The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 1909. AGRICULTURE IN SCHOOLS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13845, 5 March 1909, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 1909. AGRICULTURE IN SCHOOLS.

The collection of .produce - sent in to the Flower Show; from , four of the school gardens T in . South Canterbury, at all-events'those from two of fchem, Hilton and Winchester, deserve further notice than was given them in the description of the 1 Show published .yesterday. If we refer particularly to two' of the four schools, : it is. because their exhibits were more extensive and were accompanied • by more .written information than those of the other two, which were also creditable results of work under difficult conditions. We are not at r all concerned to compare one school with the other.. The teachers of; both appear to have done excellent work in agriculture, and if the good points in the methods of both, as disclosed in what the public have ■ had... an. opportunity . of seeing, were combined in one scheme, they would, we think,- furnish a very good i foundation for a system of agricultural instruction in country schools. We pass over altogether the work done in gardening, in the belief that that in agriculture is mnch ' more important in. the interests, of the community. Taking the. two schools together, we find experiments . made with different varieties of '■ the same plant grown under similar conditions, ■ and with similar varieties grown .under dissimilar conditions at each school and therefore in the same kind of soil. Here for instance are a dozen varieties of potatoes, seed weighed, and crop weighed, the experiment bringing out the fact amongst others that potatoes yield better in new ground than in old cultivated and manured ground. Here are grasses an.d clover seeds,..sown at thd same'tmiej; date's*'of appearance of plants reciordedy of 'growths ' in green I' feed : ' ' compared; ' Experiments with mangolds'bring out the difference niade by the' use'of 'manure and salt. (The teacher attributes much virtue to salt in the growth of tin's root.) The growth of three varieties of wheat and three of oats side by side showed the superior rust and smutresistance in both when the seed had been pickled with Milestone. Then there are records, taken, with regu- ■ larity and precision, and notes of reasons why experiments were made—for instance, that rye was grown to test whether it gave a good crop of green feed (which it did), and general notes of results—including a plaintive one that barley ripened early and the sparrows took it all. One school grew ■tli j quaint kohl-rabi—the cahbagestalk turnip—not so largo as turnips go, but it may be grown thicker, and it is claimed that it gives no disagreeable flavour to milk, or butter. -Both schools made very useful and suggestive experiments in the growth, ol lr.rg ; c-leaved plants suitable for making ensilage—maize, sorghun, and millet—: and the specimens proved that these can' be grown to advantage for this purpose in South Canterbury., If winter dairying is to be a success in this district, ensilage feed for cows would seem to bo absolutely necessary, and these school garden experiments indicate how this feed can be provided. " Very heavy green crops can be produced for this purpose," notes the teacher. European flax, too, was grown to test whether it is worth cultivating for its seed to serve as a food for calves. (Dr Truby King has told us how necessary it is to repbiee with some cheaper substitute such as linseed the cream taken from milk fed to calves.) Then besides the growth of the plants of the farm, these schools produced a syllabus of lessons on agricultural chemistry and physiology. The former dealt with the atmosphere, chief constituents of soils, and the conditions favourable and unfavourable to the growth of economic plants, which included especially the part played by lime in producing variations in tie condition of soils, and by drainage, in the case of wet soils. Another class of lessons dealt with the physiology of

plants, from the germination of one. generation of seed to the maturing of the next. The work above mentioned could be infinitely varied and extended, of .course, if only by repeating experiments already made and recorded, which would however be fresh to teacher and pupil. Taking the two schools together, according to the iuiperfect information supplied through their exhibits at the. Flower Show, it is evident that they are doing very good work in agriculture, and we venture to suggest that the Timaru Agricultural Association should take this matter into favourable consideration and endeavour to encourage the teachers who are carrying on this work to persevere in it, and to encourage others to take it up. It is unquestionable that instruction of this kind must be good for country boys, and with the aid of the Government capitation for efficiently conducted classes, • a little financial help from the Association, coupled with a good rlohl of active sympathy, a competent instructor could be employed for the schools whose teachers do not profess to have' either the requisite knowledge or the not less requisite enthusiasm for it. The sympathy must be manifested first, the parents must show a desire that such instruction should be given, and the influence of the Association could be usefully exerted in creating a'iid fostering that desire. It should he an encouragement to them to know that useful • work is already being done in a few cases, and that these only need co-ordinating and multiplying.