AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOR OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 4 March 1882, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FOR OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND.

Weventure to think that few person* will a.t[ this time of day question the importance of an agricultural education. No man in his senses^ ftud uo Government having- before it the we;i'are of the nation, will venture to obstruct the way, so that bur farmers' sons shall not be able to become theoretically, and to souie eextentt t practically, acquainted with that bn»i;ießErby L ' means of which they hope to, secure a moderate income,, before the full 7 responsibility of farm management is thrown entirely upon their shoulders. We live in days , in, which the-djs-: covery of new processes of agriculture, of new kinds of cultivation, of new machinery, and new inventions of all kinds, is as absolutely necessary for, the progress. of agriculture as jOf any-, other work. ■ Unless a man by means of) specific] ■agricultural 'education is enabled to discover.for himself the principles up'oh which 'his* iWrk is' done, the principles which I , should guide him hi the application of that practice which he must learn for 'himself, he cinnot put his', practical knowledge to the best use,- and .certainly' he cannot,compete w^th'the ciroumeta'uees of the, i-present day.; It is true the'question of agricultural education ia.surrounded by.tOauy misoon- . captions, and, therefore, not sufficiently valued/) We must understand that agricultural education corresponds -with, education in any other busineSß, inasmuch as it Bhould be"acquired, by taking part in the, various details , arising frem day to dayjta actolal practice^^e^ hoik r.e,pv gardtthe imparting, of certain kadwh'f acts,' and* the instilling of certain trpthsVinfr!^ the.' mindW a; yjguj£~ mail, ' as edupfttion. v^;i&igreat manyk •facts, an4^» large'/numbe'ry^f^truths,, naiajjrsjie crammodfinto the memory and ''reiained'for th' c period of an examination, , bulc of £Whieh one will. be. able, to naake very little plractical us*, . and mauy of which one. may,, soon' ,'fprge.t.* Id/ all sound, usoful education there is training : a* development of the powers in a certain dir.ee- : tion for a certain specific object. AH.Jar.jaa/, agriculture js qoflcerned, .there are certain fundai mental truths, and a number of first principles^ which may be tanght in any district, without regard to the future- field of operation.' A^, however^ the climate changes, the atua'os'peric infiuen,ceH differ, soil aud subsoil become altered, , the principles have to' bs modified and made' to ' assume an appearance quite as different, as .the 'primary ;and secondary rocks. Hence, we say, from an economical view^ the practice ,0f farm., ing will be mora perfectly, learnt duihe "district inwhichit lias to be subsequently scarried'oh. Every practical farmer knows that a system 'of farming which is" excellent in one neighbour- 1 hood and undergone get of circumstances, is calculated to cause loss and disappointment if rigidly followed out elsewhere. Hence, we may say a thorough knowledge of, farm work .can only be learnt by, taking part in the work of a farm, and that the knowledge so gained will be of most advantage if acquired in the locality where it ia afterwards to be practiced. This is ona reason why we ask fora college to be established in Ofago. Further, such colleges in different localities will be of general national importance A gentleman of means, living in ttie North, may have a son whom ho wishes to see settled on a farm in; Otago. If he be wise, aud there be a college in Otago, ho will Bend his son to it for the necessary preparatory information. Th,9 same may ba said of Lincoln College, or any ottier that may be established. Iv such' cases there', is" nothing to unlearn: the student has simply to continue' practice "already begun oh' the college farm. 1 ; *-''''' • ; \ ■ \_ >>'• • Young men are to be met with who,' having decided 1 upon the ■ profession of farming, have I deceived themselves by supposing that actual farm work- is oft secondary,^moment,; and not; essentially necessary for .success;. The conVe* quence has been that' those' young" "men have been ruined. Hence, we say we require a col lege and a college farm' for wdrk— work that 1 can be done economically, and which will in a general way enable a man at the year's end to ■ count up his gains over and above bis losses, We must, however, bear in mmd.that the chief work which an agricultural school has to par- ■ form is to prepare the minds of young men and go I to guido their hands, that they, wjien on their own farms, or tha farms of oth«rs,"tho more perfectly carry on the various details of farm work. ]STet assisted by suoh a preparation 1 , a man be- ; comes an accurate observer,- who will seek -out "■ the why and the wherefore of the variations observable in farm practice, Whan such a preparation is followed, by a patient acquirements pf sound farm experience, we have a number i bf men well able to make furtherimprovements, . and to advance the general character of their buainesu management. It is stated in tb» Home . couniry tht»t tho most sucuopsful farmers arethose who, after a eciance trflinnig, havo gonejunder j the care of good farmers, and have familiarised their minds with actual farm work. On the other hand, those who have gone into farming with that ' littlo knowledge ' of their busi»e»B which is a 'dangerous thing' have brought losii upon th omsol ves, » ad bouonio >no&t pov'orfti 1 ! 'mpvdvt I'Tii:! ' > fh" o/t^Koi-n <■>' ivinVi'Jhr' I ,] H0iO! <>O- 't'hO i'KJt 18, ill BIN-h OJ'll'.'H, tUd ilK'if-nlfy ia -nof; to h'.' fouJMi m liioiv km/whrlfjn "t HOioilCL. Llili iifilll th<! VfS.HI of i. ljt&Oii7Uu\ knowledge of ile bwiu-ts® »ttempted. All

