HAWERA HIGH SCHOOL

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

HAWERA HIGH SCHOOL

AGRICULTURAL COURSE. PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION GIVEN. In common with other secondary schools in Taranaki the agricultural and science course at Hawera High School is a combination of class work and practical training. There are two well-quipped laboratories and those pupils who contemplate taking up the manufacturing side of dairying are allowed to undertake certain work at the Hawera Dairy Laboratory. Special attention is given to farm book-keeping and elementary accountancy, while the class subjects embrace all those recognised- as likely to assist the future farmer in his later years. . On the practical side the training is equally thorough. The school has an area where experiments embracing plant breeding, comparison of strains, identification and seed testing are carried out. In addition visits are made to neighbouring farms for instruction in plot, pasture, silage and manurial experiments, the pupils taking part in the judging of ensilage and hay and other experiments conducted by the Farmers’ Union. They learn at these farms the practical side of dairying including shed construction, milking machines and their care and maintenance, dairy types of cows, and other matters of interest such as pasture management, top-dressing, and cropping. Visits are also made to dairy factories for instruction in general dairy practice.

At the school instruction is given in woodwork for farm purposes and in farm engineering which includes the making and care of tools, soldering, metal work and the care of farm implements. The whole course is designed to give training that will be of real assistance when work on the land commences for the ex-school pupil.

The cow was called “Mother of the Moon” by the ancient Egyptians. The scale installed in the new Toko factory is fitted with a rounded weighing pan so that, by placing the cheeses on their sides, more than one can be weighed at a time. This weighing pan shape also ensures correct weighing, as the cheeses cannot be placed inaccurately in the pan. The Devon, England, Public Assistance Committee decided to adhere to their decision in favour of margarine in the dietary of their institutions, despite expressions at the last County Council meeting in favour' of butter; unless otherwise ordered by the Medical Officer for sick wards and children. Such decisions do not help the sale of New Zealand butter in Great Britain.