GORGE ROAD

Southland Times, Issue 18978, 27 June 1923, Page 7

GORGE ROAD

JUNIOR AGRICULTURAL CLUB. RE-ORGANISATION DECIDED UPON. 'A conference between Mr R. B. Tennent, of the Department of Agriculture, and the inembers of the Gorge Road Junior Agricultural Club, was held at Gorge Road on Monday evening, when the future activities of the club were thoroughly threshed ou; and a definite policy laid dowp for. future .meetings. Mr Tennent, in addressing the members, said that they could continue their club in .wo ways. The first was by a special supervisor from the Department, but there was his against that. Other places were apply - ng to the Department to have clubs formed and if all those were successful, then the present staff of the Department would oe unable to cope with the work. If, however, the clubs grew, then the Department would be forced to appoint a special supervisor for them. The second method, by which they could carry on, was to have a local supervisor, who would conduct the club with the assistance of text books, and ihe officers of the Department. “The De partment,” he concluded, “is willing and anxious to carry on the club, and whatever .lappens, you will have its backing and assistance.” He then asked members to give vheir opinions. Mr O. E. Neiderer said he was pleased to learn that the Department would keep them going. He then outlined the work done by the club last winter. Mr T. Beck said they had given New Zealand a lead with regard to the Junior Clubs, but he regretted they had made a mistake in limiting the age to 17. Many young men. just over the age did not like the term “junior.” All should be allowed to join, especially in a small place like Gorge Road. “It does not matter,” he concluded, “whether we have a Massey, a Wilford or a Holland Government, it will not interfere with the work of agricultural clubs.” Mr Tennent then sAid that a series of lectures by practical experts on various farm topics would be interesting and instructive. “We do not want to make the club subjects dry ones,” he went on, “otherwise the young members will lose interest, and the club v lose popularity. Good lectures with discussions at the conclusion were the best for all.”

Mr Ryan said lectures should meet the case. If the Department were going to provide instructors for all the clubs that would be formed, then they would want a small army of them. Mr Jackson, who acted as local supervisor last season, said there was no use denying that the club wanted re-organisation. It had not been a success last year. One of the mistakes made had been making the age limit 17. This stopped many from coming in. Mr Tennent was getting to the right solution when he mentioned lectures. He would also like to see papers prepared as well.

“Now we are getting down to something,” said Mr Tennent, “you have given papers a trial for a year and they were not very successful. I think the lectures will be more attractive. It now remains for the club members to decide which they will adopt.” Mr Jackson: “Why not mix the two? At lectures we would be passive auditors, going away without any discussion. This would not be as good from an educative point of view. We should combine lectures with text book discussions.” Mr Tennent: But we will have discussions after the lectures. This terminated the informal discussion and the first matter considered was the name of the club.

It was decided to retain the name “Gorge Road Junior Agricultural Club.” The age limit was abolished, but the control of the club vested in minors.

The meeting night was fixed for every second Monday, and on those evenings when it was impossible to arrange a lecture it was decided to read a paper for discussion.

Mr Tennent assured them that he could arrange a series of lectures which would be attractive and provide plenty of discussion.

The same office-bearers as last year were retained; they were as follows:—President, Master Thomas; secretary, Master J. Shand; supervisor, Mr Jackson. A vote of thanks and appreciation to Mr W. Alexander for the work done by him for the club was carried.