TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1934, Page 29 (Supplement)

TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA

BOYS AND GIRLS’ CLUB WORK ROOT GROWING-CALF REARING. BENEFITS LATER IN LIFE. One of the most satisfactory aspects of the dairy industry, in Taranaki is what is being done to inculcate a sound know-

ledge'of husbandry and use of land into the boys and girls of the province, not so. much through the schools alone, in which really good work is being done, but by . means of the boys’ and- girls’ agricultural club work controlled wholly by a club association of elders who realise the value of the work. The pity is that, as in other walks of life, all the work falls upon the willing horse and at times the clubs have been in low water financially. Lately, however, there has been an improvement and last year, although an entry fee reduced the number of children participating, the competitions .were on a sound basis. The. work has the support and cooperation of the Farmers’ Union, the Agricultural and Pastoral Associations, the Education, and Agricultural Departments,. and school teachers, and leading farmers throughout the districts generally. . .

The aim of the association is to foster in the children an. interest in the pursuits of the land and to assist in maintaining a relationship between the town and- country populations necessary fox; New Zealand ds a food producing country. The work of the association therefore takes the form of calf-rearing and root-growing competitions for boys and girls at school and root-growing classes for boys and girls who have left school. Poultry-rearing, and home gardening are made the subject of competitions among the children of borough areas. The peculiar advantage of the clubs’ work interests all branches of society, for while there are only a limited number that can participate in actual teaching everyone can by joining the association contribute to the general work of child training. Recent years have seen the supplementing of the traditional school subjects with numbers of new activities and interests, all aiming at securing a broader and more complete education. The work is carefully organised so that its results are of advantage in every aspect of child training. For parents the club work forms a definite occupation in children’s spare time; it gives the child a personal interest and introduces improved methods to the farm and garden; and forms a strong connecting link between home and school. For the school teacher it means making the method of education more effective, by making the task more interesting, £t provides an incentive to learn from the teaching of agriculture, nature study and dairy science and enlists the help and interest of others in child education. From the farmer’s viewpoint club competitions stimulate the children’s interest in "farm activities, teach children to raise good stock and grow, good crops, how to select and exhibit stock and produce and develop a system in the keeping of crop and stock records. From the . town aspect this work means the making of producers out of boys and girls, encourages them to stay on the land and promotes the adoption of scientific farming practices, resulting in increased production. In the calf-rearing competitions grade heifer calves of any dairy breed are eligible arid must be born between August 1 and September 15. The regulations are framed in such a way that the competitor/learns the utmost from the raising operation, being required to keep a complete record of all food consumed by the calf. A record chart for this purpose is . supplied and gives all the necessary particulars for the calculation of cost of food.

Judging takes place in December and calves are given every possibility of proving their good points by the method employed. Two factors are taken into consideration, the dairy condition of the animals and the record chart. There are two classes, one for . the light breeds, which includes Jerseys, Ayrshires and Guernseys, and one for heavy breeds, which includes Friesians, Shorthorns and Red Polls. Calves are also judged on dairy 'type but points awarded for this are not counted for rearing competitions. The work does not stop at the conclusion of the judging. All calves are branded or eartagged and are then eligible in future years for entry in the yearling and two-year-old classes. Special classes are provided at the judging day for 2-year-old heifers in ’ milk reared as calves in the competition and children also compete in cow-judging contests.

Root crops are divided into two classes, carrots and mangolds. The plots are a standard size of one-fortieth of an acre and once the ground is prepared for sowing the seed all work must be done by the competitors. Seed and artificial manure is provided by the committee and full directions for the treatment of the crop which must be adhered to. A record chart is also supplied and growth progress is recorded thereon. Judging is done in the root crop section during May and June and the points taken into consideration are the yield of the crop, the cultivation, the quality, the record chart and the test. The final episode in the year’s activities is the yearly exhibition of prize roots and charts at the winter shows.

Teachers at the school supervise the chart work, all of which is done at school, children keeping a rough notebook at home.

The vegetable plot competitions are for town boys and girls whose parents cannot afford the sacrifice of a l-40th acre space. For that reason it is re-

stricted to children living in- the urban areas, the qualification in addition being that the area of land held by the parents at the place of residence must not exceed five acres. Only primary school children in standards 3 to 6 are eligible. Plots may be cultivated at home or at the school and each one must be of such size that it will grow ten rows of vegetables, each row at least 10 feet long. Competitors have to supply their own seed and must from the time of sowing do all their own work, which must include two rows each of table carrot, parsnip, beetroot, leeks and silver beet. A free supply of artificial manure is provided for each competitor, consisting of superphosphate, blood and bone and

potash. Other mixtures can be used and the competitor’ has to provide it. General organisation is well carried out. All competing schools are grouped, the actual' number depending on the number of entries and group and championship prizes are awarded. Two supervisors are, appointed in each school district to give assistance in distributing seed and manure, inspecting plots and assisting at judging time. The judge is, an official of the Education Department and judging days are gala days at the schools visited. .

A new departure in the club movement was given consideration by the recent annual meeting of the association. At the beginning of the . last season it seemed as if the abandonment of some of the competitions was inevitable, but the reinstatement of part of the Government subsidy and revenue from an entry charged for the first time also helped. The club movement has suffered for a number of years through lack of finan-' cial support, and it was felt that to make the movement more self-supporting each district should endeavour to form its own clubs. That has been done in some cases and the experiment has proved satisfactory. Already the competitions are having marked results. Last year two small girls of Meremere grew a carrot crop that averaged *just under 100 tons an acre, a Dominion record. The growth of so many crops and rearing of so many calves enables comparisons to be made and generalisations which can be applied later to particular instances with success. It has been found that almost invariably the same animal has won the dairy type and rearing classes at each school, and over a period of years has been noticed the development of disease troubles in root crops. The work and reaction of different types of carrots to the varying soils can also be guaged in a competition spread over as many as 24 schools. The work that the clubs are doing is recognised by the A. and P. Associations in the provision of suitable classes, and dotted over the farms of the countryside are cows that three or four years ago were calves in the club competitions. They will in the majority of cases be distinguished by a quieter nature than most animals, and a better appearance, even if only slight, than the uncared for calves.

The love of animals and a knowledge of sound root farming and cow tending methods is being gradually worked into the young brains. The work moves along with the gentle impetus of teacher and children and the good work is continued by the high schools.