It is known as the “Better Farming” train. Incidentally there _ are features especially designed for housewivesjf Over £SOOO has been spent in equipping an exhibition car and a lecture car, and it is hoped by the instructions and demonstrations that are being given to improve materially the standard of various classes of farming. For a start the car was. despatched last week to the dairying areas of Gippsland. The exports declare that if the instruction proves effective it will result in doubling the butter and pork output of that rich area, and thus he worth £500,000 a year to the State. Certainly the reception of the interesting, cars at the little township of Bunyip, which, was the first to be visited, was very encouraging. Fanners and their wives flocked in from the surrounding'farms, and the exhibits were tly> subject of the closest scrutiny throughout the day,' while so numerous were the listenersi at the lectures that tho little travelling lecture room was inadequate, and instead the addresses had to be delivered from tho platform of tho car to people seated below on butter boxes and other improvised chairs.

The train provides plenty of, fllnstrations of the good and bad ways of doing things. An exhibit of pork is carried. Two aides have been taken from pigs, the same age, fed exactly the same way, and reared under exactly similar conditions. Yet one side is valued at 16d a lb and tho other at lid. One is a purebred and the other a mongrel. The fid a lb difference can be procured by the farmer without any real extra coet. It is just the' difference between good and class (breeding. Another instance of the wanton carelessness that means loss on the farm is illustrated by a rabbitskln rabbit. Eabbitskms are largely sold from Gippeland, and are used in the making of hats. If improperly stretched, a considerable part of the fur on a rabbitskin becomes grejusy when tho skins are stacked. In this way the value of the skins is almost totally lost. The results of uncleanlinesa in the dairy are strikingly demonstrated, and if the simple methods that ensure cleanliness and bao teriological purity that are clearly shown by results to be effective are adopted there should not bo an ounce of poor grade, butter turned out from the district. Methods of increasing production are alee fully dealt with

At nights the programmes are enlivened by items received, and a fine wireless set, equipped with a loud speaker, that has been installed on the train.