modern colleges nave a farm attaohed (as at Lincoln, Canterbury), bo that the practical may be studied at the same time as the theoretical. We want such a college for Otago and Southland, situated so as to encompass, the greatest; possible variations of soil, See.' 1 If it Be possible to meet the requirements of New Zealand,' we wdtild have also a moderately^ * ■ sized sheep ran attached. This leads us at once to cay that the undertaking' is far beyond* the ' compass of any one' individual, or even a private venture of a company of men. Indeed, we look upon the wb,ole; undertaking, as a, work for the ' Government.' The enlargement' 1 of Lincoln College is altogether, beside the question. ,In the first, place it seems to us that , Lincoln College is }arge enough' for the profeß- - Rors to devote proper attention to the students •• uniier their care. • There la accommodation for '56 resident students/ and an undefined < number of non-resident student?. At .present thereare 45 students in residence. We think pur , readers will Bee if the students are divided into , two sections there will be a respectable number ' for a professor to attend to at one and the same time. Then, in the second place, the climate of Otago and Southland is very different to that of Canterbury, while there are. other variations which,, need not be particularised. In the' third' 'place, ''an' % endowment can be made by the Governments ' out of lands now falling into its hands without much difficulty, and at little coat. The runs yet •t& be dealt with,' o* that ,can be , handled : / j within a reasonable time, may be dealt with for this purposes rand m» hundred thousand acres of fairly payable ' land* placed as an* endowment in the hands of the trustees for the benefit of thß object named. In all probability O'fcagb'and Southland will be the farming district, with South Canterbury, from which in the future the'bulk of! surplus^/ farm produce will be shipped to the English and other markets,. Oar first! shipment of frozen meat is now on the water, and will be followed by .many other frozen cargoes. To carry on the trade successfull} we must; have -skilled, producers; and we, think ; „ now'is' the time 'to lay the foundation of ' ttiat institution where many of them shall receive their training ' ! ' '•' <:■ > n ■;; < > f a ,•/ jlfc is only fair to presume that, as the number of pupils at the Canterbury Col lege has increased from: 10 Id' the first yearto 45 in its third year, there will be the compliment of 56' resident ■> students 1 Swing tUe fourth, year, ■ If, this. be, the case,, then Otago will be practically 'witMufc'the'means of -an : agricultural • college! 1 education.. : la "consequence of our manly attempt to place, ; our, farm produce upon, the Eaglish and other 'markets, a generous rivalry has manifested \ itself. The gauntlet haa been thrown down -to • us, and, we. mußt^piok „it ..up^'Ahnost.all civilised states are aware of the importance' of 'agricultural teaching, and are promoting the study of agriculture by means of Government grants. In the United States, where we J find. ? . our greatest rival, there ate 42 colleges and 37 ' 'farms, which have been established .under^the Congressional Land Grant of 1862. At! 'Gtuelph, in Ontario, there is ,a large college, •wW$ at' a'nommir'costian'irislghVtinfo'thd nioat' -perfect' routine lof farmland .stock > s. management, with the. advantages of the .beat • scientific knowledge,';, can , .be obtained.. Throughout Cana'd^'iHmilar'institutions^are'J * springing up at the expense.of the Government. A similar institution » is to.be formed at Ghmblbur, in Brussels, whibh was 1 foundad by the Belgian Government in 1861. France moves in.ajjmilar^diree^on.; - Austßia^a- |ittle ip. advance of "some other countries, baa decided to havegardeu plots, in connection, with eWy State-aided school, so,/ that the children may be taught?pra.dtically v the fireijprinciples of agriculture. Euglaiid was' far *behind, but is now hastening to. the frpnt.',". The, great want^of «i proper' system •of * agricdltoral-Mbeaohing' haa forced 'itself tfpbn'the 1 ' EogUahiiarHxers,' afa'd'/T though- a coßtly lessdri has been; taught it c has b;een well learned " / The .following, is but a sample. of what we can read in? the agricultural papers from Home : — * Meetings have recently been held by the Beadle, North j aUerton,,and . Sunderland Chambers- of 'AgeiQijlture, with a f ' of .establishing classes during the coming winter for 'teaching yoimg farmers and others the science of fanning.' There is a*growing opinion among the leading agricuUurists i of''the;U north that these classes, .are greatly needed. These classea were originated by the Government Department of 'science! in the year 1876, with 150 stndents. In the;, year 1881 there were 4353, and this year there is probably another one or two thousand students. The dxpenßas are'riearly all met by the Government ontof'an'anriual'Vote.' '""■ i- <*** •■ f-'K/f ■•••-. i It- is computed "that , England now derives one-fourth 'of her r'eydnne from' agriculture, and? Jhat every fourth ' p.ersob' is eltKer directly or»' indireotly-eDgaged'inat. tHowrmariymdri are there iu'NewrZealand of ! whom.ljhi8 lmay.bßl may.bß said,. and that for, generations, to c#me ! The wanfc exists; and must -be supplied, and we cordially wish the promoters success in their laudable undertaking. ,