CHILDREN’S AGRICULTURE

Taranaki Daily News, 25 June 1931, Page 11

CHILDREN’S AGRICULTURE

BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUB WORK CONTINUATION OF HELP SOUGHT. DEPUTATION WAITS ON MINISTER. A request for the continuation of the assistance hitherto given to the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs movement by the payment of the travelling expenses of the Education Department’s agricultural instructors was made by a strong deputation, representative of all the interests concerned, which waited on the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. A. J. Murdoch, at New Plymouth yesterday morning. The Minister, who was accompanied by Dr. C. J. Reakes, Director-General of Agriculture, expressed ‘ sympathy with the representations made and appreciation of the work being done. He promised to discuss the question with the Minister of Education, the Hon. H. Atmore, on his return to Wellington, in an endeavour to reach some solution of the problem. < The deputation was assembled by the Taranaki Education Board, which last week received a letter from the Department of Education stating that, as the Department of Agriculture had decided not to refund to it the travelling expenses of the Education Department’s instructors while engager! on work in connection with the club movement, the Education Department was unable to continue the work, and requested the board to make arrangements to carry on without any expense to the department. The deputation, introduced by the Mayor, Mr. H. V. S. Griffiths comprised Messrs. J. A. Valentine (deputy-chair-man), P. J. H. White and H. W. Insull (secretary), of the Taranaki Education Board; Messrs. H. E. Blyde (president) and D. leC. Morgan (secretary), of the North Taranaki executive of the Farmers’ Union; Messrs. H. C. Sampson (president) and W. Okey (secretary), of the. Taranaki Metropolitan Agricultural Society; Messrs. L. M. Moss (president) and Benoni White, of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce; Mr. A. E. Washer (president), of the North Taranaki Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs; Mr. D. Mackay, senior instructor in agriculture to the Taranaki Education Board; Messrs. J. M. Smith and F. W. Sutton, of the New Plymouth staff of the Department of Agriculture.

CO-OPERATION BY THE BOARD. Mr. Valentine said the Education Board viewed the matter as of great importance. The board co-operated with the Agricultural Society and the Farmers’ Union. Taranaki had been the pioneer district in organising the clubs, and the board had sought to foster the movement because it believed in it educationally, To illustrate the work being done Mr. Valentine showed the minister some of the records kept by the, children. It might appear, said Mr. P. J. H. White, that only £7O for travelling expenses was at stake, but that was not the problem. The board itself found £7 10s. for each of three districts, and that was all it could do. The withdrawal of the mileage payment by theAgricultural Department would endanger the entire scheme as far as the cooperation between the schools and agricultural societies was concerned. The charges made by the board had been most reasonable, and the average charge per school in Taranaki was Gs. Bd., 25 per cent, lower than the next lowest figure, while the work equalled in value that done in any other district. A brief history of the movement was given by Mr. Washer. All primary schools were taking up the work. In the early stages of the movement they had had about 80 plots and 100 calves; now there were 400 plots and over 1000 calves. The judging of those meant much work? It cost a good deal to bring the leading calves to one centre to be judged. They had many of the best farmers in Taranaki as supervisors. Mr. Sampson pointed out that the assistance of the Agricultural Society had kept the movement alive when its funds were at a low ebb and since then the society had contributed £2O a year. Both the Jersey and Ayrshire Breeders’ Associations had shown recognition of the work by giving trophies. FARMERS MUCH CONCERNED. North Taranaki farmers would be very concerned if they thought anything was being done to end the continuity of the work, said Mr. Blyde, The farmery

were keen for competitions, but education was even better when people were younger. The work brought benefit to farmers because parents .saw what results followed the children’s work and would more readily accept new methods. The -scheme was more or less self-support-ing,. the percentage of the cost being found by the Government being comparatively low. The support of the business community was voiced by Mr. Moss. Expenditure in this direction would give the country a high percentage of return arid he considered that it was attacking the unemployment problem at the right end. Mr. Okey explained to the Minister that the movement was controlled by an executive of representatives of the Department of Agriculture, the Education Board instructors, the Farmers’ Union, local officers of the Department of Agriculture and representatives of breed societies. The appointment of the chairman had to be approved by the department. - The work had cost between £BO and £OO a year. Up to £1930-31, during which time a subsidy of £1 for £1 up to £4O had been made available, the average annual deficiency had been £2O, although neither members of the executive or the society were remuneratd. The deficiency had had to be borne by the Agricultural Society, the expenditure being met by special effort and voluntary contributions from schools and the Farmers’ Union.

Dr. Reakes replied that in the past the work had been done by excellent co-operation between the two departments and the boards'. One of the considerable items of expenditure was the travelling expenses of boards’ instructors. They had been of great assistance, but the cost to the Department of Agriculture was about £5OO (Taranaki £117). The department had had to bear, its share in reducing expenditure, and had informed the Education Department that it could no longer pay the instructors’ expenses. So far as the rest of the work was concerned, they intended to go on as before, although one or two small items connected with subsidies might have to be submitted to the executives. Payment for seeds and manure would continue. The whole thing centred on the expenses mentioned. He thought they would be able to keep the clubs going. ' The Minister expressed pleasure at seeing so many interests represented. The work was the means of interesting the children in agriculture, and he hoped that interest would produce the farmers the country needed. The Department of Agriculture had, had to curtail its expenditure and had saved in the way of travelling expenses. He claimed this should come out of the Minister of Education’s vote, as the work was certainly one of education. He would like to see more money expended upon it, he said. He hoped what had been done would not be the means of breaking down the system, and he was sanguine some way could be evolved of finding the expenses. It might be found that those who had helped could be a little more generous than in the past and help meet the difficulty in that way. He did not desire to see any break in the continuity of the work; he wanted to see it develop. Mr. Murdoch concluded with an assurance that the services of the Agricultural Department’s instructors were at the service of the clubs at any time.