The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. MONDAY, JUNE 20, 1881.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 1351, 20 June 1881, Page 2

The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. MONDAY, JUNE 20, 1881.

It may not be generally known that in New Zealand we possess a firstclass School of Agriculture, where youths from all parts of the Colony are instructed at a moderate charge in everything pertaining to the practical work of a farm, The, advantages to be derived from such an admirable institution are simply incalculable. It is, indeed, exceedingly creditable that, •in a young country, such as ours, facilities for acquiring a techinical and practical knowledge of agriculture are placed within the reach of all who desire it. We are, as a Community more or less, dependent upon our agricultural and pastoral resources, and should therefore be very much interested in a description of the place, and the objects and working of the institution. There are many parents to whom the information will be acceptable, and it will possibly induce them to avail themselves of the opportunity presented of perfecting their sons in the science of agriculture.

As showing the object of the institution we append a brief description

of the place itself as issued by Mr' Ivey for general information :

The School of Agriculture has been established to afford students the opportunity of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the practice and science of agriculture. The institution is situated near Lincoln, about 12 miles from the city of Christchurch. The school buildings comprise lecture theatre, library and museum, chemical laboratory, dining hall, separate bedrooms for 20 resident students, lavatories, bathrooms, &c, together with quarters for the director of the school. The farm contains 500 acres of land of various qualities, from rich swamp pasture land to comparatively thin soil overlying shingle. The farm buildings comprise stables, granary, cowhouses, dairy, piggeries, implement sheds, &c. The machinery and farm implements have been carefully selected with the view of saving labour, and the dairy utensils include the improvements in the most recent systems of butter and cheese making. A portion of the farm is devoted to experimental purposes to test the value of different methods of cultivation, the effect of manures on various crops, the qualities of indigenous and exotic grasses, the suitability and comparative worth of new varieties of cereals, roots, fodder and other plants. The farm will be conducted on economic principles. The students will be required to take part in the regular daily work of the farm, to acquire a practical knowledge of ploughing and every other kind of farm work, the use of implements and machinery, the management of stock, milking, and the making of cheese and butter. Students will also receive practical instruction in agricultural chemistry in the laboratory. Field work will be undertaken at suitable times for practice in the use of instruments, in measuring land, harvest and other piece work, and in taking levels for drainage purposes.

A correspondent of the Town and Country Journal who recently visited the institution gives the following account of the management which will cqnvey a tolerably clear idea as to. the objects for which it was established, and the good which it has accomplished : —

The School of Agriculture is under the management of the Canterbury College Board of Governors, who have taken a deal of interest in establishing what is now a moat admirable institution, and though comparatively a new affair, Mr. W. Ivey, M.R. A.0., F.C.C., F.1.C., the head of the College, has managed so well and given so much satisfaction to the Board and to the parents of those under his care, that applications are coining in from all parts of New Zealand and Australia, and even from England, from people anxious to place their boys in this College. There are at pres9nt 40 young fellows resident in the institution, but it is overcrowded, and large additions are now in course of erection. The charge for board, lodging, and instruction — inclusive of all extras— is £40 per annum ; but this may be still fuither reduced by the work done by the lad himself, who may at the discretion of the director receive payment for work done as follows : — Ist year students, £15 per annum ; 2nd year students, £25 per annum ; 3rd year students, £25 per annum. It will thus be seen that any student of industrious habits can make his stay at the College a most inexpensive one, not to add that six scholarships, tenable for three years, have been established, which entitle the holders to board, lodging, and instruction at the school free of all cost. Another regulation which has done a good deal to popularise the institution is that the travelling expenses of students are paid to and from their homes in any part of New Zealand^ though not more than two journeys t>oth ways are paid or allowed in one year. The advantage of such liberality on the part of the Governors is too obvious 1 to dwell upon.

He next proceeds to narrate what he saw on the occasion of his visit. The description is enough to cause every farmer to rush off his lad instanter, and in it they will find a solution of the question so frequently asked : — " What shall we do with our boys V

"I may say that the students milk the cows, make the butter and cheese, groom the horses, and drive them at their work, whether ploughing or carting hay, turnips, or what not. They shear the sheep, cut the fences, and, in fact, do everything that ordinary working men do on any good farm. Their time is pretty well divided between lectures — on the subject matter of which they are examined orce or twice a week — and manual labour. I saw all the students at their various work and dined in the same room with them. A capital dinner it wos, too, and a more gentlemanly lot of lads it would be hard to meet anywhere. In the afternoon we went all over the house, which was as clean as a pin, and the dormitories most comfortable. We then visited the dairy, which has all the recent improvements (most of them American), and where we tasted some delicious butter made by the Btudents that morning. Close by, in course of erection, were a forge and carpenters shop. In both these branches the students will shortly be instructed, in addition to which the services of an experienced veterinary surgeon will be secured to lecture twice a week. A glance through the stables, which are first-class and a good inspection of the machinery shed, brought this part of our visit to a close. I also got further particulars as to the value of the work done by the students. First-class working students earn 6d an hour*; 2nd class 4£d ; 3rd 3d. They have a capital cricket ground and a club numbering some really good players. Many -of the students, like the celebrated sweep in Punch, ride their own " hanimals," »nd when the cricket team have any distance to go to a match they yoke up four of the hacks, borrow a waggonette, and go four in hand in great style. We went through the laboratory on our return and found it well fitted up with apparatus, microscopes, &c. Mr. Ivey informed us that the students generally took a decided interest in this branch of their education A new building which was rapidly going up, will be very pretty and will contain accommodation for about 30 more students, and I fancy by the time it is finished, it will be necessary to commence another. The grounds of the College are planted with young trees laid out

with much taste. Of the management too 'much cannot be said in favour, and the director, Mr. Ivey, who is JW*Uknown in Victoria, and is unquestionably the right man in the right place.