NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2436, 21 November 1900, Page 6

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

'A few months ago Professor Wallace read a paper upon "Agricultural Agricultural .Education" before the memEducation. bers of the Cheshire Chamber of Agriculture. It aj>pears that Cheshire was the first county in England to grapple with the difficulties of introducing technical education in country districts, and the success in that direction is chiefly due, in the first in stance, the enthusiastic support given to the movement by the progressive County Council of Cheshire at a time, says the professor, when an almost universal prejudice exisced amongst farmers against the adoption of any method that had not been practised by their forefathers. The first step consisted of the employment of travelling lecturers upon the general principles of agricultural science and practice in accordance with a fixed syllabxis, but without taking local circumstances into consideration. It was found, however, that this method did not "catch on," and little interest was roused an ong farmers, especially as the lectures were given upon market days, when farmers preferred to be out and about, doing business or chatting with friends and acquaintances, and not at all desirous of being cooped up in a room listening to what they considered to be "silly booic farming." After a time the method was changed and lectures were given in village school rooms in the evenings, and committees of local men were appointed to secure attendance and choose the subjects, suitable to local requirements, from a list sent out by the County Council. The lectures wore also given extempore, which, the professor thinks, is the only way to attract the attention of farmers and impress them with the idea that the lecturer is not merely quoting books, but telling them something which he knows of his own knowledge and experience. The itinerant lecturers also held classes in the grammar schools once a weeb, and instructed the lads in the elementary principles of agriculture, and in the summer months conducted out-of-door classes upon botany, entomology, etc. This .system was followed for three years and then the next important step was taken in the establishment of an agricultural school in 1895, at a place called Holmes Chapel, where provision was made for youths to go intc residence and go through a regular course. The greatest success has attended this school throughout, and its educational and financial results are, says Professor Wallace, an object lesson to other counties that have lagged behind in the movement for the development of agricultural education. The schoo] has only 100 acres of land attached, so that the amount or practical work is necessarily limited, and the professor seems to think that it is a waste of time and energy to endeavour to make the pupils expert in the work of farm labourers. The scheme, he says, is a jtidicious combination of scientific, practical, and experimental work.

Cheshire is noted for its pastures, cheese, and other products, and it is upon Results their farm in that ,Cbunty that of Messrs Garton Bros, have, Experiments, for many years, been carrying on their work of crossfertilisation of cereals, etc. In briefly referring to the .leading results of experiments conducted at Holmes Chapel Agricultural School Mr Wallace says that the farmers of Cheshire have completely lost their deeprooted prejudice against agricultural instruction and are now reaping the benefit of the efforts that have been made in their behalf. Reference is made to the new crossbred oats of Garton Bros., which I have mentioned in previous notes. It is said that tests at the school farm have proved that Garton's "abundance" oat often yields from ten to twenty bushels per acre more grain than other favourite kinds grown the same season and under precisely similar circumstances. The orossbred oat, Tartar King, has done away with the idea that strong, coarse straw is inferior in feeding value, for cattle feeding tests at the farm school have shown that the leedlike straw of the Tartar King oat gave better results than the straw of other varieties of oats which are inferior in standing power. It is said in the paper under notice that the light soils of Cheshire are very deficient in lime, and that striking and valuable results have been got on experimental pasture plots from the application of two tons oi slaked lime per acre in conjunction with scwt to lOcwt of slag phosphate powder per acre. Professor Wallace concludes by saying that the work of the schoolmaster need not be entirely confined to school hours and among boys within the too narrow limits ot school age.

There seems to be a general rise in the value ♦ of land all over the colony, Land and I see also that the iame Tallies. is the case in the colony of Victoria — that is, with respect to rural lands. Anything in the shape of a boom in land prices is to be deplored, because a boom is usually followed by a bust, but so far the increase in value has been steady and gradual, and in keeping with the productive value of the land and the healthy demand foi farming land by new settlers. It is when land becomes the object of speculation that it attains a fictitious value and ultimately leads to disastrous results. To the farmer who does not wish to sell the market value of his land does not concern him so much as the value of the products. If a man sells his farm in order to benefit by the keen demand for land, he has to buy in again at a proportionately high price, and he may go farther and fare worse. Many a farmer has made a serious mistake by selling out of one district to go into another, for it often happens that circumstances differ so much in widely-separated districts that one may be easily deceived in the buying of a farm.

though he may be an old colonist and consider himself quite wide-awake and possessing a good knowledge of the character and capabilities of any description of land. There is an idea prevalent now that the best policy is tc sell -i small, well-improved farm at a high price and go in for a much larger area of land at a low price, and so be able to participate more fully in the profits of sheepfarming. That is all very well so long as sheep keep at present prices or at anything like a high level of value 3, but such will not always be the case, and in the years when sheep are poor property, the farmer's eggs are all in one basket, with every probability of the bottom falling out of that basket. Though a farm may be small, there is more chance of making a living when a system of mixed farming can be followed, as it is seldom that all farm produce is a drug in the market. It is not so long since good store lambs were worth no more than 5s and sound- old ewes 2s 6cl per head, and in such times there is a very small margin for the sheep-farmer's pocket if he has nothing but sheep to depend upon.

A New Zealander who recently returned from South Africa is reSontli ported to have said that African there have been splendid openings in Cape Colony for markets. shipments of our produce, and that it is a pity we did not take advantage of our opportunities in that directir i. It is all very well to dispose of the matter in that off-hand and vague sort of way, but the person who made that state--ment was perhaps not aware that little more could have been done than was done in the matter ot supplying the War department with oats and other products:. A letter from the Otago Witness' London correspondent in last week's paper shows that the London representatives of New Zealand firms had little opportunity of supplying the wants of the army in South Africa. According to the letter referred to, the War Office does not care who gets the orders so long as the supplies are prompt and satisfactory. He says ho has been told that two firms had most of the orders, and as they carried out the contract satisfactorily, the War Office was inclined to give these two firms the preference. Of course, it is an open question whether there is not scope for private enterprise in shipping produce to South Africa outside of War Office requirements altogether. It seems, however, that it is a regular lottery, and ventures of this kind may make a good hit or a very bad miss, according to the state of the market at the time of arrival. A few ventures have been made by private firms in shipments of flour and oats, but not with the good results anticipated. It seems to be the case that when flour arrives the cry is, "We have got plenty of that; potatoes are what we want." And then when potatoes are sent the objection is made that they have not been packed in the right way. There is no doubt about the likelihood ot a profitable opening being eventually found there for some >f our surplus produce, but in the meantime freights are so high and things so unsettled that there is not much inducement for ventures to be made. AGRICOLA.